Exclusive Report on New iDrive System: CIC to replace CCC – First Look

[Jonathan Spira]

CORRECTION APPENDED AT END OF ARTICLE

A completely new infotainment system will replace BMW’s current CCC (Car Communication Computer) system in most but not all BMWs starting possibly as soon as September 2008 production, according to unconfirmed reports we have collected. The CIC will reportedly be installed on new 1er, 3er, 5er, and 6er Series, and possibly the new F01 7er Series, this fall if things fall into place as planned.

The X5 and X6 should receive the new CIC -- the acronym stands for Car Infortainment Computer -- starting with March 2009 production. The CIC is made by Becker, which currently makes M-ASK (MMI Audio System Kontroller) systems for BMW, used in MOST-bus vehicles without "Professional" satellite navigation. The system will include a 40-gigabyte (GB) hard disk drive, reportedly partitioned as follows (hopefully there will be more room for music and less room for names and addresses when we get final specs):

• System 2GB
• Music 3GB
• Entertainment server 8GB
• Navigation map data 12GB
• Telephone (name and address) 10GB
• Reserve 5GB

A new higher resolution display, reportedly 1280x480, will be included with the CIC. Favorites buttons, introduced on the E60 5er Series LCI (life cycle impuls, or mid-life refresh), will continue although it is likely we’ll see a new menu structure and improved language support. The new iDrive controller we mentioned last month will be part of the package as well.

Only one DVD drive will be included (the current Professional Navigation system now comes with two, one for music and one for map data; map data will be stored on the hard drive. It’s not clear yet as to whether drivers will still purchase a DVD and transfer it or whether the data will be updated in the dealer’s workshop but we suspect the latter will be the case. On other cars with hard drives for navigation, all have a dealer option to upgrade the navigation data and some also let the owner do it via a disc that is read by the car's lone optical drive.

BMW's Configurator (see photo) shows the new iDrive controller and a blank iDrive display, perhaps indicating that the new menu structure is yet to come.

Additional features include a USB port in the glove box which will be used for transferring or downloading music to the CIC, as well as support for EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution, providing data transfer at up to 560 kbps) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, a true 3G mobile telecommunications standard based on GSM although it’s not compatible with GSM, providing a data transfer rate of up to 2 Mbps).

Another unconfirmed report indicated that Night Vision may project its image via the car’s Head-Up Display (HUD) instead of using the iDrive CID (Central Information Display). Night Vision may also benefit from improved resolution and new safety features including a so-called “Pedestrian Catcher” that alerts the driver to pedestrians. It will still be made by Autoliv using a FLIR sensor that has greater range in this new version, about 500 rather than 300 meters.

Jonathan B. Spira, Technology Editor, BMWCCA.org

CORRECTION:
This article was written and published prior to BMW's official announcement of the new fourth generation iDrive. Since then we have learnt that it will not be available on the 5er and 6er Series; there are other minor differences as well and we will clear those up in a subsequent article. -JBS