[jbauer]

Ok, I've been desperately trying to figure out what to do about nav before I order my MCS. I should tell you that I'm a big fan of nav. I have a Garmin V right now in my Miata, and I use it all the time, and it works very well. I have literally no sense of direction and rely on it to enhance my ability to find my way!

I've read every review I can find on the aftermarket options - TomTom Go, the Garmin Quest, etc. etc. etc. I've also read everything I can on the CD vs. DVD nav that is factory installed in the Mini.

I really would like to have the integrated, factory installed nav, and I KNOW that it's pricey. I've read a lot of mixed comments, but the only negative comments I've really seen made is that it's expensive. What are the other negatives? I can't find a thorough review of it...

Anyone care to enlighten me or provide pointers to a REAL review of the factory nav?

- Thanx in advance!!!
- Jon

[AlanB]

I do not know if I will help, but here it goes! I have both a Street Pilot III and an iQue 3600. I travel and I have to have a portable unit. I have just purchased a 2004 Acura TL for my wife and had the option of an in car GPS that is REALLY cool (voice recognition), but again, why would I need that around the town I grew up in? I would rather have the Garmin and the ability to update the unit from my computer than putting the car out of commission. I trust Garmin with their products and support services. That is ALL they do!

[GBMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbauer

What are the other negatives? I can't find a thorough review of it...

The main other negative is it steals the speedo spot!
The center speedo is a very cool feature of the new MINI, and a nod to the original classic Mini ... when the speedo is moved to over the steering wheel, with the rev counter, both become difficult to see ...

[Rich_IX]

I have it on mine and use it all the time I am really really bad with directions plus it takes out the arguments if you did have a map reader
I recommend it 100% if your as bad as direction as I am
Look in my gallery for piccys

[jwardell]

My thoughts on the factory nav:
-It uses the BMW nav software, which in reviews and my experience is terrible. The map does not rotate for your direction, rather your position arrow instead moves. Hard to read and understand. And the routing isn't as smart as most others.
-It takes up your classic speedo spot and puts a rectangular peg in a round hole, doesn't look right
-You get a nag warning screen every time you start your car!
-It takes up a stereo input so you can't add sirius satellite radio or the upcoming ipod adaptor.
-All this for a whopping $1700!!

For about $450 complete you can get a tomtom/ipaq system like mine which is in an even better viewing position, excellent routing, and 3D-view maps. Have a look at mine.

[dmholmes]

I have the factory NAV and love it. Can't imagine buying another car without it. I will concede that my experience with aftermarket units has been minimal, so they may indeed be better (and are certainly more cost effective, although with a smaller screen) than the factory unit. Bottom line for me is that the factory unit is, if nothing else, sufficient and now I'm never lost. It's been a great relief to never bother getting directions from people anymore. Now my only question is, "what's your address". My biggest complaint would be that it is usually off by about 10 yards for turns, but being that it is consistent you learn to compensate for it.

[CurtP]

Quote: Originally Posted by jwardell

My thoughts on the factory nav:
-It uses the BMW nav software, which in reviews and my experience is terrible. The map does not rotate for your direction, rather your position arrow instead moves. Hard to read and understand. And the routing isn't as smart as most others.
-It takes up your classic speedo spot and puts a rectangular peg in a round hole, doesn't look right
-You get a nag warning screen every time you start your car!
-It takes up a stereo input so you can't add sirius satellite radio or the upcoming ipod adaptor.
-All this for a whopping $1700!!

For about $450 complete you can get a tomtom/ipaq system like mine which is in an even better viewing position, excellent routing, and 3D-view maps. Have a look at mine.

Here's a rebuttal to your post:

