Maybe there's already been a thread about this, but so far what is everyone's thoughts on the Nav system? Liking it, hating it, loving it? I've heard mixed reviews about the map not being up to date. What are everyone's experience so far with the NAV system?

Thanks.

 

I love the NAV system and have used it everyday. The dynamic traffic information is spot on and has saved me many times as I have rerouted myself around issues coming up. So far I can say I have used and appreciate all the options on mine. I now miss auto dimming mirrors and keyless entry entry on my other cars. The only thing I don't like are the run flats and I know too many people that have had a run flat tire fail past the point of being able to drive on it. Additionally, the ride can be a little harsh on rougher pavement. I'll opt for regular tires when I burn through these.

 

Thanks kunzman, great to hear that your satisfied with the dynamic traffic info! I live in a fairly small town so there may not be much dynamic traffic around here. lol
Definitely opting for keyless entry, and the auto dimming mirrors.
Still haven't really made up my mind on the colors. I know without a doubt I'm getting Surf Blue, but it's the interior that I keep going back and forth on. It's either going to be tobacco color line or surf blue. Leaning more towards tobacco, but we'll see.

Thanks for your input. It's greatly appreciated as I begin to make my final choices.

 

While I like the nav, it's a bit wonky for me. It works fine, but compared to the app I've got on my android phone (google navigation) it's dated. Getting to reroute, select routing options, and entering address takes a bit of manipulation of the control stick. In comparison, I can touch a button on my phone and say "navigate to <name a place with or without address or city>" and a route is plotted. It tells me distance to next turn with name of street to turn on where as connected won't give street name until I'm within less than a mile. You can find that info by departing the map screen and going to route information, but when driving, that's a lot to distract you.

I'll hold out hope that it may improve with future SW updates, but it's solid enough, especially if you end up in a place with no mobile signal. Is it worth $700? Not sure, but it's a decent basic nav integrated with the car.

I'd encourage you to try it during a test drive to really get a feel for how it works and how it doesn't work. Good luck!

 

I have the flip side of your dynamic traffic situation. Here in DC it's not of much used, either. Traffic is always backed up everywhere and what few alternate routes there are quickly clog up even worse. I love it when they set up the electronic safety reminders that say: "Speed Limit is 55, Your Speed Is 2".

 

I like my Connected with Nav. First, I like having navigation available and use it regularly. Second, the Mini windshield is small, and my Garmin takes up too much real estate if I use any practical mounting position. Third, I think the car just looks better having something useful going on in the middle of Mickey's massive head (I just leave the map view up as the default status). I have no problems with the input system. I actually think it's more reliable than the touch screen on my Garmin, and reaching down rather than reaching out is also less likely to cause you to swerve when entering instructions while driving (professional driver on closed course; do not attempt...).
The areas that I think could use improvement are:
-It REALLY should have an automatic day/night map color switchover.
-I miss the Garmin's display of vehicle speed (it was more accurate than the speedometer)
-I also miss the Garmin's display of the road speed limit.
I don't really have as much as a problem with road names not being spoken as I thought I would. The route numbers of major highways are announced. Also, I've discovered that most of the times when I thought the map was out-of-date, the missing roads were actually private streets, which it seems the publisher may have possibly elected to not include.
I'd get it again if I had a do-over.

 

I'd love to try it on a test drive but every time I visit a dealership, they don't seem to have any with NAV. In fact, their CMS stock is always fairly low. So I'm not sure if that's just because of the town or just can't keep any in stock. No clue.

 

The GPS app on our phone's does that too. I'll probably opt for the Connected with NAV just because I've never had nav in a car, other than a seperate GPS device.

 

I went with the Connected sans Nav.

Loving the Connected, I had read so many horror stories on here about it but it has worked like a charm for me. I have an iPhone 4S and just using the provided standard cable all the Connected Apps work plus plug ins.

My iTunes work with album art, Pandora and MOG work with album art. Video works when parked, my kids were watching Sherlock Holmes on the center screen today while I ran into a couple of shops...

I opted not to get the Nav because I like my TomTom, like the free map updates and traffic alerts....and most importantly it has never steered me wrong.

I picked up my car 2 days ago and the first 2 mods I performed were to switch out the antenna for a Stubby and add the Craven flex pod GPS mount....works like a charm, no windshield attachment and less clutter...

Best of both worlds...

 

First thing: I'm glad to hear your 4S is working well with the Connected. I was a bit worried about that.

2nd thing: Your kids can watch a movie on the center screen?! You are referring to the Connected screen, I assume? And the movie is coming from your phone? That's really stinkin cool!

 

Have you tried taking a non-CM with connected out? I ended up taking a hardtop out for a spin specifically to run through connected, see how it sync'd with my phone, etc. Connected is the same across the models and if you're dropping as much as they charge for it, your dealer shouldn't have a problem letting you demo it even if it's not in a CM.

 

I hate the nav system. The nav app on my iPhone (Navigon) is a hundred times better. The Mini nav is not very smart about streets: It does not say the street names, just "turn at the next street". I am going to get a mount for my iPhone so I can use it instead of the brain-dead Mini nav.

If I did it over, I would dump Connected and Nav.

 

I was able to check out one of the new Coupe's with the NAV system. For me, since I've never had it in a car, I'm probably going to opt for the NAV.

I've just had bad luck when I go to the dealership with them not having the options I want to check out when I'm there. I still haven't seen a Surf Blue in person. I've seen most of the colors, but have not seen that one.

 

Although I agree with the comments here that the nav apps on iPhones and Android phones are more advanced, I've found the convenience of having something in-dash makes up for the MINI nav feeling a bit dated.

