Somebody on FB posted the attached pics of the wheel and seat of the upcoming MINI. Is that Oliver Heilmer holding the wheel? Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Not to get off topic from the wheel and the seats, but MotoringFile also shared images of the new interface and center console: https://www.motoringfile.com/2023/05/10/exclusive-first-look-at-the-next-generation-mini-interface-operating-system/
The seat looks comfy. Here are some (blurry) shots of the center screen. Nothing remarkable, but still the first I have seen it naked. https://www.motor1.com/news/666404/mini-cooper-electric-interior-spy-photos-show-round-center-screen/ I'm actually digging on the absence of anything directly in front of the driver except a head up display.
Omg, the array of buttons below the display look like a mess of shapes and orientations. I'm afraid it's going to drive OCD types (including myself) mad.
The author of the linked Motor1 article writes: "A heads-up display should be available to project info onto the windshield." He probably didn't watch the video @MrSnrub linked, which shows a pop-up HUD, much like the one available for the current SE:
Push-toggle-turn-toggle push? Maybe you have to successfully complete a Bop-It!-like sequence using those controls to activate the vehicle?
I think they are mixing up BMW i Vision Dee with MINI. At any rate it should be the full dashboard like they showed for Spike - your Intelligent Personal Assistant.
All looks nice. With they’d dump the need to turn the car on or off with a switch, just do it Tesla style: if I put my foot on the brake pedal and am sitting in the seat with the key (or better still phone) in my pocket I obviously want to go… and if I step away from the car turn it off. Not hard…
More from Car & Driver, closeups of the steering wheel and seat. Looking really nice, and the buttons on the steering wheel are impressive, looking even better than the pre-2022 wheel.
I reckon they have simplified the controls on the steering wheel, the arrow heads on the right seems more logical with the track selection. Though I am puzzled by the button with a star, a favourites button? Hopefully the buttons have a more tactile feel. Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
I'm a little concerned that the round toggles in the middle might be too fiddly, especially on the cruise control side. And those 'Set' and 'Mode' buttons are just massive; I can't imagine they'll be comfortable to press. But really, anything will be better than the current buttons that turn off the LIM function more often than not when I try to adjust the set point up or down. That's the single most annoying thing with this car for me; much preferred the pre-refresh steering wheel buttons.
Back in the mid 2000's of the Chris Bangle era, BMW iDrive did not have programmable buttons from 1-8 (1-6 in the MINI) so it was a star and rhombus button on the steering wheel.