Screens disconnect you from the road

• BMW isn’t getting rid of stalks or the volume knob

• But the iDrive controller in current BMWs is dead

• Every BMW, regardless of powertrain, will feature the same infotainment system in concept

Hours after debuting the next-generation iDrive at the 2025 CES in Las Vegas in early January, BMW executives sat down to spill some secrets about the new system. What we learned reveals the path forward for BMW’s next-gen tech, which has been dubbed Panoramic iDrive.

That path? It doesn’t include an iDrive controller, screens taking up the entire dashboard, or lots of buttons and knobs, but it will include some hard controls, customization, and both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

BMW’s Chief Development Officer Frank Weber, BMW Group Design Director Adrian van Hooydonk, and BMW Group Senior Vice President of UI and UX Stephan Durach spent hours answering questions in media round tables.

Here’s what we learned.

Huge screens aren’t the answer

Weber said when the team was posed with whether they wanted large screens in the car the answer was, “No, we don’t.” Larger screens make it harder to place in the right spot for perfect touch conditions, according to Weber. “Making it bigger and bigger is not the right thing,” Weber said.

Some users won’t ultimately be able to reach over the full width of large screens. That’s one of the reasons the new touchscreen is rhombus shaped. To make it easier and closer to the driver in certain areas. 

It comes down to driver connection. “Something is happening when you have those large TV screens in your car that disconnects you from the road,” Weber said, as he went on to poke fun at Mercedes’ Hyperscreen naming convention. Screens are a disconnection point. 

“BMW is connecting you to the steering wheel and the steering wheel is connected to the vehicle and the vehicle is connected to the road, and this is the kind of thing you expect from a BMW, “ Weber said. 

The new touchscreen that is mounted to the dashboard as part of the Panoramic iDrive system measures in at 17.9 inches, and Weber said that’s as large as BMW intends to go. It’ll be in everything from the Neue Klass EVs to the electric M3, and even updated gas-powered models.

All upcoming BMWs will get Panoramic iDrive

Yes, gas, hybrid, and electric BMWs will all feature the same infotainment and control setup in the coming years. While the component set will be essentially the same, according to Weber, the sizing might not be. Like today’s vehicles, most of which feature curved screens, the sizing of screens might vary based on the vehicle size and space to work with. It’ll be a scaling situation, same with the projection setup at the base of the windshield. 

“There is a certain digital standard that every BMW has to have, and this is also true for the new iDrive system, that is, it is a fundamental thing and this will be in everything,” Weber said.

Weber said in the case of M cars like the next-gen M3 and M4 the hardware doesn’t need to be different from the rest of the lineup. The car’s experience can be differentiated through software in terms of both look and feel. But that is for the Panoramic iDrive system itself, with the projection screen by the windshield cowling and touchscreen. 

Van Hooydonk noted that, like today, “We’re going to continue to have different levels of sportiness because that has served us well.”

iDrive controller dead, but hard controls are alive and well

Knobs and buttons aren’t dead, but after 34 years the iDrive rotary puck is about to be placed in the grave.

“There is a volume button,” Durach noted. “We have a lot of possibilities to change the volume, but still people prefer if you want to mute it at least to just push the button, this is why we said, OK, we stick with that,” he continued. 

The executive acknowledged BMW hasn’t shown the center console of the Neue Klasse EVs. But the iDrive controller and associated design around it in the iX electric SUV are also dead. Van Hooydonk provided context reminding everyone that the iDrive controller in the 7-Series back in 2001 was created to scroll through long lists. Today, technology has moved on due to voice controls and touchscreens that provide new ways to control and interact with the system.

“The next thing is speech as an interaction modality,” Durach said. “I can remember when we talked to customers and they told us they will never talk to a machine. I think this dramatically changed in the last couple of years really quick.”

A driver-focused interior

The widget spots on the Panoramic display band near the windshield cowl all are slanted for an overall effect that leads the eyes to the road ahead. The six-sided steering wheel now places the hands naturally at the proper 9-and-3 position and relocates the wheel-mounted controls to be next to the driver’s thumbs in this position. Van Hooydonk said the team spent a lot of time driving on both open roads and the track to test the layouts and ensure the steering wheel was easier to use than today’s design. 

The steering wheel shown is the “basic layout of the core product,” Van Hooydonk said, but there will be variations with more sportiness designed in. 

“It’s ergonomically a little better,” Van Hooydonk said when compared to today’s steering wheel. With the information at the base of the windscreen and the ability to look over the steering wheel, Van Hooydonk said integrating the information doesn’t get in the way of the driving experience.

Configurability is key

The system, specifically the panoramic display spanning the base of the windshield, is completely user-configurable. It has to be, according to Weber. There are six widget spots and at launch 22 widget options, according to Durach. Van Hooydonk confirmed that’s the beginning, and envisions the automaker will keep producing more over time. 

Weber said it’s all attached to the driver’s profile. It can also be modified based on current usage. If someone’s taking a road trip they might want to keep an eye on their range, estimated time of arrival, or other functions based on the situation. In addition, pre-configured widgets are set up based on drive modes. 

Sport mode will display different widgets than say an eco or comfort mode, but users can still choose even to display their preferred widgets. There are silent modes, Weber said, where a user could switch off two segments on the passenger’s side of the panoramic display, for example. “If you only want speed and that’s it, the rest should be dark,” Weber said.

Native is more capable

The next-gen Panoramic iDrive system will feature Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but Weber said the native system’s OS is simply more capable. It comes down to the layering and integration of the system. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto take over the screen and system, whereas the native interface is more layered and various functions can be easily accessed via widgets. It’s an ease-of-use situation.

The smartphone projection systems won’t work in that pillar-to-pillar space. That space can house six widgets, and none will be smartphone projection, according to Webber. Notably, Ford and Lincoln took a different approach. When using smartphone projection’s navigation system, the navigation map and directions can be projected onto the pillar-to-pillar displays.

It’s possible developers could create widgets for the Panoramic display, but it’s a niche and unclear if a market will develop for that. “I could see it happening to be honest, but we are only at the beginning of this journey,” van Hooydonk said.

Panoramic iDrive works with polarized sunglasses

The system’s projection of information at the base of the windshield on the pillar-to-pillar black space can be seen clearly through polarized sunglasses, according to Weber. A technical explanation of how and why wasn’t provided yet.

Weber confirmed the available head-up display system won’t work with most polarized sunglasses. It comes down to the automaker choosing the highest-definition unit they could find, which compromised on the ability to work with polarized sunglasses, according to Durach. It was a conscious compromise.

Video calls will be a thing

During BMW’s CES press conference, in which comedians and actors Tim Meadows and Ken Jeong cracked jokes and demonstrated some of the system’s functionality, the dynamic duo performed a video call. When asked if this video call functionality was actually a feature of the Panoramic iDrive system or just a bit for the audience, Weber said, “I’m done with visions and concepts, and all that stuff. Everything you have seen is serious.” The executive didn’t elaborate on the system’s video calling capabilities or limitations.

Does Alpina get all of this?

“Show you next year,” Von Hooydonk said to this question. But the executive noted that while it’s a bit too early to discuss the topic of Alpina with BMW’s next-gen interface, BMW will fully take over responsibility for the Alpina brand at the end of this year.

“We don’t want Alpina to fall behind in terms of modernity or technology, ” he said. “It’s already called BMW Alpina today, and it’s quite close to BMW in terms of how it works even today.”

BMW paid for travel and lodging so we could bring you this firsthand report