Looking at purchasing a 2011 MINI and am coming from a long line of Honda/Acura products where we have always bought (and loved) the in-dash Nav system. In the MINI, these seem to be rare beasts - the only way I can find one is custom order, with all of the risks of what incentives might be in place when it arrives.

My local dealer is getting an AWD Countryman in with the Nav that I will be able to look at, but figured I might get better data from folks who have used one for a while. Searched the threads here, and there are only a couple of glancing notes on the Nav systems' behaviors.

So, here it is: Is the 2011 Nav option worth it? What do you love or hate about it?

How does the integrated traffic work? Does it come from XM-Sirius, or from FM data? Is it timely and accurate? Can you conveniently route around traffic?

How fast does it update? When you take a wrong turn, how does it behave? (Early Honda systems insisted on trying to route you back to your original planned route rather than running a reroute and finding a better new path -- new Acura system works much better in this regard).

How easy is it to find your destination? Is the database complete and easy to use, or do you have to resort to entering the address most of the time?

Any other likes/gripes? If I drop Nav from my "must have" list, my options open considerably.

TIA,
Ken

 

I have the Nav with the MINI Connected package on my '11 MCS. I'm fairly certain that it is essentially identical to the unit in the Countryman. To be honest, I haven't fully exercised all of the features yet. You're right about their availability on the lot; I happened to visit MINI of Des Moines this past weekend and could find only one R56 and two R60 with Nav in their stable. Suspect it probably stems from their desire to keep the average sticker price under control.

I purchased it for both the functionality and the look. The conventional R56 pizza pan speedo was a real turn-off for me and I was glad to pay a bit more just to not have it. Thus far, the directions it has provided have been accurate and it learns fairly quick when you've decided to take an alternate route. It may stick with the original route for a bit if it's much shorter or quicker, but is quick to calculate a new route.

The audible guidance is okay; it speaks through the sounds system's speakers and the volume is controlled through the radio volume ****. It knows highway designations but doesn't call out city streets by name and--most annoyingly--talks over the music or ongoing phone conversation (i.e., I would expect it to lower the music volume but it does not). The graphic turn directions pop up on the display when you are in the sound system or phone mode but not when you are already showing the moving map. You have to manually set either day or night map background, which is okay for me since I use the night mode all of the time. Living in a rural area I've only seen the integrated traffic feature once or twice while driving around in the Twin Cities but it seemed to be fairly representative (but no idea how it works). I also have not experimented with route preferences. The Points of Interest function is probably the weakest part of the system -- the database is pretty good but it the way things are categorized is not always intuitive. It takes a bit longer to find what you're looking for. I'm estimating I resort to entering the address off my smartphone about one-fourth of time, but part of that I attribute to the fact that I'm still learning the system.

I've become comfortable using the control buttons and joystick but it took a bit of time. I like being able to twist the top of the joystick to zoom in and out of the map on the fly, and to use the paging button to quickly cycle between the phone, sound system, and navigation screens.

The functionality is a bit quirky and not as good as your state-of-the-art Garmin. Thanks to the German engineering it takes a bit more work to learn the interface and the various layers of input. If you care most about optimal performance of the navigation system you might not be satisfied with it. If you like the look and fit of an integrated system and are willing to look past the quirkiness and the lack of some bells and whistles, you'll probably be okay with it. FWIW, I wish mine had a bit more capability but I'm not regretting the purchase.

 

I thought I should post my thoughts after finally getting a chance to play with one this afternoon. Lots of looks at this thread, but only the one response from Gil-galad (thanks!).

In a word -- Yuk!! My MA left me alone with the system - unfortunately, it was in a Countryman that was sold yesterday, so I just played with it in-place while it was parked at the dealership.

I have worked with some pretty talented User Interface designers (the kind with PhDs in clinical psychology) and have come to really appreciate intelligent interface designs. (I have worked on pilot flight decks and complex medical devices where good versus bad UI can be the difference between life and death.)

I have also read and experienced the comment that MINI's ergonomics leave something to be desired. Placement of window switched behind the cup holders being a prime example.

I found the MINI Nav interface to be both terribly confusing and inconsistent - for example, where you land when you use the left and right directional movements on the joystick is not consistent. If you accidentally click the joystick, I did not see a convenient way to "undo". And when you do, you might be all the way back at the Nav start point - not just back at what you were doing.

I tried to search for a local store. I have been using this same store as my test case when I poke at Garmins/Tomtoms, or other nav devices. Never could find it. When you want to search for a Point of Interest, you must provide a ton of data for it. You need to select a state - Minnesota is down several pages of twisting the joystick dial to select. Then a town. That at least gave you a text input wheel. Then a category. What category is an aquarium store in? Couldn't tell. However, the categories only filled one page - covered "A-H" and for the life of me, I could not find a way to get to another page of main categories. So I left it at "All".

