4 ms·

My 2019 car had the cardinal directions in the mirror (N, NE, E, ES, S etc). My 2025 does not anymore. I hate it. I think it helps to get that baseline of orien

My 2019 car had the cardinal directions in the mirror (N, NE, E, ES, S etc). My 2025 does not anymore. I hate it. I think it helps to get that baseline of orientation, and then you look at the street numbers, and it all starts to come together.

clickety_clack 2mo ago
Pretty much my only issue with CarPlay is that I can’t seem to set the map so that north is up. It turns everything into “third right ahead” instead of “this is just 2 blocks east of that coffee shop I was at last week”.
- kccqzy 2mo ago
  CarPlay is merely the technology of having your phone take over a screen in the vehicle. It’s not a mapping map. Plenty of mapping apps support north up. But in any case, I found that if you want to remember routes, it is far better to study the route before you begin driving, and then not rely on CarPlay altogether. This gives you much higher awareness of street names and directions.
deleted 2mo ago
[deleted]
toast0 2mo ago
Suction cup compasses are ~ $10 on amazon if it bothers you. Won't be in the mirror though.
- OptionOfT 2mo ago
  I think I should be able to add it to the iDrive. How much did BMW save by removing it from the mirror? $0.05 / mirror?
- cenamus 2mo ago
  You'd also need to mount them facing up, pretty inconvenient when driving
  - toast0 2mo ago
    Have you not seen these things? It's a weighted magnetic sphere floating inside a clear plastic outer sphere. Anywhere you can stick the suction cup to, the compass reading will be roughly horizontal. Here's an example https://www.amazon.com/example/dp/B0FZSFWJQR https://www.amazon.com/example/dp/B0FZSFWJQR that I'm not endorsing.
- bluGill 2mo ago
  They have been reality for many years. A compass built into the car didn't exist in the 1990s (it probably did in luxury cars - I never drove them), then moved into mainstream cars, and now the fad is dieing.
  - toast0 2mo ago
    They definitely were in (some) cars in the 90s. Probably in the late 80s too. I did IT work for my school district in the 90s and I remember our vans had them. Realtime (digital) MPG displays were showing up around the same time. My parents had the same model van, but an earlier year; we didn't have the fancy digital compass mirror, just a suction cup compass ball.
    - jambalaya8 2mo ago
      they used to sell the suction cup things in my neighborhood in the early/mid-80s. I remember having one to go take a walk in the woods nearby.
Marsymars 2mo ago
My 2011 car had an auto-dimming mirror that my 2025 car didn't, so I ordered a replacement auto-dimming mirror off ebay which includes the cardinal direction LED. (And garage-door-controlling buttons.) As a bonus you can even set your general location on the mirror for extra accuracy, since the earth's magnetic line directions differ a bit based on location.

clickety_clack 2mo ago

Pretty much my only issue with CarPlay is that I can’t seem to set the map so that north is up. It turns everything into “third right ahead” instead of “this is just 2 blocks east of that coffee shop I was at last week”.

kccqzy 2mo ago
CarPlay is merely the technology of having your phone take over a screen in the vehicle. It’s not a mapping map. Plenty of mapping apps support north up. But in any case, I found that if you want to remember routes, it is far better to study the route before you begin driving, and then not rely on CarPlay altogether. This gives you much higher awareness of street names and directions.

deleted 2mo ago

[deleted]

toast0 2mo ago

Suction cup compasses are ~ $10 on amazon if it bothers you. Won't be in the mirror though.

OptionOfT 2mo ago
I think I should be able to add it to the iDrive. How much did BMW save by removing it from the mirror? $0.05 / mirror?
cenamus 2mo ago
You'd also need to mount them facing up, pretty inconvenient when driving
- toast0 2mo ago
  Have you not seen these things? It's a weighted magnetic sphere floating inside a clear plastic outer sphere. Anywhere you can stick the suction cup to, the compass reading will be roughly horizontal. Here's an example https://www.amazon.com/example/dp/B0FZSFWJQR https://www.amazon.com/example/dp/B0FZSFWJQR that I'm not endorsing.
bluGill 2mo ago
They have been reality for many years. A compass built into the car didn't exist in the 1990s (it probably did in luxury cars - I never drove them), then moved into mainstream cars, and now the fad is dieing.
- toast0 2mo ago
  They definitely were in (some) cars in the 90s. Probably in the late 80s too. I did IT work for my school district in the 90s and I remember our vans had them. Realtime (digital) MPG displays were showing up around the same time. My parents had the same model van, but an earlier year; we didn't have the fancy digital compass mirror, just a suction cup compass ball.
  - jambalaya8 2mo ago
    they used to sell the suction cup things in my neighborhood in the early/mid-80s. I remember having one to go take a walk in the woods nearby.

Marsymars 2mo ago

My 2011 car had an auto-dimming mirror that my 2025 car didn't, so I ordered a replacement auto-dimming mirror off ebay which includes the cardinal direction LED. (And garage-door-controlling buttons.) As a bonus you can even set your general location on the mirror for extra accuracy, since the earth's magnetic line directions differ a bit based on location.