Comment by OptionOfT
20 hours ago
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Suction cup compasses are ~ $10 on amazon if it bothers you. Won't be in the mirror though.
You'd also need to mount them facing up, pretty inconvenient when driving
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?