Then, there was a keyword field -- why not the name of the place? Since the place had "fish" in its name, I tried that -- got pages of places in the city of Minneapolis with fish in their names (lots of restaurants). No store named "A World of Fish" -- got even a less intelligible list if I used "world" in the keyword.

I won't go into the frustration of trying to select a destination from the map screen itself, when the screen scrolled so incredibly slow.

I did not see a means to search for a location by its phone number, though when you select a location, it has its phone number listed.

I had been all ready to place a custom order today, but left the dealership in frustration. I really don't want to have to fuss with an external nav unit, as I think they are attractive nuisances if left in view for folks willing to break your glass to steal it (no one breaks in to steal an integrated Nav). I use my nav in my Acura all the time, and it is really easy and logical in its use.

I know that the Google Map Search and send to car might get around a lot of this interface issue, but I didn't have the ability to test that out.

Any observations from other owners of the 2011 nav system?

 

Here's what I did: Got the connected system without the nav, got a Garmin 1490LMT, and the cravenspeed mount. Looks good and I have great navigation. When I park it, I throw the Garmin in the little box above the glove box (hidden compartment).

 

How is the Ford Sync in comparison?

 

I love it. Yes it's worth it. My opinion, of course. The interface LOOKS great. Function is another story. It works well once you learn the system but then again that's the real rub here. For all the MINI/Apple comparisons I've read, this is one arena in which MINI has most definitely NOT learned from Apple. The interface is not what I would call intuitive. I felt the learning curve was frustrating to say the least.

Now that I've learned the interface I've really grown to love the system. I find the nav to be pretty good. I'd say it's not the best on the market but it's integrated and it's always in my dash. The maps look good and function well. The voice navigation and next-turn warnings all work well. I absolutely love the Google Send to Car integration. I can now plan trips on my computer with Google maps and then send the routes to my car.

I love the iPod/iPhone integration and I think on the whole it all works well. Strangely I've found that I really don't use the "Connected" feature set hardly at all--save for the previously mentioned Google Send to Car feature. I would prefer to use the iPod out iPod interface that is part of the Connected feature set--this is exactly what it sounds like. The system ports the iPod screen to the MINI screen. Works pretty slick. My only complaint is that when I use this feature there is no visible clock in the cockpit. This irritates me so much that I just forgo this feature and use the standard MINI iPod interface.

Would I buy the system again? Yes. Would I risk a good deal because I wanted the system? Yes.

 

I don' have any of this, but I've read numerous threads over the years. I'm gathering that the POI search system still sucks (Birdman's Disease lol). I don't understand what Connected adds to the system over and above the Nav. I think I understand what the iPod/iPhone integration adds: the iPod lets you see the iPod screen on the Nav/speedo screen and make song and playlist selections there. The iPhone thing is merely an expensive charger, you can use Bluetooth to access the phone contacts like you can with any other phone. It's too bad that the POI interface is still a joke, because even smartphones with GPS have that figured out no problem.

 

I got connected for almost free in my opinion with all the stuff that came included with the package. GPS is way to much money. I use a TOm/Tom from Wally world for $179 and it has free traffic for life and it works! If yo are using yor NAV system in the Mini you see nothing else. I have my TT runing and can see album art and do other things with the system for a lot less money. I love the comnected feature. Glad I got it. Tom/Tom goes in my rental cars when I travel and can move to my other vehicles and I only need to learn one easy system. All my friends with Built in GPS's never use them.
They use a portable because they are so easy. MB, Porsche, Land rover are all very complicated and not user friendly.

 

So if you get Connected and the iPod connetivity feature then the speedo shows you stuff like album art from your iPod and song selection? Cool! What else do you seen on that screen? I agree, I don't want GPS much in my car and I have an android with it and a Tomtom too. Tell me more about the connected feature sans GPS.

 

My Android works good with the blu tooth and hands free.
I like how you use the joy stick to scroll through all the radio and Sat choices. Setting different functions etc. Still have lots to learn. If your nav is running you don't see it. Album art is cool too. The
system also just looks cool in the car. The speedo needle is like it is floating.
It could work a little better with setting up pre sets and surfign for new stuff but best I have had in any car so far including my Maserati.

 

The screen is also able to do video play back (while parked). Internet radio and Pandora are also part of the Connected feature set.

 

Many thanks for the detailed and positive response. That was one thing I worried about with only a 20 minute or so "kick the tires" session -- was my frustration something I would ultimately work around, or would I always pull my hair out. You indicate that at least for you, it finally settled down to something usable.

I had spent some time last evening researching the Google Send to Car option. I realize that one reason I couldn't see the big deal, is that I do much of my web surfing/research on an iPad, and the Send to Car features don't work on mobile devices (many complaints in the Google forums on that one). But I went to my desktop, and saw how I could use that. That would get around much of my POI frustrations.

