Car companies and electronic manufacturers are always conspiring to come up with new high-tech gimmicks for our cars. Almost invariably, they either distract the driver from driving or else help him keep his eyes on the road. Champions of road safety (and cool flashing lights) that we are, of course we prefer the latter. With more cars on the road each passing day – and average driver skill not improving one bit – staying on the road is enough of a challenge without toying with an unintelligible driver interface (iDrive, we're looking at you), being distracted by in-dash DVD players or looking for directions from a sat-nav screen.
That's why we applaud BMW's new HUD. The Bavarians have put all the vital information right there on the windshield so you never have to take your eyes off the road. The HUD projects the speed as well as information from the sat-nav system right ahead of you. BMW's also reportedly working on something called RoadPreview that also projects information regarding upcoming obstacles and big turns, cross-referencing the data with your speed to tell you if you're going too fast to avoid what's up ahead. (Given some of the jerks we've seen behind the wheels of Bimmers, this could only bode well.)
Sounds to us like the engineers in Munich have been listening attentively to The Doors: "Keep your eyes on the road, your hands upon the wheel". HUDs can be found in other cars currently on the market, like the Chevy Corvette whose HUD also displays key vehicle info, nav directions and even a real-time g-meter.
[Source: Motor Authority]
GM shrinks Volt's gas tank, range drops from 600 to 360 miles
MINI dealers to sell Alfa Romeos in the U.S.
Honda to reveal OSM open-top concept in London
With crisis looming, GM may unveil Volt for 100th anniversary
Next BMW M5 will nix V10 in favor of twin-turbo V8
In the Autoblog Garage: 2009 Lincoln MKS
Track Test: 2008 Roush 427R Trak Pak Mustang
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Porsche Cayman S
First Drive: 2009 Chevrolet Traverse
In the Autoblog Garage: 2008 Mazda MX-5 Miata Retractable Hard Top
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
G. Snyder @ Dec 5th 2006 10:48AM
BMW has had this out for a while. Not sure why this is news.
I also love the fact that you took the opportunity to mention iDrive. Isn't that special. iDrive may be 'unintelligible' to the unintelligent - but for those of us with basic reading comprehension skills and the patience to read the manual for the expensive car we just bought (shouldn't you do this anyway?) it is not bad at all. I guess it is just popular to bash it and gives you some nice filler.
The demand for more and more features leads to more control options. If there were buttons for everything, you and your ilk would complain about the "sea of black buttons" (that was, in fact, one of the prior complaints about BMWs). Or I guess everything could be automatic, like a Lexus....oh wait, everyone nit picks on that because you don't have the same options to defeat the various electronic aids. YOU CANT HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!!!!!
You should really try a new BMW out. Most of the major controls for audio and climate control are duplicated (twice in the case of the audio).
Mark MacLeod @ Dec 5th 2006 11:04AM
I agree with the commenter above about iDrive. My brother just bought a 550 and he says that once you read the manual it's pretty nice.
CorporateShill @ Dec 5th 2006 11:15AM
What a joke. Any "innovation" not coming out of Toyota is pure junk.
RS @ Dec 5th 2006 11:16AM
Bravo BMW for pushing the technological envelope again in the name of safety - The Ultimate (technology packed) Driving Experience. Hopefully, the electrical reliability is up to industry standard with these new toys.
Personally, while I'm not a fan of the 'looks' of it, Honda's two tier dash seems like a simpler alternative - it presents the basic information without all the gimmmericky and added technological complexity. Perhaps they could expand on this and include a Sat-nav feed too? While it isn't as cool as a HUD it seems to get the job done just fine ^.^
Clay @ Dec 5th 2006 11:25AM
Why is it that just because BMW does something, it's big news? GM has had this for over a decade (sans the nav integration), and it has been in planes for triple that. They are just taking it from the brains at Honeywell and Rockwell Collins.
Peter @ Dec 5th 2006 11:32AM
Yep, the Hud is old news, the new news is the "RoadPreview".
Zo @ Dec 5th 2006 11:54AM
The first gen iDrive was a mess. It has slowly improved and the new iDrive coming in the new X5 and 07 Mini are a big improvement.
The only thing that is missing is a consistant navigation. The fact that you have to move up down and twist in some instances is inconsistant. If they simply used up/down and left/right motions in all menus that would solve the problem.
With Nav, it has some annoying features like when looking up POI's. iPod integration is more expensive and trouble than its worth (why should you have to rip most of your console to plug in a wire that should have been their from the factory?). Some menus for configurations are buried in non-obvious places.
The addition of voice commands and programmable wheel buttons makes it easier.
iDrive has come a long way and credit has not been given to the improvements but that said it still has a long way to go -- it has become usuable but it is still less than perfect
Steve2 @ Dec 5th 2006 11:57AM
It's not only in the Corvette, it has been available in the Pontiac Grand Prix for about 5 years. Although the Grand Prix HUD is kind of skeletal. Actually, all the GM HUDs except for the Corvette one and the (now gone) Cadillac DTS night vision ones are kind of skeletal.
