[Ralph III]

Hello All,
I have a few questions in regards to HUD, as we are looking to purchase a newer 5 series. So I am considering whether it is an option worthy of consideration such as heated seats, which is a must for my wife and daughters.

1. Is HUD really any use with a daily driver because this is what the BMW will be used for? I can see where HUD could be useful with navigation while traveling but we reserve our Escalade for trips. So do you find HUD necessary or unnecessary with your daily driver?

2. Do you consider HUD more of a nuisance? My daughter and I found it kinda neat in the vehicles we test drove but my wife found it distracting.

3. Are the BMW HUD units highly reliable or do they suffer from issues on occasion? I just read quite a number of people complaining about having issues with their HUD units. So is it just something else that's prone to fail and will need servicing/replacement at some point?

Thanks,
Ralph

 

[gfard1]

It has great for me for more than 6 years plus: I'm on my 3rd car with it.
It is not gimmicky.

 

[LogicalApex]

It is one option I really like and wouldn’t skip. That said, options can be very personal. So try the feature if you can.

You should be aware that the car offers a lot of customization and profiles that store settings individually. So, you could have it enabled for when you’re driving and your wife could have it off entirely. You may prefer full size mode and she may prefer “reduced” which cuts its height in half.

 

[ctcarbonari]

Well worth it, imo, even if 99% of the time you are just looking at your speed and the local speed limit indicator.

I tend to sit a little higher up and a bit closer to my dash than I prolly should; consequently, the top portion of my steering wheel blocks my natural sightline to my speedometer & rpm gauges.
With the HUD, this is a non issue and the only time I glance down at my dashboard anymore is to spot check my oil temp and fuel gauge.

The HUD is something I would have never thought that I "needed", until I drove with it for awhile. Now I absolutely love it.

 

[ScrewGuy]

Didn't think I would like it...I love it and don't see me purchasing another vehicle without it.

 

[Autoputzer]

Here's another vote for HUD's.

The current BMW speedometers are virtual, small, and non-circular, all making them harder to read. HUD puts a digital speed up on the windshield where it's always in your view. Audio system information and navigation information also goes there. On M cars, there's a tachometer on the windshield. That's really useful on a track.

The HUD on my F10 sometimes (a few times per year) fails to boot up. When this happens, it just says "BMW," which is useless since I already know I'm driving a BMW. Restarting the car fixes it for another six months or so.

HUD's don't work with polarized sunglasses.

Here in LA, "Lower Alabama," we even ordered a heated steering wheel. That's one of those useless options that turns out to not be so useless after all. It got down to +19F here a few weeks ago.

While we're discussing a new BMW, don't forget the spare tire, $250. The dirty little secret is that if you ever plan to take a road trip in your new $60k ca, you need a spare tire, even wiht run-flats.. Just ask this guy:

The cost of no spare tire! | BimmerFest BMW Forum

With a spare tire, a flat tire means stopping to change a tire, followed by a $25 charge to patch and re-balance the tire. Without a spare, you limp along on the run-flat tire with no air pressure. That structurally damages the tire and it has to be replaced, for about $400. Having a spare will also give you the options to switch to non-run-flat tires, and to do your own tire rotations. Unless you have a frame lift in your garage, you need a place holder tire to take the place of the first tire you remove. Ten DIY tire rotations will pay for the spare tire.

The spare tire does reduce the trunk volume, raising the trunk floor by about seven inches. But, a 5's trunk is huge. Unless you're carrying people in the trunk, you won't miss the reduced volume.

If you're new to BMW, realize that the current 5 Series (G30) is only around for another six months or so, to be replaced by the next-generation (G60). They'll start discounting G30's real soon. Also, by the sixth or seventh year of production, they've got most of the bugs out of the cars. Early production cars in a new BMW platform are full of bugs.

 

[Almaretto]

HUD's are very reliable as compared to some of the driver assistance features. Anti-glare headlights and HUD are two of the many reasons I find it hard to consider another manufacturer.

 

[ctcarbonari]

Re: HUD not working w/ polarized sunglasses.
I had a brief "spaz out" moment when I learned about that one during the first week of driving my new-to-me BMW.
Easily rectifiable - I picked up a pair of non-polarized Ray Bans. It my present a bit more of an obstacle for those that require subscription sunglasses, I dunno.

