Complicated Car, Simple Controls - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Complicated Car, Simple Controls - 2014 BMW i3 Long-Term Road Test

Is it odd that the most sophisticated car in our long-term fleet - the 2014 BMW i3 - has the most straightforward climate controls?

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kirkhilles1

Clean, simple controls win everytime. Its nice to see something well thought out.

markedwards

The i3 simply has a single-zone version of the standard BMW climate control system. Nothing special. As someone with both an i3 and a 3-series, I appreciate the commonality but not sure it merits this much attention.

allthingshonda

How did you get 5 buttons? I counted 10 buttons. Driver seat heater, A/C, mode, auto, max, front defrost, rear defrost, recirculate, passenger seat heater, and fan. And why did you have to press Max A/C with an automatic climate control system? It should automatically engage recirculate and A/C (that's all the max button does BTW) and crank up the fan. Every auto system I've had (except Nissan) does this.

nagant

Ummm, the design is a hot mess. Why is the MAX AC button far away from the AC button?? And you have to take your eyes off of the road to look at the tiny symbols on the controls. BMW center stacks have been horrible for years,