I'm trying to decide if Nav is worth the extra cost. I currently have a Garmin C330 thats portable but thought when I buy a Z, I might as well get the factory NAV. What do you guys think? Is the Nav user friendly, is it touch screen, voice activated. Everytime I go to test drive a Z with NAV, the disk is never in there.
Is the NAV worth the extra cost?
- Thread starter kappa88af
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I think it is worth it, but I like to keep my cabin clean of "stuff". I hate having lots of wires and cables and power supplies and stuff flapping around every time I drive through the twisties.
Is is not touch screen.
It is not voice activated. (voice is a lousy Human Interface to a Machine, IMHO)
Portable Nav will always be cheaper.
Portable Nav will have cool new features that BMW will never give you.
Portable Nav can be easily stolen from you car unless you put it away when you park.
The Nav in my car valiantly led me on a 4200 mile cross-country drive. The only "bad behavior" was that it refused to guide me on a road that is usually "Closed in Winter" [according to the paper maps I had]. I was driving there in July. The road was open, but the Nav has no way of knowing that. The Nav wanted me to drive 200 miles out of my way to avoid that road.
Is is not touch screen.
It is not voice activated. (voice is a lousy Human Interface to a Machine, IMHO)
Portable Nav will always be cheaper.
Portable Nav will have cool new features that BMW will never give you.
Portable Nav can be easily stolen from you car unless you put it away when you park.
The Nav in my car valiantly led me on a 4200 mile cross-country drive. The only "bad behavior" was that it refused to guide me on a road that is usually "Closed in Winter" [according to the paper maps I had]. I was driving there in July. The road was open, but the Nav has no way of knowing that. The Nav wanted me to drive 200 miles out of my way to avoid that road.
Integrated would be my preferance, no messing with wires, it's always there and has better signal, is integrated into your sound system etc etc etc - but it comes at a price
Having used tomtom and the like for years, cars with integrated systems are always nicer to use.
You pays ya money and makes your choice
Having used tomtom and the like for years, cars with integrated systems are always nicer to use.
You pays ya money and makes your choice
Definately worth the money, also a must have for resale IMHO. there are a lot of second hand z4s without sat nav so it will put your's above the rest. the oem look is a big plus (for me anyway). also a tv function is another optional extra that's available with the sat nav screen. again i haven't seen many z4s with this option.
I had a £2000 Alpine system in my last car and the only feature i really miss is the full postcode entry. i don't miss the touch screen.
if you get an older z4 you can get an upgrade CD on eBay for only £5 to get the sat nav software up to the latest. the best feature this gives is a perspective view.
I had a £2000 Alpine system in my last car and the only feature i really miss is the full postcode entry. i don't miss the touch screen.
if you get an older z4 you can get an upgrade CD on eBay for only £5 to get the sat nav software up to the latest. the best feature this gives is a perspective view.
Agreed - when I was buying my Zed, Pro-Nav was one option that I was not going to do without. Every car for sale - no matter how good - wasn't going to get looked at unless it had Nav.gadgetJunky72 said:
Mrs F could hardly drive out of the car park without it and hates the look of TomTom type things stuck to the window and wires hanging around.
I did not have it on the 3.0, and I retrofitted the OEM version as I was getting very annoyed with the portable versions (always putting it in the boot, forgetting to get it out again, moving about on the dash)
Also, with the OEM version you get more computer options as well as the extended radio functions.
Also, if you have an iPod, it will display and control the music from the nav screen which is nice.
The navigation of the phone functions is great as well. Address book scrolling is quick and easy. Who is calling you is displayed on the screen.
That is why I ordered it again now as factory option on my M
Also, with the OEM version you get more computer options as well as the extended radio functions.
Also, if you have an iPod, it will display and control the music from the nav screen which is nice.
The navigation of the phone functions is great as well. Address book scrolling is quick and easy. Who is calling you is displayed on the screen.
That is why I ordered it again now as factory option on my M
I agree with you. I specifically ordered my Z4MC without the Nav. My reasons were twofold:WLH said:
1) It's not the sort of car you do a lot of commuting with -- we have a 320 Cd for that...
2) I intend to keep the car for about 3 years by which time the Nav will be a generation out of date. I really can't believe it will affect resale after that amount of time. Like it doesn't matter any more if your car has a 6CD or a 12CD autochanger -- everyone rips them out for iPod interfaces.
Of course, I may regret this decision come resale but I reckon I've saved £1700 already...
I have GPS in the BMW. I use the Garmin Nuvi 360 in the Infiniti. I prefer the BMW's system because I do not have to take the GPS off when I park for fear of having my car broken into.
