Sweet! I'm very glad to hear that it worked out for you Richard.

It's not very often that something this good comes along free of charge.

Way to go BMW!

 

A few notes:

The Checkered Flag destination is pretty cool

So is the ability to easily see the beginning and end--even when zoomed out 10 miles or more, and still have all major freeways readable.

I still got my MINI Logo on start up

The graphic improvements definitely make things more readable and a pleasure to view

My MINI is a 2003 July Build Cooper with the Mark IV DVD drive. I used Roxio EZ CD Creator using the previously posted Ver.26 ISO image.

I definitely agree about this being a Sweeet improvement!! Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Richard

 

Sweet update, everthing worked exactly as planned! Thanks for to all for this one! Love the British voice as well!

 

I used the NAV update posted by dn3dgamer (bmw_v26_software.rar) since I'm on a mac and the update went flawlessly. Extracted with UnRarX, dragged the extracted iso on Toast Titanium, burned it and upgraded without a hitch using the instructions off the BMW board.

However, I did notice that in the version I upgraded with, the USA voice selection uses the GB female voice and the GB voice selection uses the USA female voice. The swaped voices doesn't bother me but just something others might want to know about.

The V26 update looks great. The map is much clearer in all regards to street and freeway designations, route path, and vehicle orientation and features all newicons for local interests. The upgrade doesn't seem to have slowed down the interface at all, seems very speedy in my NAV equipped '05.

Well worth the update!!!

 

Please read through instructions thoroughly since flashing firmware for any type of hardware can risk failure of the entire DVD navigation system.

Mac Toast Burning Instructions:
-Unstuff it (it should either create a folder or a file with the name bmw_v26_software.iso)
-Open Toast
-Insert blank cd-r into burner or superdrive
-Click DATA on menu
-select Advanced on the left menu
-Click ISO 9660 on the right
-either drag and drop bmw_v26_software.iso or select the file for Toast
-Burn image to cd-r
-take cd to Mini
-Take out NAV DVD under passenger seat or driver seat (on 05 models I think). Press eject button (like a normal cd/dvd player).
-Turn key in ACCESSORIES to provide power
-Insert burned cd-r
-Firmware will be loaded and can take up to 6 minutes to flash the firmware
-Will be prompted to take out cd-r (disc)
-Click "OK" with middle button
-restart of Nav initiated
-Insert NAV DVD
-test navigation
-turn key to off position
-The End (Yatta!)

 

come into the dealer where i work and compliant about nav and i'll give u 27

 

Please....

So where do you work? What dealership? You didn't say.

Also, please provide proof by giving us all a (unmodified/untouched) picture of the settings screen in one of the cars you've upgraded with your so-called V27.1 update. The V26 update has a version number of 4-1/60 and so the V27.1 update should have a higher version number listed in the settings screen.

I hate to doubt you like this, but you've given me no choice but to do so with your childish (na na na... there's a V27.1 update and you silly little boys are still on V26. na na na...) type attitude. I'm all for another upgrade, but I've been following this story for a couple of weeks now and other than a few undocumented rumors (just like the silly one you've started here), I've yet to hear anyone else say anything about a V27.1 update.

Without proof, I'm afraid that I won't give you any more of my time my dear sir.

 

Spell check, people - spell check!

We're starting to look like morons!

 

All,

Just as an FYI... There's another discussion of the V26 update going on over in the MINI2 forums as well. It has some good info in it (especially for the CD-based systems) and so you really should check it out if you're interested. Here's the link:

New NAV Firmware V26. 4-1/60

-- MIKE

 

That's because the newer MINIs (starting somewhere around November or December of 2004 I think) now come from the factory with the GB language as an option. The older ones didn't (at least not the DVD units) and so folks came up with a language hack for the firmware where they swap the US and GB female voice files in order to allow them to have the British female voice on their nav system. Since you already had a newer nav unit with the GB language option (like I do), you didn't need to install the language hacked version of the firmware (but you did anyway). You needed to install a copy of the original firmware instead.

