[SkykingUSA]

Originally Posted by Blue Sky

You guys are a riot. You remember that I ordered an i5 M60, right? If I ask for oil temp, she’ll probably tell me to f myself.

Well, if you pull up that screen you'll get the temperature of your electric motors instead of the oil. Next best thing I guess.

[RichardInCA]

Originally Posted by ToddRGuy

You could submit a suggestion for it. There’s likely an entire team of industry analysts that are involved in designing these things, validating them, implementing them and maintains software suites. They could crunch the numbers, and see if the design and implement cost would be feasible, I guess.

Ultimately, I think it would boil down to the vision they have for their brand. It reminds me of design choices like piano black or physical buttons. It wasn’t exactly well received but they did it anyway. And they’ve kept the choices.

Do standard digital gauges fit the design Aesthetics that they want to telegraph as a brand? Perhaps or perhaps not. Is it compatible with the vision they have for their next generation interior designs? I think questions like this are going to be a significant consideration for them.

They’re shaping their business with an eye generations of people who grew up with iPads and smartphones. Boomers as a generation, will experience their largest statistical die off 2030’s and 40’s. Gen X won’t be far behind.

BMW intends to outlive us, and is making changes to ensure that their designs appeal to future customers. They seem content with bringing people who can adapt along with them, and biding goodbye to those who can’t.

I dunno, I’m in my early 50’s and consider myself very adaptable. BMW has made use of the space that’s liberated on the screen by having the new design so that you can show a whole range of things - it’s a screen so I’m sure someone could come up with a classic era BMW dash representation, but the design would clash with the rest of the interior. A couple of analogue dials amidst the rest of the interior of the G60 would look odd to my eye.

[ToddRGuy]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

I dunno, I’m in my early 50’s and consider myself very adaptable. BMW has made use of the space that’s liberated on the screen by having the new design so that you can show a whole range of things - it’s a screen so I’m sure someone could come up with a classic era BMW dash representation, but the design would clash with the rest of the interior. A couple of analogue dials amidst the rest of the interior of the G60 would look odd to my eye.

I agree completely. We’re in the same age group. I happily embraced all the change. Could they make a digital facsimile of analog gauges? Definitely. Will they do something that’s going to clash with their design Aesthetic? I rate the likelihood of this happening somewhere between “unlikely” and “not happening”.

[RichardInCA]

We could start lobbying for “nostalgia” mode complete with the start-up chime and the old BMW dash.

Honestly though, I’m all in on the Neue Klasse. Can’t wait to see the first sedans.

[ToddRGuy]

Originally Posted by RichardInCA

We could start lobbying for “nostalgia” mode complete with the start-up chime and the old BMW dash.

Honestly though, I’m all in on the Neue Klasse. Can’t wait to see the first sedans.

Me too! I’m keeping an open mind. I think Neue Class might be interesting. lol, “nostalgia mode”. Might as well option a headlight high beam switch on the floor, too.

It’s like when people ask me about missing the 80’s. I’m like, Hell No, I don’t miss that time period! Awful technology, paper maps, no Internet or streaming, cellphones, or..well, anything. Hard pass.

[AiredaleDad]

Originally Posted by ToddRGuy

Me too! I’m keeping an open mind. I think Neue Class might be interesting. lol, “nostalgia mode”. Might as well option a headlight high beam switch on the floor, too.

It’s like when people ask me about missing the 80’s. I’m like, Hell No, I don’t miss that time period! Awful technology, paper maps, no Internet or streaming, cellphones, or..well, anything. Hard pass.

Lol. Yeah. I remember the days of having a Road Atlas behind the passenger seat and going over the maps at a rest stop, or before the trip planning, writing down all the turns and exits. Back then the door pockets were known as MAP Pockets. Not Storage. Then the Almighty MAPQuest came out and it was sooo much easier. I wonder what would happen to all these people who don't know how to read a map, or navigate if the GPS Satellites all of a sudden went down? Lol. Total Chaos.

[W2k]

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've owned several BMWs with fully analog dials. Loved 'em. However, once the instrument cluster became an LCD screen, I no longer saw the point of trying to emulate analog dials. With a screen you can do anything - why impose artificial limitations?

I drove a Polestar 2 for several years where the driver display was occupied entirely by a map view with nice clear digits showing current speed, power and battery. A little sterile, but the best ergonomics of any car I'd driven up to that time. Now the only reason I see for pretend "analog" gauges is nostalgia. There are so much more effective and visually pleasing ways to make use of the space.

And there's nothing wrong with nostalgia, but why on earth would you go for a current gen BMW if that's your preference? They're some of the most tech-oriented cars on the market.

[AiredaleDad]

Originally Posted by W2k

Long time lurker, first time poster. I've owned several BMWs with fully analog dials. Loved 'em. However, once the instrument cluster became an LCD screen, I no longer saw the point of trying to emulate analog dials. With a screen you can do anything - why impose artificial limitations?

I drove a Polestar 2 for several years where the driver display was occupied entirely by a map view with nice clear digits showing current speed, power and battery. A little sterile, but the best ergonomics of any car I'd driven up to that time. Now the only reason I see for pretend "analog" gauges is nostalgia. There are so much more effective and visually pleasing ways to make use of the space.

And there's nothing wrong with nostalgia, but why on earth would you go for a current gen BMW if that's your preference? They're some of the most tech-oriented cars on the market.

