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BMW Head-up display (HUD) review

Reviews	Views
10	14010

Recommended By	Average Price	Average Rating
100% of reviewers	$1,166.67	8.9

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Description:

Rating: 9 of 10
Price: $1,200 (2008 BMWs)

BMW has introduced practical and functional driver assistance systems in recent years. This series of reviews will incorporate real-world testing, what you can expect, and with your feedback and questions on these features. We’ll start our series with BMW’s head-up display.

First introduced in fighter jets and helicopters to place key flight data in the pilot’s field of vision, thus avoiding information overload, the first production car with a head-up display (HUD) was the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. BMW introduced a far more advanced version of this in 2005. Whereas GM used a bulky, inefficient CRT, BMW opted for an Osram red/green LED backlit LCD display that is smaller, brighter, and multi-color but not yet full-color.

Before I used BMW’s head-up display, I thought it might just be a gimmick and a possible distraction that provided information easily available elsewhere on both counts. I was wrong. [As are a lot of people (wrong) who call it a heads-up display; veteran pilots note it allows the pilot to keep his or her head up while flying and shouldn’t be confused with the cry of “heads up” when a foul ball sails into the bleachers.]

Having the navigation instructions centered in the driver’s line of sight is a huge improvement over having them on the right edge of your field of vision in iDrive’s Central Information Display (CID) . The HUD also displays:

-- Vehicle speed (in either kilometers or miles per hour),
-- Cruise control and active cruise control settings (including ACC distance settings)
-- System messages such as the snowflake “danger of freezing roadway” warning
-- Fasten Seatbelt warning
-- Speed limit exceed (the speed limit feature is much more dramatic when used in conjunction with HUD).
-- (M5, M6) engine speed (rpm), gear selection

The head-up display is available on the 5er, 6er, X5, M5, M6, and forthcoming X6 models. Currently it costs $1,200 on 2008 BMWs. Other automakers with head-up displays include Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, GM, and Citroen.

HUD also displays the navigation system’s road geometry arrow which indicates curves and bends (this is not to be confused with arrow that provides guidance for the next turn). I found that having this information displayed via the HUD provides far better context than when it’s merely displayed in the Assist Window in the Central Information Display (CID), the LCD display that has also been called the Bordmonitor.

How does it work? It’s quite simple: a unit in the dashboard projects the data onto the windshield (it’s a special windshield by the way) with a focal point just above the hood. The system can be adjusted for ambient light conditions.

I found that polarized sunglasses reduce the visibility of the projected image, but you can compensate with the brightness control or a slight tilt of your head to change the angle.

I’ve been driving a HUD-equipped 5er on a regular basis since October of last year and now I find it odd to drive a car that doesn’t have it (other Club members I’ve spoken too feel similarly, I might add).

What has your experience with HUD been? Post your replies below and, if you’ve used a BMW head-up display, give it a 1-to-10 rating (1 poor, 10 excellent).

Author

Jonathan Spira

BMW CCA Member

Registered: December 2007
Posts: 346

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,200.00 | Rating: 9

Pros:	Satnav directions in driver's direct field of vision
Cons:	None

BMW HUD rating by author: 9 out of 10

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Freude am Fahren.
Jonathan

E60 2008 550i / E90 2006 330xi / E90 2006 325i
E90 2006 330xi* / E39 2003 530i Sport* / E46 2000 328Ci*
E36 1996 328iS* / E36 1992 325i* / E30 1991 318is*
E21 1982 320iS* / E21 1979 320 (6-Zyl)* / *retired

Click here to Send this user a Private Message

ScottH
Site Member

Registered: February 2008

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,200.00 | Rating: 8

Pros:	Nice safety advance, multi-colors, bright
Cons:	Needs to be full color, higher-resolution

BMW's HUD is a big advance and ought to be offered on every model. What they need is a full-color display with enough resolution to show a map (driver's option) not just the arrow for the turn. Nice overview, Jonathan. Danke.

JeffNNJ

BMW CCA Member

Registered: March 2008
Posts: 11

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Pros:	Excellent visibility and cool to use.
Cons:	No tach display.

Love it but I wish that it included tach and gear selection

------------------------------
JEFFREY SHERMAN
Client Advisor
Prestige BMW
985 Route 17 South
Ramsey, NJ 07446
Direct: 201.258.6053
Confidential Cell: 201.925.6898
jsherman@driveprestige.com
www.prestigebmw.com

DLGunter
BMW CCA Member

Registered: March 2008

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,000.00 | Rating: 9

Pros:	Large and clear text and digits, nav directions are the most helpful
Cons:	Would like the option of swapping other data for the Nav data. I don't need Nav data all the time.