Kansei @ Dec 5th 2006 12:07PM
HUDs are so dangerous! They say it's safer because you don't have to take your eyes off the road.. yeah freakin right. You have to refocus, so your eyes are in the direction of the road but not looking at it.. you're looking at your glass, which I'd say is more dangerous than just looking down at your gauges just because focusing on the glass isn't nearly as quick to do as just glancing down and having your eyes refocus.
Why do automakers keep trying and trying to get us to buy HUDs? They don't make sense in the automotive application. They are a nuisance, a distraction, and a safety hazard.
Toy Yoda @ Dec 5th 2006 12:20PM
I have a BMW, and I think iDrive is great because it cuts down on the clutter of buttons on your dashboard. In fact, since there's only a few, you can spend more time looking at the road than fumbling about to try to find the right knobs.
The HUD display is cool too, but like Kansei said, it can actually be slower to read, because you are focusing on an image printed on a see-through glass. I like the HUD only because it's cool, but I think it's rather useless.
To gauge my speed, I can go by sound and/or how fast the pavement is moving underneath my car. I can also gauge rpm and mph via peripheral vision. There's no need to even look at the HUD or the speedometer.
For gps navigation integration, BMW only displays functional direction arrows; it doesn't display the map. For many instances, this is almost useless and I still find myself looking at the gps map when the Nav tells me to turn. I guess the bottom line is HUD is cool to impress your friends, but I haven't it to be useless and a waste of time. If BMW also displayed the gps map with HUD, that might actually be worth it.
HUD could also be useful for night vision assist, particularly, when it storms, and you got alot of glare from the opposing traffic. But it needs to be done really smart. So for the glaring areas of the windscreen, the HUD should be displayed in a dark color, and for the darker areas of the windscreen, the HUD should display a light color. Just to give an example. It would also make HUD a billion dollars in cost.
J @ Dec 5th 2006 12:22PM
Actually HUD has been in the Grand Prix and related vehicles even longer... it was introduced in 89, so this is hardly a new technology
Calvin @ Dec 5th 2006 1:06PM
Cool. No word on whether it'll be available on the 3-series. The Corvette's HUD is a single color. BMW and the Cadillac ones have 4 colors. Adding a RoadPreview features sounds useful.
http://wheeltalk.fancal.net/?p=577
I have found the HUD to be indispensable on the track. I don't glance at my gauges anymore. I just wish they can now add a data logging function to the car.
http://wheeltalk.fancal.net/?p=851
Wilhelmina J. Higginbotham @ Dec 5th 2006 1:07PM
Why is this news?
PONTIAC has had this for AGES now!
This is ridiculous! Why does BMW get all the press for stuff like this?
When do we expect to see an article praising Pontiac and General Motors?
TheMatt @ Dec 5th 2006 1:10PM
I'm pretty sure I remember my next door neighbor had a Lincoln or a Mercury with a HUD back in the 80s. It only displayed the speed and a couple other things, but I still thought it was cool.
bgdc @ Dec 5th 2006 2:19PM
Wow, there's a big dose of worthless. HUDs are as silly as navi systems. As the "jerk" owner of a BMW (owned a few before and have an e90 now), I try to avoid most of their electronic doodads as BMW doesn't seem to hire any electrical engineers worth a darn.
Edsel @ Dec 5th 2006 2:50PM
I like HUD but my wife will turn it off. HUD works if you trust your peripheral vision which most people don't while driving.
Richard Warren @ Dec 5th 2006 3:17PM
Gee, only 19 years later
1988: the first Heads up Display was installed by GM a 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. The car was also the 1988 Indianapolis 500 Pacecar.
50 custom convertible pacecar replicas were made. THUD units were made by Hughes Aircraft Corporation, a GM subsidiary at that time.
General Motors has offered the Heads Up as an option on the 1989-1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme some Pontiacs, some Buicks.
Of course, GM never offers any innovation.
Mr_Oak @ Dec 5th 2006 3:49PM
Busted. Those loopy europeans, how brazen. First that crack-pot Cristobal Colón gets lost and ends up in the Caribbean, claims that he "discovered" the West Indies and the Americas. Folks, if it is already settled, you didn't discover it. Now this.
weathda @ Dec 5th 2006 4:33PM
My parent's '89 maxima had HUD. That was...17 years ago!!!
NorCal Dodge @ Dec 7th 2006 12:51PM
Personally, I found it a little distracting the first time I seen it. I got used to it after a while, but if you are unable to make a rational decision on when you can glance down without getting in a wreck then maybe you’re a little unsafe to drive.
I don't think I would pay extra for this feature.