[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by martin mustang

My mistake, I thought this was in reference to ambient lighting.

G30 ambient lighting has 11 different colour combinations to choose from.

The OP was asking about the orange/white colour change of symbols on the physical buttons.

[ArchJR]

Originally Posted by martin mustang

My mistake, I thought this was in reference to ambient lighting.
But never the less I find BMW always on the down side with options, your get 7 different colours to choose with a Ford Mustang, this was available with the model prior to the current one. for god sake the current 3 series only got the digital dials option with he face lift this year when Audi have a display with the SAT nav maps showing on the dials side.
with our X5 2017 model, we tried desperately to go for an individual colour available with the x1 but with no avail, even when ready to pay any price.
I find them year in year out more and more limited with options even when ready to part with cash, pure volume production behaviour and setup.

No worries. And agreed, BMW has definitely some strange and seemingly arbitrary options. I just ordered a 540i MSport in Mediterranean Blue, and was confounded to see that color not available on the 530i MSport. Does the paint shop care which engine the car gets?

On the other hand, I am glad BMW keeps the instrumentation conservative. I geeked out over's Audi Google Maps in the instrument cluster until I rented an A4 in L.A. It is pretty and fun to play with when parked, but an ergonomic information overload in motion that did not get better after a week.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

Does the paint shop care which engine the car gets?

Quite true. They might say they are trying to maintain exclusivity of colours but it just feels arbitrary as you say.

[AP]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

No worries. And agreed, BMW definitely some strange and seemingly arbitrary options. I just ordered a 540i MSport in Mediterranean Blue, and was confounded to see that color not available on the 540i MSport. Does the paint shop care which engine the car gets?

On the other hand, I am glad BMW keeps the instrumentation conservative. I geeked out over's Audi Google Maps in the instrument cluster until I rented an A4 in L.A. It is pretty and fun to play with when parked, but an ergonomic information overload in motion that did not get better after a week.

Yes personally think putting too much in the instrument cluster is not good and not the place to be looking when driving. It looks good and has the wow factor but from an ergonomic point of view is not right. Favour the HUD which is just so intuitive and feels the right place to be.
In the same way whilst I respect what Tesla have done as regards propulsion, the big screen inside is not the right thing to do , at least for items when on the move as you have to take your eyes away. You simple can't just feel for a button and operate it without looking. Think about something simple as a radio volume button which you will know where it is and can adjust without taking your eyes off the road.

[SteveinArizona]

Originally Posted by AP

Yes personally think putting too much in the instrument cluster is not good and not the place to be looking when driving. It looks good and has the wow factor but from an ergonomic point of view is not right. Favour the HUD which is just so intuitive and feels the right place to be.
In the same way whilst I respect what Tesla have done as regards propulsion, the big screen inside is not the right thing to do , at least for items when on the move as you have to take your eyes away. You simple can't just feel for a button and operate it without looking. Think about something simple as a radio volume button which you will know where it is and can adjust without taking your eyes off the road.

I completely agree. That is why, to me, the HUD is an essential option. I want to keep my eyes on the road, not on a video screen offset down and to the right (or left in the UK).

[AP]

absolutely
that screen in the Tesla is my biggest gripe with them, suspect many people think it's "cool and trendy" but step and think about it and it isn't the right thing to do IMHO.
I think BMW when the HUD is specified, have it just about right although I do agree that the lack of red lighting at night this time means they've messed up something fundamental there. Would be easy to address though.
I also like the fact you can switch off the idrive display so for longer night drives , you can just concentrate on what's outside and let your eyes adjust to the light levels OUTSIDE. Bright lights inside can ruin your night vision.
If I remember my night flying rating correctly, it can take as long as 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark fully and that can be destroyed very quickly if subjected to bright lights.

Despite that, I think you very quickly forget how good the ergonomics are in a Beemer until you drive something else.

[bimmer_335]

Originally Posted by wonderd4

I test drove a 2018 530 and the interior lights were white. I then found a great deal on a 2017 530 and took the deal but the interior lights are the old orange style. I'm just venting a little.

I am not talking about the ambiant iighting. I am talking about the lighting of the center climate control display ect.

Just three years I am telling myself. Just three years...

I love amber lighting... its unique to BMW. I even question BMW moving away from it.

[bimmer_335]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

No worries. And agreed, BMW has definitely some strange and seemingly arbitrary options. I just ordered a 540i MSport in Mediterranean Blue, and was confounded to see that color not available on the 530i MSport. Does the paint shop care which engine the car gets?

Clearly they want you to pay up if you want med blue... its a gorgeous color

should be available on 530 as well as they are not cheap either.

