System functions

The further development of the iDrive for the 5 Series, 6 Series and 1 Series comprises:

• revised menus
• hierarchical structure of the menus
• Additional orientation guides

  Revised menus 

  The start menu consists of 4 menus.

  The 4 menus on the Central Information Display are situated on intersecting axes in the same way as the 4 points of the compass (as viewed in the clockwise direction) as follows:

  • Communication

    Slide the Controller forward (= "north"): e.g. functions such as telephone, short text message or BMW Assist

  • Navigation

    Slide the Controller to the right (= "east"): e.g. functions such as route, on-board information or address book

  • Entertainment

    Slide the Controller back (= "south"): e.g. functions such as radio, CD or TV

  • Climate

    Slide the Controller to the left (= "west"): e.g. functions such as air distribution or heat distribution for seats

  There is also an additional fifth menu for selecting the individual user presets.

  • Settings (i= Information)

    Press Controller in the start menu: e.g. functions such as "Settings for entertainment", "Settings for display" and "Settings for vehicle"

  The start menu will always appear when the menu button behind the controller is pressed.

  Exceptions to this are the submenus in menu 5: When the Controller is pressed, menu 5 "Settings" is initially called up. If the controller is pressed once more, the start menu is called up.

  Hierarchical structure of the menus (operating logic) 

  The operating logic has a strictly hierarchical menu structure.

  • Displaying the menu path 

    The current position in the menu structure can be seen by displaying the menu path (list of menu items selected to date in the individual menu lines, reading from top to bottom).

  • Navigating through the menus 

    Slide the Controller to switch from one menu to another.

    Sliding the Controller forward means: Go one level higher in the menu hierarchy. Sliding the Controller to the rear means: Go one level lower in he menu hierarchy.

    In split-screen mode, sliding the Controller to the right selects the assistance window. Slide the Controller to the left to exit the assistance window (assistance window displays additional information).

  • Changing the settings 

    If you want to change settings or view them in the submenus, turn the controller and press it down.

  Additional orientation guides 

  The following features provide visual orientation in the menus:

  • Orientation by special background colors

    Each menu has a background color of its own.

    Communication = blue

    Navigation = green

    Entertainment = orange

    Climate = red

    Settings = grey

    The associated submenus also have the same background color. This makes assignment of the submenus straightforward.

  • Orientation by position indicator 

    A small, colored symbol for each of the 4 menus appears in the top menu line: A diamond. The 4 corners of the diamond correspond to the 4 directions of the menus. A small square indicates the corner corresponding to the currently selected menu.

  • Status line for information at a glance 

    The status line contains the most important information on the various functions, such as settings of the air conditioning system or the radio station currently selected.

  The start menu always appears when the menu button behind the controller is pressed.