How many buttons on your dashboard

[englisharcher]

Having just counted, I found there are 51 buttons and switches on the dash and stearing wheel of my Insignia.

IMO this is far too many.

How many are on your dash?

[Raddors]

Balls I cycled in today. Leave it with me, I reckon my old A6 could trump that, it has no knobs, only buttons...

[Arun_D]

4 on my Exige's later model airbag dash, if I recall correctly.

Individual buttons for sidelights, dipped beam and rear fog, and starter button.

If counting the HVAC unit slung underneath the dash, then that's 3 rotary controls and two more push-buttons.

[kambites]

I have six buttons; one rocker switch, two stalks and three rotary knobs.

[kambites]

Arun_D said:

4 on my Exige's later model airbag dash, if I recall correctly.

Individual buttons for sidelights, dipped beam and rear fog, and starter button.

If counting the HVAC unit slung underneath the dash, then that's 3 rotary controls and two more push-buttons.

You missed hazards, horn, central locking switch and the little button for resetting the trip distance.

[Arun_D]

kambites said:

You missed hazards, horn, central locking switch and the little button for resetting the trip distance.

True, they're on the centre console and steering column. Which would also count the TC button on mine as well. Guess I restricted my answer to the topic title.

[kambites]

Arun_D said:

kambites said:

You missed hazards, horn, central locking switch and the little button for resetting the trip distance.

True, they're on the centre console and steering column. Which would also count the TC button on mine as well. Guess I restricted my answer to the topic title.

I'd call them part of the dashboard (well maybe not the central locking switch, but the rest).

I'm pretty certain the OP is including the centre console in his list and he explicitly included the steering wheel.

[Arun_D]

Yeah, my brain clearly decided to ignore the opening post contents, which is what I meant at the end of my last post.

I love the simplicity of the Lotus dash. As the OP has shown, modern cars are getting very cluttered with switchgear, though cars like the VW Up are refreshingly sparse on the buttons, I think.

[kambites]

Arun_D said:

I love the simplicity of the Lotus dash,

Yes, I'm not entirely sure why they saw fit to fit a completely unnecessary start button to the later cars.

[thinfourth2]

1 button

1 single button

The rear washer is a button

Everthing else is knobs and levers

[thinfourth2]

1 button

1 single button

The rear washer is a button

Everthing else is knobs and levers

[thinfourth2]

1 button

1 single button

The rear washer is a button

Everthing else is knobs and levers

[Monkeylegend]

thinfourth2 said:

1 button

1 single button

The rear washer is a button

Everthing else is knobs and levers

Give it a rest

[clockworks]

Not as many as there might have been - iDrive seriously reduces the button count on the E61.

[SpeckledJim]

This is why Mumsnet laugh at us.

[Leins]

A couple too many in my Touring. Love the way it took BMW a while to work out that they could combine the rear wiper activation and the water jet onto one stalk (top left)

[SpeckledJim]

Leins said:

One too many in my Touring. Love the way it took BMW a while to work out that they could combine the rear wiper activation and the water jet in one (top left)

I think that's perhaps a legacy of the E30 never having been intended as an estate, so no contingency on the stalks for rear wash-wipe. Are they the same stalks as an E28?

[Leins]

SpeckledJim said:

I think that's perhaps a legacy of the E30 never having been intended as an estate, so no contingency on the stalks for rear wash-wipe. Are they the same stalks as an E28?

I've no idea actually, must check with a buddy of mine who has an E28 and see. Was the E30 Touring the first BMW then with a rear wash/wipe? Suspect so

Not sure what the E34 Touring had, but by the time the E36 Touring and Compact came along it was on the column stalk

[SpeckledJim]

Leins said:

SpeckledJim said:

I think that's perhaps a legacy of the E30 never having been intended as an estate, so no contingency on the stalks for rear wash-wipe. Are they the same stalks as an E28?

I've no idea actually, must check with a buddy of mine who has an E28 and see. Was the E30 Touring the first BMW then with a rear wash/wipe? Suspect so

Not sure what the E34 Touring had, but by the time the E36 Touring and Compact came along it was on the column stalk

I expect the 1602 2002 had it, but the E30 was only ever intended as 2/4 doors. A BMW Engineer built his own one-off Touring in his own time, caused a huge stir in the work's carpark, and the company bought the design off him. Great story.

(probably not true...)

Edit - after looking at photos of 1602 and 2002 Tourings, I can only see one with a rear wiper, so perhaps a later addition by a fiddler.

Edited by SpeckledJim on Thursday 11th October 12:20

[Leins]

SpeckledJim said:

I expect the 1602 2002 had it, but the E30 was only ever intended as 2/4 doors. A BMW Engineer built his own one-off Touring in his own time, caused a huge stir in the work's carpark, and the company bought the design off him. Great story.

(probably not true...)

Edit - after looking at photos of 1602 and 2002 Tourings, I can only see one with a rear wiper, so perhaps a later addition by a fiddler

I'd love if that was true, but I think this got there first? A Dutch crowd, Luchjenbroers, were knocking these 3-doors out in the mid-80s



And to go off on even more of a nerdy tangent in this thread, I'm wondering if any other car has more wiper blades (7) than my E30 Touring?