Do I understand correctly that the iPhone has to be running the MINI Connected app and be wired to the MINI (not just Bluetooth) for Google Send to Car to function?

I still don't fully understand how the Google Local Search function works. The manual is ambiguous, but it sounds like you can use the MINI Nav interface while the phone is running the MINI Connected app to invoke a Google search and get the results back from Google displayed on the Nav interface? Is that anything close to accurate?

Basically, does Google Local Search provide an alternate way to get a list of possible destinations from Google rather than the Nav's internal Database? Do you use the phone to to this, or the Nav systems joystick interface?

Thanks,
Ken

PS: My wife says I should just get the Nav. She is so understanding!

 

Thanks for the comments. It is interesting how many different use cases there are for Nav and Connected, and what is critical to one is not important to another and vice versa.

Having used an integrated nav for the past 3 vehicles (since our former 2000 Honda Odyssey) I find I am an impulse Nav user. A frequent use case is as I approach a destination, I want to pull up the current road system to confirm when I need to make my turns -- in that case I don't even set a route - just use the map for the current car position.

If I get a portable, I will feel compelled to put it away every day when I am out of my garage. I think they are theft magnets. But when I get in the car, if I don't need nav for that trip, I would likely leave it in the glove box. Then, when I decide I need "impulse nav" it won't be out, and I am unlikely to pull it out and connect it up while driving -- you think texting while driving is unsafe!

So, with a portable nav, it wouldn't be there for probably 50% of my nav uses. That's just how I use them -- YMMV!

As to the screen being used by Nav, there is a page button on the right side of the joystick that appears to flip between Nav and audio functions. Would that not allow you to do that for cover art? I find that when I use nav, there are long stretches when I don't need to watch the nav screen.

 

You can use the home or page flip button to switch to other modes, while the nav system is guiding you. You can use connected, look at album art, change radio stations, etc.

If there is a guidance event, the nav system pops up a screen with which way to go in X number of feet or yards.

 

Is the manual for Mini Connected and nav available somewhere online? Sounds like I need to do some cramming before my Countryman arrives in a couple of weeks.

 

The MINI Connected Manual is at http://www.mini.com/connectivity/min...andbook_EN.pdf

I have not seen a pointer to one specific to the Nav system.

 

I read that link about Miniconnected thanks. It looks like you don't need the Nav system ($2000 when last checked) if you have an iPhone and get Connected. You can just use Googlemaps through the phone. What I'm not clear on is if you stop and call up Googlemaps on the iPhone, can you show what's on the iPhone's screen on the Mini's screen? Of course I can't do that with my Android.

 

It's too bad it doesn't do this when the map screen is displayed. It only pops up if you're on the Audio or Telephony screens.

 

You certainly can use your phone to support Nav, if your eyes are good enough to drive off of a 3.5" display. I would suspect that you would rather use one of the phone-based turn-by-turn nav packages rather than just Google maps (or the Apple Map app, which I have tried to use a couple of times while on business travels, and believe me, it gives you some strange routes).

The connection between Google Send to Car and the MINI Connected app is through the integrated Nav system on the MINI. You send a location to your car from Google maps on your PC and it shows up as a selectable destination on your Nav interface. It does not show up on the MINI Connected app on the phone. (However, you can use "Send to Phone" on Google Maps, which I assume then shows up as a clickable text message - haven't tried that).

The only iPhone screen that shows up on the MINI Connected display is the iPod control interface. You can't just project the Google Maps display on the phone up on the larger MINI screen. Not that I have seen.

There seems to be a lot of confusion between the MINI Connected system in the car, and the MINI Connected app that is available for the iPhone. There are things you can do with the car alone, and more things that only happen when the car is connected to an iPhone running the app. Some of the latter is only useful when the car system has the Nav upgrade (like Google Send to Car and Google Local Search).

 

Thanks Hoyme, that's a good explanation. I'm tempted to not choose the NAV for my next Mini (I have a Tomtom I never use, I use the phone), but an tempted to choose Connected. I assume that iPhone/iPod connectivity is pretty much standard using the Y cable, but Connected is extra (like Bluetooth). I don't have much interest in the armrest charging thing. It is sort of confusing, and I gather that a lot of MAs aren't that familiar with it, because they don't have it themselves to mess with.

 

One plus I personally like about the Connected system is that all of the functions that you normally do in the tach (Blinker setup, lights, warning messages, etc) are done through the screen. Much more intuitive interface than the symbols on the tach.

 

Well, I have decided to go with the built-in Nav system. Just placed my order for my new MINI yesterday, with anticipated build in 2 weeks. Once I get it, I will follow-up with my own, more detailed observations, once I get to really play with it.

"Patiently" waiting....