• The map does rotate for your direction; I believe it's a setting in the software to either have North facing up or have the arrow pointing in the same direction as the car. My map moves. As far as being better at the others - I have Destinator and MyNavigator for my iPAQ and a Garmin GPSV - the MINI SatNav does a better job at navigating than all of them and isn't as picky about how I put the name of the street in (i.e., If a street has two names [like Roosevelt Blvd and Route 17 for instance], MyNavigator usually will take one name, but not the other - most of the time, it's the route number, not the more commonly known street name). Plus I've never had the MINI SatNav lock up, loose connection to the receiver or other common annoyance that occurs when using some of the other GPS solutions (although my Garmin GPS V never seemed to suffer such issues). In additon, I don't have to worry about loading maps to a memory card or in the case of the GPSV, through a *shudder* serial connection. AND I can hear the voice navigation commands clearly through the stereo speakers instead of having to strain to listen for the meager sounds coming from the iPAQ's internal speaker or the quiet "beeps" of the GPSV (it does not do voice navigation, but does do door-to-door nav). That's not even mentioning the big cluster of cables, adapters, FM modulators and external amplified speakers that I have to carry around (which I do take with me when I travel and have to use a rental car).
• Looks OK to me. I personally prefer the speedo and tach in front of me. My first MCS had the center speedo, and while it was kind of neat, I sure don't miss it.
• So what? The nag isn't that annoying and I often didn't realize I had hit the button on the SavNav to go past the nag. And now that I have a StealthOne (a remote display system for the Valentine 1 radar detector that puts the display on the SatNav screen), it bypasses the nag screen for me.
• As far as I can tell, it doesn't use a stereo input on the factory radio. I have the aux input adapter and the Dension Ice>link for the iPod and everything works great. I don't know what the MINI iPod control will plug into, but it shouldn't be the Nav input. Looking at the pinout of the factory HU, it shows that it has its own input connections - pins 5 and 11 on the CB891-C connector, which is a mono input.
• You get what you pay for - a large, easy to read display (the screen on the iPAQ isn't bad, but it's definately too small, and the GPSV is TINY). Full integration into the car along with additional features not available with the portable solutions (such as being tied into the car's sensors to continue routing even when going through a tunnel or a satellite signal loss).

The only negative thing I can see about the integrated SatNav is the loss of portability. Definately worth it in my book, although I do think there could be some improvements in the software, although I think that about all GPS solutions

[monkeynuts]

do the right honourable thing baby boy - go bling and get it

even if you aint going anywhere special the chicks dig it!!

and it looks wicked apart from the other practical shizzle it has!!

[jbauer]

Wow, thanks for all the info!

A few questions:

1) CurtP - did you have the StealthOne professionally installed? Is the V1 mounted under the hood? Does it work well? Does the StealthOne integrate into the MFSW on the Mini as they advertise it does for the BMW?? How does the output from the StealthOne not interfere with stuff thats supposed to be displayed on the nav screen?

2) Is the software for the Mini GPS upgradable? Have they done any upgrades? Is it easy to get and install? I've seen some talk of CDs on here...

3) Does everyone have the same 30 yard or so issues that dmholmes has?

- Thanx!
- Jon

[atmtn]

In terms of appearance, I think the integration is absolutely perfect and definitely far better than I can imagine any kind of aftermarket solution looking. The design doesn't look the least bit forced and I've personally had nothing but compliments on it (from both Mini owners and non-Mini owners alike). Plus I am with Curt, in that I definitely prefer the speedo to be right in front of me.

As for the Nav system itself, I can't think of any major gripes. Again, like Curt said, you can easily set the Nav to rotate the map depending on your direction should the stock setting confuse you. I'd have to question how confusing a direction changing arrow really is to anyone though. And as far as the warning screen is concerned, I am just about one of the least patient people ever and I have never even thought once that it was even remotely annoying. Bypassing the screen takes all of one button press and I'd like to meet the person who doesn't have time in their day for that, though I guess they don't really have time to meet anyone.

If I had one nit pick, i'd say that in a perfect world there would be an easier way of inputting directions than a scroll wheel (touch screen would rule), but really that's a pretty small issue all things considered and the system does a nice job of narrowing down your choices as you input them.

On the Ipod front, I too have read that the Apple / BMW Ipod solution won't work for cars with Sat Nav installed, and that could possibly hold true for the upcoming Mini version as well. But after weighing the options heavily, I think the Dension IceLink is a much better Ipod integration solution anyway and it works just fine with the Nav (I am installing mine this weekend actually).

Suffice it to say, I think if you definitely want a Nav system you really can't go wrong with the factory version. You're definitely paying a bit more in the end, but I am more than happy to shell out the extra cash for something that's so finely integrated.

[atmtn]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbauer

Wow, thanks for all the info!

A few questions:

2) Is the software for the Mini GPS upgradable? Have they done any upgrades? Is it easy to get and install? I've seen some talk of CDs on here...

3) Does everyone have the same 30 yard or so issues that dmholmes has?

As far as I know, you can update the Nav by purchasing a new DVD. I am not sure of the cost involved in this though.

Not too sure about the 30 yard issue. Mine has seemed pretty on to me when it comes to turns, but I was never any good with math. I can definitely say I've never missed a turn or thought I was going to miss a turn due to the Nav misjudging the distance.

[Rich_IX]

I dont ever get the "Nag Screen" every time I start the car....
I love my Nav and if I was to get another mini tommorow it would have Nav in again just my 2p

[Irlmin]

Used it in a MINI in France and found it excellent , would have it on my new MINI BUT it's € 2800 in Ireland and thats not the only bad bit -mapping is awful here so no value to have nav here , my solution is PDA based system as it's portable and I can use it on trips to UK / France etc if I lived in a country with 100% mapping I would certainly spec it .
Gerard

[CurtP]

Quote: Originally Posted by jbauer

Wow, thanks for all the info!

