Navigation & Audio Drive your very own MINI on the factory Nav screen!
#1
10-09-2006, 04:19 PM
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Drive your very own MINI on the factory Nav screen!
Hi All,
Just thought I'd pass along a cool (but kind of worthless) addition that I've made to my MINI's factory nav system that allows you to replace the standard "you are here" pointer icon with a custom vehicle icon that matches your very own MINI. Here are some screen shots of my Hyper Blue MINI cruising around on my nav display:
The pictures aren't the greatest (as my digital camera kinda stinks), but it allows you to get the gist of what I've done. The actual display looks quite a bit better in real life.
Please note that I can't take credit for any of this as it was all figured out by some really talented folks over on the X5world forums. I simply found it interesting and decided to adapt the concept for use in my own MINI.
A very talented X5world member who goes by the name nomad has created a program called "NavTweak" that allows you to customize many different aspects of the BMW/MINI navigation system. Using NavTweak, you can change the color of the map elements (roads, backgrounds, etc.), customize the fonts, modify all of the images (such as the startup splash screen, POI icons, arrow pointers, etc.), etc. It's an absolutely amazing tool!
As you can see from the pics shown above, one of the coolest things you can do with NavTweak is replace the standard arrow pointer with a custom graphic of your very own MINI. A fellow MINI owner who goes by the name of M1TCH over on X5world managed to take an aerial snap shot of his blue and white MINI and shrink it down into an image that he could use as the vehicle icon on his nav display. Since I also have a blue MINI, I took M1TCH's MINI icon, shrunk it down even further (as I felt that his version was a bit too large on the display), and created the 24 different icons in various 15 degree rotation increments that are required for a complete 360 degree display of the vehicle on the nav screen.
Currently, I've only done the work for the 2D display, but if someone else has got the ability/talent to come up with a complete set of 360 degree icons in a 3D configuration, then they too can be added in for the 3D (i.e. Perspective or Bird's Eye) view as well. I'm not a real big fan of the current 3D view in the BMW/MINI nav system since it doesn't display street names when zoomed in like the 2D view does (making it kind of worthless IMHO). Thus, I don't use the Perspective view in my MINI unless I'm simply showing it off as "eye candy".
Anyway... If you'd like to check out NavTweak there's a download link to the program located in the following thread over on X5world:
NavTweak
In that very same thread, there are instruction that you can follow on using NavTweak to do all of the various customizations to the BMW/MINI navigation OS.
I'll go ahead and do a small step-by-step how-to write-up for those that would like to add a custom MINI vehicle icon to their own nav display in a subsequent post. I'll also provide a download link to the set of blue and white MINI icons I used so that folks can use them as a starting point (i.e. to change the colors of, etc.). Also, if we can find someone who has the ability to host stuff for us all, we can even create a set of v28 nav update images (in ISO format) for all of the different color MINI's so that all fellow MINI owners would have to do is download the image and then update their nav system in order to get the custom MINI vehicle icon of their choosing.
Enjoy!
-- MIKE
Just thought I'd pass along a cool (but kind of worthless) addition that I've made to my MINI's factory nav system that allows you to replace the standard "you are here" pointer icon with a custom vehicle icon that matches your very own MINI. Here are some screen shots of my Hyper Blue MINI cruising around on my nav display:
The pictures aren't the greatest (as my digital camera kinda stinks), but it allows you to get the gist of what I've done. The actual display looks quite a bit better in real life.
Please note that I can't take credit for any of this as it was all figured out by some really talented folks over on the X5world forums. I simply found it interesting and decided to adapt the concept for use in my own MINI.
A very talented X5world member who goes by the name nomad has created a program called "NavTweak" that allows you to customize many different aspects of the BMW/MINI navigation system. Using NavTweak, you can change the color of the map elements (roads, backgrounds, etc.), customize the fonts, modify all of the images (such as the startup splash screen, POI icons, arrow pointers, etc.), etc. It's an absolutely amazing tool!
