[M_Six]

I've read some articles about folks buying slightly older used cars because they don't want the newer "assistive" technology on the newest cars. What "features" of your current car would you rather not have?

On my GLC300:

1. The butt ugly info screen. It literally looks like someone glued an iPad to the dash as an afterthought. It's mostly useless in my car because the original owner didn't spring for navigation. I can see audio settings and vehicle settings, but it isn't useful for anything else. And unlike the screen on my former C300, where you could set the screen to just show the time, with my GLC300 you have to settle for some screen you'll never use. I can turn the system off, but then the Bluetooth phone system doesn't work, which is silly.

2. The center console where the gear selector *should* be is taken up by a mouse-like device and a twist knob which change menus and such on the aforementioned screen. Both pretty much do the same thing. And both are unnecessary and clunky.

3. The gear selector is some jackass engineer's mind game. It's where the wiper controls on any other car would be. And the shifter won't let you choose a gear until you are stomping on the brake pedal. With any other car I can start the car and be in the gear I want in 2 seconds. With this car I have to wait until the warning on the info screen goes away and then it might let me choose a gear if I'm putting enough pressure on the brake and the doors are closed. If the driver's door is open even a crack, the electronic parking brake won't release. When I drive my wife's car, I'm constantly turning on the wipers because I'm so used to hitting that stick to get the car in gear.

4. Collision avoidance. The little red triangles in the side view mirrors to warn of vehicles in your blind spots are ok. But the sensors in the front bumpers pick up every mailbox and garbage bin I drive by, but miss things like vehicles turning in front of me.

5. Keyless entry and start. I can lock my car by just touching the outside of the door handles. But more often than not, the car gets locked because I accidentally brush the door handle. And for some odd reason, the unlock feature refuses to work for my wife. Plus the keyless start system will work if the key is close enough to the car, but not necessarily in the car. So it's possible to start the car without having your keys. Wifey has a key to my car. If I'm taking her to work, my car will start whether or not I have my key with me. So when she jumps out at the office and I head off, I'm screwed if the engine dies or I turn the car off at a store on the way home.

6. Rain sensing wipers. All my BMWs had decent rain sensing wipers. The rain sensing wipers on the two MBs I've owned have sucked. MB needs to up their game there.

I think the ideal balance of tech and driving pleasure in a cars I've owned were in my 2001 E39 and 2001 E38. Stick a modern hands-free phone system in those cars and they'd be perfect.

And speaking of cars of that era...BMWs had fresh air vents in the center of the dash so you could crank the defroster and still have cool air blowing on your face. You could even warm the incoming air a bit if needed. Pure brilliance. I don't know if the newer BMWs still have that vent, but they should be standard in every car.