My countryman is in the shop right now s0 I'm driving a loaner X3 with no nav, and I've definitely noticed myself missing it.

 

See, I've never had NAV in any car that I've had. So I'm excited about having it.
What are y'alls opinions on the Connected system?

 

Didn't opt for it; don't miss it.

I also use my smartphone with google maps, and it's easy as pie. One less thing to pay through the nose for, one less thing to break, one less system that requires updates but in the end, is a legacy system that makes a car worth <less> money (look at a five or ten year old in-dash nav system, and think about not only how low res it is compared to today, but do you think they have offered map updates in several years?)

I was an early adopter, and had an old Alpine CVA-1005 with NVAN-751 navigation computer back when that was a $2500 system before installation... I've driven literally dozens of different cars with nav, and I'll never do in-dash again.

YMMV.
Cheers,
Tad

 

I went for the nav, and although I haven't used it much yet, I think it's fine. At least as good as the Tom Tom app on my phone. There are only 2 things I'd change. I wish it spoke the street names--I had kind of gotten used to that feature! I also think it's a bit silly that you can only adjust the voice instruction volume while an instruction is being spoken. I actually spent about 10 minutes going through setting menus and so forth before checking the manual and discovering all I needed was the volume ****, but just at the right time!

That said, it's really convenient having it there in-dash, and the Google Send-to-Car feature is super handy! I used it when we went to sell my truck--Googled Carmax and another second-hand dealership, and when I got in the car, there they were in the nav, ready to go! Set the one furthest away as the destination, and the closer one as a waypoint and had no issues.

I definitely have no regrets about getting the nav!

 

I did not go for it for the reasons below:
- Price - It is one expensive option!
- Potential for screen to fail and associated cost to repair / replace.
- Shelf life of the technology. I would be concerned about future updates as today's new iPhones become yesterday's news. I am comparing the connected technology with the now obsolete in car analog phones BMW used to sell for a king's ransom until about 2001.
- Peronal experience. I have a 2007 BMW 650i with idrive, nav and all the bells and whistlles BMW could muster back in 2007. I have had no reliability issues with the electronics thus far, but my nav system is no longer up to date. I find my portable Tom Tom does a better job at navigation and provides red light camera warnings. When the new Bay Bridge opens the 650's nav screen will show me hovering over water several times a week like it does for another Bay Area bridge that was updated since the car was new. As a result, I've named the 650 Moses

Having said all this, the technology is cool and if you are going to keep the car for 5 or 6 years, then all of my reasons (other than price) do not apply. In that case go for it!

I am planning on keeping the car for 8 to 10 years so I just went with the iPhone connection option. Too early to pass judgement, but I think it will be the "just right" answer for my needs.

 

I didn't spring for Connected, and -after having Nav in my previous three cars - I don't miss it one bit.

If I *really* need GPS, I have MotionX installed on my iPhone...and it works quite well.

I rarely go anywhere, that I don't already know where I'm headed...and when I do, it's usually a road trip, where getting "lost" is part of the fun.

I chose to pocket what I would have spent on Connected, and use the money for other things...including some trips which involve traveling the scenic route, and not caring where I happen to be, or where I happen to be going.

 

while i still dont have my CM....i figured i would chime in. i did not opt for the mini connected nor the navigation, mainly due to the prohibitive cost. with the best portable navs going for $200, perhaps one could argue the premium for the convenience of a built in nav would be about 50 -100 percent more...so i would have paid no more than $400 for the mini nav...the prob is that it is $750 plus $1,000 for the mini connect which is required. so a nav for $1,750 i think is ludicrous and to me, not cost justifiable. also, i spend so much time on stinkin computers at work and at home, i dont need social media or live streaming audio. with regard to bluetooth, i may purchase a bluetooth phone speaker that slides onto the visor and is rechargeable...i think its less than $150 and gives me what i need for a reasonable price. anyway, those are my thoughts.

 

I also didn't get either the Connected or Nav. Way too expensive. I bought a Garmin 1490 with lifetime map and traffic updates for $165. I seldom need navigation so when I do, the Garmin works fine (and it does tell me street names). I also got the Garmin ecoRoute for about $90 which saved me a lot on separate gauges. I now have about 10 different gauges including a coolant temp gauge, nav, and traffic, engine diagnostics and a code reader and the whole package only cost me about $260 - a fraction of the MINI nav cost and Craven gauges! And even with them for $1,750 I wouldn't have had the diagnostics. I highly recommend going with this combination.

 

Chaswyck, could you provide what unit or units it is that cost only less than $300? Those reading are what I been looking for as well. Thank.

 

The Garmin 1490 LMT (Lifetime Maps and Traffic) is available on Amazon for under $150 with free shipping - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...N%3DB003ZX8B3W

The ecoRoute is available for $94 including shipping here: http://www.antonline.com/p_010-11380...714.htm?sID=GP

Total for both with shipping = $244, a real bargain for what you get and the 1490 has the larger 5" screen too.

 

Thanks Chaswyck, looks like a heck of a bargain....

 

I'm starting to think in my next MINI I'd really love to have connected, but I'm wondering if I want to shell out the extra $750 for the nav. I test drove a CMS with the nav and found the **** incredibly difficult to work with. It was just such a pain and I couldn't figure out how to work any of the menus. & I'm pretty tech savvy.

I use the nav on my iPhone quite a bit but I miss the direction reading of the Android nav system. So the nav with connected reads only main highways/freeways, nothing else? Does it do turn-by-turn directions spoken out loud?