As you can see from the pics shown above, one of the coolest things you can do with NavTweak is replace the standard arrow pointer with a custom graphic of your very own MINI. A fellow MINI owner who goes by the name of M1TCH over on X5world managed to take an aerial snap shot of his blue and white MINI and shrink it down into an image that he could use as the vehicle icon on his nav display. Since I also have a blue MINI, I took M1TCH's MINI icon, shrunk it down even further (as I felt that his version was a bit too large on the display), and created the 24 different icons in various 15 degree rotation increments that are required for a complete 360 degree display of the vehicle on the nav screen.
Currently, I've only done the work for the 2D display, but if someone else has got the ability/talent to come up with a complete set of 360 degree icons in a 3D configuration, then they too can be added in for the 3D (i.e. Perspective or Bird's Eye) view as well. I'm not a real big fan of the current 3D view in the BMW/MINI nav system since it doesn't display street names when zoomed in like the 2D view does (making it kind of worthless IMHO). Thus, I don't use the Perspective view in my MINI unless I'm simply showing it off as "eye candy".
Anyway... If you'd like to check out NavTweak there's a download link to the program located in the following thread over on X5world:
NavTweak
In that very same thread, there are instruction that you can follow on using NavTweak to do all of the various customizations to the BMW/MINI navigation OS.
I'll go ahead and do a small step-by-step how-to write-up for those that would like to add a custom MINI vehicle icon to their own nav display in a subsequent post. I'll also provide a download link to the set of blue and white MINI icons I used so that folks can use them as a starting point (i.e. to change the colors of, etc.). Also, if we can find someone who has the ability to host stuff for us all, we can even create a set of v28 nav update images (in ISO format) for all of the different color MINI's so that all fellow MINI owners would have to do is download the image and then update their nav system in order to get the custom MINI vehicle icon of their choosing.
Enjoy!
-- MIKE
#4
10-09-2006, 06:39 PM
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Okay, here's a brief how-to to get folks started...
First off, you need to have a DVD-based (i.e. MKIV) navigation system in your MINI in order to make this work. As far as I am aware, it will not work with the older CD-based (i.e. MKIII) nav systems. Note that you can easily tell what version of the nav system you have installed in your MINI by pressing the "Menu" button, entering into the "Settings" or "Set" menu, and looking in the upper right-hand corner. If your system displays 4-1/xx then you have a DVD-based MKIV system. If it displays 3-1/xx then you have an older CD-based MKIII system.
In order to change the arrow pointer in your MINI's factory nav system into a custom MINI vehicle icon, you'll need to update the nav computer's operating system (OS) to a newer version than you currently have installed. There's been a lot of information about doing these types of updates posted here on this forum and so I won't go into the details. Instead, I'm just going to assume that you are already familiar with the basic process and that you've already done a nav OS update before.
As of today's date (i.e. 10/09/2006), the most recent update available for the MINI's nav computer OS is v28. When installed, v28 will up the version number shown in the Settings (or Set) menu of your nav system to 4-1/80. If you already have v28 installed, then you will not be able to proceed as an incremental (i.e. forward moving) update is required in order for the changes/modifications to take place (otherwise the nav system will just tell you that your system is already up to date).
Note that if you already have v28 installed, there are ways of "tricking" the system into believing that the modified update is a different/newer version than it really is (like v28.1, v29, etc.), but that's kind of outside of the scope of this write-up and so I'll only mention it in passing (and I don't really recommend you try it unless you really know what you're doing!). It is also possible to downgrade your system and then upgrade it back again, but I strongly advise against doing this since it will put your nav system into "no location" mode (where distances are shown in yards instead of feet, etc.) and the ONLY way to restore the system is to have a dealer reprogram it for you. Thus, if you've already updated your nav system to v28, then I suggest you just hold off until an official v28.x or v29 update is released by BMW.
EDIT: Complete details on how to increment the nav update CD's version information can now be found here.
With all that said, let's get started...
1) Start off with an OS update image that is newer than the version you currently have installed in your car (note that if you're running v26, then I suggest you start with v27 as if things don't turn out or look quite the way you want, you can still re-do the update again using v27, v27.1, and/or v28). For information on obtaining a nav OS update CD image, please see the following page over on X5world:
Nav Operating System
EDIT: Or, if you read through this thread you can find a download link to the v28 image with or without the British voice hack: Nav Software v28 released
Once you have an image for the nav system update CD in hand, you'll need to extract it out onto your computer (or simply mount the image using a virtual CD program like Virtual CloneDrive) in order to access the "navboot" file. The navboot file is the file that houses all of the binary information that we want to update/modify.
