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How long will it take getting used to buttons being on wrong side of steering wheel?

3K views 26 replies 16 participants last post by  armando95 
#1 ·
:thumbdwn:
 
#2 ·
It would help if you were a little more descriptive.:dunno:

Trying to read between the lines, you came from an earlier 5-series (E39? E60?) and now your F10 has the volume buttons on the right instead of the left? Also, cruise has moved from a stalk to buttons on the left, eh?

In my case, in just a few days I adapted. Really doesn't take long. And I love the little scroll wheel for moving between selections. Especially the way you can use it to see ahead/behind without actually having to move ahead/behind.:thumbup:
 
#3 ·
Never.

I have had two cars like this (my Volvo and now the BMW) and I still think it's stupid.

It doesn't help that my Acura, that I drive every day, has them on the "correct" side, that is, the left.
 
#4 ·
Took me about two minutes. The F-10 buttons are a big improvement over the E-60.
 
#5 ·
The funny thing is that lots of people here in Poland who cannot afford a new BMW buy used ones abroad, including the UK - in the latter case, they need to have steering swapped to the right (left :)) side. When I saw the header of this thread, this was my first connotation...
 
#6 · (Edited)
I don't get the complaints (and Needs, actually Acura is backwards on not only the steering wheel buttons). I would venture to say that the majority of BMW drivers (in the U.S.) primarily use the left hand, in the twelve or two o'clock position, for steering. For me, this comes from many years of manual shifting. After all, BMW heritage is all about manual shifting, right? Anyway, with the left hand busy steering, having volume buttons on the right side lets the "secondary" right hand work those buttons. Otherwise, you have to change hands on the wheel first, then push the volume buttons -- think about it. Also, you normally use the right hand for the actual volume control, so buttons on the right keeps things consistent. (I wonder if the buttons are reversed for right-hand drive countries).

And as for Acura, we've had 4 for my wife, it drives me crazy that:

1) Volume buttons on the left
2) Push DOWN to turn on the wipers, UP for off (how stupid is that?) UP is always "ON" in my book.
3) Oh, and yes, window lockout switch also locks out all driver controls (!). Makes the feature totally useless and voids its actual purpose to allow driver to control all windows at all times while preventing passengers from "playing" with the windows.

Next, Acura will probably decide that pushing the turn signal lever DOWN is the correct way to signal a right turn.
 
#12 ·
Horses for courses, but I prefer to be able to work the volume controls with my left hand. If I was shifting, my right hand would be busy shifting...not being able to control volume.

In my F10 I almost always turn the volume using the radio controls on the dash. If I'm engaging my right hand, might as well use a nice knob.

Now with the Acura, I'm with you regarding the reversed wiper controls. Also the nav zoom is backwards, as to me, rotating away from you should zoom out, not zoom in.

Switching cars often drives me nuts. I drove the Bimmer for almost 2 years before switching back to the Acura and I'm not JUST at the point where I can zoom the nav without doing it backwards.
 
#8 ·
I've been thinking the same thing everyday! If I'm going to use my right hand for volume on the steering wheel I can just use the the volume knob...I think you're right that the habit originates from driving manual.
 
#9 · (Edited)
In my opinion, the E60 has it right with the cruise controls on the stock and audio and phone on the left. This allows the driver to use only the left hand for everything when you are in lounge/cruise mode. You can change audio volume, answer and hang up the phone, change cruise speed, steer, everything, only with the left hand while your right arm gets to lounge rested on the center console or hold a loved one's hand without interruption. It's pretty much perfect.

This is one thing about the F10 I am not looking forward to.
 
#10 ·
+1
 
#11 ·
I think the amount of time it takes to get used to the buttons is commensurate with the time it took for many of us to get use to the stepronic up/down manual shifting being reversed. A few weeks, maybe longer if you have two different vehicles with opposing button placement.

What I really miss is the ability to program at least one of the steering wheel buttons to my choosing.

And I don't understand the MODE button. All it does is alternate from whatever the radio mode currently is to AUX/iphone input. I thought it would alternate between the last two settings but that does not work on my car.
 
#18 ·
Took me not too much time at all. They make sense and work for me. I always use the steering wheel buttons to control about everything regarding the stereo.

One thing I wish it had that my Benz did is a Mute option on the steering wheel. Came in handy. On my F10 I have to push the knob, thus being less "convenient" for my spoiled lazy a$$ to Mute since I have to take my hand off the wheel, then to get sound back on, I have to actually turn it back up (instead of "Un-Mute" which would immediately take it back to my previous volume setting).

I'm also more of a fan of M-B's way of letting you actually select a different pre-set on the wheel when you click onto said next pre-set. With BMW you have to spin the wheel to get there THEN click it to engage it into the pre-set. I get the logic i.e they figure you'd rather want to be able to flick through unwanted channels without actually engaging them, but for my style I like how I could get the channel and do one step of less work with M-B's way of doing it (i.e just click it to the channel and it automatically engages). Though there's something really cool and Germanic to me about BMW's "spinning channel wheel" so maybe it's simply worth keeping it like that for that regard.... or maybe due to heritage (?) or something.
 
#19 ·
C'mon guys ... stop the bellyaching. I'm a septuagenarian, and I had no problem getting used to the different button positions from my E60.
 
#25 ·
The buttons are a minor annoyance. It was eliminating the simple and intuitive cruise control stalk that really p*ssed me off. The classic BMW design wasn't broken, so why did they need to fix it?
 
#26 ·
I've converted to the F10 but liked the E60 layout. I miss my MUTE button on the wheel.
 
#27 ·
Whoa, I didn't know they got reversed. I was driving a Chevy and found it incredibly useless to have steering wheel volume control on the right - the volume knob is just as easy to reach.

I frequently like to adjust volume with my left hand on the steering wheel while I'm driving, when I get the F10 this week I hope this doesn't annoy me too much...
 
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