A few questions:

1) CurtP - did you have the StealthOne professionally installed? Is the V1 mounted under the hood? Does it work well? Does the StealthOne integrate into the MFSW on the Mini as they advertise it does for the BMW?? How does the output from the StealthOne not interfere with stuff thats supposed to be displayed on the nav screen?

2) Is the software for the Mini GPS upgradable? Have they done any upgrades? Is it easy to get and install? I've seen some talk of CDs on here...

3) Does everyone have the same 30 yard or so issues that dmholmes has?

- Thanx!
- Jon

• 1) I installed the StealthOne myself and thought it was pretty easy. I removed the glovebox (which is held in with only six screws) and zip-tied the box to a wire bundle that sits behind the glovebox on the right-hand side. It only requires one wire that connects to the K-bus, then plugs into the V1 power adapter on the aux side. I thought the worst part of the entire install was running the cord up the passenger side A-pillar to get power to the V1 (I removed the A-pillar trim piece and zip-tied it to the wire bundle that is already there). I would NOT recommend putting the V1 under the hood - it is not weather resistant and you want to mount it as high as possible. There is a company out there who makes a water-tight box so the V1 can be mounted under the hood/behind the grille, but the rear facing horn would become completely useless, as would the laser sensors.
  
  Yes, the StealthOne uses the MFSW controls to program it and it turns the unused button on the two-spoked wheel into the "mute" button. Very handy.
  
  The StealthOne does take over the screen, but if the screen is configured for "split mode", it will show the navigation commands (arrows) on the right side of the screen although you won't be able to see the picture of the map itself. The only time it has annoyed me is when I'm trying to input a destination and the detector picks up a radar signal. You can't input when the display is showing the V1 warnings. I just turn the detector off and go about entering my information and turn the detector back on when I'm done inputting.
  
• 2) Yes, and yes; although finding the firmware may be difficult. I've had my car for almost a year and I haven't bothered to update yet. Do a search in this forum - its been discussed many times. As atmtn said, it appears to get updated with newer versions of the navigation software as well.
  
• 3) I haven't had the problem. Or at least if I have, it hasn't been as bad as my other solutions (the GPSV is the worst offender I have). Mine seems to be right on the money and gives plenty of warning before a turn comes up too.

[jbauer]

You guys/gals rock!

Thank you!

- Jon

[dmholmes]

Quote: Originally Posted by atmtn

As far as I know, you can update the Nav by purchasing a new DVD. I am not sure of the cost involved in this though.

Not sure if he is talking about the DVD or the firmware. The answer to both is yes. I have done numerous firmware updates on my CD based system and never had any problems with any of them.

As to my previous post, oops , meant to say 10 yards which I believe is what Mini claims for accuracy to begin with. Off now to edit my previous mistake.

[KatanaPilot]

- I always leave my Nav in "track up" mode - the map always rotates to my direction of travel. Note that track up is only available when the map scale is less than 1 mile. And it doesn't always keep the vehicle symbol in the center of the map. It is not perfect, but it works.
- I compared my Nav to a friend's in an Acura TL. My DVD based Nav operates much faster. It also performs route recalculations much faster as well. The only downside is that it doesn't allow "panning".
- I also compared my Nav to the Hertz Neverlost system. Hertz Neverlost is a Magellan unit. The screen size of the Nav in MINIs makes it much much easier to read.
- StealthOne rules - it clears the lawyer nag screen, and puts the useless middle MFSW button to good use. (If you order a new car, you will get the new 3-spoke steering wheel, so you won't have that MFSW button)

I realize the nav is quite expensive, but now I really don't want to drive without it.

[StevePSB]

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI

The main other negative is it steals the speedo spot!
when the speedo is moved to over the steering wheel, with the rev counter, both become difficult to see ...

Some people seem to have problems seeing them, but I'm 6' 2" and even I can see them fine. Not entirely sure how people are going wrong here...

I never liked the centre speedo, so getting factory navigation and getting the speedo moved to where it belongs was an extra bonus!

[StevePSB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rich_IX

I dont ever get the "Nag Screen" every time I start the car....
D

That's because we're not so litigation happy in England, unlike America. Sad, but true!

[Rich_IX]

Quote: Originally Posted by StevePSB

Some people seem to have problems seeing them, but I'm 6' 2" and even I can see them fine. Not entirely sure how people are going wrong here...

I never liked the centre speedo, so getting factory navigation and getting the speedo moved to where it belongs was an extra bonus!

True if your tall like me and Steve I suppose it dosent make a difference I never had any complaints with it...