The only negative observation I have with my HUD is that under various night conditions, at times there is a slight amount gray box outlining that occurs so I don't always get the same perfect transparency that occurs during daytime driving. Tolerable, and a non-issue tho, imo.

So again, +1 to HUD from me.
I'm all in after drinking the kool-aid.

 

[XChallengeRdr]

I never had any trouble with mine and miss it when I'm driving the wife's Highlander.

 

[dce]

Count me as one who will most definitely get it again. No reliability issues on my 2018 and I think it enhances safety by letting you keep your eyes up

 

[Zrobb]

As someone who's never had a car with HUD I don't get the amount of love it receives. I know it's best to experience it first before judging but it's never been something I felt I was missing in my cars. I guess if you end up not liking it you can always turn it off. For me it wouldn't be the option that makes or breaks a car. Might be nice to have but if the perfect car popped up for sale without the HUD I wouldn't hesitate.

 

[GatorRob]

I love the HUD, but I didn't base my decision to purchase on it. I have a '20 430i that doesn't have it, and I had a '19 540i that did, and I loved it. We traded in the '19 540i for a '22 X5, and I'm glad that it has it, but I wouldn't have based my decision to buy on the HUD. But to answer the original question, I think it is very useful and not gimmicky. No reliability issues.

 

[Autoputzer]

Parking SONAR and 3D Surround View are also must-haves for me.

I buy my BMW's new, factory order them, load them up with useful gadgets, and then keep them a long time (ten to twelve years) to get my money's worth from all of those gadgets.

 

[Warp Ten]

I also love my HUD. I have a HUD on both my '19 540xi and my '16 Corvette Z06. I would not get another car without one. It bugs me to drive my wife's older (2014) 328xi without one. --Bob

 

[540 M-Sport]

I could give or take the HUD...I hardly even look at it

 

[markl53]

The only negative observation I have with my HUD is that under various night conditions, at times there is a slight amount gray box outlining that occurs so I don't always get the same perfect transparency that occurs during daytime driving. Tolerable, and a non-issue tho, imo.

So again, +1 to HUD from me.
I'm all in after drinking the kool-aid.

Maybe try reducing the HUD brightness, maybe set too bright and showing the background. I sometimes notice the gray-ish background at night but it is very faint.

 

[markl53]

As someone who's never had a car with HUD I don't get the amount of love it receives. I know it's best to experience it first before judging but it's never been something I felt I was missing in my cars. I guess if you end up not liking it you can always turn it off. For me it wouldn't be the option that makes or breaks a car. Might be nice to have but if the perfect car popped up for sale without the HUD I wouldn't hesitate.

I felt the same way you did until I got my new '22 540i with HUD. I had many previous BMW's and never felt like spending $1700 for the HUD "package". At one point it may have also been a stand-alone option.

Anyway, they've integrated HUD very well in the BMW, you can choose to display other types of info there, like your radio/infotainment station list, telephone contacts list, etc. When navigation is engaged, it's great to see a repeat of the upcoming route detail right in front of you. Yes, the central display with the map option chosen is pretty close, it's just nice to see it while you're looking straight ahead driving. As someone else noted, it also makes it easy to track current speed against the current speed limit, both displayed in HUD.

All-in-all, I see why people like it and now I'm used to having it. My wife's new 330ix does not have it and I do miss it at times when driving her car. I also order all my cars, and while I do think I would always order HUD in the future, I guess it wouldn't stop me from buying a car if it were somehow unavailable, or packaged in a way that makes the cost "out of sight".

 

[markl53]

DOH! Reply instead of Edit results in duplicate entry!

 

[moRider]

I think HUD is one of those features you discover you want only after experiencing it. My wife's X3 has it and it's a cool feature. I keep a set of non-polarized sunglasses in the car for when I drive. I wish the HUD navigation would integrate with Waze or Google Maps. I rarely use the native BMW navigation.

 

[XChallengeRdr]

I am not a big fan of BMW navigation, but I like the feature that tells me how far it is to the next turn on the HUD.