- BMW’s next-gen user interface will keep some hard controls
- Dubbed Panoramic iDrive, the NEW system uses a touchscreen, projection, and the steering wheel
- Panoramic iDrive will debut later in 2025 in the Neue Klasse EVs
BMW’s upcoming electric car won’t just debut the automaker’s new design language and platform. It’ll also bring forth the automaker’s next-generation infotainment system and user interface.
On Tuesday, in Las Vegas at 2025 CES, BMW debuted its Panoramic iDrive and Operating System X. The new interface consists of four parts, one of which is optional. All four will emerge later in the year with the introduction of the Neue Klasse EV.
BMW Panoramic iDrive
The Panoramic iDrive system is said to retain some buttons and switches, but BMW hasn’t shown an image of the center console. The automaker simply noted these controls include defrost functions, windshield wipers, turn signals, gear selector, sideview mirror controls, window switches, and infotainment volume controls like a volume knob. A simple dashboard adopts a rhombus-shaped touchscreen that hosts most vehicle controls ranging from navigation and infotainment to climate controls.
BMW Panoramic iDrive
The touchscreen’s augmented by pillar-to-pillar black surface at the base of the windshield. The entire surface is used to project information visible to all occupants, according to BMW, and takes the place of the gauge cluster. Information that is displayed on the black panel can be configured by the driver with up to six widgets at once. The display can be changed based on drive mode and customized with settings along with backgrounds connected to profiles.
BMW Panoramic iDrive
The new six-sided steering wheel has a flat top and bottom. It’s the main controller inside the vehicle and has 12 inputs on the right, including four-point arrows, and seven inputs on the left for driver assist and vehicle info functions. The buttons change functions based on the task at hand with various illumination patterns, and provide haptic feedback.
A new 3D head-up display (HUD) is the fourth piece of hardware, and it will be an option. The HUD displays navigation and automated driving information for the driver-assist systems.
BMW Panoramic iDrive
All these systems run on BMW’s new Operating System X software, which was designed and developed in-house using an Android software stack. The new operating system is said to endow the vehicle with future upgradability and backwards compatibility. BMW said integration of third-party apps from today’s iDrive 9 is seamless with over 60 apps worldwide in the BMW ConnectedDrive Store.
Operating System X, combined with Panoramic Vision and the optional 3D head-up display, all tie into BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant and voice control system. It will respond via a prompt of, “Hey BMW,” or by pressing a button on the steering wheel. Natural language models have been utilized with the ability to say, “Take me to a charging station which is close to a food store,” and the navigation system will respond accordingly, BMW says.
The new interfaces will be packaged in BMW’s next-gen vehicles—the Neue Klasse family of electric SUVs and sedans.