BMW Product Navigator: create your next Bimmer on a Surface

It hasn't even been two months since Microsoft loosed its Surface SDK, and already we're seeing new and improved (or is it just one or the other?) uses of the giant multitouch display. In a presumed attempt to keep savvy shoppers off of those message boards and in the dealership, BMW has developed a promotional video showcasing the so-called Product Navigator. Said device reminds us an awful lot of that fictional computer seen the recent "Twins" Volkswagen commercial, though it actually enables prospective customers to develop their next whip rather than taking their John Hancock and doing the hard work itself. Personally, we'd rather spend our time on the track in Spartanburg deciding which model suits us best, but to each his / her own, we guess. Vid's after the break.

[Via Autoblog]

[IHateM1chigan @ Nov 30th 2008 11:55PM]

one day, your computer will be a big-ass table

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:28AM]

A big-ass table that has:

Direct interaction: Facility to manage digital information with hand gestures and touch instead on mouse and keyboard.

Multi-touch contact: User need not use only one finger to manage digital data. If user dips five fingers in five different colors in the on screen paint palette and draws five lines with five fingers, you get five lines with five colors.

Multi-user experience: Typical computers accept only one keyboard and a mouse. Microsoft Surface accepts multiple inputs from multiple users. More than one person sitting across the Surface, can do independent work on the same Surface.

Object recognition: The system can identify physical objects placed on the Surface. It can relate the appropriate software for the appropriate item placed on surface. Objects may be recognized based on their shape or on special codes ( like barcodes) affixed to them.


I would fucking buy one right away if I can afford it.

[KarlW @ Dec 1st 2008 12:38AM]

Dude, are you actually getting blown by Microsofts whole Surface marketing department or something?

I know it's cool, but you're making it sound like a Cocaine muffin.

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:46AM]

And you people are making it sound like a plate of dead cockroaches and worms!

[andres @ Dec 1st 2008 12:51AM]

oh god, i can only imagine the mistake when someone orders a big ass-table instead of a big-ass table.

[Paul @ Nov 30th 2008 11:59PM]

"It enabled me to really visualize what the car is going to look like"

Hey buddy! There is a real life car right behind you! Turn around and look at it.

[nohone @ Dec 1st 2008 1:32AM]

BMWs (and Porsche, and Merc, and ...) can have 100s of different configurations that can change the look and feel of the car very subtilly. Get the sport package, it lowers the car 1/4". Get the more powerful engine, the light assembly is silver rather than black.

Then there is a waiting list for many cars, and they usually are not on the showroom floor. Want an X6? There is a 3 month wait where I live. Want an M5? Wait a year. If you want those cars, you can't just turn around and look at it.

Then there is the very little-known BMW Individual. Not available in the US (unless you are very close to your dealer) because of various laws, you can have BMW personalize your car in any way you want. An M E86 was never mass produced in Dakkar Yellow (I know of only 3 made in this color - all through Individual). If you want one though, use the Individual program, pay about $10,000 more to have your car shipped from Spartanburg to Germany, painted, then shipped back yellow. You don't want to just pick yellow without knowing exactly what it looks like, and since there are only 3, you just can't turn around and look at it.

With all the options, dealers cannot have a demo car with every single option for both showroom space and cost reasons. Put a Surface on the showroom floor to let you see how the options effect the look, then drive the one demo model to make sure you like the feel of it.

When you are paying $50,000-$120,000 or more for a BMW, it is not like picking out a $14,000 Ford Focus. Paying that much, you configure everything the way you want. Most people special order their BMWs and do not just buy off the lot.

[NC @ Dec 1st 2008 2:56PM]

@NoHone:

Working in the Automotive Made-To-Order segment, I can tell you that you can do the very same with your Ford Focus or most other cheap cars. Only, in the US that is not how the Automotive Industry sees it, and instead they build cars Sovjet style by spitting out what they think the customers should buy, in the quantities they hope they will buy.

In Europe and Asia, even small cars are made to order, with your choice of engines, color, trim, suspension etc. You then wait up to 10 weeks, and you get the car just as you requested.

Small note: Ford Transit comes in 60 million versions ...