[progmatism]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

On the other hand, I am glad BMW keeps the instrumentation conservative. I geeked out over's Audi Google Maps in the instrument cluster until I rented an A4 in L.A. It is pretty and fun to play with when parked, but an ergonomic information overload in motion that did not get better after a week.

Totally agree. I thought I’d love the Virtual Cockpit until I actually test drove a car with it. Pretty much hated it after just a couple minutes, especially since that car didn’t have a HUD. The combination of a HUD (hard to find on many Audis as it requires the very top trim level) and the full digital cluster (6WB) was a far more pleasing option for me.

[martin mustang]

Having moved for years from one BMW model to another, it is simply nice to have options to make the car look different to the one you just part away from, specially with the conservative design for interiors, for a premium car you expect to have the options when you ready to pay for them, I look at the G30 that I am considering, the choice of colours is simply boring and shocking the individual options are so close to the optional ones when ordering my wife X5 early 2017 she wanted to go for a Estoril Blue available with the X1 and the 3 series cars but not with the X5, she was ready to pay individual price tag for it, meaning the original individual price tag at around 4k yet it was simply impossible, I just cannot understand why when the colour is used by the same factory in the U.S. behind the X cars.
after 15 years with BMW I may this time around jump the ship to another brand , I find the limitations are purely down to volume taking over as the rule for the game.

Originally Posted by progmatism

Totally agree. I thought I’d love the Virtual Cockpit until I actually test drove a car with it. Pretty much hated it after just a couple minutes, especially since that car didn’t have a HUD. The combination of a HUD (hard to find on many Audis as it requires the very top trim level) and the full digital cluster (6WB) was a far more pleasing option for me.

[AP]

I thought you could get any colour as long as you were prepared to pay for it?
Sure I saw in these forums somewhere someon had a red imola red G30 , a colour to the best of my knowledge is not on the standard list of (individual) colours for a G30

Aren't individual colours manually sprayed anyway, hence the extra cost involved as it has to be taken off the production line and manually sprayed?

[ArchJR]

Originally Posted by martin mustang

I may this time around jump the ship to another brand , I find the limitations are purely down to volume taking over as the rule for the game.

Are other brands better? I was actually impressed by the number of choices for the G30 interior at least: 6 leather colors, 5 trim choices, 3 types of seats, minimal restrictions on the combinations, and no obscene upcharges, all before you delve into Individual choices.

[martin mustang]

The Individual Program i.e. the original one is only in Germany so not for X cars U.S. made, this what I found out after contacting BMW and using the X5 forum here, so it was a shocking discovery specially when the colour in question is used in the location for a lower model the X1 and also the M X5 and not the M sport trim even as Individual.

Originally Posted by AP

I thought you could get any colour as long as you were prepared to pay for it?
Sure I saw in these forums somewhere someon had a red imola red G30 , a colour to the best of my knowledge is not on the standard list of (individual) colours for a G30

Aren't individual colours manually sprayed anyway, hence the extra cost involved as it has to be taken off the production line and manually sprayed?

[martin mustang]

Not at all, specially I am keen driver, but do fancy something different i.e dramatically different so was hoping to venture into a nice exterior colour and digital dash and all to make my next 5 feel different to the F10, because from a driving point of view I see no difference when down to every day driving. I have for wkends and summer times a 911 so happy to take the risk with a Jag or even an alfa for the sake of something difference.
There is no question the 5 series is the most complete car out, hence I am at my 4th coming starting with e39.

Originally Posted by ArchJR

Are other brands better? I was actually impressed by the number of choices for the G30 interior at least: 6 leather colors, 5 trim choices, 3 types of seats, minimal restrictions on the combinations, and no obscene upcharges, all before you delve into Individual choices.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by progmatism

Totally agree. I thought I’d love the Virtual Cockpit until I actually test drove a car with it. Pretty much hated it after just a couple minutes, especially since that car didn’t have a HUD. The combination of a HUD (hard to find on many Audis as it requires the very top trim level) and the full digital cluster (6WB) was a far more pleasing option for me.

The Audi VC is cool but as you say I just don't think that is the right place for all that info - IMO BMW has kept the cockpit more tame on purpose; they want the gauges to always be the main focus in that area, a nod to their 'driver focused' ethos I guess.

They have modernised the gauge area, with colour changes and a different focus on what info is displayed based on driving mode, but it generally remains focused on what the engine is doing and not the stereo/nav/telephone. There are other areas for that other info.

