[crote]

Cars used to have modular buttons. It was very common to have a couple of blanks in your infotainment cluster.

The problem is that it still requires custom per-feature assembly. A single car model needs a dozen different button configs, with a dozen different wiring harnesses. That's a lot more expensive than a simple one-size-fits-all touch screen you install into literally every single car and configure with a software flag.

[Terr_]

AFAICT those were generally modular per trim level, and mainly involved excluding features at lower trims.

What I mean is something that is modular per-manufacturer or maybe even across manufacturers, where customization comes from the arrangement in a grid and what is pumped through each control's little display screen to identify its purpose and status.

> A single car model needs a dozen different button configs, with a dozen different wiring harnesses.

That seems to assume every button/dial will have a direct connection, but I'm thinking the harness would terminate in the block-of-sockets, which would be reprogrammable with logic like: "Analog input in socket 1 controls resistance on wires A and D with the following mapping. When value is in this range, show this picture."

The motivating idea here is: "Can we keep a variety of physical controls while making them cheaper, more-functional, and easier to repair?"

[reaperducer]

Cars used to have modular buttons. It was very common to have a couple of blanks in your infotainment cluster.

My brand-new luxury-brand EV still has blanks. Not all trim levels get the rear fog lights, or a few other things I can't remember. Also, they're used for buttons related to adding the towing package.

[hadlock]

Not all markets get all features at top trim levels. A top trim level 5 series in Malaysia is pretty close to the US base model 3 series (plastic trim panels vs wood or textured metal), whereas China sometimes has long wheelbase chassis available, and occasionally you can order power window shades and self closing doors. Even the US doesn't get LWB option here in the states (it's great though, your kid can't kick the back of your seat until they're almost 4)