BMW’s New Infotainment System Throws Everything Onto the Windshield

BMW iDrive system debuted way back in 2001. In the 24 years since, the technology has only gotten bigger, better, fancier, and all-around more advanced. But this latest upgrade might be its most significant yet.

BMW’s new iDrive system ditches the trend of ever-larger screens, throws out the instrument cluster, and puts more information on the windscreen so the driver can see it at a glance. It’s called “Panoramic Vision,” and it will be standard on every BMW Neue Klasse model moving forward—regardless of powertrain. 

Panoramic Vision ditches the conventional layout of current BMW models. It doesn’t have an instrument cluster, instead, elements are projected onto a single screen at the base of the windshield that runs from pillar to pillar. It’s like a head-up display on steroids. The central display is a parallelogram-shaped touchscreen, and it’s all managed on the back end by the automaker’s new Android-based “Operating System X.”

Operating System X is likewise the key enabler of what BMW calls “shy tech.” The steering wheel may look busy at first glance, but those functions are only illuminated when they’re actually available. If you’re getting a call, for example, the buttons to accept or reject it will illuminate. Otherwise, they’re off completely. 

Photo by: BMW

Some of these changes are questionable. Since the driver no longer has to look through the top of the steering wheel to read instruments, BMW made the steering wheel look like its upside down. Weird. Otherwise, getting controls and displays into the driver’s line of sight is key to reducing distractions and increasing awareness.

More hard buttons would still help, sure, but bear in mind this is just a conceptual version of the system. When BMW’s Panoramic Vision reaches production this year, we’ll see exactly what the automaker has planned for the future of car interiors.