BMW E90 Satnav

Stolly

Stolly

Stolly

Soldato
Joined
11 Mar 2004
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How does it compare to TomTom ? I'll be buying a 2-3 year old car, so i guess it may be out of date, do the updates come on DVD ?

How much are they ?

I'm of the opinion that TomTom is better and cheaper than the fixed in car versions, especially if you have to shell out a lot for the updates, but if anyone has a different opinion i'd be interested to hear it.

It does look neater than having something stuck to the windscreen, i'll give it that.
 
Tomtom is technically better but not by so much that the BMW one isnt worth it.

When buying an E90 nav is a must as it gives you idrive.
 
I'd never buy another car without built in navigation, it's neater and makes the dash look a lot better.
 
Before I bought my 335D I used a TomTom 530. While the TomTom has some nice features like the IQ routing the basic Nav function is, like you'd expect, almost identical. I've upgraded to the 2009-2 release map DVD which costs about £120 from memory and includes things like the changes to J8 of the M1. It does not do full 7 digit postcode lookups but its easy and quick enough to find addresses using the rotary dial.

As Fox says thou you get the whole iDrive system which includes the bluetooth integration (works really well) and control over a lot more functions of the car. Mine came with voice activation which also works really well, can dial phone numbers, change cd tracks etc.

My opinion it also makes the whole dash look a lot better rather than just a big slab of black plastic. It was one of my requirements when looking for the car and pleased I did get it.
 
I would always go with a factory fit nav system.
I've had factory fit nav in my cars since 1999 but my current 540i doesn't have it. Damn I miss it. Having to mess about with lighter socket charging and a stupid dash mount is just annoying.
 
The iDrive Nav is my E60 (2008 DVD) is quite simply, great. It re-routes, its timing is near on perfect every time and I don't give it enough credit usually thinking I know better and often ending up frustrated because I should have listened to the sat nav. Mine has TMC functionality built in though, I assume this would be true on the E90?
 
It doesn't always re-route sensibly, but it will most of the time.

At least that's how mine is with a 2009-1 disc.
 
Lucero said:
The iDrive Nav is my E60 (2008 DVD) is quite simply, great. It re-routes, its timing is near on perfect every time and I don't give it enough credit usually thinking I know better and often ending up frustrated because I should have listened to the sat nav. Mine has TMC functionality built in though, I assume this would be true on the E90?
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The nav on my e60 is good enough that I don't bother with TomTom any more, but I do think TomTom was better in most ways. It seemed to plan better routes, supported full postcode entry and it was generally nicer to look at and interact with. And it had a night mode.

Perhaps the e60 sat nav is improved with later discs as I'm using a 2005 DVD.
 
DannyDan said:
The nav on my e60 is good enough that I don't bother with TomTom any more, but I do think TomTom was better in most ways. It seemed to plan better routes, supported full postcode entry and it was generally nicer to look at and interact with. And it had a night mode.

Perhaps the e60 sat nav is improved with later discs as I'm using a 2005 DVD.
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The later discs are far better IMO. Not sure if it changes the iDrive nav in the same way it changes the older nav like in the e46, but updating the software and map disc was one of the best things I've done to the car.
 
paradigm said:
The later discs are far better IMO. Not sure if it changes the iDrive nav in the same way it changes the older nav like in the e46, but updating the software and map disc was one of the best things I've done to the car.
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Oh nice - I think I'm running a 2003 disc (genuine!) atm, as the disc that was in mine before wouldn't read correctly. Have you got the speed camera database on your 2009-1 one?

There is so much info on the BMW DVDs regarding places to visits, all across Europe, not sure if TomTom has this functionality, but I have found it very useful when on holiday.
 
Dad's E61 LCI has Navigation Professional, the DVD based one (is one of the last cars before they switched to the HDD one, got the new iDrive knob). Came with 2008-02 which I stuck the speed cameras on and is now using 2009-1 which I've also stuck the cameras on.

It is seriously good, way better than any portable Sat Nav I've used.

Actually that reminds me I need to update the speed cameras on it....
 
So this disk based nav system, where does the DVD go ? Does it have its own dedicated drive in the boot or somewhere ? Doesn't use the player in the dash does it ?

If i buy at 2006 model, what would it cost to get the 2009 disk ?
 
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