Buttons Are Still The Best For Adjusting Settings In Cars

Photo: Jalopnik / José Rodríguez Jr.

Daylight saving time ended on Sunday, meaning we gained an hour as most of the U.S. fell back to standard time. Smartphones and computers (as well as many internet connected devices) automatically rolled back an hour, but a lot of our cars didn’t. I had to change the time on my old BMW’s clock this morning, and it was a joy to press the little buttons on the dash. I remembered that even when they are laughably simple, buttons are the best for changing any settings.

2023 Range Rover Sport | Quick Drive

The digital clock in my BMW 318ti is easy to write off. It almost looks like a joke. Like a dummy device that’s only meant to give the appearance of a thing while being just a placeholder. Indeed, there is an onboard computer listed in parts diagrams of the E36/5, but my “Digital Clock” (part no. 62138362857) was one of the onboard electronics across other BMW 3-Series and Z3 models.

Photo: Jalopnik / José Rodríguez Jr.

If you look at a picture of it from ECS or Turner Motorsport, then you’ll see how remarkably dumb the clock looks. There’s an amber dot-matrix display on the front and just two buttons. The “H” and “M” buttons change the hour and minute. One press corresponds to a single value. You press until you get to the number you want. But it’s so easy, you can do it without looking at the display, say, if the light turns green or if traffic advances.

There’s no need to fumble with a touchscreen. No need to read a series of prompts or go digging into settings. The digital clock only looks dumb, but it’s no dumber than it needs to be. In other words, it’s perfect — best suited to its simple task of showing the time while being capable of accepting input from humans to relay information, which needs adjusting once in a while.

So, this morning on my commute, I was at a light. I noticed the time was an hour ahead and I pressed the “H” button until I cycled to the right hour. It took a few presses to get there, but all I had to do was slightly depress the button and bam! Standard time.

The buttons are not flat; they’re shaped so that your fingers rest comfortably as you press. It’s just a joy to use. I’m not looking forward to March 12, when we go back to daylight saving time and “lose” an hour. But at least adjusting my car’s clock won’t be a pain. God, I love buttons.