Nav or not

[ptack]

I keep a Garmin in the glove box and only use it occasionally so for me the nav system would have been a lot of money for little use.

[135]

I am looking to buy a 135i and would prefer fixed nav screen with iDrive2. Buying used, you don't have to pay the $2500 premium, and it can later be used as a selling point, especially iDrive2.

[135]

Originally Posted by panoz7

I have iDrive in my car. The nav routing seems a little weird, and the learning curve can be steep, but overall I like it.

For me the one killer feature is the ability to send destinations to the car via google maps (on desktop or phone). I hate typing in destinations, and I much prefer google's POI database to any nav system's that I've used.

Note that there's two different versions of iDrive in our 1ers. The 2008 models (and possible some early 2009 builds?) use an earlier version of idrive and have a screen that rotates closed. Later models have a newer version with a fixed screen and more buttons around the iDrive controller.

How do you send destinations to the car via Google Maps?

I believe, in Australia, 2008 MY09 can be optioned with iDrive2 & fixed nav screen, but to complicated the issue, some 2009 and 2010 also come with the pop-up nav screen (and, gerenally, no iDrive).
So, if anyone is looking for nav/iDrive, they would probably prefer to find a car with with fixed nav screen & iDrive2 - best chance is 2009 onwards.

[135]

Originally Posted by dorkdog

My wife and I have both had cars with nav - and it has turned out that if you want to update it costs more than it would cost to purchase a top-level Garmin - so no, we no longer want factory NAV on our cars. I would instead purchase the integrated Garmin thingy BMW has, I think.

My Garmin is hard wired; a hardwire is planned for our Santa Fe (which has outdated nav).

Is the integrated Garmin the same as the hardwired?

[135]

Originally Posted by Vigilante375

I got Nav in my 135i but I didn't want it. ... It's only taken me to my destination 2 times out of the 4 or 5 times we've used it and it's not that great of a Nav neither. It doesn't say certain things like portable Nav's do, like your destination is on the left or stay left at the fork.

... Save the extra $$$ it takes to get a car, new or used, and buy a portable GPS.

You could sell your portable GPS every couple of years and buy a new portable GPS way cheaper than it cost to buy the updates.

At this stage, I have only test driven a 2008 135i with pop-up nav screen and it didn't seem that great, at least not compared to my Garmin 1390T, which seems to have quite a lot more functions (it was the top of the line at the time - and it has lifetime map updates!). So I'd consider continuing using my Garmin but I don't really like how it is suctioned to the windscreen, which is why I would consider the built-in nav. But I might be interested in the integrated/hardwired Garmin option, depending on what it involves.

[135]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I would stay FAR away from the 2008 nav but the 2009+ system is pretty nice. I you plan to use it exclusively as a navigation unit, it's a huge waste of money since that aspect is probably the worst feature, but the idrive system is otherwise indispensable in my opinion. If you use your iPod for music, navigation is a snap and the vehicle info is excellent. I actually like the traffic info and find it to be about 75% accurate. Each time I get a base model 3 series as a loaner, I miss the idrive the most for my daily uses. I would definitely seek it out as you rarely have people bitching that they got it, unless they rely heavily on the actualy navigation feature.

Excluding nav and traffic info, what do you regularly use the iDrive for? What are the extra buttons on iDrive 2? From all accounts, the iDrive2 is far better, so I would be interested in your opinion.

[Boosted_N54]

Originally Posted by KingOfJericho

I would stay FAR away from the 2008 nav but the 2009+ system is pretty nice. I you plan to use it exclusively as a navigation unit, it's a huge waste of money since that aspect is probably the worst feature, but the idrive system is otherwise indispensable in my opinion. If you use your iPod for music, navigation is a snap and the vehicle info is excellent. I actually like the traffic info and find it to be about 75% accurate. Each time I get a base model 3 series as a loaner, I miss the idrive the most for my daily uses. I would definitely seek it out as you rarely have people bitching that they got it, unless they rely heavily on the actualy navigation feature.

and why would you stay "FAR" away???

i have 2008 135i IDrive nav never had a problem works great. traffic info is 80% accurate most of the time which is good

[Neon01]

I love the new ('09+) nav system. It rarely gets me from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible (Google is much better), but it's great for what it is. Probably the best feature about it is just being able to glance up and take a look at the local road system if you're in unfamiliar territory. I use this all the time during spirited back roads drives within an hour of my house. The roads here in northern MD and southern PA can get a little convoluted - which is great for the kind of driving I'm trying to do, but it means that a map that travels with me is pretty much indispensable. Also, it's great for giving me a decent idea of what "fun" roads are coming up if I'm just aimlessly driving.