The navboot file that we are interested in is located within the following folder on the update CD:
NAV_SW\V_2\RR\0101\BMWC01S\app_sw
2) Locate the above mentioned navboot file and then copy it over to your hard drive.
3) If you haven't already done so, download the latest version of the NavTweak program from here:
NavTweak
4) Start NavTweak and select "Open" from the program's "File" menu.
5) Navigate to the location on your computer where you just copied the navboot file to and then open it in NavTweak.
6) Once the navboot file has been loaded, select the "Images" tab and then scroll down the list of available romicons until you locate the icon named "ccp_000". This is the first of 24 icons that make up the 2D arrow pointer. As you scroll through the next 23 icons you will see in the preview window that the arrow pointer icon rotates clockwise by 15 degrees for each different icon (as reflected in the icon's name - i.e. ccp_015, ccp_030, etc.). These are the 24 icons that we want to replace with our custom MINI vehicle icons.
7) Download my custom set of MINI vehicle icons from here:
MINI_Vehicle_Icons_BlueAndWhite_Small.zip
Note that the icons are of a blue MINI with a white roof (as shown in the photos above). There is one icon for each of the required 15 degree rotation increments. Please feel free to modify the icons in any way you see fit (changing the color of the MINI, etc.). I only ask that if you modify the images that you please share the modified versions with others here. Also, please note that the icons are actually 48x48 pixel transparent images in PNG-24 format. Thus, you'll need to modify them using a program that fully supports the PNG format (such as Adobe Photoshop, etc. - note that the Windows Paint program just won't cut it!).
I personally prefer the smaller icons as I think they look a bit better on the nav display, but if you'd rather have a set of larger ones (in a bit better resolution), then you can download them from here:
MINI_Vehicle_Icons_BlueAndWhite_Large.zip
8) Once you have your 24 custom MINI vehicle icons ready to go, right-mouse-click on each of the "ccp_xxx" romicons listed in the NavTweak program and select "Replace" from the popup menu that appears. Use the Open PNG Image dialog box that appears to replace each of the 24 existing icons with your new custom versions.
9) Once you've replaced all 24 of the images, select "Save" from the NavTweak program's "File" menu in order to save the changes you've just made to the navboot file.
10) Close/Exit the NavTweak program.
11) Use an ISO image creation/editing program (such as UltraISO) to update the nav update CD image with your newly modified/updated navboot file.
12) Save the new ISO image to your computer and then burn it to disc using a high quality CD-R (DON'T USE A CD-RW!). I recommend using the slowest speed available to you when writing the ISO image to disc. The BMW/MINI nav computer seems to be sensitive to the quality of the image you feed it and so writing the disc at a slower speed can help prevent errors.
Lastly, update the nav computer in your MINI using the modified nav update disc that you've just created.
Enjoy your new creation!
Please note that while I've had great success with doing the update on my own MINI, updating the nav computer on your own MINI has inherent risks that you'll need to assume full responsibility for. If you end up "bricking" your nav computer, you'll be the one responsible for getting it fixed/replaced. Also, please be aware that MINI USA could potentially void the warranty on your navigation system for using a hacked OS on it. Thus, please proceed AT YOUR OWN RISK!
First off, you need to have a DVD-based (i.e. MKIV) navigation system in your MINI in order to make this work. As far as I am aware, it will not work with the older CD-based (i.e. MKIII) nav systems. Note that you can easily tell what version of the nav system you have installed in your MINI by pressing the "Menu" button, entering into the "Settings" or "Set" menu, and looking in the upper right-hand corner. If your system displays 4-1/xx then you have a DVD-based MKIV system. If it displays 3-1/xx then you have an older CD-based MKIII system.
In order to change the arrow pointer in your MINI's factory nav system into a custom MINI vehicle icon, you'll need to update the nav computer's operating system (OS) to a newer version than you currently have installed. There's been a lot of information about doing these types of updates posted here on this forum and so I won't go into the details. Instead, I'm just going to assume that you are already familiar with the basic process and that you've already done a nav OS update before.