/Nc

[snoozy @ Dec 1st 2008 12:05AM]

Bimmer? WTF?

Try Beamer

[Ricky @ Dec 1st 2008 12:21AM]

The term "Beemer" started as a slang term for the acronym "BMW," adapted from the early-20th century British pronunciation of BSA (as /ˈbisə/ or /ˈbizə/), whose motorcycles were often racing BMWs. Over time, the term became closely associated with BMW motorcycles.

In the United States, the term "Bimmer" was later coined to refer (exclusively) to BMW automobiles. As such, use of the word "Beemer" to refer to a BMW automobile is frowned upon by some BMW enthusiasts,[11] because it is the term used for motorcycles. Although the distinction is arbitrary, the media, movies, and people still use the term "Beemer" to refer to the automobiles.

-wiki.

[kellogs908 @ Dec 1st 2008 12:14AM]

actually a beamer is a motorcycle made by BMW where as a bimmer is a car made by BMW, I congratulate the writer on getting this right

[shabs33 @ Dec 1st 2008 12:20AM]

Beamer refers to BMW Motorcycles (although in popular culture- most people don't often know the difference). Bimmer is generally the accepted name for BMW Automobiles.

[roach @ Dec 1st 2008 3:23AM]

BMW also made engines for Nazi planes. Logo design like a spinning propeller.
IBM made punch card machine to keep track of their extermination victims.
Apple is name given to male concubine used as Nazi slave sex.

[EricC @ Dec 1st 2008 11:07AM]

I saw "bimmer" and cringed, too. I was going to say something, but knew the ignorant masses would low-rank, so I let it go. Not surprisingly, I was right =(

[OneLove @ Dec 1st 2008 12:41PM]

Who gives a fuck (! ? .)

[Nick @ Dec 1st 2008 1:22PM]

@Roach

Actually, BMW is short for Bayerische Motoren Werke. So their logo shows the checkered Bayern flag, not a spinning propeller.

[sandhu @ Dec 1st 2008 12:07AM]

why so negative

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:32AM]

Exactllyyy! Man, these people are driving me nuts! What is there to hate or even slightly not appreciate!

I bit an "i" before the Surface would've made Darren a happy kid.

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:33AM]

Exactllyyy! Man, these people are driving me nuts! What is there to hate or even slightly not appreciate!

I bit an "i" before the Surface would've made Darren a happy kid.

[oliver hart @ Dec 1st 2008 12:07AM]

Yup. Beamer

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:36AM]

The Two replies were inteneded for sandhu's comment up there.

Engadget, fix this shitty comment system, and add more features such as deleting my comment before a certain time, or maybe not allow me to double post that fast.

[matt @ Dec 1st 2008 12:08AM]

let me get this straight - people at a BMW dealership need help visualizing a BMW?

[James @ Dec 1st 2008 3:13AM]

I dream about the day when they drive your corps to the dump in a 59 Cadillac hearse iEye.

[James @ Dec 1st 2008 3:22AM]

Meant for that douche iEye down below.

[brandoshido @ Dec 1st 2008 12:09AM]

those bmw employees look and sound like they just jumped out of the Zoolander movie.

[Surfaced @ Dec 1st 2008 12:10AM]

yo dawg
I herd you liek driving
so we put a car in your car
SO THAT YOU CAN DRIVE WHILE YOU'RE DRIVING!!1

[oliver hart @ Dec 1st 2008 12:10AM]

I loath you

[iEye @ Dec 1st 2008 12:13AM]

And I want my corpse to be transported in a 59 Cadillac hearse...

[AKBlade13 @ Dec 1st 2008 12:20AM]

Come and get me when the major American comapnies have the muscles to make fuel effienct cars, or better yet, make cars like the Chevy Volt a standard within the next two years without faulty business practices.

Until then, the average American wallet is saying, "I'll be taking that 35mpg Japanese car over an American made car so I can save up on cash to pay for my mortgage."

AKBlade13

[yyan @ Dec 1st 2008 12:21AM]

Why the fuck is everybody here so negative? You'd think that a technology website would applaud the implementation of such a new (and fully unexplored) technology.. I think most of you are jealous (including myself) that you can't afford the car.

