BMW Sat Nav TMC

Blinkz

Blinkz

Blinkz

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Frimley, Surrey or 38,000ft
Ok for all of the BMW drivers out there, although probably mainly the E46 guys!

Having issues with the TMC on my sat nav, in that quite simply it seems to do nothing. I've read the manual and all seems to be setup correctly however I just NEVER get any traffic reports. Anyone got any suggestions?
 
TMC != Trafic Master (which was subscription).

TMC uses data broadcast on the back of the radio network (classic FM). Different versions of the Nav DVD maps have it enabled/disabled. If the TMC text at the bottom of the screen is green then it's working... to see if it's working you can view traffic information from one of the menus which gives a text list of incidents listed in order of your distance from them.
 
My TMC only works when its not playing a radio station or if that station is TMC enabled.

The TMC should turn green when active and only warns you of traffic conditions if you enter a route.
 
Mine doesn't work like that, it's active all the time... The radio in the 2001 e39 has twin tuners, I assume partly for this reason? So assume yours only has one?
 
As above, it should have TMC in green on the screen and should work all the time (with destination set).
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I have the latest 2010 map disc. I have select Classic FM as the TMC station as that is the station that broadcasts the TMC data (however I have also tried other stations as well as leaving the system on auto) The radio does have twin tuners and can turn different stations at once. The TMC logo at the bottom of the screen is green and always stays that colour.

I've been told different things whether it needs to be on a set route. As I understand it to get actual warnings and for it to avoid traffic then yes you need a route but the actually system is always on and downloading data. Either way I have used it a lot both in 'roaming' mode and following a route and have never had any reports (and yes I have been in lots of traffic which it really should have known about!) There are no arrows or warning triangles showing any data. The best place to check is in the actually Messages section of the traffic menu however that only ever says No messages or 'Requesting data' after a short time of it saying that it just goes back to no messages. Its getting very frustrating as I used the M25 a lot and would really like to avoid traffic on it!!
 
I have the latest 2010 UK disc too, and it doesn't have TMC enabled on it. If i put my old 2002 disc TMC works perfectly
 
If you have a route set then it should pop up any relevant messages automatically. If you don't have a set route it should still list traffic issues in the messages list, sorted by distance.

animalsonroute.jpg


:)
 
Hmm I have the green TMC logo at the bottom, so that suggests its working but I've not had anything pop up or anything show in the messages list! I've been told that the 2010 disc does have TMC, but maybe not!

Squ1bby, do you get the green TMC logo with the 2010 disc in? Is it DVD or CD?
 
If TMC is green that means that it's receiving data. If it's red then the disc that you're using doesn't support TMC or it isn't receiving anything from FM.

I'm not sure why your system isn't picking up any messages - it should 'just work'!
 
PeterNem said:
TMC != Trafic Master (which was subscription).

TMC uses data broadcast on the back of the radio network (classic FM). Different versions of the Nav DVD maps have it enabled/disabled. If the TMC text at the bottom of the screen is green then it's working... to see if it's working you can view traffic information from one of the menus which gives a text list of incidents listed in order of your distance from them.
Click to expand...

Pete what disc are you using? My TMC comes up all red and mentions something about a subscription. I'm guessing this simply requries an up-to-date map disc.
 
Is it an offical 2010 disk ? The VW system uses the same map disks and you can cause the problem you have by mixing up the TMC folder with different versions. Not uncommon on disks sourced from elsewhere particularly when the original disk is amended by adding speed cameras etc.
 
The latest DVD available is 2011-1 and even the "modified" versions that fit onto a single layer DVD work absolutely fine ;)
 
OllyM said:
The latest DVD available is 2011-1 and even the "modified" versions that fit onto a single layer DVD work absolutely fine ;)
Click to expand...

Most of them do but you do get the odd one where the disk has the incorrect TMC data folder. I had exactly the same problem with TMC active but not displaying any messages. I sourced another map disk that was the same version but the TMC folder was a different size and TMC worked as expected.
 
Duke said:
I loved TMC in my 3 series. I only really used the nav on longer journeys, but it would tell you that x miles that there is slow traffic for y distance with a reason why sometimes, as your pic shows and then re-route if required. Not bad for a 1999 vehicle (retrofitted).
Click to expand...

Works even better in the rest of Europe too. It has more detail into the delay and almost pin point accuracy!
 
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