I didn't realize how much I depended on this until I started doing the same drives when I got my S2k. I really did feel "lost". Not REALLY lost, of course, as I can always pull out my iphone and use it to get home, but that's not very user friendly in a car.

I guess the Garmin units - I used to have one 5-6 years ago - will do the job, and are probably a lot cheaper, but they feel cheap to me, and the new system has a great high res aesthetic that ties into the car nicely. Plus, I don't have to worry about pulling the built-in nav off the windshield and putting it away to guard against thieves when I park someplace public. Also, as maligned as the iDrive system is, I LOVE the fact that it's not a touchscreen. As a result, the screen doesn't get all smudged from finger oils, and it is partially shadowed and protected from the sun, since it doesn't have to be front and center to be accessible. Not to mention it's much safer and easier (right at your fingertips where your hand rests) to use the little wheel than to have to lean over and use a touchscreen. My wife's Sienna has the touchscreen built in, and I hate it with a passion.

One other thing I like about the nav, even if I'm not traveling far - like into Baltimore or DC - is the "take me home" functionality. I can get on the road in a hurry to beat rush hour traffic when I'm leaving a business meeting and just use the nav to get me back on the highway very quickly. Again, Garmins would do this too, but the OEM nav is much faster than having to reinstall the garmin on my dash and turn it on, wait for it to power up, acquire signal, then tell it to go home. My garmin (again, an older one) was extremely slow, maybe they're better now.

And that's just the actual nav benefits. There are many others that I really like -
1. Huge lists of MP3s on a USB or ipod are pretty much useless and inaccessible without a large screen to be able to display them all. My aftermarket Pioneer head unit in my S2k with USB playback has proven this to me.
2. Features like PDC are far more useful with a visual.
3. I find it much more intuitive to interact with car control features like the automatic venting, vehicle diagnostics, and computer (consumption, range, etc) with a large display
4. (at least on the E9X 3-series), the non-Nav stereos do not display correctly when viewed with Polarized glasses (this is a big one for me). The entire display disappears with my Revos on. Not positive if this is the case on the E82.
5. Phone book lists for bluetooth are much more usable when you're able to display several listings simultaneously.
6. DVD playback when parked. Yeah, it's of limited use, but it's still cool when my wife is taking forever and I want to watch a few minutes of Arrested Development or something to keep me entertained.

There are probably others, but those are off the top of my head. When looking for a used 135i, it's not that I wouldn't look at a car that didn't have it, but I'd certainly pay a small premium to get it.

[KMToronto]

I would opt for the Navigation system.

The non-navi option (with the Rad2+ head unit) is leagues behind the navi system in terms of ergonomics and just usability.

You shouldn't consider it as just a Navigation system, but more as an interface method with the rest of your car (Settings, music sources, vehicle diagnostics, etc). It just make the vehicle experience more modern.

Plus, the Apps option (SA6NR if applicable to your vehicle), gives your vehicle a unique upgradeable pathway. As Apps are released, your vehicle will be able to do NEW things. Kinda cool!

I have Nav in my 135i and wouldn't go back...

Also keep in mind you have to sacrifice one cup holder for the iDrive controller.

Cheers,
K

[JimD]

I did not get the idrive. It was $2100 which is high and the updates are on the order of $200 each. I looked at the BMW portable pro which is more like $1000 but what I ended up doing is buying the installation kit for the portable pro and putting my own Garmin on it. Initially I had a nuvi 760 ("portable plus" at the time) and I now use a nuvi 885 ("portable pro"). It is not as well integrated but I have the wires coming out under the hood over the gauges and it is very functional. It gives me bluetooth phone, MP3 playback, and navigation. Lifetime map upgrades was about $75. Very good navigation at a much better price.

Jim

[mrow]

I didn't have nav in my 128i but I got it in my 1M and I'm glad I did. I've only actually used the nav 2 or 3 times and it works fine for me. iDrive is really nice though, especially if you're using an iPod/iPhone for your music. Navigating your music is so much better than trying to use that thin red display on non nav cars. Same goes for using the phone book when making calls and other things like that.

I'm under the impression all future BMW will have iDrive and a LCD screen regardless of whether you get nav or not. My girlfriends F25 X3 have iDrive and a LCD screen even though she did not get nav. The screen is smaller than the one you get with nav but it's more than enough for the other uses I mentioned. The F30 3 series and F10 5 series have the iDrive and screen regardless of whether you get nav or not as well.