Illogical stuff in the SE. It's the little things...

  • Thread starter Thread starter F14Scott
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 150
  • Views Views 27K
The biggest annoyance for me in the car is the cruise control buttons on the wheel. I didn’t spring for ACC because I don’t trust camera based CC systems so it’s just the standard CC I have, but I find probably once or twice a journey that when I go to resume cruising speed after having to slow down or speed up I end up pressing the button that puts the speed limiter on. As I think I’ve pressed resume I’ve eased off the accelerator thinking the car will maintain speed, but since it’s now in speed limiter mode, it goes to regen and slows down and flashes brake lights at the car behind. My peripheral vision sees the green logo in the HUD and thinks I’m good, but I’m not good, it’s the green of the LIMIT icon.
I suspect the fault lies in the nut behind the wheel, but the the nut blames the way buttons on the steering wheel on the 22 move, and couldn’t they move the LIMIT icon to either a different part of the HUD or make it a different colour? Or use the BMW style wheel buttons? I don’t think I ever mistakenly activated the speed limiter on my X6 in three years of use. I’ll just have to hope that I’ll get used to it and will have to properly look down when resuming CC to make sure I’m in the correct mode.
 
GvilleGuy said:
Same problem here, and I have ACC. I will go to hit the up arrow and hit the speed limiter function instead. I wish they were separate physical buttons rather than one plastic panel.
Click to expand...

The steering wheel buttons in the 2021 models are separate physical buttons. This is definitely a case of MINI / BMW adding piano black, monolithic buttons to the 2022 models because they probably thought it to be attractive, but taking a terrible step backward in functionality for everyday MINI owners / drivers.
 
Texas22Step said:
The steering wheel buttons in the 2021 models are separate physical buttons. This is definitely a case of MINI / BMW adding piano black, monolithic buttons to the 2022 models because they probably thought it to be attractive, but taking a terrible step backward in functionality for everyday MINI owners / drivers.
Click to expand...
Agreed!
 
Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I can't seem to unlock the passenger door with the key fob. My 2014 Clubman S without comfort access lets me unlock the passenger door by pressing the fob unlock button twice, but that doesn't seem to work with the SE.
 
Only a note from my test drives, so perhaps it becomes muscle memory and not a nit, but to me the iDrive controller is not intuitive at all: I found myself scrolling the wrong direction every single entry. Either way, it requires way more interaction than it should.
 
SameGuy said:
Only a note from my test drives, so perhaps it becomes muscle memory and not a nit, but to me the iDrive controller is not intuitive at all: I found myself scrolling the wrong direction every single entry. Either way, it requires way more interaction than it should.
Click to expand...
It's the opposite direction in BMWs from what I've heard, which is baffling. It used to trip me up, but I've gotten used to it.
 
Puppethead said:
The 12.5% per mark is ridiculous! It's like measuring battery level in pints (1/8 gallon).

Makes me think of Grampa Simpson, "The metric system is the tool of the devil! My car gets forty rods to the hogshead and that's the way I likes it."
Click to expand...
Even though I love the idea of the Imperial System, it seems a stretch to move to Myanmar or Liberia when the US finally converts???
 
SameGuy said:
Only a note from my test drives, so perhaps it becomes muscle memory and not a nit, but to me the iDrive controller is not intuitive at all: I found myself scrolling the wrong direction every single entry. Either way, it requires way more interaction than it should.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's definitely the opposite of BMW. As long as you don't drive both the MINI on a weekly basis it'll be something you can get used to it quite quickly.
 
SameGuy said:
Only a note from my test drives, so perhaps it becomes muscle memory and not a nit, but to me the iDrive controller is not intuitive at all: I found myself scrolling the wrong direction every single entry. Either way, it requires way more interaction than it should.
Click to expand...

I’ve actually found it to be very intuitive. The entire display is set up like a circle. The controller is a circle. If you spin the controller counter clockwise, the selection moves counter clockwise. Don’t think of it as up/down and suddenly you realize that they got it right!


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I’ve actually found it to be very intuitive. The entire display is set up like a circle. The controller is a circle. If you spin the controller counter clockwise, the selection moves counter clockwise. Don’t think of it as up/down and suddenly you realize that they got it right!
Click to expand...
Do what now? How do you consider down to be anti-clockwise?

Edit: or up? I don't remember which is which anymore...
 
Last edited:
I found it really intuitive in my X6 and then in my wife’s i3, but when jumping between the Mini and the i3 as I do regularly, it’s a real pain to recalibrate your mind. Someone at BMW obviously thought it would be good to differentiate between the BMW and Mini iDrive systems.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
I’ve actually found it to be very intuitive. The entire display is set up like a circle. The controller is a circle. If you spin the controller counter clockwise, the selection moves counter clockwise. Don’t think of it as up/down and suddenly you realize that they got it right!
Click to expand...
Ah, but the newer 2022 user interface isn't like that at all, it's horizontal. Things scroll left/right on the main display.
 
If I recall correctly, BMWs your starting point was on the 3 o'clock position of a circle for most of the iDrive iterations. MINI starts at 9 o'clock of a circle.
 
chrunck said:
Do what now? How do you consider down to be anti-clockwise?

Edit: or up? I don't remember which is which anymore...
Click to expand...

Simple, really. Like I said, don’t think of it as up/ down. Or put another way, you are scrolling down on the left side of the screen, so move the left side of the control down (counter clockwise). It’s more obvious on the main screen where there are options on both sides. Counter clockwise moves the selection down on the left, and then up on the right, just like the controller moves. Very intuitive.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top