As of today's date (i.e. 10/09/2006), the most recent update available for the MINI's nav computer OS is v28. When installed, v28 will up the version number shown in the Settings (or Set) menu of your nav system to 4-1/80. If you already have v28 installed, then you will not be able to proceed as an incremental (i.e. forward moving) update is required in order for the changes/modifications to take place (otherwise the nav system will just tell you that your system is already up to date).
Note that if you already have v28 installed, there are ways of "tricking" the system into believing that the modified update is a different/newer version than it really is (like v28.1, v29, etc.), but that's kind of outside of the scope of this write-up and so I'll only mention it in passing (and I don't really recommend you try it unless you really know what you're doing!). It is also possible to downgrade your system and then upgrade it back again, but I strongly advise against doing this since it will put your nav system into "no location" mode (where distances are shown in yards instead of feet, etc.) and the ONLY way to restore the system is to have a dealer reprogram it for you. Thus, if you've already updated your nav system to v28, then I suggest you just hold off until an official v28.x or v29 update is released by BMW.
EDIT: Complete details on how to increment the nav update CD's version information can now be found here.
With all that said, let's get started...
1) Start off with an OS update image that is newer than the version you currently have installed in your car (note that if you're running v26, then I suggest you start with v27 as if things don't turn out or look quite the way you want, you can still re-do the update again using v27, v27.1, and/or v28). For information on obtaining a nav OS update CD image, please see the following page over on X5world:
Nav Operating System
EDIT: Or, if you read through this thread you can find a download link to the v28 image with or without the British voice hack: Nav Software v28 released
Once you have an image for the nav system update CD in hand, you'll need to extract it out onto your computer (or simply mount the image using a virtual CD program like Virtual CloneDrive) in order to access the "navboot" file. The navboot file is the file that houses all of the binary information that we want to update/modify.
The navboot file that we are interested in is located within the following folder on the update CD:
NAV_SW\V_2\RR\0101\BMWC01S\app_sw
2) Locate the above mentioned navboot file and then copy it over to your hard drive.
3) If you haven't already done so, download the latest version of the NavTweak program from here:
NavTweak
4) Start NavTweak and select "Open" from the program's "File" menu.
5) Navigate to the location on your computer where you just copied the navboot file to and then open it in NavTweak.
6) Once the navboot file has been loaded, select the "Images" tab and then scroll down the list of available romicons until you locate the icon named "ccp_000". This is the first of 24 icons that make up the 2D arrow pointer. As you scroll through the next 23 icons you will see in the preview window that the arrow pointer icon rotates clockwise by 15 degrees for each different icon (as reflected in the icon's name - i.e. ccp_015, ccp_030, etc.). These are the 24 icons that we want to replace with our custom MINI vehicle icons.
7) Download my custom set of MINI vehicle icons from here:
MINI_Vehicle_Icons_BlueAndWhite_Small.zip
Note that the icons are of a blue MINI with a white roof (as shown in the photos above). There is one icon for each of the required 15 degree rotation increments. Please feel free to modify the icons in any way you see fit (changing the color of the MINI, etc.). I only ask that if you modify the images that you please share the modified versions with others here. Also, please note that the icons are actually 48x48 pixel transparent images in PNG-24 format. Thus, you'll need to modify them using a program that fully supports the PNG format (such as Adobe Photoshop, etc. - note that the Windows Paint program just won't cut it!).
I personally prefer the smaller icons as I think they look a bit better on the nav display, but if you'd rather have a set of larger ones (in a bit better resolution), then you can download them from here:
MINI_Vehicle_Icons_BlueAndWhite_Large.zip
8) Once you have your 24 custom MINI vehicle icons ready to go, right-mouse-click on each of the "ccp_xxx" romicons listed in the NavTweak program and select "Replace" from the popup menu that appears. Use the Open PNG Image dialog box that appears to replace each of the 24 existing icons with your new custom versions.
9) Once you've replaced all 24 of the images, select "Save" from the NavTweak program's "File" menu in order to save the changes you've just made to the navboot file.