I agree. While to some the nostalgia of analogue gauges brings back comfort, or a sense of Sportiness, it by no means is it as accurate as a digital display. Judging the distance between 2 ticks on a gauge is not as accurate as a digital display showing you an exact number. Whether it be speed, RPM, Engine or electric motor temperature, Turbo Boost, Volts, Amps etc. After all, NASCAR and Formula 1 use digital. Many Super Cars also used digital displays as well. I like the Display in Sport mode where you also have the Adaptive Content enabled. That gives me all the information I need. And while at first I liked the Cool look of the many gauges I had on past cars, I have embraced the digital accuracy of my current display. "Keep Moving Forward"

[Vindicator3]

For me, a dial for tach (whehter analog or a digital facsimile) isn't about nostalgia, it's about readability at a glance. I don't long for a dial speedo because I have the digital speedo in the HUD. If I had a digital tach in the HUD, that would be great, depending on execution. Maybe one of the displays has that, but I haven't found it.

But with no tach in the HUD, the question is whether the dial is more readable at a glance than the "bar" thingy they've come up with, for those times I want to know the RPM by more than sound (granted, this is not as often as it used to be given that it's an auto and not a manual). I think it is. If they come up with something new that's even more readable than a dial, I'm open to that. I love changes that improve things and my new BMW is full of them compared to older cars. But the bar isn't an improvement, it's just a change and in fact it's worse.

And I'd like to add SynthPop to Todd's list of terrible things from the '80s. Thank you.

[ToddRGuy]

Originally Posted by Vindicator3

For me, a dial for tach (whehter analog or a digital facsimile) isn't about nostalgia, it's about readability at a glance. I don't long for a dial speedo because I have the digital speedo in the HUD. If I had a digital tach in the HUD, that would be great, depending on execution. Maybe one of the displays has that, but I haven't found it.

But with no tach in the HUD, the question is whether the dial is more readable at a glance than the "bar" thingy they've come up with, for those times I want to know the RPM by more than sound (granted, this is not as often as it used to be given that it's an auto and not a manual). I think it is. If they come up with something new that's even more readable than a dial, I'm open to that. I love changes that improve things and my new BMW is full of them compared to older cars. But the bar isn't an improvement, it's just a change and in fact it's worse.

And I'd like to add SynthPop to Todd's list of terrible things from the '80s. Thank you.

I think you may have hit upon a great recommendation, though. Wouldn’t it be great to have an option in the heads up to display the tach? I know that there’s an approximation when you’re in sport mode, but having it in the HUD might appeal to drivers.

[Blue Sky]

Here’s what I look at in my M5 HUD in “M View” mode. Unfortunately it blocks all other information, like Nav, music, etc., so I have to turn off M View on occasions when I need Nav in the HUD instead of looking at the center screen. Then I have to look at the tach dial in the dash. Sorry about the circle, I grabbed this off another thread.

Not sure why there’s nostalgia for older BMW clusters. They generally didn’t display anything different across the years than anyone else (same stuff: tach, speedo, gas level, coolant temp, eco meter) and that’s it. I always thought it stupid that the Ultimate Driving Machine wouldnt’ give me an oil temp gauge so I know when the oil is up to temp and can judge that the engine is ready for some fun. Coolant temp is good for a failure warning but not good for knowing when you can get on it. I had to add gauges on older cars.

Now now, let’s not be so down on the ‘80’s. There was plenty of good stuff there, like the E30’s for example. Those were a blast, and the second gen OBC looked great. With the (silly LED based) check control panel mounted overhead, it felt like a little aircraft. And with a Dinan chip in the ECU, the thing came unhinged above 3500-4000 RPM, clearly BMW left plenty of performance on the table and it was such an easy mod.

[Greg-Bimmer550e]

I understand your feeling about the lack of tachometer but it is there in sport mode. For a long time now BMW has gone modern and minimalistic with their tech and interiors, and after seeing their future plans on the Neue Klasse concept designs, I highly doubt that is going to change.

Before I bought my 550e, I had a previous gen ('21) x7. I really liked that interior. Afterwards I have had a few BMW rentals (x5, 5 series, etc) that had the more minimalistic current interior. It took some getting used to but once I knew the controls I have grown to like the cleaner more minimalistic look of the newer BMW interior. So when I shopped for my 5er, I knew what I was getting into.

While I was shopping for my 550e, I also looked at the Acura MDX Type S. It has probably the best blend of old school buttons with a new-school touch screen (2025 model). The ride and power were impressive. I was very tempted to buy it, but the lack of at least a mild hybrid, no Sirius XM (on an almost 80k vehicle) and having the same gas mileage as my prior full size GMC Yukon pushed me away. So I picked the 550e, and I am glad I did despite the lack of old school gauges/buttons.

[ToddRGuy]

Originally Posted by Greg-Bimmer550e

I understand your feeling about the lack of tachometer but it is there in sport mode. For a long time now BMW has gone modern and minimalistic with their tech and interiors, and after seeing their future plans on the Neue Klasse concept designs, I highly doubt that is going to change.

Before I bought my 550e, I had a previous gen ('21) x7. I really liked that interior. Afterwards I have had a few BMW rentals (x5, 5 series, etc) that had the more minimalistic current interior. It took some getting used to but once I knew the controls I have grown to like the cleaner more minimalistic look of the newer BMW interior. So when I shopped for my 5er, I knew what I was getting into.

While I was shopping for my 550e, I also looked at the Acura MDX Type S. It has probably the best blend of old school buttons with a new-school touch screen (2025 model). The ride and power were impressive. I was very tempted to buy it, but the lack of at least a mild hybrid, no Sirius XM (on an almost 80k vehicle) and having the same gas mileage as my prior full size GMC Yukon pushed me away. So I picked the 550e, and I am glad I did despite the lack of old school gauges/buttons.

It’s a shame that Acura hasn’t delved into hybrid 6 cylinders. Both the MDX and TLX Type S have abysmal fuel efficiency for a 2025 vehicle. I owned a 2015 TLX and it was enjoyable, but also had some disturbing reliability issues.