2025 BMW at CES
Just presented at the CES 2025 in Las Vegas, the BMW Operation System X is much more than just a new design and arrangement of the steering wheel, central, head-up and panoramic vision display under the screen. It
is expected to be available in the complete series from 2026.
The latter takes on the function of a display behind the steering wheel, which allows much more freedom in its design. The view of the speed being driven, for example, is now even closer than the view of the road. The
central display should be as close as possible to the steering wheel on the right from the driver's seat. On the other hand, it must not extend too far over to the passenger side. The height is also limited, upwards anyway
and downwards due to the height of the lower function bar. BMW advertises that this bar is relatively easy to reach.
The way it is currently designed, BMW's new dashboard does not look overloaded at all. It is more reminiscent of Tesla, but without the hassle for the driver there. Only with the steering wheel one exaggerates because one
wants to emphasize the straight line of sight to the middle of three crucial pieces of information, usually the driving speed.
You obviously can't change the display. Sure, turning it would make the special shape disappear, but it would be nice if you could move it a little bit. It's amazing that BMW is moving away again from the rebirth of buttons
and still claims that a certain haptic feel would make it easier to find the icons without looking.
We shall see. At least a lot of thought has been given to the necessary spacing and new and more understandable graphics have been introduced for the functional areas. But the main reason seems to be the ease of
moving the controls, even up to the top of the panorama bar. The key word is: the driver designs the work environment himself.
On the right there is space for the map, which has become increasingly important, for example, in electric cars, and is nice and big, but the beloved dog that was left at home can also appear there. As I said, the driver's will
is important. On the other hand, however, it is also getting away from this abundance according to the motto that there can never be enough.
But it can, and it is the job of a luxury class to define limits here, which of course are exceeded by some customers nowadays, under penalty of devaluing the already expensive car. But exceeding the limits sometimes
makes them more plausible.
What is interesting is what happens to the very left of the speedometer. Apparently certain functions have to be documented somewhere. BMW mentions this and displays, for example, a locked parking brake and a certain
light circuit. We have never paid attention to this and when it comes to lights, it can really only be the dipped beam. The other one is always on anyway.
So it can't be completely prescribed by law. At BMW, they associate it with a function, namely tapping on it to get a menu to change something. Hopefully not the only option. And especially for the parking brake. No, in our
opinion, such touch options are more suitable for unimportant functions.
| The levers for indicators/windshield wipers and the handbrake button will probably remain. |
Color rings are possible, as you know them from pixel programs, where you can set your desired color for the ambient lighting, but also for the entire look on the screen and even in the videos shown there. In general, there
is a lot of movement on the screen, including with the function keys.
The displays directly to the right of the so-called speedometer are very useful. We don't know to what extent you can switch these off, but things like the battery status and remaining range are usually shown here. By the
way, manufacturers are very hesitantly giving the very useful information about the range when charging outdoors up to 80 percent.
It is to be hoped that the panoramic screen projected onto the black surface of the windshield does not take too much away from the view of the road, even for small drivers. Due to the design, it is probably not possible to
switch it off. The exterior design will probably have to be adapted a little here too. In contrast, the head-up display above is transparent as usual.
Here, BMW places too much emphasis on three-dimensionality, which of course has been available for what feels like forever with competitors. On the right-hand side of the panoramic screen, it is nice to be able to
implement everything that interests the passenger. A total of six areas are provided for this. So this can be minimized in a very stress-free way. br>
| The selection of gears, position of the side mirrors and window heating also remain tactile. |
Of course, BMW can't do it without a sports mode. This also provides the extra excitement on the screen that you get too when racing around bends. We've also heard something like a sound from days gone by in the
videos, which makes us feel nostalgic, but obviously not for some BMW customers.
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