The BMW/Mazda approach worked pretty well back before smartphone adoption became universal and people were spending hours a day. Now, the "any random screen is a touchscreen" expectation is so strong that non-touchscreen systems are generating problem reports.
While it's not my main car, I own a 2011 335i with iDrive 3 and I find it to work pretty well for the limited number of functions it's designed to handle. Our everyday car is a 2019 Bolt with CarPlay and I wouldn't buy another new car without it.
While it's not my main car, I own a 2011 335i with iDrive 3 and I find it to work pretty well for the limited number of functions it's designed to handle. Our everyday car is a 2019 Bolt with CarPlay and I wouldn't buy another new car without it.