BMW has just taken the wraps off its all-new 7 Series and i7 luxury sedans and one of the major talking points is the number of touchscreens and other displays littered throughout the cabin of each of these cars. As you'd expect, both cars come with the latest iDrive 8 infotainment technology, which has a new interface that still retains a rotary controller on the center console. But as these cars get bigger and more screens are added, is it really the right idea to rid the modern cabin of physical controls? The answer, as it turns out, is both yes and no.
Part of the reason that this question is pertinent is that BMW last year revealed the new 2 Series Active Tourer, and its snug cabin debuted with the glaring omission of such a rotary controller, meaning that most infotainment functions would be handled by touching the screen. In a car as compact as this, BMW's Stefan Frick believes that the lack of a controller is not a huge drawback as the screen is within reach, but in larger cars, it's a different story. Speaking with Auto Express at a preview event for the new 7 Series, the executive has revealed that the next BMW X1 will also eschew an iDrive controller, but that this decision is made on a case-by-case basis, with certain types of cars requiring certain approaches.
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