10) Close/Exit the NavTweak program.
11) Use an ISO image creation/editing program (such as UltraISO) to update the nav update CD image with your newly modified/updated navboot file.
12) Save the new ISO image to your computer and then burn it to disc using a high quality CD-R (DON'T USE A CD-RW!). I recommend using the slowest speed available to you when writing the ISO image to disc. The BMW/MINI nav computer seems to be sensitive to the quality of the image you feed it and so writing the disc at a slower speed can help prevent errors.
Lastly, update the nav computer in your MINI using the modified nav update disc that you've just created.
Enjoy your new creation!
Please note that while I've had great success with doing the update on my own MINI, updating the nav computer on your own MINI has inherent risks that you'll need to assume full responsibility for. If you end up "bricking" your nav computer, you'll be the one responsible for getting it fixed/replaced. Also, please be aware that MINI USA could potentially void the warranty on your navigation system for using a hacked OS on it. Thus, please proceed AT YOUR OWN RISK!
#5
10-09-2006, 06:44 PM
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I knew you could do this, your the first I see this done right.
But it looks like you have the older software for the Nav and not the New program which the display is more like TOM TOM nav units.
anyway great job and write up I am sure Gabe or DB will grab this up and use it on DIY section.
Send him a pm.
But it looks like you have the older software for the Nav and not the New program which the display is more like TOM TOM nav units.
anyway great job and write up I am sure Gabe or DB will grab this up and use it on DIY section.
Send him a pm.
#6
10-09-2006, 07:16 PM
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Hi Mike,
I am indeed running the latest software for the MINI's nav system. I'm just not running it in 3D "perspective" mode is all (which gives it the 3D look like TomTom, etc.). The reason I don't do that is because the 3D mode doesn't display street names when you are zoomed in making it kind of worthless IMHO.
However, as I mentioned above, you can also replace the 3D arrow pointer with a custom one in the same way if you really like the 3D mode. The only problem is that we need to come up with a set of 3D vehicle icons rotated in all the 24 different positions. I'm not an artist and so that one's just not possible for me to do.
As for Gabe picking it up as a DIY article... He's more than welcome to do so. Gabe and I are friends and I've written many DIY articles for MotoringFile in the past. Unfortunately, I got tired of folks there always bagging on my write-ups in a negative way and so I gave it up. It sucks I know, but that's the way it goes. A few bad apples always seem to ruin it for the rest of us.
Thanks for your feedback.
-- MIKE
EDIT: In fact, if you take a look at the following DIY articles I wrote for Motoringfile, you'll see that I've pretty much been leading the way for the MINI's nav system for a couple of years now
:
MINI Rear Camera Review (March 2005)
MINI Video Input (June 2005)
Aftermarket Nav Integration (June 2005)
Integrated Aftermarket Bluetooth (June 2005)
A New Look For The MINI's Nav (September 2005)
Integrated Aftermarket Bluetooth: Part 2 (October 2005)
I am indeed running the latest software for the MINI's nav system. I'm just not running it in 3D "perspective" mode is all (which gives it the 3D look like TomTom, etc.). The reason I don't do that is because the 3D mode doesn't display street names when you are zoomed in making it kind of worthless IMHO.
However, as I mentioned above, you can also replace the 3D arrow pointer with a custom one in the same way if you really like the 3D mode. The only problem is that we need to come up with a set of 3D vehicle icons rotated in all the 24 different positions. I'm not an artist and so that one's just not possible for me to do.
As for Gabe picking it up as a DIY article... He's more than welcome to do so. Gabe and I are friends and I've written many DIY articles for MotoringFile in the past. Unfortunately, I got tired of folks there always bagging on my write-ups in a negative way and so I gave it up. It sucks I know, but that's the way it goes. A few bad apples always seem to ruin it for the rest of us.
Thanks for your feedback.