[KarlW @ Dec 1st 2008 12:29AM]

Or the table. I know that's what's driving my negativity (punp it up!)

[Saad Rabia @ Dec 1st 2008 12:23AM]

What is up with you people bashing this beautiful piece of technology? I don't see anything wrong with it nither with the idea of using it the way BMW is! If someone wants to buy a car they can always test drive the thing, but having the option of seeing your customized car the way you like is best done through a technology device with a screen, and the Surface is a great way to interact with car products in-store.

Why are you people, including Engadget, acting all wise and smart about it? It is really simple: Look for a car, try it, then use MS Surface to customize it. I don't see a better way to do it right now, or in other words, the surface allows you to decide on spot and finish deal faster than going back home and using some lame flash online app, then photoshoping your brains out just to see how it will look later on.

People, the least you can say is: Amazing! And kudos to Microsoft then BMW for jumping into better customer service era.

[MastrCake @ Dec 1st 2008 12:23AM]

As a huge BMW fan, and a not-quite-as-huge-fan of Microsoft Surface, I am probably going to be headed to my local BMW dealer just to check this out when it comes out. Not to buy a BMW, but to check this out if they let me. Because I damn well can't afford one. :)

And for the record, it's Bimmer, NOT Beamer. Check any car mag or car website. (still not saying I can afford one)

[Orpheus @ Dec 1st 2008 12:23AM]

Does anyone else get sick of Darren's constant use of 'said' in the adjectival form?

[MastrCake @ Dec 1st 2008 12:26AM]

Nope. I actually don't really mind.

[KarlW @ Dec 1st 2008 12:34AM]

I hadn't noticed, but now that you've drawn my attention to it I don't like it.

[page87 and counting @ Dec 1st 2008 1:23AM]

Said usage drives me batty...!

[yyan @ Dec 1st 2008 12:24AM]

iEye:
You're an attention whore. I pressed the !.

[eli.stuy @ Dec 1st 2008 12:37AM]

install it in the car or no dice!

[Greg Mcp @ Dec 1st 2008 1:16AM]

You're really going to hang fluffy dice in your BMW?

[MastrCake @ Dec 1st 2008 2:25AM]

Naw... then it would be a Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

[adil @ Dec 1st 2008 12:39AM]

this is helpful visualizing a car that isn't on the lot that you want ordered. you test drive the basic model to get a feel for the car itself, and then order one with the options you want and that noone has driven around yet.

i think people like to be negative just for the sake of being negative.

[Snitch @ Dec 1st 2008 1:30AM]

The M$ft surface unit is pretty cool but i just don't see how it can provide a buyer with a better buying experience than just walking to the show room and looking at the actual car.

[page87 and counting @ Dec 1st 2008 1:33AM]

@yyan:

What you fail to realize, my friend, is the number "454" iEye so adoringly refers to is his weight. Now, while some of you may view this as a Handicap, ask yourself: "who besides iEye can store their iPhone so neatly tucked deep in his navel?"

[individualperson @ Dec 1st 2008 4:51AM]

God, i can't stand people who work for dealerships. Every greasy haired person in that video looked like a complete douchebag.

I'm stickin with Lexus.

[steven @ Dec 1st 2008 4:32PM]

Lexus... you mean a Toyota with an L badge?

[lowdef @ Dec 1st 2008 2:44AM]

I'd rather you understeer into a watery grave also.

[James @ Dec 1st 2008 3:49AM]

I dream about the day when they drive your corps to the dump in a 59 Cadillac hearse iEye.

[arash @ Dec 1st 2008 8:54AM]

if there was a mac book air(sorry apple have not a touch screen *pc*(iphone is not a pc,its such a mp3 player or in jobs words in d5 a: post computer device!!!!)) in that image and with this title: Bmw product navigator:create your next bimmer on a air,
then
imagine comments

[bjoern kah @ Dec 1st 2008 9:06AM]

I would like to see a 3D car configurator instead of a photo-based Flash application. These guys show some amazing 2D/3D examples on a large table:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAanod1F6bI