Sat Nav - Rate it?

S

SLK Driver

Member
I'm keen to get my coupe with built in sat nav, but well, is it actually any good? I do like the idea of having it inbuilt and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of price difference for car that does or doesnt have it. But realistically, is it worthwhile? I currently use a Garmin 785T which, to be honest, is practically infaillable. Its slick, works well, and as added kudos, has funky 3d models of major buildings.

But, if it gets me there, I'm happy enough, so really, whats the crack? Thanks in advance.
 
If there's no price difference then you might as well have it - especially if it has the bluetooth connectivity as you can pair your phone up to it. Just continue to use you PND instead.
 
Overall, the people with it say it is worth it, those who don't say it's not.

As above if there is no price difference, why go for the one without... easier to sell with Nav.
 
If you get one without you can always retrofit for around £500-600. To be fair the system is now where near as good as a TomTom, but it saves messing around with cables etc, that said I use the TomTom for cruises.

Dealers also not fussed about SatNav either, if it was an X5 they would expect, but it only adds £500 at resale according to two dealers I spoke to, but makes easier to sell maybe.
 
i borrowed a 2008 model 3.0si coupe for nearly 2 weeks which had the factory satnav, and although i liked the pop up screen, i thought it was a bit useless especially if i had paid for it when buying new. if i was looking for a used car, i would defo choose one that had it versus one that didint.
 
It will make it easier to sell, apart from that they are pretty dated, the only good thing i could remember about it was it went of two sensors GPS and one speed sensor so when you went through long tunnels it knew where you were and the fact you could an an Intravee which gives you full ipod control
 
I have it in the Zed and have retrofitted in an X5 and think it's an excellent bit of kit.

Advantages are of course resale value or at least ease to sell. It's integrated and that's it's real strength, no wire, suctions, odd brackets, etc.

It's downside is that any simple Tom Tom will perform as well at a fraction of the cost. DVD are also expensive to upgrade and update.
 
When I bought my roadster last year, the built in sat nav swayed me into buying it over other similar specs. After a couple of months I upgraded the DVD to the latest version.

The inbuilt sat nav has some pros and cons - Pro's for example :Travel updates, built in one system on the dash, covers Europe (not that I use this one!).

But the biggest drawback is the lack of Postcode recognition and you have to input the road and city instead (basically because BMW have to pay a royality or premium for postcode recognition). (the travel information option is useful if you are going to specific hotel or pub).

Where as using the gf's tomtom you can simply just enter postcode and off you go.

In my opinion if you already have a sat nav that works and it gets you from A to B stick with that, plus the touchscreen is a more pleasant experience then having to select each individual destination letter using a knob.

BUt if you do buy it, my first tip would be to change the map direction from 'north' to 'direction of travel' :wink:
 
In cities, the OEM works whilst the TomTom can not get a signal. That was a real pain when driving in New York where I had no signal on the TomTom that I had in the car.

To a lesser extend in London, my OEM system just works there whilst the TomTom can not get signal due to the high buildings.
 
I think its ok, not as good as tom tom, and awkward withotu a touch screen, but the screen is brilliant for the computer, radio, telephone and the intravee.
aRtemis said:
But the biggest drawback is the lack of Postcode recognition and you have to input the road and city instead (basically because BMW have to pay a royality or premium for postcode recognition). (the travel information option is useful if you are going to specific hotel or pub).
Click to expand...

My factory 57 reg with sat nav allows you to enter the post code.
 
aquazi said:
I think its ok, not as good as tom tom, and awkward withotu a touch screen, but the screen is brilliant for the computer, radio, telephone and the intravee.
aRtemis said:
But the biggest drawback is the lack of Postcode recognition and you have to input the road and city instead (basically because BMW have to pay a royality or premium for postcode recognition). (the travel information option is useful if you are going to specific hotel or pub).
Click to expand...

My factory 57 reg with sat nav allows you to enter the post code.
Click to expand...

5 digit postcode not the full 7 digit??
 
built in sat nav was last option on my list, i had 1 on a previous vehicle (mazda), the cd was out of date and to replace it, well it was cheaper to buy a tom tom, also with built in, you can't use it in the other car or lend it to the kids

advantage of the built in, no 1 can pinch it
 
I prefer it without, the dash looks cleaner.
Someone mentioned retrofitting for £5-600, but wouldn't you need a new dashboard also? I thought it fits into the dash?