-- MIKE
EDIT: In fact, if you take a look at the following DIY articles I wrote for Motoringfile, you'll see that I've pretty much been leading the way for the MINI's nav system for a couple of years now
:MINI Rear Camera Review (March 2005)
MINI Video Input (June 2005)
Aftermarket Nav Integration (June 2005)
Integrated Aftermarket Bluetooth (June 2005)
A New Look For The MINI's Nav (September 2005)
Integrated Aftermarket Bluetooth: Part 2 (October 2005)
#7
10-09-2006, 07:16 PM
This is the latest NAV v28 software. Do you mean 3D perspective mode? As noted in the first post, he hasn't done the 3D icons for that mode.
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#8
10-09-2006, 08:05 PM
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#9
10-09-2006, 10:33 PM
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#10
10-09-2006, 10:36 PM
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#11
10-10-2006, 07:55 AM
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Edge,
Okay, you're right... I guess that I have been slacking off quite a bit lately.
Kudos to you for being there to pick up the slack.
everytimeidie027,
Actually, portable navigation device (PND) manufacturers such as Garmin are now starting to include customizable vehicle icons as a feature in their newer devices (like the nüvi, Zumo, etc.). Garmin still only allows you to select from a pre-defined set of vehicles in various colors (such as a sports car, compact car, truck, motorcycle, etc. - all of which look really nice), but I'm sure that they will expand this in the future to allow users to create and use their own custom vehicle icons just like we're doing here with our MINI's factory nav system.
I guess that BMW/MINI is leading the way in this area without even knowing it.
BTW, you can check out Garmin's custom vehicle icons here:
http://www.garmin.com/vehicles/index.jsp
and/or
http://www.garmin.com/vehicles/download.jsp
It sure would be nice if we could find someone with the artistic capability to create a nice set of 3D vehicle icons like the Garmin ones for use with our MINI's factory nav system though.
Okay, you're right... I guess that I have been slacking off quite a bit lately.
Kudos to you for being there to pick up the slack. everytimeidie027,
Actually, portable navigation device (PND) manufacturers such as Garmin are now starting to include customizable vehicle icons as a feature in their newer devices (like the nüvi, Zumo, etc.). Garmin still only allows you to select from a pre-defined set of vehicles in various colors (such as a sports car, compact car, truck, motorcycle, etc. - all of which look really nice), but I'm sure that they will expand this in the future to allow users to create and use their own custom vehicle icons just like we're doing here with our MINI's factory nav system.
I guess that BMW/MINI is leading the way in this area without even knowing it.
BTW, you can check out Garmin's custom vehicle icons here:
http://www.garmin.com/vehicles/index.jsp
and/or
http://www.garmin.com/vehicles/download.jsp
It sure would be nice if we could find someone with the artistic capability to create a nice set of 3D vehicle icons like the Garmin ones for use with our MINI's factory nav system though.
#12
10-22-2007, 07:27 PM
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Hi All,
With many thanks going to TWISTER, we now have access to the really cool 3D (and 2D) MINI Cooper vehicle icons that are included with the MINI portable nav system (i.e. the MINI re-branded Garmin nuvi 350 unit). I used the red (with white checkered top) MINI vehicle icon on my nav system and it looks great! It's really nice to now have a MINI vehicle icon that works in 3D perspective view.
Sorry for the horrible pictures (my camera and photo taking skills suck!), but you can get the gist of it. They actually look much better (and clearer) in real life.
Here they are in 3D "perspective" mode:
And here they are in normal 2D mode:
And yes... As you can tell from my MINI's location in the snap shots (i.e. the Lake Forest/Foothill Ranch area) and the date, we were indeed trapped in the middle of all the horrendous fires going on right now in Southern California. Darn near lost our house at around 11 AM this morning. The fire came within mere yards of taking it away from us. We packed up all our most important belongings, grabbed the cats (and the MINIs) and evacuated. Very scary stuff! I feel really bad for all the folks losing their homes up in Lake Arrowhead and over in the San Diego area. What a nightmare. 
With many thanks going to TWISTER, we now have access to the really cool 3D (and 2D) MINI Cooper vehicle icons that are included with the MINI portable nav system (i.e. the MINI re-branded Garmin nuvi 350 unit). I used the red (with white checkered top) MINI vehicle icon on my nav system and it looks great! It's really nice to now have a MINI vehicle icon that works in 3D perspective view.
