That box sticking out of dashboard is one of the most retarded things I've ever seen in a German car.

I'd take the bottom picture any day. Is that the newer or older one? Although the LED strips are stupid.

The top pic I saw in the showroom and I really didn't like it.

In the name of $DEITY: WHY? I would pick without thinking the car without the child tablet attached to it, too. We will be forced to switch to this kind of stupid cars by regulation, or planned obsolescence, not by choice.

Not entirely regulation and planned obsolescence but because cost. Coding in the climate controls on the touch screen has a fixed cost that doesn't really increase with each car built. Adding multiple physical buttons, does. Even if each button costs cents to make.

Note what did not change. The pedals and steering wheel are identical. Someone at BMW still knows what quality means.