I recently purchased a GPS unit for my MCS and thought I would chime in. The unit I bought is the Tom Tom GO 700. It is more expensive than the 300 model because it has all the maps for North America pre-loaded and it operates with a 2.5 GB hard-disk rather than removable SD media. It also has Bluetooth capability, so it can be used as a handsfree speakerphone if you have a Bluetooth wireless phone. This was one of the big selling points for me.

I used the device for the first time last night and it worked great. The speakerphone function is handy (you can download phone book entries from your phone book to the device) and you can initiate calls using the touch screen. Although I haven't tried this yet, you can even make calls through the "point of interest" function. But then again, most folks don't get a GPS device to make phone calls.

I haven't really taken the GPS unit through the paces yet, but the navigation function seemed to work fine. It has a fairly large screen with a variety of perspectives you can choose from, and you can choose a special blue color scheme at night so it doesn't interfere with your night vision. As for the voice prompts, the directions and timing seemed to be fairly accurate. You can program the device to provide instructions based on time or distance from the particular waypoint, and the other "preference" settings seem quite comprehensive.

I must confess that the "gadget factor" of the Tom Tom GO 700 was part of what won me over. It's a nice, compact unit, and it speaks in something like 30 different languages (and with 50 different voices). You gotta love that sultry woman's voice telling you to take a "hard left in fifty meters" in Esperanto. A writer for Slate liked the voice of the Australian bloke "Ken" who would tell you to "exit the motorway" with an authentic accent, "exit the murderway." http://www.slate.com/id/2123772/

I've been planning to get this particular GPS since I began the process of speccing my MCS, and I decided NOT to get the built-in navigation and bluetooth phone options because the GO 700 provides these same functions for far less money (List is $899 but I found it online for $725). Huge savings over the $1,100 navigation and $200 bluetooth options from MINI. It would be nice to have the MFSW control on the phone, and audio through the car stereo, but I can take this GPS out and us it in any car (such as a rental car). If desired, you could also probably find some instructions online for running the audio through the head unit or have a professional installer do it.

For those folks who don't want a suction cup mount on the windshield (or in states where this is a problem), the company makes a dashboard mount kit, as well. And if you aren't in a hurry to purchase a GPS unit, you may want to save a few bucks by waiting untill after the Christmas season (my guess) when Tom Tom is probably going to release their mid-range Tom Tom GO 500. It doesn't have all the high-end functions of the 700 (which I'm probably not going to use), but it does have the bluetooth phone capability.

I'm planning a little road trip for Thanksgiving and will report how the unit performs when I get back.

Cary