Am I the only one who doesn't want a touch screen nav? I really like the fact that I can keep my nav screen clear and clean and fingerprint free.

Another benefit is that passengers tend to keep their hands off the toggle switch that they don't know how to use. With a touch screen, I'm sure that passangers would feel free to play around with my navigation unit.

 

That's a work-around for a flawed Nav. When done right, Nav is a remarkable tool that doesn't usually require augmentation by a home computer.

Have you ever owned a car with a touchscreen nav? I have - it is soooo much more intuitive & quick, especially when entering the name of something to search for. Sure, it get's a little smudgy, but it's not that noticeable, and is easily cleaned.

 

I'm half and half, I would like to have a touchscreen unit as they are easier to use, however i don't like people touching my car without my permission, i'm protective of my baby...

 

Hey, why don't you guys just not get a Nav system, and just carry a copy of the Yellow pages in the boot. When you need to find something, just pull off the road, pull out the appropriate copy of the yellow pages (for the area your in), look up the business and then call them from a pay phone and ask them for directions from where you are.

That would work too, wouldn't it??

 

In fact, you all are so smart, you got me thinking!! Why do we need a MINI?? Hey, they got from NY harbor to the wild west, all by foot or horse and buggy years ago.

So when the MINI breaks down, don't ask MINI to fix it, just walk, what's the big deal???

 

I don't, I fix it myself! (best way to make sure it is done right.)

You do know that you have a really crappy attitude....

 

Worst factory installed navigation systems and their vehicles

March 5, 2007

1. Mercury Mariner Hybrid, supplied by Visteon
2. Jeep Liberty, supplied by Alpine
3. Ford Expedition, supplied by Visteon
4. Mercedes-Benz C-Class, supplied by Alpine
5. Toyota Avalon, supplied by Denso
6. Audi A4, supplied by Aisin AW
7. Chrysler Town & Country, supplied by Alpine
8. Mercedes-Benz SLK, supplied by HarmanBecker
9. BMW 5-Series, supplied by Siemens VD0
10. Chrysler Pacifica, supplied by Alpine
This list was based on the 2006 Navigation Usage and Satisfaction Study. The study is based on responses from 14,103 owners who recently purchased or leased new vehicles with factory-installed navigation systems.
Source: JD Power & Associates

 

I'm kind of on the fence on that one. Touch screen would be easier and faster, but the finger prints would probably get to me. I'm already cleaning my finger prints off the secret compartment door every time I open it. They don't bug me in any other vehicle, just my Mini. Maybe I should start calling my Mini "Monk" ...everything in it's place, everything lined up perfect, mats vacuumed in evenly spaced patterns, gloved hands only to keep those pesky finger prints away.

I use a Nuvi in my truck and it's touch screen works really well. It makes it really fast to enter things and "work" with the Nav. The finger prints are a trade off for ease of use. I use a screen protector (also cuts glare) that doesn't finger print nearly as bad as the Nuvi screen does.

I don't mind the Mini's joystick approach but a touch screen would definitely be a lot faster, especially searching POIs where we have to re-enter the name for every category since you can't find the simplest thing in it without looking through a half dozen categories and wasting an hour to find some thing... A touch screen would speed up that fun process.

 

Birdman thanks for brining this up! I have voiced exasperation to all around me about the complete lack of common sense programming that Siemens-VDO desinged into the MKIV unit. Was this thing developed during Octoberfest?

TheOfficeMaven, thanks to you for the PimpMyNav link! I will investigate this further this week. I just updated to v29 and love the new "Perspective" mode that I was completely unaware of until a post on the X5 site clued me in.

I have checked the documentation on the PimpMyNav site and it does go into great detail about POI additions but doesn't give a lot of detail about how to create a "Search All" or "Just Frikkin SEARCH!" menu item that would search all "categories" based on just the name. (I know Office Depot is in there somewhere).

To answer the question about why the Mini folks didn't know about the problems..pretty simple really. When I bought my car and got the "new car" briefing my MA (who shall remain nameless) told me that nobody in the dealership knew anything about the NAV system so I'd have to check out the manual to figure it out. He went on to say that only about 10% of Minis (05 timeframe) even came ordered with NAV systems and I guess they just hadn't bothered to learn the ins and outs of what was considered a "high-end" niche accessory.

So. I wanna fix the menus. And then I want to add the video module and get a front and rear camera (rear could be useful, front would be if I could somehow get infra-red imaging like the Caddy DTS to see deer alongside the road before I get close).

Anyway, the NAV quest continues. Will post back any details I find out or hacks that end up being successful.

S.

 

Schmagagled, it seems the best course of action for you is to call your MA and ask him to put you on the list for the upcoming DVD and Firmware releases...should be any day now. We all did that and are anxiously awaiting...ask Birdman for the details .

