to nav, or not to nav

[imported_mega]

I've never ordered a car with factory nav before, I've been a garmin user for years

what scares me is how integrated the factory nav is with the car, and the problems that can come from that

anyone had any problems with factory nav yet? I've seen posts on the e90 forum about bluetooth not working right with iphone 2.0's

[penny]

If you really wanted nav, I'd wait for the '09 version where its harddrive base. My DVD nav is just too slow for my liking.

[imported_mega]

I dont really want it, it's neat, but it seems like it integrates so much with the car that i'll be problems down the road

[rocketpop]

I think the real question is, do you want idrive or not? You can get a portable NAV cheaper and that would most likely be better to boot. I wanted the idrive myself being a gadget guy.

[jkp1187]

^^ I have to agree.

Personally, I wasn't impressed at all with the salesman's demonstration of iDrive, but your mileage may vary. I find it a little hard to pay in excess of $1,000.00 for (a) stuff I could get cheaper (and better) elsewhere (Garmin, tom tom), (b) stuff that actually is already included otherwise in a more user-friendly format (radio controls, hvac controls), and (c) minor gadgets that I've lived for decades without (that little automatic thing that cools your car when it's parked if it gets too hot). And I definitely agree with the reasoning that the more complicated a thing is made, the more likely it will be to cause headaches later.

On the other hand, it always looks a little nicer to have a factory-intalled nav system (less temptation for a smash-and-grab theft if you forget to remove the Garmin?) And there are some people who really are fans of iDrive....

[123D-M]

Originally Posted by rocketpop

I think the real question is, do you want idrive or not? You can get a portable NAV cheaper and that would most likely be better to boot. I wanted the idrive myself being a gadget guy.

Me too. I will spend many happy hours deciding whether I want my home lights to stay on for 37 seconds or 38...

Besides, the new 09 nav has some pretty cool new features like multiple stop off points on a journey. :wub:

[imported_mega]

My concern about nav is not what it can do

but how much can go wrong with it, the way it controls everything, we had 2 745il company cars, and they were complete lemons, nothing but problems from not starting, to steering being disabled, and misc electrical gremlins

I'm all for simple, however at what price I'm not sure

[jtsherri]

After having been in 2-3 iDrive/nav equipped 1ers and 2-3 without I am EXTREMELY glad that I got it in mine. I like having a central interface to access everything and I use the nav quite frequently; however, I'm in my car quite a bit too.

My deciding factor would be this: IF the car's a daily driver, GET IT. If it's a weekend toy, get it if you REALLY want it; otherwise spend the saved $$ on mods. :smile:

[imported_mega]

it's a daily driver, but I would never use the "nav" part of idrive

[Endre]

I chose not to buy the idrive system since i dont think it was worth the money, instead i did this:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13658

[tkbr0wn]

I decided this way. I have had Nav in my last two cars and can no longer live without it. So honestly, the choice came down to looks. I know that I could have gotten a nav that had all the same functionality for far less, but I cannot stand the look of a bolt on nav. I figure if Im spending 40+ on a car, I really dont want it to look like the 14,000,000 million Hondas driving down the road with a Nav suction cupped to their windshield.

[imported_mega]

Like I said, I have no need for navigation, at all

I am only interested in the idrive for all the other functionality, and that is also what scares me about the idrive

[stso0000]

I spent some time waffling between getting the 2008 Nav system and leaving it out. Since I already have a Garmin and I'm planning to keep the car for at least 7-8 years, I eventually decided to leave it out because the system will become obsolete and it is a permanent part of the car. With the new 2009 Nav system, I'm REALLY happy with my decision as many have mentioned the improvements in the 2009 version. The 2008 Nav is already on its way out.

ST

[imported_mega]

PS, I did spend some time reading this forum

http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=122

and it does seem my concerns are justified, whole lotta problems reported

[WhiteOne]

I have been involved with this forum for a while. The price of the car has always been an issue. $35675 was unbelievable to most people. Now I am reading about $2000 tunes, $2200 nav systems,$3300 premium packages and $3500 wheel packages. I guess the car really isn't to expensive after all.

[Endre]

Originally Posted by tkbr0wn

I decided this way. I have had Nav in my last two cars and can no longer live without it. So honestly, the choice came down to looks. I know that I could have gotten a nav that had all the same functionality for far less, but I cannot stand the look of a bolt on nav. I figure if Im spending 40+ on a car, I really dont want it to look like the 14,000,000 million Hondas driving down the road with a Nav suction cupped to their windshield.

I can agree with you on the looks, but if you mount an aftermarket nav without a sucktioncup it may look ok in my eyes:

[rocketpop]

I went back and forth on this myself. In the end I decided to get it. I looked at it this way, I plan on keeping this car awhile so even if I though I shouldn't get the NAV, I did not want to regret not getting it even more.

My thinking being, I would never regret getting it but there was a chance I would regret not get it, so I got it.

Plus I like all the function of the idrive. The ipod interface, programable options, etc.

[imported_mega]

again I have no interest in the navigation or a portable nav system

it's just the idrive functionality that I was interested in, but after reading that e90 forum, my wife and I decided to skip the nav, and skip the premium package

the trouble those people are having is not worth the headache

we are going to get sport package, comfort access, heated seats, usb/ipod radio

and nothing else, I will have an upholstery shop reskin the seats in cloth like the Europeans get, and I'll add an aftermarket auto dimming mirror, that's the only thing out of the premium package that I actually want

if the dealer finds a car with the options we want and one or two extra options, that's ok, but I wont order extra options

[BeamerDreamer]

Sorry that this is kinda off topic but I have been wondering how the iPod interface works with iDrive.

Does the iDrive wheel work like the scroll wheel on the iPod?
Does the iDrive screen display track data? If so what track data is available? Artist, Track, Title, ...Ablum Art?
Does anyone know if the new 09 system will be any different in this area?

I am most likely going to order the navigation system because I want something integrated into the look of the car but mega does bring up a valid concern that I had not thought of. If the iDrive system is so integrated into the car, if anything goes wrong with it, you could be totally screwed.

[rocketpop]

I basicly works just like the scroll wheel. You can scroll though you ipod by artist, genre, playlist,etc. If I remember right it displays the song title and artist. It does not display the art work though.