If you can work an ipod, you can work an idrive. A couple of observations from someone that has driven and owned BMW's over the past 10 plus years, 2 without idrive, 2 with:
- The first variation of the idrive was quite a departure. What they have now is much simplier
- Most cars have some type of variant of idrive to control the 100's of different features that cars come out with. If not, you will have cars with the early 90's dashes that have 50 buttons on them.
- Does anyone that commented on it actually drive one on a daily basis? I can jump into plenty of new cars and get frustrated before learning how it works. The newer idrives have 10 programmable buttons right under the central screen that you can program any feature. How hard is that?
Would I rule out the chance to enjoy a great car because I didn't want to spend 20 minutes finding out how to use it. No. Really its not that big of a deal.