Just recently sold on eBay an old Navman that I bought in 2005 to fund purchase of a new one. Although non-OEM SatNav units like Tomtom etc have the wires and mount etc, they can be tranfered to other vehicles and of course you can upgrade the whole unit every x years or so. In a few more years time the BMW one will be rather naff, and you're stuck with it. And if it fails out of warranty you'll be paying a lot to replace or have somethiing useless stuck in the dash. Imagine how it'll be in 15 or so years time :).

Pros and cons with both of course.

As a replacement to the Navman I just bought a Garmin 1690 which should be good for another 5 years hopefully
 
pvr said:
To a lesser extend in London, my OEM system just works there whilst the TomTom can not get signal due to the high buildings.
Click to expand...

When it can't get a signal it works out where you are on the map based on speed and distance travelled. The OEM set up has a stronger antenna though so it loses signal less often and acquires it virtually instantly when you start the car. With the latest software updates I don't think it looks 'old' either? Top right direction arrow lets id down a bit LOL but who cares...My old M3 but identical:

DSCF2373.jpg


I put an address in this and it takes me there. It shows me petrol stations and car parks on the way, and it warns me about traffic. Not sure what else I could want....speed camera warnings annoy me so not that! Combined with sucker marks on the screen, recharging, waiting forever for them to acquire satellites, clicking 'yes' to all the disclaimers before I use it etc...I don't like the portables.

Darren M said:
Imagine how it'll be in 15 or so years time :).
Click to expand...

I think we will see a new industry of retrofitters emerge. These guys are already doing it and do a very nice replacement for the E46 set up and some Audis. Shame there isn't one for the Z4 as yet....

http://www.dynavin.com/products/product_dnv_e46.php
 
Critically, not one of you has said that it fails to navigate to locations properly or that it frequently can't find addresses, and thats whats important for me. I'm not too fussed if I have to use a knob / finger / telepathy to enter the address, as long as it finds the address and takes me there.

Its apracticality thing, I use the sat nav three or four times a day, so it needs to be accurate. I suppose I can always keep the garmin in the glove box should the BMW unit let me down.

I really don't like the idea of hacking away the dashboard on a £20k car :o
 
In near 10 years with the X5 and 3 on the Zed the system has only once ever failed to take me to an address (a road of 2 ends split by a park). Back to your opening post was with or without given the price is the same - then imho it's a no brainer to get it unless it compromises something else on your options list.

Retrofit is a whole new game, but 'Hacking away the dashboard' - bit scary - several members have retrofitted and cut the dash without problems.
 
As has been said, the traffic updates are better than TT, and I find the re-routing better than TT and Roadangel.

You can also do a search of a town and look for hotel or other POI and click on 'go there', which is useful. Living in a rural area it lacks detail sometime, but that's the nature of it I suppose. The memorise vehicle location is one I use and although the postcode function isn't available, put in the house number and it'll find it exactly.

Strangely, my address book is in alpha order but starts again half way down. Anyone know why, how to fix?

The screen is also useful for accessing your phone's address book and, in some cases, text messages.
 
What you can't do with an unpatched standard system is add/remove/update POIs without buying a new map, and on mine I can't seem to permanently delete any addresses I've programmed in - they seem to delete but next time I switch it on they're back again.

I've found my built-in unit to be unreliable, but not in finding an address. It just doesn't always remember the location you've programmed in.
Sometimes you'll stop for petrol/break and come back to it, you press the option to continue navigating, about 10 minutes later (into a 4 hour journey) you'll notice it's taking you in the wrong direction and you'll still not be sure whether it's just rerouting you around traffic or has found a short-cut until you realise you're actually heading to it's starting position.

I use it now for fun to see which of the two systems routes best around traffic and up to now it's been the TomTom, but that might be because mine has the IQ Routes function which takes you on different routes based on your historical driving pattern for that route and for the time of the day - e.g. it will route you through the M6 Toll between 6am & 9am on a weekday but will happily keep you on the M6 any other time.

The only downsides to my TomTom (other PNDs are available) are having to remember to remove it from the car, and not leaving any evidence of having one (e.g. sucker marks), but I've found it sticks quite well to the piano black trim anyway.
 
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