WR Exclusive: No iDrive For 2007 Mini!!

Gabe September 30th, 2006 10:24 AM Link

MINI is no doubt keen to play down the dreaded “i” word but the joy-stick was/is planned to be more than simply a controller for the Nav. The official production photos I’ve seen of the new Nav system clearly show radio station information and have “entertainment” and “communication” section links on the main screen. I have no doubt it’s greatly simplified (as reported) but I’d be very surprised if MINI pulled out all the other planned functionality.

Then there’s this little bit of text from MINI.com about the new inteface:

>Route master: including Radio Boost and an on-board computer, the navigation system sits in the centre speedo and is controlled via a joystick on the tunnel console.

MotoringFile » Archive » 2007 Nav’s iDrive-like Controller September 30th, 2006 10:32 AM Link

[…] There’s been some further information on MINI’s new Navigation system. As we reported a few weeks back, MINI’s new navigation system includes an iDrive-like controller and a simplied interface not unlike iDrive in some ways. However BMW execs seem to be rather weary of using the “i” word and are specifically not calling MINI’s new joy-stick system iDrive as our friends at Winding Road found out first hand. […]

Motor Authority » 2007 Mini won’t get iDrive October 1st, 2006 9:14 PM Link

[…] [Source: Winding Road] […]

Dan October 2nd, 2006 10:40 AM Link

I’ve tried the Sat Nav in a prototype R56, and the lever (which feels nice and solid by the way) DOES control more than the Sat Nav, it controls the audio as well and (I’m guessing) the bluetooth although the car I saw wasn’t equipped with it. Air con controls are entirely separate.

As a side note, if you order parking sensors and have sat nav, a graphic appears on the screen showing the distance to the car behind. All in all the sat nav set up is VERY cool.

John Fletcher February 9th, 2007 12:15 PM Link

This is a slightly late comment on the Mini iDrive yes-or-no issue, but I just bought a 2007 Mini Cooper with Satnav and Bluetooth phone. I also have a 2006 Alpina BMW B5 with the supercharged V8.

The iDrive on the BMW was hated for the first few weeks but then it totally grows on you with a good interface. The one snag is that the satnav processing and CD reading is very slow, as on many other cars. There are short-cuts to be learned like the two steering wheel buttons - one can be set up to bring up the phone menu with a single touch, and the other pages through the audio sources and wavebands.

The Mini joystick is also iDrive and a very bad version of it! It operates the computer, satnav, phone and audio - everything the BMW does except the aircon, and you never use that feature anyway. Satnav is the worst - you can display map or direction arrow but not both together, it’s a poor map, and it can’t be set to show either distance to destination or arrival time - which with any other satnav is on permanent display. To get this info and return to map or arrow takes approx. 10 joystick actions - a major distraction. It has four associated “one-touch” buttons with somewhat overlapping functions, unlabelled. not user-configurable and hard to learn what they all do.hard-to-learn.

The 2007 Mini Cooper is still a great car, though! Scores high on feel-good.