That being said - the Garmin is superior to BMW's navigation system. It is easier to upgrade maps, it has a better colour scheme and the maps are more detailed.
That being said - the Garmin is superior to BMW's navigation system. It is easier to upgrade maps, it has a better colour scheme and the maps are more detailed.
A
Anonymous
Guest
While I agree the integrated Sat Nav always looks better than the portables, it is about a decade behind technologically and frankly frustrates me that my AU$500 TomTom is leaps and bounds better than my AU$5600 BMW Sat Nav..
The list of shortcomings on BMW Nav is large:
-No touchscreen
-Poor quality map image
- Virtually impossible to drag and browse a map
- Points of Interest implementation HORRIFIC...convoluted and difficult to navigate
- Can't add POI easily (eg speed cameras)
-Guidance voice nowhere near as good as TomTom
-Routing choices questionable very frequenly
- Lacks many many other features
What it does have going for it is beautiful integration to the car...
If only BMW got a third party to integrate their Nav into the next Z4....but instead they are sticking to their own (and highly criticised iDrive) which by the time of release will put the integrated Nav even further behind
:thumbsdown:
The list of shortcomings on BMW Nav is large:
-No touchscreen
-Poor quality map image
- Virtually impossible to drag and browse a map
- Points of Interest implementation HORRIFIC...convoluted and difficult to navigate
- Can't add POI easily (eg speed cameras)
-Guidance voice nowhere near as good as TomTom
-Routing choices questionable very frequenly
- Lacks many many other features
What it does have going for it is beautiful integration to the car...
If only BMW got a third party to integrate their Nav into the next Z4....but instead they are sticking to their own (and highly criticised iDrive) which by the time of release will put the integrated Nav even further behind
:thumbsdown:
I already wrote a long answer in the other forum this question was posted in but will sum it up in short order here - if you can afford it do both. :dance2:
I like having the onboard GPS that always knows where I am and can quickly route me to somewhere I need to go, but the one situation I need a GPS the most is when I fly into some unknown city and have to drive a rental somewhere for meetings/class.
I love being able to sit down at my computer at home and mark all the places I will need to go once I hit the ground and then dump it into the GPS and drop it in my luggage. Pop it out on the dash after I get the rental car and tell it to stash the location (to return the car later) and then punch up my first destination and ask for a route. Pretty hard to do that with my built in version on my Z4. My coupe doesn't quite fit in the suitcase
I like having the onboard GPS that always knows where I am and can quickly route me to somewhere I need to go, but the one situation I need a GPS the most is when I fly into some unknown city and have to drive a rental somewhere for meetings/class.
I love being able to sit down at my computer at home and mark all the places I will need to go once I hit the ground and then dump it into the GPS and drop it in my luggage. Pop it out on the dash after I get the rental car and tell it to stash the location (to return the car later) and then punch up my first destination and ask for a route. Pretty hard to do that with my built in version on my Z4. My coupe doesn't quite fit in the suitcase
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Anonymous
Guest
Ahh then you know what I'm talking aboutenfield said:drzed
My Garmin has a sexy female Australian accent!!
Hmm picturing a blonde with golden brown skin in a bikini on an Australian beach reading out your navigation instructions....and then they say it's speed that causes accidents 
WLH said:
I also like the mobility of a Tom Tom - have used it for 2 European trips now, and find it very useful, along with some good old fashioned maps, to be able to have the sat nav up in your hotel room while you plan your route and itinerary, rather than having to sit in the car to do this.
Can also plug into your PC and add all sorts of extras, eg updated speed cameras, extra POI's.
Indeed - that is the reason that I will get a TomTom as well as my OEM system. OEM is great for travelling as it is much faster in computing and much bigger screen / better visibility then a TomTom.
However, on our frequent cruises I miss the itinery capability, so I will use both
However, on our frequent cruises I miss the itinery capability, so I will use both
here's my 2 pennies ... i have never owned a car w/ nav, but ...
i travel with friends with portable gps and they are all happy with it, yes, having a sexy female "companion" is nice and i think the portable one is cheaper and still does the job
so no you don't need it, BUT i agree with AlanL, if you can afford it, may as well get both
i travel with friends with portable gps and they are all happy with it, yes, having a sexy female "companion" is nice and i think the portable one is cheaper and still does the job
so no you don't need it, BUT i agree with AlanL, if you can afford it, may as well get both
Personally, I wouldn't go for the $ to have the car come with Nav. However, I just did buy myself a toy, the Garmin Nuvi 350. I'm still in the process of fully installing it, but let me tell you where I'm at and how satisfied I am.
