Will You Miss The BMW iDrive Knob?

As part of the debut of the 2026 BMW iX3, we’re getting a glimpse of the updated operating system going into the brand’s “Neue Klasse” vehicles. However, the reveal didn’t just show us an upcoming model. It also serves as the death knell of the much-praised iDrive knob, which future BMW models will not receive.

Customers will instead be getting the Panoramic iDrive system (pictured below) — which is a buffet of haptic feedback and touch controls, supplemented by voice commands. While this trend has been commonplace among newer models, there’s not a surplus of evidence that customers actually enjoy these types of interfaces. Mercedes-Benz leadership even made a recent confession that giant screens and touch controls don’t really evoke a sense of craftsmanship.

However, the true issue is the fact that novelties of modern vehicle tech are wearing off. Most drivers have had an opportunity to experience both traditional controls and the modern alternatives at this point. Many are finding that the old ways are preferable from an experiential standpoint and there’s reason to believe they’ll age significantly better, too.

I’ve mentioned before that our household is presently in the midst of buying a new car for my better half and this has been a learning experience on what normal (relative to me) drivers actually want in a vehicle. While I’m sure my at-home rantings and ravings about modern automotive tech played a factor, touchscreens and haptic feedback buttons reside at the very top of her do-not-buy list.

Meanwhile, the infotainment dial found in Mazda products has been a big hit as we’ve browsed between brands. This isn’t necessarily because the knob is superior to traditional buttons. There are certainly instances where I’ve found it to be a less than ideal way to interface with the central screen. But loads of manufacturers have forgone physical controls in recent years, making it shine brighter by way of absent competition.

Mazda’s infotainment dial is effectively a dumbed-down version of the BMW iDrive knob, which was phenomenally intuitive and often considered among the best ways to interface with a modern vehicle. Despite some early hiccups, it has received a lot of accolades over the years and there is currently no shortage of outlets mourning its assumed demise. Here are examples of The Drive, MSN, Motor1, and The Autopian all singing its praises as it heads off into the sunset.

That’s not to suggest that the BMW iX3 (or other forthcoming Neue Klasse models) are horrendously designed. The automaker has intentionally tried to keep displays at eye level and allows for more customization than drivers ever could have dreamed of fifteen years ago. It’s also trying to make some of the decisions for you and hoping customers will let the advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) do its thing without needing to fiddle with the options while on the road.

But, when drivers do need to make changes, they’ll be forced to utilize glossy panels that just aren’t as intuitive as regular buttons. The rest of the time, they’ll need to navigate the central display. While that’s not much of a chore when parked, it becomes significantly more bothersome when a vehicle is in motion. This has also encouraged BMW (and most luxury brands) to encourage drivers to utilize voice commands. But these have never been popular with all drivers, even though the technology has moved beyond the hilariously bad stage. Many voice systems actually work fairly well now. However, not all drivers want to have a conversation with cars equipped with a large language model.

We’ll see how the public responds and BMW has already been phasing out the iDrive knob in recent years. This included vehicles that weren’t developed around the new operating system, so the company seems to have faith that the knob’s utility has been exhausted.

Based on the upcoming 2026 CX-5, it looks like Mazda may likewise be doing away with the control knob as it brings in modern tech features and over-the-air updates. The entire market seems to be moving in the same direction and it’s allegedly very popular in China where large screens are indeed seen as peak luxury. But Western opinions are mixed and we continue seeing people bemoaning the latest vehicular trends practically wherever we go.

Development cycles are likewise fairly long and require massive levels of cooperation with suppliers, making it difficult for companies to pull an about-face on the hardware being implemented. But that assumes the desire of the manufacturer aligns with its clientele. With so much invested in modern tech as a potential revenue stream, automakers seriously want to convince drivers that software-defined vehicles with infotainment tablets and advanced driving systems are the best path forward.

However, we may soon hold a collective view of today’s tech-focused vehicles reflecting our opinion of the short-lived models from the 1980s featuring digital displays and voice alerts. Granted, the fairly realistic female voice coming from Nissan's Electronic Voice Alert was far more pleasant than the Chrysler system utilizing the same Texas Instruments voice synthesis chip found inside a Speak ‘n Spell. But customers of the day found that they all got old rather quickly and that digital displays tended not to last as long as their analog counterparts.

The end result is that automakers had basically given up on the tech by the 1990s. We cannot say with any certainty that the same fate awaits AI-supported voice assistants or tablet-like infotainment systems. But there is definitely a subset of our market that has placed them very low on their list of priorities. It’s just not obvious that they’re the same people buying from luxury brands like BMW.

[Images: BMW]

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