Does any one know what is the differences between the 6.5" base and the 8" XL system besides screen size? What function(s) may be missing in the little one? For example --

1.Can the smaller screen still be split?
2. I read somewhere that the automatic transmission downshifts itself when cornering with GPS info. Is this function available for both systems?
3. The controller ***** look different (the one for 6.5" system has a red button in the middle). I assume that handwriting input is not available on it, yes? Does it still have the nav/tel/radio/media buttons? (The online users' manual seems none, but the web configurator does show them.)
4. Is traffic info available to the 6.5" nav system? How about speed limit info?

These are what I can think of. Any other functionality missing?


Thank you in advance!

 

- The smaller screen cannot be split
- I believe the Predictive Drivetrain works with both nav systems
- The smaller nav system will have the extra shortcut buttons, but no touch input
- Not sure if traffic info is available on both...I would think so though
- Speed limit info is only available with the Active Driving Assist package. The nav on it's own will not do it.

- The XL system will also house a 20GB hard drive for music storage, which the smaller unit will not do.

I think if nav is a must for you, go with the XL screen. It's a $250* difference and I think it's definitely worth it.

*assuming you're in the US:
$750 for the Media package - Visual Boost, BT audio, armrest
$750 for Navigation
- OR -
$1750 for the Wired Pack - XL headunit, nav, armrest, BT audio

 

Hi Sirius, thank you so much for the information!

 

The wired pack with Connected XL is absolutely worth every penny. Having the full iDrive functionality is delightful.

 

Is good to hear, ordered the Wired package in our F56 S (although not a iphone user). Definitely wanted the bigger display, Navi and connectivity (and the internal HD). Storage Package, JCW interior pkg, Auto (no paddles), HK /Sirius and Dynamic Dampeners. Pretty excited.

 

The internal HD/enhanced BT is probably my favorite part. I've got something like 1200 songs on there right now, and I'm using less than half the space. No USB drives to futz with, and my phone pairs up automatically, so if nothing on the HD strikes my fancy, I'm only a few taps away from Spotify.

 

Large NAVI is awesome...just found out this weekend if your using navi split screen with like NAVI/radio when you get to your exit it shows the exit on the screen with a countdown in ft till the time for your turn.

 

Actually the XL gives speed info without ADA and the HD is 10gigs, otherwise that's correct.

 

I have Wired Pack w/Connected XL, and I don't have speed info, plus I have a 20GB HD.

 

I would love to hear how you get speed info without ADA, but you are incorrect about the HD - it is a 20GB HD.

 

Just quoting the Mini training rep that was just here the other day.

 

He is definitely wrong - you can check yourself on any XL equipped MINI. Go into Multimedia --> Music Collection --> OPTION --> Manage --> Free memory:

 

If you are yet to order, then i recommend Connected XL + HUD option. This is by far the best HUD + Nav combo i have seen in any car (barring the expensive add-ons in BMW 5 & 7 series).

 

Sirius is correct. 20Gb and no speed limit data without AD package.
Side note: on top of how awesome the XL package is, the nav goes one step further when you order the HUD: full directions and even 3D arrow/routing shows up in the right half of the HUD when Nav is active. Excellent.

 

Traffic info is technically available on the 6 inch screen but is grayed out. Seems to be an "upgrade" i don't have. Same with the auto ventilation.

 

I agree with some of the others in getting the XL screen. I think its definitely worth it. I have it in my 2015 F56 Mini Cooper S which is currently being serviced and I'm driving a 2015 F56 Mini Cooper loaner with the smaller screen and I can notice a big difference for me between the two. One of the things I don't like is I can't get Bluetooth album art on the smaller screen and I can't get it to pull up all of my playlists over bluetooth, just the current one selected on the phone. You can get it to do that via USB connection though in the smaller screen. However when cycling through songs without the HUD they cycle in the on board computer screen in the speedo cluster and it's a lot less useful in my opinion than on the HUD. Say for instance in my normal car if I want to cycle 6 songs down to get to the one I want I just do it in the HUD and hit okay to select and it goes to that song immediately. In this loaner if I do that it will play the first few seconds of each song until it gets to the one you want and it takes about 3 seconds to go from one song to the next (If your 6 songs down it is very annoying). Very tedious when you've had it the other way. Plus I think the control **** with handwriting recognition in the XL is better laid out vs. the one with the red dot in the center.