I got a car mounting clip from ProClip, around $35 including shipping. The clip ismate- black plastic and clips into the separation between the lower vinyl part of the dash and the aluminum upper part, just to the right of the a/c control. The bottom part of the clip hooks into the panel below the a/c assembly. This is easy to do and in no way mars the dash; and being black it fits into the decor rather nicely. The clip is angled towards you, it is small and quite unobstrusive. I took the black self-sticking Nuvi mounting disk and adhered it to the face of the clip. The Nuvi is mounted to its windshield bracket and the bracket suctions to the clip. It is easy enough to dismount the Nuvi-windshield bracket and transfer to another car's windshield. BTW, the Nuvi is silver and matches the aluminum dash very nicely. Furthermore, the ergometrics and functionality of this set up are perfect! The set up in no way interferes with the passenger's comfort and is very easily managed from the driving position. Of course, if you passenger acts as a co-pilot, the Nuvi can be easily turned towards them for thier use.
As I said I'm not finished with the install, as the Nuvi is now working on its battery. As soon as the heat/humidity here in SoFL abates, I'll be installing the hardwire aspect. Simply put, I've gotten a 12v adapter recepticle and will plug in the Nuvi's power cord into it. This is rather bulky and will sit in the glove box (would have liked to put the adapter/plu combination somewheres in the fuse box area, but there jsut isn't enough room). One wire from the 12v adapter will go into the fuse box and the other wire will go to a ground (all hidden from view). The Nuvi's power cord USB will snake out of the glove box, run under the dash and hook into the back of the Nuvi. Once again, all wires will be hidden except for a little bit of black wire that will eminate from under the dash into the Nuvi. I know some will say that I could easily use the Nuvi's power cord and just put the power plug into the cig lighter, but that's no fun and how ghetto can you get?
I got a car mounting clip from ProClip, around $35 including shipping. The clip ismate- black plastic and clips into the separation between the lower vinyl part of the dash and the aluminum upper part, just to the right of the a/c control. The bottom part of the clip hooks into the panel below the a/c assembly. This is easy to do and in no way mars the dash; and being black it fits into the decor rather nicely. The clip is angled towards you, it is small and quite unobstrusive. I took the black self-sticking Nuvi mounting disk and adhered it to the face of the clip. The Nuvi is mounted to its windshield bracket and the bracket suctions to the clip. It is easy enough to dismount the Nuvi-windshield bracket and transfer to another car's windshield. BTW, the Nuvi is silver and matches the aluminum dash very nicely. Furthermore, the ergometrics and functionality of this set up are perfect! The set up in no way interferes with the passenger's comfort and is very easily managed from the driving position. Of course, if you passenger acts as a co-pilot, the Nuvi can be easily turned towards them for thier use.
As I said I'm not finished with the install, as the Nuvi is now working on its battery. As soon as the heat/humidity here in SoFL abates, I'll be installing the hardwire aspect. Simply put, I've gotten a 12v adapter recepticle and will plug in the Nuvi's power cord into it. This is rather bulky and will sit in the glove box (would have liked to put the adapter/plu combination somewheres in the fuse box area, but there jsut isn't enough room). One wire from the 12v adapter will go into the fuse box and the other wire will go to a ground (all hidden from view). The Nuvi's power cord USB will snake out of the glove box, run under the dash and hook into the back of the Nuvi. Once again, all wires will be hidden except for a little bit of black wire that will eminate from under the dash into the Nuvi. I know some will say that I could easily use the Nuvi's power cord and just put the power plug into the cig lighter, but that's no fun and how ghetto can you get?
I have professional nav with TV option. I don't like the fact that every time you do something to the stereo like, change CD, turn it on, change mode etc, the display pops up. I would prefer when using the stereo that it stayed down unless you wanted it up. I would then expect it to pop up when pressing the right hand button (nav, computer button etc) rather than the stereo on / off button. I do however like the fact that if it's down when you switch off it stays down when you switch ignition on and visa versa.
Other than that, it's great and the TV is great for those moments when you realize you're not going to make it home in time for a program and get a KFC and watch it in the car instead. TV is a great option to have in a car already, but I'm not sure I would pay for it as an option if buying new. I would pay for the nav though, despite TomTom getting better all the time.
The only thing I would say about resale is, the more time passes, the more outdated they will become.
Other than that, it's great and the TV is great for those moments when you realize you're not going to make it home in time for a program and get a KFC and watch it in the car instead. TV is a great option to have in a car already, but I'm not sure I would pay for it as an option if buying new. I would pay for the nav though, despite TomTom getting better all the time.
The only thing I would say about resale is, the more time passes, the more outdated they will become.
