[stormlv]

As the title says, how useful do you find your HUD?



When I ordered it, I thought it was quite interesting and that I could be potentially very useful.

I use it quite a lot, but I only realized how "addicted" I've become to this feature, when I drove my dad's car for some time. I constantly found myself looking for the non-existing display in the windscreen

Needless to say, I love the HUD and from now on it will be a feature that I get on all my future cars!

[FC4]

Cool.

Have it on a few other cars, be it standard equipment or as part of a greater package. Don't care for it one bit. It's a neat feature to impress people who've never had anything like that before, but that's really a stretch given HUD was available on Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles 20 years ago.

[pazzo]

I use it all the time! I had a loaner last week and it felt weird looking at the speedo.

[Kev314]

At least for some of us old guys the HUD is useful because we find it hard to focus on the instrument cluster vs the further out HUD. I can read the regular speedo ok but it takes an extra part of a second to focus on it whereas the HUD is clear without eyeball diversion. The advantage would be less salient if the regular speedo were larger and the major speed divisions marked more prominently; e.g, as on a 15 year old saab.

[stormlv]

Originally Posted by FC4

Cool.

Have it on a few other cars, be it standard equipment or as part of a greater package. Don't care for it one bit. It's a neat feature to impress people who've never had anything like that before, but that's really a stretch given HUD was available on Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles 20 years ago.

I didn't know about the HUD on Pontiacs. Looked at some videos, it looks nice.
I guess the main differentiating point here would be that ours uses an LCD so you can display more information (eg. Navigation)

Originally Posted by Kev314

At least for some of us old guys the HUD is useful because we find it hard to focus on the instrument cluster vs the further out HUD. I can read the regular speedo ok but it takes an extra part of a second to focus on it whereas the HUD is clear without eyeball diversion. The advantage would be less salient if the regular speedo were larger and the major speed divisions marked more prominently; e.g, as on a 15 year old saab.

Interesting point! Never thought of that.

[34.50]

I personally love it. I just wish it showed tach. Ideally I would like an option to enable (or disable) everything shown on the instrument cluster on the HUD.

It is definitely weird driving a car without one.

[stormlv]

Originally Posted by 34.50

I personally love it. I just wish it showed tach. Ideally I would like an option to enable (or disable) everything shown on the instrument cluster on the HUD.

It is definitely weird driving a car without one.

I know, tach would be nice!

It seems to be on the F80

Maybe we can code it?

[Blubaron79]

It's great. Finally bought sunglasses that aren't polarized so I can use it all the time!

[chazmink]

I, too, bought non-polarized sunglasses so that my view would be unimpaired. I never thought I would like it so much.

[focal]

don't know what I'm missing. Wanted a lower tech vehicle this time around and HUD was definitely a premium option.

ignorance is bliss.

[ft1330]

I love it. Just wish it had a target so I could shoot other cars.

[erroberts1]

I wish it displayed more information on a larger footprint of the windscreen.

Mapping, vehicle status, engine speed, media details, etc. should have their own areas and should be able to be turned on/off or displayed contextually on different parts of the windscreen. To the extent this can be customized, manipulated with iDrive, and/or gesture controls I think this would be a great addition to a high tech car. There is no technological barrier to this today, so I say pull out all the stops and make a true HUD.

On a more practical note, the one simple feature I find lacking is the HUD should be able to display what road you are currently traveling on regardless of whether navigation is active. This would be extremely helpful.

[atg4]

Originally Posted by Blubaron79

It's great. Finally bought sunglasses that aren't polarized so I can use it all the time!

Me too! Screw our eyes...we want to see!!!

[carzaddict]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

I wish it displayed more information on a larger footprint of the windscreen.

Mapping, vehicle status, engine speed, media details, etc. should have their own areas and should be able to be turned on/off or displayed contextually on different parts of the windscreen. To the extent this can be customized, manipulated with iDrive, and/or gesture controls I think this would be a great addition to a high tech car. There is no technological barrier to this today, so I say pull out all the stops and make a true HUD.