I love the HUD. I had HUD in my 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix several years ago and it was great. The BMW HUD text and digits are much larger. However, the drawback to this is less information is displayed. I would like to see the option of adding things such as audio system selections. This could replace the Nav directions when not using Nav to get to your destination. For example, one line would have AM, FM, CD, SAT, USB, or AUX and the other line would be either station, Folder/Song, or CD track.

GregM535
BMW CCA Member

Registered: March 2008
Posts: 1

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,200.00 | Rating: 8

Pros:	Great safety feature for Nav and speed
Cons:	No tach/gear info

+1 on the missing tachometer and gear selection. Great otherwise.

firehire
BMW CCA Member

Registered: March 2008

Review Date: Mon March 17, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,200.00 | Rating: 10

Pros:	It keeps your eyes on the road
Cons:

It would be nice if the NAV map was in the HUD or manual gear choice, but overall it is an excellent safety and convenience feature.

Rudy
BMW CCA Member

Registered: February 2008
Posts: 5

Review Date: Tue March 18, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: $1,200.00 | Rating: 9

Pros:	Easier for the eyes to focus on to get critical information.
Cons:	Need gear indicator (at least) added to the displayed items.

My first HUD on a BMW was a 2004 E60. I assumed it would be more of a toy/gimmick until I began to use it. I quickly learned how great the feature really is.

Many people think the HUD is only useful if you have navigation but to me, even the basic speed indication is something that is great to have available at a glance. Now, I'm on my 2nd HUD car (a 2008 E60) and I really miss having it when driving other cars.

On the 2008 car, it's even more useful because of the new active cruise control with stop and go. With stop and go, especially in traffic, it's critical to know if the car has "locked on" to the car in front of you. With the HUD, it's really easy to quickly know whether or not your car "sees" the car you're approching so you know if you need to intervene or not.

Also, the way the HUD appears in the distance (in front of you) allows your eye to focus on it with much less strain than if you had to look at the instrument cluster or MID (especially if your eyes are getting older, tired, etc.)

One minor addition to the list of things displayed in the HUD (in Jonathan's article above) is the status of the lane deviation warning system. When the LDWS is active, the HUD indicates that and when it is "locked on" to the lane, the two small arrowheads illuminate to indicate that the system is working.

I realize that a newer, future generation of HUD will improve upon and otherwise refine what we have now but I'd still like to see BMW add some additional data points before the new generation comes out. For example, I don't think it would be too difficult to add something like a current gear indicator for automatic and SMG cars. If there is not enough screen real estate to do this, give us the ability in iDrive to display it in place of something else.

Overall, the HUD, in my opinion, is a must have option!

Jonathan Spira

BMW CCA Member

Registered: December 2007
Posts: 346

Review Date: Tue March 18, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 0

Pros:
Cons:

Thanks for posting your experience, Rudy.

The LDW indicator (shown locked onto a lane) is visible in image 5. Unfortunately, our CM system doesn't support captions for the images so I couldn't explain what you are looking at.

------------------------------

Freude am Fahren.
Jonathan

E60 2008 550i / E90 2006 330xi / E90 2006 325i
E90 2006 330xi* / E39 2003 530i Sport* / E46 2000 328Ci*
E36 1996 328iS* / E36 1992 325i* / E30 1991 318is*
E21 1982 320iS* / E21 1979 320 (6-Zyl)* / *retired

deibiddo
BMW CCA Member

Registered: March 2008

Review Date: Mon March 24, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 0

Pros:
Cons:

Is there any chance that a HUD will be made available for the 4ZMC?

Or, is there any way one can increase the instrument illumination in daylight on the 4ZMC (2007) as I can can, literally, barely see the RPMs which is really irksome on track as, by the time I've teased out the display another 2 corners have gone by - make that 4 at NHIS

Jonathan Spira

BMW CCA Member

Registered: December 2007
Posts: 346

Review Date: Mon March 24, 2008

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 0

Pros:
Cons:

What model are you talking about? There is no 4ZMC in BMW's lineup. If you are referencing a Z4, there answer is no.

Regarding model specific questions, please post these in the sub-forum for your particular car.

------------------------------

Freude am Fahren.
Jonathan

E60 2008 550i / E90 2006 330xi / E90 2006 325i
E90 2006 330xi* / E39 2003 530i Sport* / E46 2000 328Ci*
E36 1996 328iS* / E36 1992 325i* / E30 1991 318is*
E21 1982 320iS* / E21 1979 320 (6-Zyl)* / *retired