Just my two cents... however, I have had a loaner with the base stereo and no screen and I'll say any screen size is better than that one for navigating playlists.

Hope that helps!

 

I have the navigation package on a Mini Countryman. I just bought a four door without navigation, got the Media Package. I found I tended to use an iPhone or iPad vs the nav system on my older Mini. How do the newer nav systems with the XL screen compare feature wise to an iPhone or iPad?

 

I can speak to two things above:
I think the nav data entry is better than I've seen on other products, but still less fun than just using Google Maps or Apple Maps on your phone. Ie. being able to find an address in a search and click to launch the map. On the MINI system you still have to go through and select everything. That said, it's faster than others I've had. I haven't had great luck with the touchpad on the iDrive dial only because I think I'm too sloppy. It's super fun as a concept, but I don't know how I feel about precision swiping.

Regardless, I would say that using the onboard nav, especially with the XL and HUD, represents a seamless and distraction-free nav experience. ALL ABOUT THAT HUD.

 

I've ordered the XL as part of the wired package on my 2015 F55. How do you go about updating the navigation maps? Is it only updatable via the dealership or can you remove a usb drive which has the map info on it, and update it via a pc like I can in my Mazda CX-5? Also, I'm assuming the map only has US and Canada loaded?

 

The map updates come out once a year and are updateable via USB. You don't have to go through the dealer - you can order yourself and they'll ship you a USB drive. The updates themselves are coded per VIN so they only work on the one car. I believe the maps cover all of North America.

Pricing is typically ~$200

 

Thanks for the info. Shame they're not free. I guess you can probably get away with updating it every 2-3 yrs. Do you guys ever suffer a delay when it comes to planning a route into the nav system, or is it nice and fast?

The reason I ask is that I've had plenty of portable gps units such as Tomtom One etc and when you update them they usually have something called gpsquickfix, which tells your device where GPS satellites will be for the next 7 days. Your nav device can then calculate where you are very quickly with only a weak GPS signal.

Have anyone noticed a delay in the nav system planning routes after several months of use?

 

The Mini I thought I had ordered turned out to seem like a smoke and mirrors deal. After 3+ weeks of trying to get a quote, with what I was getting and a price I gave up. The last two "quotes" they sent me listed a different colored mini with a different vin # than the car I was following in the Mini Owners lounge.

The wife decided she was going to buy too. We went to another dealer and had correct quotes, with full parts lists & prices within days. The new dealer even got the parts the Build a Mini site could not do correctly (garage door opener...).

So I hope the enthusiasm for the XL Package is justified as we ordered it on my 4 door, Electric Blue mini. The wife went with the smaller screen. The 4 door will be our tripping car and with a navigator and driver we think we will be able to take advantage of the XL options. We both got the HUD as having the information it provides visible without having to change line of sight seemed like an excellent safety feature to us. We see so many people swerving across lanes etc. while they try to focus on a phone/dash/map...while driving.

I think the ability to zoom in and out on a map using the new touch/scrolling device will help a great deal. The split screen may help too. Trying to pinch an iPhone touch screen may work, but it can be distracting for a driver or navigator and I find that I sometimes pinch out too far hitting something I did not mean to, ending up with a useless screen.

Did I read somewhere above that the new software will auto pair with iPhones? One of my irritations is, 3 different people have spent 30 minuets or more trying to pair my current iPhone with my mini and no one has gotten it to work yet. Every time my mini has been to the mini shop it has come back with all the settings all screwy and I have never been able to get everything back the way it originally was.