And the original of the species... I have it up for sale at the moment but it'll be sorely missed.
As for iDirive? I agree that when Audi managed such a good job of MMI from the get-go, there was no fathomable reason that BMW's system needed to be so awkward to use for so long. It's way better now than it was at the beginning, mind you, but their perseverance with a counter-intuitive interface seemed like pride to me. I ran two iDrive equipped 7s, and once you get the hang of it it's all fine, but after a few weeks or months away from one, you have to re-learn it all again. I don't care how much money they made, the company lost its way slightly during the post Pischetsrieder years. That guy loved cars.