davidmbell said:
Talking of the idrive controller, I'm going to try send BMW Germany some feedback/suggestion as to improve the drive controller.
It should have rollover touch sensitivity like the hu shortcuts.
So that instead of glancing down to remember which is cd and which is radio / phone / nav (which even after 7 months ownership I still get wrong!) it would pop up on the display as you rest your fingers on the buttons.

great idea- gesture control, would love that.
David- are you aware about setting up favourites buttons?
NOTE: for anyone that wants it -I have the i
nternal BMW technician version of the CIC system pdf, which is a 70 page document on the E90 (same as E89 I think) Car information computer including items like unlocking the service menu option on the iDrive control, gracenote, etc. I was interested once I read"This menu can be used to select and adjust settings that are not visible for the customer."

it also explains how to go about:
Resetting the CIC
Unlocking the ServiceMenu Option
Setting favourites buttons
As well as a full breakdown of system components, processors & modules used etc. Great for us geeky nerds huh! (did you know about the YAW sensor?)
FYI - The following CIC applications are stored on the integrated hard disk drive:
• Music collection
• Music track database (Gracenote®)
• Navigation software (application)
• Navigation (map material)
• iSpeech (voice recognition system)
• Contacts (database with address data)
• System operating software