LAS VEGAS—Upcoming BMW dashboards will owe more than a little to smartphones, from the open-source software running them to the interface components populating their touch screens.
At an event at CES 2025, the German automaker showed off the Panoramic iDrive UI that will debut in its Neue Klasse (German for “New Class”) platform at the end of this year, then make its way to other new BMW vehicles.
“This will be the user interface in every BMW across all models,” said Frank Weber, the BMW board member who heads development at the company.
This interface combines three displays: a slightly hexagonal touch screen to the right of the wheel; a short but wide display that spans the entire dashboard and displays the car’s speed, charge status, odometer and other status indicators; and a heads-up display that projects the most important information on the windshield.
Look, actual physical controls in a new car. (Credit: BMW)
You’ll be able to customize the two larger screens with widgets as you would a smartphone’s home screen. For example, accessorizing the panoramic display with a Spotify widget, a readout of the miles to your destination, a compass, the current Air Quality Index, and the weather forecast.
And as you would summon Google Assistant or Siri, you’ll be able to invoke BMW’s “Intelligent Personal Assistant,” which first appeared on the current X3 last summer, by saying “Hey BMW” and asking for navigation or other help. For example, “Take me to a charging station which is close to a food store,” per BMW’s press release.
Sport mode (Credit: BMW)
You’ll also be able to select a driving mode—sport, eco, and so on—by speaking to the assistant, which appears in the center of the panoramic display as a shiny blue orb with blank white eyes. BMW built this on Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant Technology, Amazon says.
The software stack behind these displays also has smartphone heritage: BMW built this new Operating System X (please don’t call it “OS X”) on the open-source version of Google’s Android.
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Panoramic iDrive isn’t all touch-screen widgets, however; the dashboard UI includes physical controls for things like windshield wipers, turn signals, music, and window defrosters. It’s no Tesla, in other words.
BMW had two Neue Klasse vehicles parked outside but did not let attendees peek at them, so I can’t report on what the new interface looks and feels like.
The company’s event also featured comedians Tim Meadows and Ken Jeong hamming it up onstage (“I grew up in a rough part of Detroit, it’s called Detroit,” quipped the former). But Meadows also made a serious point, too: “Good software is the kind you barely notice.” With Panoramic iDrive, however, BMW pretty clearly seems determined to get its software some notice.
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About Rob Pegoraro
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