Clean Dashboard Design - 2016 BMW 340i xDrive Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Clean Dashboard Design - 2016 BMW 340i xDrive Long-Term Road Test

This BMW 3 Series has a simplified dash layout that includes a unique set of programmable buttons.

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darex

Same "universal memory buttons" as found in every F-series BMW and MINI.

greg128

My wife's new Malibu also has it.

roadburner

I really like the newer BMW interior design; I never warmed up to the E9x interior; it moved away from the great BMW driver-centric cockpits in its predecessors. I prefer function without flash.

darthbimmer

I like how these controls provide direct access to so many classic functions: climate mode, vent controls, fan speed, audio mode, volume, presets. Too many cars nowadays have gone too far in the name of "simplification" and hidden these functions behind multiple levels of menus in the integrated nav system. That is not simplification, that is just making it gratuitously hard to do things like change the fan speed.

roadburner

darthbimmer said:

I like how these controls provide direct access to so many classic functions: climate mode, vent controls, fan speed, audio mode, volume, presets. Too many cars nowadays have gone too far in the name of "simplification" and hidden these functions behind multiple levels of menus in the integrated nav system. That is not simplification, that is just making it gratuitously hard to do things like change the fan speed.

I hate having to drill-down through touch-screen menus to access a function that could easily be handled by a button or knob. I really like "manual" HVAC and radio controls- particularly for volume and tuning.

schen72

roadburner said:

darthbimmer said:

I like how these controls provide direct access to so many classic functions: climate mode, vent controls, fan speed, audio mode, volume, presets. Too many cars nowadays have gone too far in the name of "simplification" and hidden these functions behind multiple levels of menus in the integrated nav system. That is not simplification, that is just making it gratuitously hard to do things like change the fan speed.

I hate having to drill-down through touch-screen menus to access a function that could easily be handled by a button or knob. I really like "manual" HVAC and radio controls- particularly for volume and tuning.

Interestingly, a couple years ago, auto journalists constantly derided any car with "cluttered" dashboards having too many buttons. Be careful what you wish for.

roadburner

I didn't say I wanted a dashboard filled with buttons- I just prefer rotary knobs for ICE tuning and volume as well as a tactile method to deal with HVAC. I think the F3x and F2x dash layouts are just about perfect in that respect.