i just bought a 2003 cooper.
i guess after doing some reading that i have the cd based system (settings says ver 3-something.)
it seems that the cd based systems make it hard to update the maps?
so i was thinking about just getting a newer models nav system. the screen on my unit has a lot of dead pixels anyways.
is this possible?

 

It's a piece of cake to update the maps - you just need to find the updated CDs. The challenge is locating Nav CDs.

As for replacing the unit, it'll cost you more than the car is worth...

 

really? then ive vastly overpaid for this car, ive seen gps units for 400 on the low end, to 800.
and as the cds are 200 from bmw, i figured just replacing the unit is the way to go.

 

Hard to update the maps in what way? The newer model has a DVD reader instead of CD reader. Updating the DVD maps costs the same as the CD maps.

You can update your Nav computer from Mk3 version (CD) to Mk4 version (DVD). The difference is 2001 technology vs 2004 technology. It runs a bit faster but the user interface is fundamentally the same. At a low enough price, it might be a worthwhile update but you are merely bumping it from a 13 year old Nav unit to a 10 year old Nav unit.

 

i thought i had read that the cd based systems had problems reading the iso'd discs. and ive found dvd based images, but no cd based ones yet.
the main reason to replace the unit, was that the screen has medium sized portions of dead pixels.i can live with it,however, it goes back to finding those cd images.

 

LOL! I guess you're saying that people are still pirating DVD discs but nobody even bothers to pirate CD discs any more.