Surprisingly, the Shifter Is Intuitive To Use - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

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Surprisingly, the Shifter Is Intuitive To Use - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

The unusual column-mounted shifter in our 2014 BMW i3's is surprisingly easy to use.

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adamb1

Up would be twisting toward the front of the car, down would be twisting toward the rear of the car. Seems correct to me.

yellowbal

Neutral in the middle, that actually makes more sense than normal automatics. Manuals always have neutral in the middle.

voshinski

I think the shifter befits the vehicle but one question, you said "while parallel parking" but I thought this car could park itself?

schen72

I also thought Benz's column shifter would be confusing to learn, but it's surprising intuitive and easy. Within just a few minutes of driving, it felt very natural to me. There's also the benefit of freeing up a lot of space in the center console.

allthingshonda

schen72 said:

I also thought Benz's column shifter would be confusing to learn, but it's surprising intuitive and easy. Within just a few minutes of driving, it felt very natural to me. There's also the benefit of freeing up a lot of space in the center console.

Or you could just use the column shifter. Thankfully Ford and GM still stick with the tried and true. Never understood the need for the Germans to intentionally make simple things complex.

mcesarey

This is much like a forklift. This would actually be perfect for parallel parking.

anotherdrunk

i like to fly out of the driveway in reverse

bang D forward

and feel the smooth electric transition

versus

what would happen doing that in old school transmission