BMW iDrive deemed least distracting infotainment system by What Car

Screens inside our cars are already the norm. I was recently looking at the interior of an E46 3 Series model and there was no screen inside. Sure, some higher-end models did have a small screen on the dash, but it was the exception and, it didn’t have nearly as much functionality as they do now. These days though, the interiors of our cars, including BMW models, are dominated by screens. In some cases, they could easily pose as TVs.

All of that info and all those animations do distract you from the road, as many studies have found recently. It seems that the more functionality a car’s infotainment screen offers, the more time we waste looking into that.

So, which systems are the most distracting, ergo the most dangerous? Well, the guys from What Car in the UK performed a serious test to find out. This test included a host of infotainment systems and a rather interesting picture was painted by the findings.

All of them were tested by the same criteria and using the same steps. Basically the guys wanted to see how hard it is to raise the temperature by 2 degrees, to increase the fan speed by two steps, use the navigation system, use the radio and voice control.

Pretty interesting, right? Those are some of the things we do in our cars most often and the findings were rather peculiar too. In total, 20 systems were tested and BMW’s iDrive system was crowned the winner in the end.

iDrive vs. Other Infotainment Systems

The iDrive 7 system along with the BMW Live Professional Cockpit option managed to claim the number one spot. They managed to beat Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX system in the process, while Porsche’s Connect Plus completed the podium. Audi’s Virtual Cockpit Plus came in fourth while the Mazda connect system completed the top five.

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