I understand that you were forced into installing the hacked version because you needed an ISO image to use with your Mac (and not the MDS image that's currently available). What needs to be posted is a ISO image of the original version so that Mac users (and those PC users without Alcohol 120%) can access it. I can create the ISO, but I don't have a place to host the download I'm afraid.

The trouble is that now you've installed the hacked firmware, I don't think that you can install the original one over the top of it. If you try, the system will simply tell you that you are already up to date. You'll just have to wait for a new update to be released in order to put your language settings back the way that they should be. It's no big deal though so I really wouldn't bother.

Lastly, you could fix the problem (well, it's not really a problem per se), by installing an older version of the operating system update (e.g. V25) and then once again updating to V26. The problem with doing this is that it will most likely put your nav computer into "no location" mode where the annoying "Accept" screen is removed, but the unit switches over to using yards instead of feet in its routing directions, etc. Some folks don't mind that (as they like not having the "Accept" screen each time they start their MINI) but others do. Just be forewarned that the ONLY way to get the unit back out of "no location" mode is to have the dealer reprogram it and that may get expensive. So please don't anyone downgrade and then upgrade their system unless you really know what you're getting yourself into.

 

Great info, but I gotta disagree. If he uses the same firmware with rearranged voices, it should detect that only the voices have changed and only modify that. I changed between various male/female/british voices during my Language mod testing all using V.24.

Richard

 

Ah... That's good news. I haven't had to use any of the hacked firmware yet and so I wasn't really sure about that. Thanks for the info!

-- MIKE

 

Had the British voice before, and used dn3dgamer's version (thank you BTW) and just had to choose the USA voice to get my old British voice back. No big deal for the ease of upgrading and the new version on BOTH out MINI's it is well worth the 15 minute process! Thank you again to dn3dgamer for making the iso file

 

I could be wrong of course. I haven't tried it in this particular case, but I would assume so since it worked in other versions. The trick was to make sure to use the exact same version of the software, and it would detect the minor changes--update would take like 1 minute---really fast.

 

to those who have done it yourselves:

do you START THE CAR and leave it on while installing? or just turn the key to THE FIRST STOP and give it electrical power with ENGINE OFF?

just want to be 100 percent sure before i do this!

thanks - drew

 

just put the key in first position, no need to start the engine.

 

Just turn the key to the first stop - the engine doesn't have to be running

 

Engine does NOT need to be running.

 

thanks everyone!

- drew

 

has anyone had this process go WRONG?

what kind of warranty risks are we taking here by doing this? is it possible that flashing the nav can weird out something else electrical by doing this? i would hate to have something down the line go off the rails...

thanks again - drew

 

I just did mine. Except for the long download, it took only a few minutes to burn the disk and about 2 minutes to run the upgrade. Key in ACC position.

It looks awesome! Like going from Mapquest to Google maps! Much nicer.

 

so it seems that there are two version floating around now:

one from a semi-offical download site which comes down as v.26rar and another which has been hacked to allow for the british female voice.

i have a 2005 car which came with the brit female voice pre-installed. can i just use the unhacked v.26rar version? or will that remove my british voice?

thanks for helping sort through all this - cheers!

- drew

 

I just installed the unhacked v.26 on my 2005 MCSa. I can confirm that there is no change in the voices.

It seems that all the hacked version does is swap GB English with USA English so that those systems that only recognize one language play the GB voice when it thinks it's playing USA Eng. On systems that allow both, it seems that selecting GB will give you USA and vice versa.

 

that's what i was looking to hear...thanks!

 

Hi Drew,

I've installed the update on no less than FIVE DVD-based MINIs today alone. Each one has gone smoothly with no problems at all. Although there's a point in the beginning of the update where your nav screen will go black for about a minute and that can be quite freaky to say the least.

As far as your warranty goes... That's a tough one. Since the update isn't yet available in the U.S. and I'm sure that it was never intended to be "self-installed" by the car's owner, MINI/BMW could probably argue about paying for any warranty work that's directly related to the nav computer itself. I suppose that it would all boil down to your relationship with your local MINI dealership.

You just have to weigh the risks against the benefits and decide for yourself if it's worth doing the update or not. In my book it really is worth it, but then again, that's just me.

-- MIKE