I would've gotten nav if it was say, $500 option. Personally I prefer the integration of the built-in nav, but my bank account says I shouldn't have it. Plus I probably would only need it like half a dozen time a year.

Addendum: I have two cars, so a portable nav would give me the flexibility of using it on either car, or in my friend's car, or on the toilet.

 

Gotta have it! It won't even be an option soon, but i'm sure we will pay for it.

 

NO--I bought a TomTom GPS for $125. I would have considered myself very foolish had I spend over $2000 for the integrated NAV. I like to consider myself as being frugal and careful how I spend my money. I also did my own stripes, front end bra, window tints, and will hardwire the power for the GPS after I renovate my kichen I am building my cherry cabinets.

 

Its definitely not a necessary item but i would assume the price difference is negligible since it is used... If i could have afforded it, i definitely would have gotten it. It integrates everything so nicely and is pretty cool.

That said, im happy without it. I picked up a garmin nuvi 350 and it works perfectly to get me to places im unfamiliar with.

 

I love my built in navigation system. It does a great job of guiding you and for helping you avoid high traffic areas in metro driving.

I think it makes the speedo look so much better and, as Robin said, it makes several other options better.

I could care less about the POI function. I don't ask my nav to find businesses for me. I use the Internet for that.

 

$2100 for a set of wheels? Now that's a waste of money!
I paid less for a set of 16 lb. 16x7 + a set of 16 lb. 17x7.

One convenient thing an add on GPS can't do is pause the audio when it gives you an instruction, or receives a phone call. The built-in NAV does that.

The problem with using the internet to find local gas prices is that the stations in my area have stopped updating their online info. The closest station that registers is about 20 miles away.

I have no problem reading the circumnavigating speedometer, other than it being in the middle of the car, rather than in front of me.

 

There's the rub. Are you more happy having a pot of money that will theoretically enable you to enjoy more things/live more comfortably (but which you are loathe to spend to actually get those things), or would you rather enjoy what money can get you? Of course, it isn't one or the other; there is a sliding scale. It's just a matter of where you are on the scale. Only the indivdual can decide for himself whether or not a particular thing is worth it. For me, it's worth $2500 to put a decent stereo in the car and $2100 for the intergrated nav, but a complete waste of money to spend an extra $800 for different wheels. This is why I would find these "is it worth threads useless, were it not for the other information they provide.

 

First of all the Nav is not hard to use. Most salesmen don't take the time to really learn a car and so they say it is hard because they don't know how to use it. Its very simple to enter a destination. The joystick makes it easy.
Also, you don't have to read the speedometer in the middle of the dash, you can set the digital readout to appear on the Tach in front of the steering wheel, although the middle speedometer seems huge to me and I can read it fine, but you have 2 options (read you manual). As far as the timelessness? Ok that's weird to say, Its the new generation Mini, who wants it timeless. I want it technologically up to date! And if your so worried about the timeless look, I don't think having a portable nav unit suction cupped to your windshield with wires running down the dash is that timeless of a look. As people have said before it is not just the NAV, its the interface between you and the car that that option makes so much better.

 

I'm not a "must have" kinda guy so I look at options pretty carefully...which in the end yields me some very reasonably priced and well-equipped MINIs. So no, nav would be at the bottom of my must-have list. However, I suspect it's one of those things that you can do without until you have it and begin to modify your patterns of coming and going based on it's use....thus making it hard to live w/o. I'm not at that point, nor do I expect to be any time soon.

 

Yeah. My dealer tried to put the nav disk into the CD slot. The MA claimed it was the first R56 they delivered with nav.

 

And they often don't have a Nav on the lot to learn from. I've been going to one of the larger Mini dealers in the Chicago area and both times I popped in they didn't have a Nav on the Lot for any model Mini... Evidently they go quickly once they're available....

 

My MINI just wouldn't be the same if I couldn't glance over and see the map going in the center of the Speedo. Works great for finding adresses and routing me around rush hour traffic or accidents on the way to a from work. I couldn't care less about POI -- I use the internet to find the interesting places I want to drive to not a nav search.

 

i've got a garmin that i use on by motorcycle and my sedan. it's a PIA to store, retreive and set up on the dash. i'd much rather have nav integrated into the dash.

my opinion, worth what you paid me for it ...

 

I was a big on getting the Nav but had to cut costs. I got everything else i wanted except the Nav. Although the dash does look much better, I had a tough time swallowing 2100 dollars for it. I instead bought a Garmin Nuvi 780 and I am planning on mounting with the Kuda dash mount. A non OEM nav unit has its downsides but I will deal with it.

 

Pros: Built in, not a theft target. Free traffic alerts. Easy access to the car's settings. Graphical parking distance indication (with the PDC option), Graphical tire pressure monitor image. Different visual look of the dash. Radio controls (CD, sat radio, ipod) are simplier. Idrive type interface

Cons: Expensive. POI system is nearly useless. Expensive. Expensive. Updates are lacking.

With a Garmin, they are always tweaking software and firmware. I've requested specific features for some of the Garmin's I own and a month later I get a firmware update that deals with what I had requested. You won't find that kind of tech support with the OEM Nav.

Many use the $2100 price tag ($2000 for 08 model) as an excuse, but look at the other options. I paid $1900 for freaking leather. ALL of Mini's options are WAY over priced. When the car's price nearly doubles with all the options, they are over priced.

Last month my neighbor found a guy using a flashlight to look through all the parked cars. Guess what he was stealing? GPS, cell phones, anything electronic. Having a GPS mount, especially one like a Kuda where it's not removable, is an easy tip off for a thief. Even if you remove the GPS, the mount is still there.

I ordered my car without it, but before production changed my mind and was able to add it to my order.

The key things for my decision were the pros I mentioned above. I was already getting a loan for my car, another $2100 didn't have much affect on the payment.

My dealer was completely clueless on how the Nav system worked. I don't think it's an option they are familiar with it. I might just have to do with the fact that many people just aren't into electronic gadgets so they may not give any time to learning it. I was able to demo the system in a Mini before I ordered.

 

Keep in mind that the Mini Navi does a lot more than navigation, per the earlier posts. Lots of integration with other car features in a much more user friendly way.

I'm not saying this will justify the cost, but it can't hurt...

 

You have to be stopped to enter a destination in the oem nav?

 

Yeah, and?

 

No.

 

I don't... I change on destinations on the fly all the time.

 

Thanks. That's good to know.

 

Oh, I read that post wrong. No, you don't have to be stopped. One of the big plusses. Makes up for some of it's other idiocyncrasies

 

it's not a good idea to try to reprogram while you are driving. i don't. it's equivalent to driving very drunk.

it had to be said ...

 

Not if you (a) have a passenger do it, (b) use voice commands.

 

Since when?