Sorry for the horrible pictures (my camera and photo taking skills suck!), but you can get the gist of it. They actually look much better (and clearer) in real life.
Here they are in 3D "perspective" mode:
And here they are in normal 2D mode:
And yes... As you can tell from my MINI's location in the snap shots (i.e. the Lake Forest/Foothill Ranch area) and the date, we were indeed trapped in the middle of all the horrendous fires going on right now in Southern California. Darn near lost our house at around 11 AM this morning. The fire came within mere yards of taking it away from us. We packed up all our most important belongings, grabbed the cats (and the MINIs) and evacuated. Very scary stuff!
I feel really bad for all the folks losing their homes up in Lake Arrowhead and over in the San Diego area. What a nightmare.
Last edited by TheOfficeMaven; 10-23-2007 at 07:32 AM.
#15
10-24-2007, 04:11 PM
I also echo the "how the heck do you switch to perspective view?" question. Does it require installing a hacked nav OS to enable the option?
We have a '05 MCSc with the DVD-based nav. While I'd have to check its current software version, I believe it's current (we had the dealer update it when in for service last month). Our DVD is old ... dated '03 or '04 I believe (if that makes a difference).
Thanks for any help ... I've searched high and low and not found an answer I can replicate in our little blue convertible.
We have a '05 MCSc with the DVD-based nav. While I'd have to check its current software version, I believe it's current (we had the dealer update it when in for service last month). Our DVD is old ... dated '03 or '04 I believe (if that makes a difference).
Thanks for any help ... I've searched high and low and not found an answer I can replicate in our little blue convertible.
#16
10-24-2007, 04:56 PM
Join Date: Sep 2004
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No hacks required...
In order to get the 3D "perspective" view you need to have a DVD-based MKIV nav system and you need to have nav software version 4-1/70 (i.e. V27) or higher installed (see below), then you need to enable the Perspective feature by doing a one-time settings change in the nav computer's service menu.
Do this:
1) Push the "MENU" button to get to the the main menu.
2) Scroll to the "SETTINGS" (or "SET") menu selection and click the **** to select it.
3) Push and hold the "MENU" button for about 8 seconds to enter the GPS Service Menu.
4) Scroll beyond the bottom to a 2nd page, where you will get the Perspective option.
5) Click the **** on the Perspective option to enable it.
6) Once the Perspective feature has been enabled in the GPS Service Menu, you can switch it on by going to the "Map Positioning" menu (i.e. the popup menu where you select "Pointing North" or "Travel Direction") and selecting the new "Perspective" setting that now appears there.
Thanks goes to X5-RWK over on X5world for the steps.
EDIT: The most current nav software version is 4-1/91 (i.e. V29.1 or V30). You can check your version number by following steps 1 and 2 above and the version number will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the Settings screen.
Note that if the version number of your nav system starts with a "3", then you have an older CD-based MKIII nav system (with no 3D perspective view support). If the version number starts with a "4", then you have a newer DVD-based MKIV nav system (which fully supports the 3D perspective view).
In order to get the 3D "perspective" view you need to have a DVD-based MKIV nav system and you need to have nav software version 4-1/70 (i.e. V27) or higher installed (see below), then you need to enable the Perspective feature by doing a one-time settings change in the nav computer's service menu.
Do this:
1) Push the "MENU" button to get to the the main menu.
2) Scroll to the "SETTINGS" (or "SET") menu selection and click the **** to select it.
3) Push and hold the "MENU" button for about 8 seconds to enter the GPS Service Menu.
4) Scroll beyond the bottom to a 2nd page, where you will get the Perspective option.
5) Click the **** on the Perspective option to enable it.
6) Once the Perspective feature has been enabled in the GPS Service Menu, you can switch it on by going to the "Map Positioning" menu (i.e. the popup menu where you select "Pointing North" or "Travel Direction") and selecting the new "Perspective" setting that now appears there.
Thanks goes to X5-RWK over on X5world for the steps.
EDIT: The most current nav software version is 4-1/91 (i.e. V29.1 or V30). You can check your version number by following steps 1 and 2 above and the version number will be displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the Settings screen.
