Products · Product
BMW
Raised as a usability problem by 130 people on Hacker News over 17 years (2010–2026), in 83 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Touch controls are distracting to use while drivingUnreviewed
20102026- Touch controls are clunky and more distracting than touchscreens while driving2022-08-17
- Touchscreens in newer BMW cars are a step back from physical controls2022-07-01
- Touchscreen-only controls for AC and volume with no tactile feedback, forcing eyes off the road2021-11-29
People are confused about how to cancel the turn signalUnreviewed
20102026- Can't tell whether turn signal is on or has cancelled2022-06-29
- Some people get confused about how to cancel the turn signal2021-01-28
- Turn signals work differently than on other cars, so drivers never learn them2019-12-22
Climate and media controls on touchscreen are hard to useUnreviewed
20102026- Climate can't be turned off when the touchscreen crashes, and no obvious off button exists2025-05-12
- Climate and media controls removed in favor of a touch screen, hard to use2023-05-20
- Touch climate controls can't be read in sunlight or operated blindly by feel2015-09-08
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Speed limit beeps get filtered out and auto-steering pulls toward other vehicles or the road middle2026-08-01
- Driving profile doesn't persist after reboot, forcing repeated tapping through touchscreen2026-07-07
- Washer nozzles spray too weakly to clear the frozen windshield, forcing repeated scraping cycles2026-05-05
- Kept warning about a wrong smog check date for months with no easy way to stop it2026-05-03
- Turning the volume knob gives no on-screen feedback, and dealer updates don't enable the overlay2026-03-18
- Current-generation cars put everything on screens, making controls abysmal to use2026-03-05
- German car designs feel built for engineers, with user-hostile features that pop up everywhere2026-03-05
- Cannot turn off backup beeping alerts; rear seat climate randomly maxes out2026-01-20
- Manufacturer-locked crash reset for battery system requires arcane ISTA procedure2025-12-05
- Missing one poorly explained step triggers antitheft lock, forcing expensive part replacements2025-12-05
- Matrix main beam not good at picking out the car, seems worse than others2025-11-19
- Holding start/stop button too long to cut engine power in an emergency; drivers would give up2025-10-09
- Scrolling a wheel to navigate menus is a cognitive black hole while riding2025-09-20
- Small woman could barely drive the car, though it is meant for shorter people2025-07-22
- Unintuitive screens and menus make basic car functions hard to do2025-07-06
- Default settings are aggressive; map is covered by forward camera view until manually disabled2025-06-17
- Driver profile and seat settings don't load unless the key is linked to an online ID2025-06-17
- Menu shows lane departure disabled, but the car still yanks the steering wheel2025-06-17
- Climate can't be turned off when the touchscreen crashes, and no obvious off button exists2025-05-12
- Interface lags badly, with slow redraws and over 200ms touch response2025-05-12
- Eliminating physical controls forces drivers to look away from the road to operate functions2025-03-09
- Single knob controlling everything; once the screen or computer fails, no easy fix2025-02-11
- Keyboard can't be used while driving, and the car can't tell which driver touched the screen2025-01-24
- Fog light setting is hard to find on touchscreen while driving2024-12-04
- New momentary turn signal switches are hard to use and frustrating compared to older ones2024-04-06
- Heating controls moved to touchscreen, removing quick physical shortcut buttons2024-03-05
- Car warnings nag constantly, reset when restarted, and misread road markings and shadows2024-01-14
- Mirrors shift position each time, heads-up display loses saved position, and driver recognition picks the wrong person2023-12-26
- Navigate-to-charger option is too hard to use, so people ask Siri instead2023-12-13
- Over-the-air updates often fail and require a dealer visit2023-12-13
- Spurious warnings like chassis integrity and collision alerts appear with no real cause2023-11-29
- Distracting to operate while driving, as bad as Tesla's tablet2023-11-29
- Logging in by typing email and password with the iDrive knob is painful2023-09-27
- Finding and connecting CarPlay was nearly impossible, buried 10 pages deep in an unresponsive interface2023-06-25
- Getting warranty repairs means a hassle of dealership visits and long waits2023-06-20
- Climate and media controls removed in favor of a touch screen, hard to use2023-05-20
- Rear screen blocks rear view mirror, and recliner hides passenger mirror, leaving driver blind2023-05-09
- Screen is out of reach, forcing the driver to lean forward unsafely to touch it2023-04-27
- Unclear what the page is, and video blocked unless all cookies accepted2023-01-06
- Instrument cluster is cluttered and ugly, not elegantly communicating essential info2022-09-27
- Owner manual only readable on the car's touch screen, not in print2022-08-17
- Touch controls are clunky and more distracting than touchscreens while driving2022-08-17
- Niche features are buried two or three menus deep, requiring shortcuts2022-08-17
- Can't remember which stalk direction gives single wipe versus continuous wipers2022-08-17
- Entering text means scrolling through the alphabet, which is slow and awkward2022-08-17
- Unclear when to turn the dial versus move the joystick2022-08-17
- Commenter found BMW and Ford interfaces terrible enough to rule them out2022-08-16
- Holder sized for older phones, so larger iPhone 5 can't be used in it2022-08-08
- Logging in means scrolling a wheel through the whole alphabet to type an email2022-07-14
- Touchscreens in newer BMW cars are a step back from physical controls2022-07-01