Sat Nav glitch

[ronk]

I took the then new 35is to Germany last year. Just before i went away I had a bmw dash cam fitted. In the UK the sat nav had previosly worked without a hitch however when I got off the ferry it could not see my location and spent its entire time looking for road out of the Uk port.

The problem (bmw say) was a antenna conflict which they have now resolved.
Tomorrow we sail for Europe , with a geriatric TomTom in the cubby.

I hope the car unit works this time. I still don’t know with 100% certainty if the dash cam set up was / is the culprit so what do I say to them if it doesn’t work this time?

 

[Chris_D]

....so what do I say to them if it doesn’t work this time?

'Can I have a refund pleeez?' ?

 

[ronk]

....so what do I say to them if it doesn’t work this time?

'Can I have a refund pleeez?' ?

They fitted one in her 335 foc and that worked when we went to France in April - but the sat Nav in that car had previously worked in Europe - the sat nav in the Z4 had never been tested!

Is the sat Nav defective or has the dash cam antenna caused the problem ? One thing for certain I will find out on Monday morning in Amsterdam!

If it doesn’t work they will need to prove that their fix, whatever it is, works. I’m not prepared to go away for a third year and find it’s kapput - so send me on the ferry to prove!

 

[Chris_D]

....so what do I say to them if it doesn’t work this time?

'Can I have a refund pleeez?' ?

They fitted one in her 335 foc and that worked when we went to France in April - but the sat Nav in that car had previously worked in Europe - the sat nav in the Z4 had never been tested!

Is the sat Nav defective or has the dash cam antenna caused the problem ? One thing for certain I will find out on Monday morning in Amsterdam!

If it doesn’t work they will need to prove that their fix, whatever it is, works. I’m not prepared to go away for a third year and find it’s kapput - so send me on the ferry to prove!

You're gonna drive into the centre of amsterdam? And then hope to find a parking space? Good luck with that!
Tip: theyre tow-nazis in amst so make sure if u park on the street at a meter spot that ur back on time. They dont take coins either.
Id suggest one of the park and ride spots on the outskirts.

Cant help with ur satnav situation. Good luck!

 

[ronk]

Fortunately the Amsterdam ring road!
They are that bad?

 

[djstan]

How's the Sat Nav?

 

[ronk]

Arrived Monday morning and after a pregnant pause it got a lock and I put the first stop into the system.

After about 30miles she suddenly said quite firmly to take the next exit on the right ( we were on the A3 near Schipol)
The road and exit were displayed on the screen so I hadn’t misheard her.

Thinking she knew something I didn’t I obeyed - but it was a road that certainly wasn’t on my route.

I turned back at the first roundabout and back tracked- it went bananas - and seemed to loose a lock .

In a few minutes - it locked on again and it’s not put a foot wrong since.

Im not 100% confident just yet and doubt I ever will be.

 

[ronk]

It mis behaved again in the Netherlands on the way to Ijmuiden - I was able to get a few iPhone photos this time.

 

[Anonymous]

As someone who has spent over 25 years messing with GPS systems, and given the lack of other users issues, it’s almost certainly something to do with the camera and it’s hardware...however the only simple solution is either live with the fact that it goes rogue when you need it most or replace the camera..

Beyond that the only way to fix it is to start swapping bits out like the GPS aerial until the fault disappears...most likely either crappy wiring, crappy camera, or duff gps aerial...

If you look how it should be done you should have at least 30 cm apart in the same plane and if they can see each other 3-5 metres..

The trouble these days is that the hardware , number of satellites, augmented support and multi gnss chips mean they work where really they shouldn’t...

 

[ronk]

I was near Schipol airport and im starting to wonder if it is their powerful navigation and guidance systems swamping it?

I have never taken this car to Europe before so I’m unsure if the system works even without the interference of the dash cam kit ?

 

[Anonymous]

I was near Schipol airport and im starting to wonder if it is their powerful navigation and guidance systems swamping it?

I have never taken this car to Europe before so I’m unsure if the system works even without the interference of the dash cam kit ?

There are a myriad of interference effects, cross modulation, harmonic interference, de sentisation and many others that arise when signals from disparate sources come together together with onward un intended re transmission so it could be just the straw that breaks the camel’s back..

In the early days of aircraft gps systems so many things kept going wrong that it impeded the general use of gps in aviation by about 10 years...

It’s only due to the fact that the systems were fitted to new aircraft that were clean that made the problems recede..

The best one I had was when I was testing an aviation unit in my car along with its sister...suddenly whilst stationary one unit accelerated to over 700 mph and was last seen heading over Biscay whilst I was still in Cambridge..s**t happens..

 

[ronk]

Thanks - that gives me something to hit them with!

It looks to me as if the pukka BMW badged dash cam system isn’t compatible with the Z4 - the antenna for the sat Nav is in the area of the interior lamp assy I’m told.

 

[djstan]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I thought it may be of some use to know I've just driven around France and Belgium in my E89 without any GPS issues at all - the GPS updated within a few mins of driving off the Eurotunnel train (and likewise when we returned to the UK yesterday) and didn't have any weird moments like you mentioned.

What about temporarily losing the camera and seeing what happens?

 

[ronk]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread but I thought it may be of some use to know I've just driven around France and Belgium in my E89 without any GPS issues at all - the GPS updated within a few mins of driving off the Eurotunnel train (and likewise when we returned to the UK yesterday) and didn't have any weird moments like you mentioned.

What about temporarily losing the camera and seeing what happens?

I did think of removing the antenna but the techie at BMW said it wouldn’t have helped - that puzzled me as well.
However since the events on holiday they broke my mk1 sat nav and have replace it with their mk2 version with an internal antenna.
Now I have to wait until next August to see what works.