On a more practical note, the one simple feature I find lacking is the HUD should be able to display what road you are currently traveling on regardless of whether navigation is active. This would be extremely helpful.

you stole the words right out of my mouth! I think it should display more information, especially entertainment stuff such as whats currently playing (even if it disappears after a few seconds so it doesnt distract the driver).

One thing I noticed in general is that the navigation system doesnt tell you what road you're on unless you've got it set up on the split sceen. Its a feature thats on all other systems I've used and a necessary feature.

My car came with the HUD, i didnt order it specifically. Its a neat gizmo that only you can appreciate, none of your passengers will get excited about it because they wont even know you have it. Is it worth the extra $1k? not really. its not like its showing me anything I cant already see moving my eyes a few centimeters. Would I go out of my way to order it again? No. Maybe if it was $200-300. but for $1k id rather spend it somewhere else

[rolltidef32]

The HUD is an absolute must have. Back in early 2012 when I ordered my F30, had no idea what to expect. Now, I think it's the best tech feature of the modern car. Will have it again in my soon to be delivered F32, and my wife loves it in her X3.

Really like how iPod tracks and Nav are shown right there on the road ahead.

[stormlv]

Originally Posted by erroberts1

... There is no technological barrier to this today, so I say pull out all the stops and make a true HUD ...

I think the real problem with making a (much) bigger HUD is placing the display in the dash...

But I agree that it could display more information even so.

[Fronzdan]

I love it. But the speedometer is probably the piece of data I care the least about. As mentioned above, I wish there were more info available. Tach would be better than speed. I'd also want climate control info to pop up whenever you make changes...like the air flow position etc. It's tough for my eyes to make out the tiny LCD segments. More entertainment selections, beyond just the current list of tracks to select from, would be good.

[ft1330]

In the future, HUDs will be produced with transparent & flexible OLED technology and will have the potential to use up the entirety of the windshield. No need for in-dash screens and reflectivity anymore. I wouldn't hold my breath for too long because this could take a while. But the basic technology for this is just now becoming available.

[FC4]

Originally Posted by stormlv

I didn't know about the HUD on Pontiacs. Looked at some videos, it looks nice.
I guess the main differentiating point here would be that ours uses an LCD so you can display more information (eg. Navigation)

It was available on Pontiac Grand Prixs, Bonnevilles, and various other easily-forgotten models in the 90s. All the housewives in the mid-west who drove them thought it was all the rage back then. I'm not sure how much information was displayed nor do I care to check, but RPM was displayed on the C5 Corvette's HUD back in 1997. Since GM uses the same few parts bins for all their cars, I can't imagine it was any different in a rental Oldsmobile around the same time.

But yeah...HUD is a definite must have. Certainly ground breaking technology that sets BMW apart.

[stormlv]

Originally Posted by FC4

...
But yeah...HUD is a definite must have. Certainly ground breaking technology that sets BMW apart.

Oh snap!

There should be a sarcasm font

[erroberts1]

Originally Posted by FC4

It was available on Pontiac Grand Prixs, Bonnevilles, and various other easily-forgotten models in the 90s. All the housewives in the mid-west who drove them thought it was all the rage back then. I'm not sure how much information was displayed nor do I care to check, but RPM was displayed on the C5 Corvette's HUD back in 1997. Since GM uses the same few parts bins for all their cars, I can't imagine it was any different in a rental Oldsmobile around the same time.

But yeah...HUD is a definite must have. Certainly ground breaking technology that sets BMW apart.

The HUD in a general sense is not new in the automotive industry, sure, but the level of data available and execution is teeming on the edge of being a new revolution in the way the driver consumes information about the car.

A few cursory web searches: The HUD was first popularized by (guess who?) the German Luftwaffe for use in gun sights and was a huge advantage in the Battle of Britain. It's made appearances in consumer applications and the automotive industry going back to the 80's when GM acquired Howard Hughes' aerospace company, bringing with it useful HUD technology (and dun dun! Delco Electronics). Interestingly enough, GM had patented many of the technologies in use today and the exclusivity on those patents expired in 2005 which has allowed other auto manufacturers to develop their own applications and advance the technology forward.