The solid partial 'rings' are my favourite part (referring to the full digital dash, not the hybrid cluster they get in the US) - they help reproduce the feel of 3d gauges and it does a good job of balancing modern digital tech with a feeling of old school analogue connection to the car. The 2d 'ipad' nature of the Merc & Audi are what I dislike the most. I really don't want an ipad-esque gauge cluster; its just another item that makes the driving experience feel less connected to me.

[DBO]

Originally Posted by mobilejo

The 2d 'ipad' nature of the Merc & Audi are what I dislike the most.

Totally agree. I steered away from buying an E because I can't stand those twin flat panel displays. Sure the resolution is crisp, but they have the most ugly and enormous bezels on them which make it look like they're surplus stock out of the 90's. No shape what so ever - just flat and featureless, glued into the dash with a lid on top. I was really hoping for something a bit more classy from MB (like a curved OLED panel with near zero bezels or the like). The G30 displays looks much cleaner and modern IMO.

[ZigmundUK]

Originally Posted by Almaretto

It makes a difference if you have 4-zone HVAC as well as time of day as others mentioned.

Yeah I have 4 zone and a) I'd say it's more reddish than orange and b) it has lots of white in it too.

[ArchJR]

Originally Posted by DBO

Totally agree. I steered away from buying an E because I can't stand those twin flat panel displays. Sure the resolution is crisp, but they have the most ugly and enormous bezels on them which make it look like they're surplus stock out of the 90's. No shape what so ever - just flat and featureless, glued into the dash with a lid on top. I was really hoping for something a bit more classy from MB (like a curved OLED panel with near zero bezels or the like). The G30 displays looks much cleaner and modern IMO.

BMW follows graphic design rules for the hierarchy of data presentation. Familiarizing oneself with a car should be as natural as picking up a newspaper and instantly grasping the headlines, articles, and supporting text based on page position and typeface. Of course it is more tactile, as the shapes, textures, and distance of controls feeds into the hierarchy.

Mercedes largely ignores the rules, and not just with the big iPad, but also touchpads on the steering wheel, the column mounted gear selector, and the detent-less buttons on the Command controller.
In test driving a few cars in this class, salesmen proclaimed that voice commands solved the complexities or lack of buttons, only to demonstrate how they lag and disrupt music or conversation.

It is simply tiring when product designers advocate changes in human behavior to advance design for the sake of design.

[mobilejo]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

not just with the big iPad, but also touchpads on the steering wheel, the column mounted gear selector, and the detent-less buttons on the Command controller.

Wow, you have just reeled off everything I hate about the E class driver/vehicle interfaces. Bravo

[richard in NC]

Originally Posted by ArchJR

BMW follows graphic design rules for the hierarchy of data presentation. Familiarizing oneself with a car should be as natural as picking up a newspaper and instantly grasping the headlines, articles, and supporting text based on page position and typeface. Of course it is more tactile, as the shapes, textures, and distance of controls feeds into the hierarchy.

Mercedes largely ignores the rules, and not just with the big iPad, but also touchpads on the steering wheel, the column mounted gear selector, and the detent-less buttons on the Command controller.
In test driving a few cars in this class, salesmen proclaimed that voice commands solved the complexities or lack of buttons, only to demonstrate how they lag and disrupt music or conversation.

It is simply tiring when product designers advocate changes in human behavior to advance design for the sake of design.

In my opinion, Lexus is worse for style over substance. The ergonomics of their interiors suck. Plus each model is different. BMW is very consistent across models, and even generations. Makes it easy to hop in a new model and not have to relearn the world.

[ArchJR]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

In my opinion, Lexus is worse for style over substance. The ergonomics of their interiors suck. Plus each model is different. BMW is very consistent across models, and even generations. Makes it easy to hop in a new model and not have to relearn the world.

I agree completely. I mentioned Mercedes in response to comments about the E-class. The Lexus Enform system takes the prize for interface failures, which is doubly disappointing because they make the best switchgear with silky damping and solid castings.

[zinengineer]

I have a 2014 F10 that i bought as a CPO. Fully intending to move to the G30 when they start rolling off lease, although I'll probably wait for model year 2018's.

so...today I took my X5 in for service and they gave me a 2018 530i. Cool, I can now get a full on test drive. Love the car, very surprised by the responsiveness of the 4 cylinder - I could easily get in trouble without even going to the 6 cylinder.

I decided to peruse the G30 forum to see if there were any pressing issues. I must say that I'm surprised that the lights on the instrument dash didn't dim to orange when it became dark. It's possible that it wasn't "quite" dark enough yet, but that could become a deal breaker. Love the choices in ambient lighting vs. our 2016 X5.

I also agree with the control structure of the E350 - the column mounted gear shifter was a total no-go for me and the singular reason I've got the F10.