2011 E89 30i Retrofit Navigation

[CaptainMusick]

My father just purchased 2011 BMW Z4 Sdrive30i that did not come with navigation. I found the link below. Is this sort of a plug and play application? or is there a lot more to it than that?

http://www.icarpart.com/2009-2013-bmw-z ... gJSKPD_BwE

[markplant]

I'd guess that's just for the screen, so there will be other parts required

[CaptainMusick]

Do you what other parts would be needed?

[greg81]

I'd imagine you're looking for a full CIC retrofit. You'll need the screen , head unit, controller and GPS antenna. Maybe more. Not sure

http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/store/ind ... duct_id=56

That may be overkill to be fair. Not sure if there's a cheaper unit for retrofit

[CaptainMusick]

greg81, I saw that, but I was hoping their would be a cheaper alternative. 2 grand seems extremely pricey for an almost 8 year old navigation system

[Smartbear]

greg81, I saw that, but I was hoping their would be a cheaper alternative. 2 grand seems extremely pricey for an almost 8 year old navigation system

Hi, it’s less hassle to sell your car & purchase another one with nav fitted
Rob

[ronk]

greg81, I saw that, but I was hoping their would be a cheaper alternative. 2 grand seems extremely pricey for an almost 8 year old navigation system

Hi, it’s less hassle to sell your car & purchase another one with nav fitted
Rob

+1 for that advice - and buy a TomTom/Garmin with a decent mounting system.
Most people don't need a Nav System every day so the portable systems do the job nicely for the occasional times you need one.

[CaptainMusick]

If retrofitting is doable at a reasonable cost then I feel that is the way to go. As far as selling the car, this is my dad's that he just purchased. Let me tell ya guys, asking him to sell and repurchase won't yield any results. It was hard enough for him to convince my mother to let him get this one.

[ronk]

----- It was hard enough for him to convince my mother to let him get this one.

Yes - Ive heard that before (in my house) - Im now on No.3

[Phoenixboy]

greg81, I saw that, but I was hoping their would be a cheaper alternative. 2 grand seems extremely pricey for an almost 8 year old navigation system

Hi, it’s less hassle to sell your car & purchase another one with nav fitted
Rob

+1 for that advice - and buy a TomTom/Garmin with a decent mounting system.
Most people don't need a Nav System every day so the portable systems do the job nicely for the occasional times you need one.

Lack of nav has never bothered me.
Rarely need it, just something else to go wrong.
Keep a garmin in the glovebox.
Use it maybe twice a year
I drive purely for pleasure, so don’t need a sat nav to tell me were to go

[Nick9one1]

Factory Nav isn't worth it at all - the system really is c*ap (I have it).

Its slow
you have to buy maps every year (or twice a year if you want to keep it completely up to date)
ETA calculation is poor
Route calculation is poor
traffic/accident avoidance is poor to non existent

I drive an hour commute 3 times a week from Newark to Nottingham. The traffic is bad so rely purely on google maps to suggest the fastest route. So far I've driven 5 different routes as it know exactly where the heavy traffic is.
The factory Nav would have taken the same route every time (I've tried). It doesn't seem to route you around traffic, even though it supposedly knows where it is.

Even for longer routes google maps wins. I regularly avoid bad accidents/traffic. - The factory nav would drive me straight into it.

[djstan]

Yes - Ive heard that before (in my house) - Im now on No.3

Wife or car?

[djstan]

Factory Nav isn't worth it at all - the system really is c*ap (I have it).

Its slow
you have to buy maps every year (or twice a year if you want to keep it completely up to date)
ETA calculation is poor
Route calculation is poor
traffic/accident avoidance is poor to non existent

I drive an hour commute 3 times a week from Newark to Nottingham. The traffic is bad so rely purely on google maps to suggest the fastest route. So far I've driven 5 different routes as it know exactly where the heavy traffic is.
The factory Nav would have taken the same route every time (I've tried). It doesn't seem to route you around traffic, even though it supposedly knows where it is.

Even for longer routes google maps wins. I regularly avoid bad accidents/traffic. - The factory nav would drive me straight into it.

Not sure I agree entirely with this view, although you're right that it doesn't always have the latest traffic knowledge as it uses a much older technology that relies on traffic information being broadcast inaudibly on the radio (generally Classic FM). You're comparing technology that is roughly 10 years apart; it's a no-brainer that the new technology is going to win out.

However, for general guidance and a rough ETA, I think it's just fine - it's taken us all over Europe (without data or roaming charges) without any fuss on maps from 2014. In the interest of fairness I'm probably going to get my maps updated next year at its next service though

Edit to say that although I am defending the built-in nav, I agree it's not worth retrofitting. A Garmin or TomTom will cost nowhere near as much

[Zed Baron]

totally agree that the sat nav is now not leading edge but its all the other things that the iDrive does, pdc monitor, music navigation (do the non iDrive models have the built in hard drive?), dvd player etc. I would prefer an E89 with it than without it.