 

At this time, I have the "Search All" setup working just fine for the 1st gen MINI. Unfortunately, the 1st gen MINI's nav system is unable to deal with dual-layer DVD discs and so I ended up removing all of the original POI categories and replaced them with my search all versions instead (due to free disk space issues). This one's a done deal and is working great.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to get the "Search All" setup working for the 2nd gen MINI. It appears that the nav system in the 2nd gen cars is indeed able to read dual-layer DVD (and so there are no free disk space issues as there is on the 1st gen setup). However, no matter what I try, so far I cannot get the nav system to recognize any of the custom POIs I add to the map disc. There must be some problem with the way the POI databases are being created by the PMN program. I'm still working on it in my free time though. Hopefully I'll be able to figure something out.

Anyway, at this point, I wouldn't recommend that you purchase the PMN program if you have a 2nd gen MINI. I'd hold off to see if I can get things working (unless you just want to give it a go for yourself). PMN is working great for the 1st gen MINIs map discs though.

 

Thank you for the update and spending the time to try to get a fix sorted out!

 

Sorry if I am asking about things already posted, but I've read some very negative things about the NAV here and as I'm about to take delivery of my 07 MCS with NAV, I was wondering if there was any one place where I could get a brief "all i need to know" about how to make the thing actually somewhat useful. Thanks in advance for your assistance!

 

This was probably the wrong thread to read.

Contrary to the views expressed here about the nav system, I've found it very worthwhile. it works well to guide you from one place to another and recalculates the routing if along the way you take another road than the one suggested.

If you live in a metro area, it connects to a real-time traffic watch system to alert you to slowdowns and suggests an alternate route.

I thought long and hard before ordering the nav system, but I'm very happy with it. I don't find the need to find every Pep Boys location in the state, as some of the posters here, so I'm not upset about the search function not working the way others want it to.

If you have other specific questions about the nav system, write them up and start a new thread.

Good luck with your new car. I see it's coming in on the same ship that brought mine back in April.

 

Same here, I do like the nav that is in the MINI. I own several other nav (Garmin and Navigon) and although there are more features on them, I never end up using them. Granted, I don't use the Nav as a phone book and usually know where I want to go before (address at minimum) I leave but the times that I have wanted to find something, I have.

 

+1. I would buy it again, and think most of the other critics here who actually bought the Nav have stated the same.

 

The NAV system is the 7th most popular option as reported in this post. Not too shabby!

~Neal

 

Same here... I wouldn't purchase/own a 2nd gen MINI without the factory nav system (I love the way it's integrated into the whole car and I can't stand the looks of the pie plate speedo in non-nav 2nd gen MINIs). It's an amazing navigation system despite the few flaws it has. Don't let the negative posts you read about it get to you too much. You'll love it I'm sure.

 

Yet another +1 from me too- I'm not familiar with the area that my dealer is in, and I'd pulled up a Starbucks on the Nav before I'd even left the parking lot. First try, no fiddling, no experience with any other Navs.

Granted, I've run into problems finding a couple places that don't slot nicely into the existing categories- but that comes nowhere near to offsetting the benefits I've seen from the built-in traffic updates, better looks, and fantastic integration with the rest of the car.

One thing that might be helpful- the inside flap of the DVD case includes a listing of the different categories.

 

Here's an expanded list of all 102 POI sub-categories if you're interested:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...48&postcount=3

 

Ummmm, so nobody is waiting breathlessly for the new releases from Mini and Navteq? Then I guess I'll just go bact to totally enjoying my NAV. There is nothing so cool as to push the little button on the steering wheel and say "traffic info" and have a list of all of the traffic problems pop up on the screen...then say, "satellite radio" and have my favorite Sirius channel play...then say, "maps" and have the voice respond with "perspective" and see the schweeeet looking 3D map display. For me, the NAV system completes the car. It started out as an uncertainty and ended up as a main feature.

 

I'm also satisfied with my factory nav ('05 MCSc), and am glad we bought a car that included it. Probably not worth $2G, but someone else took that hit.

However, I will gladly apply a software upgrade, should it arrive. And no, I do not work for MINI marketing.:impatient

 

I'd get the NAV option again. Yes it has its quicks but it does work well. Do I use it the NAV system itself all that much, not really, since most of my driving is in town and I usually know where I'm going. If the area I live in was supported in the Clear Channel traffic network I'd use it more while driving around town just to have access to traffic info.

I use the other integrated features much more often. It is nice to have a nice large display for Sirius, a graphical display for the Park Distance Control instead of just beeps, my bluetooth phone book, and all of the various vehicle settings.

For me, it is a must have.

 

I use the nav for the traffic feature here in so cal. It works great for that. Also, if I type in the address I want to get to, it works great. The POI search is the issue and it takes some getting used to. I would never try and search out something I wasn't aware of while driving. I would pull over and spend some time with it or ask a co-pilot to help with the search. The integrated nav also gives me a great display to set my car settings from. It also looks great with the pdc

 

No, MINI/BMW has a CRAPPY attitude. I have a great attitude. It's simple, I want it FIXED!