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Originally Posted by __
The new, B9 A4. I was impressed. I didn't particularly expect to be.
I didn't think the dash looked very good in photos. In person it looks really good. Its infotainment screen doesn't look at good as BMW's, but it is miles better than the stuck on C Class. And it is canted toward the driver. From the photos I thought the placement of the MMI controller and the gear selector was really screwed up. In reality it works just fine. The way the shifter is designed it creates a hand rest for the controller. However, the positioning would not work with a manual transmission. Unless they're going to stop selling manuals in Europe, they're going to have to change something. The seating leather has small perforations that I like. In fact, I can't see any reason BMW couldn't do the same with the Dakota leather it now uses and I think they should, asap, without waiting for the G20.
I checked the hard plastic in particular. The lower half of the dash is hard plastic. On the F3x the only part of the dash that is hard plastic is that small panel just under the climate controls. Even the glove box door is padded on the F3x. The lower part of the door on the A4 is covered in a really thin vinyl. It's so thin it took me a long time to be sure it wasn't just hard plastic. The lower part of the door on the F3x is lightly padded, but it is not difficult to tell when touched. The lower half of the console is all hard plastic. This is the only part of the F3x that is hard plastic. The visors are clad in vinyl, just like in the F3x. The trim design on the top of the console is almost straight out of the F3x.
It has a temporary spare, but it is in a very deep well, so it doesn't reduce trunk space.
There is a very sharp crease/character line right at the belt line that runs the length of the car. It looks really good. It creates an interesting visual effect.
Overall I like the B9 A4 a lot. I think it's a stronger competitor to the F3x than the B8 model.
Edit - looks like they do switch the positioning around.
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Why was it ever even decided that the shifter will go between the driver and the infotainment knob? That seems like miserable positioning. I like the look of the bottom photo though, pretty clean looking.
I think BMW's current interior strength is how well organized it is. There are distinct areas for driving controls, infotainment and heating and they're spaced out pretty well which makes it look uncluttered.