I've tried ordering the portable navigation for my new mini to be told more then once that the unit has been discontinued. I can't find any news about any kind of official replacement and it's still listed on the mini site and dealer accessory sites. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

The portable nav, actually a Garmin Nuvi 3xx series, was discontinued by Garmin in mid/late-2008. If you want that form-factor with the various MINI specific POIs and graphics, I'd suggest contacting various MINI dealerships starting with Morristown (my fav) and ask if they have any left in inventory.

FWIW, the portable nav only has one thing going for it: the hard wire kit. Everything else is available aftermarket (including POIs and graphics) and can be had cheaper. Even the position of the mount behind the steering wheel is not ideal for most people as it involves reaching through or behind the steering wheel. I moved mine to a Kuda mount & haven't looked back.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help ! the clean install and hardwire kit is really what I wanted over the unit. I'll look into other units and the kuda mount you mentioned, thanks again.

 

I bought a Garmin 260W and I got a PDF file off of someone on this NAM forum that put a Mini splash screen and a red Mini with a checkerboard top on it. The 260W is wide and it speaks the street names loud & clear. It was also only $159.00 when I bought it a year ago.

You will need to do a search to find the post with the PDF files if you decide to get your Garmin from Best-Buy or someplace like that.

Ronnie948

 

And, you can order parts and do the hardwiring yourself, which is what I did with my 755. All together, I probably have ~ $320 for my unit, brackets, and wiring. And using free resources off the 'net, I've got a nice MINI Cooper S splash screen and a CR R56 vehicle icon (which I edited myself to add boot stripes).