Note that if the version number of your nav system starts with a "3", then you have an older CD-based MKIII nav system (with no 3D perspective view support). If the version number starts with a "4", then you have a newer DVD-based MKIV nav system (which fully supports the 3D perspective view).
Last edited by TheOfficeMaven; 10-24-2007 at 05:48 PM.
#17
10-24-2007, 09:16 PM
THANK YOU!!! to TheOfficeMaven...that was exactly the information I'd been unable to track down. Our 4-1/91 nav is now in 3D mode.
So...has anyone created a set of cool blue cabrio icons yet? Black stripes, please
(or maybe I'll take a stab at it, as I can find my way around Photoshop...)
Very stoked to finally have this working. Thank you for granting me perspective.
So...has anyone created a set of cool blue cabrio icons yet? Black stripes, please
(or maybe I'll take a stab at it, as I can find my way around Photoshop...)Very stoked to finally have this working. Thank you for granting me perspective.
#18
10-24-2007, 10:21 PM
#19
10-24-2007, 10:48 PM
Best of luck to everybody in the fire area.
They aren't so bad. It looks like you may have had the flash on (probably auto mode). Turn it off for better results. Actually most pictures look better without flash, and I only use flash when absolutely necessary.
They aren't so bad. It looks like you may have had the flash on (probably auto mode). Turn it off for better results. Actually most pictures look better without flash, and I only use flash when absolutely necessary.
#20
10-25-2007, 12:01 AM
earthly noncomputer geek terms
#21
10-25-2007, 05:11 AM
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@MarcoEsc,
You are most welcome. I'm glad to hear that you got the 3D mode working in your MINI.
@JPMM,
As MarcoEsc already stated (and me too), you do indeed need a DVD-based (i.e. MKIV) nav system to get the 3D perspective view. The older CD-based (i.e. MKIII) nav systems don't support the 3D perspective view nor most of the other really cool new nav features (such as Destinations+, new map colors & resolution, etc.). However, if you can locate a used MINI or BMW MKIV unit (from a wrecking yard, eBay, etc.), it's a direct plug-n-play swap to install the newer system. I.e. it's definitely worth doing if you can find one for a reasonable price.
@rkw,
Thanks for the camera tips. The flash was indeed turned off. When I had it on, you couldn't even see the display at all. Just a reflection of the flash in the nav screen. The pictures were taken in a dark garage. What I think I need to do is move the car out into the sunlight and take them that way instead.
You are most welcome. I'm glad to hear that you got the 3D mode working in your MINI.
@JPMM,
As MarcoEsc already stated (and me too), you do indeed need a DVD-based (i.e. MKIV) nav system to get the 3D perspective view. The older CD-based (i.e. MKIII) nav systems don't support the 3D perspective view nor most of the other really cool new nav features (such as Destinations+, new map colors & resolution, etc.). However, if you can locate a used MINI or BMW MKIV unit (from a wrecking yard, eBay, etc.), it's a direct plug-n-play swap to install the newer system. I.e. it's definitely worth doing if you can find one for a reasonable price.
@rkw,
Thanks for the camera tips. The flash was indeed turned off. When I had it on, you couldn't even see the display at all. Just a reflection of the flash in the nav screen.
The pictures were taken in a dark garage. What I think I need to do is move the car out into the sunlight and take them that way instead.
#22
10-25-2007, 09:02 AM
Thanks for the camera tips. The flash was indeed turned off. When I had it on, you couldn't even see the display at all. Just a reflection of the flash in the nav screen. The pictures were taken in a dark garage. What I think I need to do is move the car out into the sunlight and take them that way instead.
The pictures were taken in a dark garage. What I think I need to do is move the car out into the sunlight and take them that way instead.
#23
10-25-2007, 10:11 AM
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#24
10-25-2007, 10:49 AM
I thought this part was fairly earthly (earthly?!?) and used noncomputer geek terms: "First off, you need to have a DVD-based (i.e. MKIV) navigation system in your MINI in order to make this work. As far as I am aware, it will not work with the older CD-based (i.e. MKIII) nav systems."
. Well ,mine still makes a good aquarium .
Last edited by JPMM; 05-20-2012 at 03:12 PM.