My Nav screen will show the correct place from where I am starting out and then decide I am really going somewhere else.

Last week I was headed to the office on the freeway but the Nav indicator had me running at an angle away from the freeway towards George Bush International Airport. According to the Nav screen, I jumped fences, crossed runways, and ended up in a lake.

Last night, heading home, the Nav had me crossing unknown subdivisions, again at an angle away from my real intended line of travel. But by the time I got home I was suddenly back on track.

I guess I need to go see the dealer unless someone knows of a quick fix?

 

Mine does that occasionally too. My stereo also crackles and hisses when I first open the door in the morning or any time it has been sitting, but it goes away after one to two seconds. I am going to get both looked at during the 15k service.

 

Sorry I don't have a quick fix and it would be good to have the dealer check it. However - this is going to sound totally geeky - but there have been news reports of solar flares interfering with radio and satellite transmissions - particularly the GPS system. It has been an especially active period of solar flares recently. I haven't noticed any effect during my drives in/around NYC - but not sure what, if any effect there might be in the Houston area.

It could also be a problem with the diversity antenna on your CM - best to have the dealer to check it out to be on the safe side. Good luck.

 

This has happened on just about every GPS I've had over the years. It's random but has happened with factory dash and portable ones. I think it has to do with when it drops a satellite or two and can't exactly pin point the correct location. (buildings, sats moving before another tracked, solar flares, various other interference) I would say if it keeps happening and is more frequent that there could be something wrong with the antenna but if it's just from time to time and jumps back after a bit I'd prob bet it's just normal GPS behavior. (don't have the NAV unit though so can't really help much beyond my personal exp with various nav units over the years)

 

Last week drove into the city came across the 59th street bridge hov upper level, ... All was well till I turned into Madison ave to drive north... It had me driving on 5th ave... Then when I turned across 105 or 106 to head toward 5th ave to head south I was in the resivor of central park... I was like woah submarine mode , where's the button or toggle for that... Other than that the navi has been great love the active real time traffic option.. Hold on got to dodge a fish LOL...

 

How does one activate that??!! Do you need to have a internet signal from an iPhone?

 

I actually don't have an iPhone... But in the nav window get to the settings either by shifting the main mms joystick to the left or right where it gives you a settings... Highlight the real time traffic...

If your route has traffic, or just cruising with the map you see like red arrow heads on the contested roads... Similar to like how google maps shows red, however the mini displays arrow heads to let you know direction of issue...

 

I've been having different issues since the latest firmware came out. The system has reset itself a number of times while driving, losing where I am and where I was going. Usually takes 15 minutes or so to get a gps lock back to where I am. The system also claimed I updated it while I was getting groceries. And certain things like BT audio have on occasion locked it up so I couldn't change tracks. Going to make a dealer appt soon, but I suspect there isn't much to do besides reloading the firmware

 

Still having the same issues with the Nav, so my CM is headed back to the dealer today for a second visit, as they figure out which parts might need replacing.

 

Just a minor point to consider...

While some of the anomalies being reported here seem to be real issues, some may be due to the "urban canyon" environment. Tall buildings can block GPS reception and actually "reflect" signals. This creates sudden signal changes and a GPS can actually show your vehicle jumping around the immediate locale.

FWIW,

 

My Nav issues are in suburbia and can last 20 miles/30 minutes before 'bazinga' - I am warped to the place I am really at.

 

Ozarkgolfer, any word on the fix for your car?

 

"Wherever you go, there you are." Warping sounds rather exciting, actually!

As long as your antenna has a clear view of the sky (no tree canopy, buildings, etc.), I'd say that the data stream from the antenna to the Nav unit is getting corrupted. I believe the antenna is directly connected to the Nav unit and bypasses CANbus. Connectors are, perhaps, the weak point in many cases, so that might be something to verify. The antenna is a possibility, but IMHO, I'm thinking it either works consistently or it doesn't. The intermittent misbehavior is puzzling.

One suggestion: keep your camera phone handy and (safely) snap a pic or two the next time you "warp". If possible (not sure...can't remember...) have the Nav display lat/long in the pic when this happens. Then search for the lat/long in Google Earth and take a screen shot to prove that tree canopies/buildings/time-travel was NOT a factor in the aberration. Give it to MINI to solve the issue, but print all the pix for them. Sometimes this helps prevent the "could not duplicate the problem" response. I've done this with intermittent issues before as a gentle form of "proof" that the problem really exists and have had good luck.

A second thought: borrow a GPS from a friend and do a cross-check the next time the MINI Nav warps.

 

I like it Koopah

Sounds like your experiences with trying to get warranty repairs from new car dealers has been like mine.

 

Got my CM back last night at 6.45pm after the second try of fixing the problem and headed home - well, I was headed home, but the Nav had me off course and my being parked in a Lake about two miles away, instead of my garage!

I took pictures and sent them to the dealer this morning. They are not disputing the problems I am having. Even though the dealer has me in a brand new loaner CM, this is becoming more than a minor irritation. I'll post again once the dealer figures out the next course of action.

 

I know the antenna for the NAV is outside the car, but what kind of window tint do you have? There are some types (ceramics, metallic dyes, etc) that REALLY screw up NAV , cell and radio. Just a thought.

 

The tint is "carbon" according to the installer - the same installer who installs tints 6 days a week at the Mini/BMW dealership.

I drove to work this morning and the Nav worked perfectly, as it has done in the past. Based on previous occurrences, I would say I will have have to wait less than a week for the CM to become confused again.

This would lead us to believe that something needs to be tightened. The dealer has been through the car twice and done just that.

 

They replaced my whole Nav under warranty. Your satellite radio is also part of the Nav so I had to reactivate it since it was new and register it under my name again. When I called Sirius they asked if I wanted the free year subscription with my new radio. Duh, yeah! So my free year started over again.

 

Were you having the same problem as I have described?

 

Yes, mine was showing me off course, sometimes in Lake Erie. The new one has acted the same two times now and I am waiting to see if it reoccurs again.
The funny thing is my Garmin has NEVER plotted me off course. It is dead on or says trouble receiving satellite for a few minutes and that is only when there is tremendous cloud cover or I am in a garage. The MINI Nav acts up on cloudless days so its not a receiving issue.

 

My SA has video from last week showing freeway signs on the North side of Houston - the Nav screen showed us over on the West side. The dealer and the Mini Regional rep are trying to figure out the next step. I'll give another 24 hours before I call and chase it along. My SA and dealership in general have been good to me in the past. Unfortunately the loaner is always a lesser equipped 2wd S with manual AC. The AC alone is minimum 30% less effective than my auto equipped car and with the heat and humidity we still have here, it makes a difference.

 

My new NAV unit wigged out in me this weekend. Looks like I may be taking it back again!

 

Update: Apparently the cause, determined by BMW, is a chafing wire and it was replaced today. So far, so good, and the Nav showed me exactly in the right place once I was back on the road.

The bad news is that the tech had problems getting to the wiring in the roof and tweeked the headliner a little too hard. Looks like I'll be back for a replacement headliner in two weeks once it arrives from Europe.

 

Glad to hear they finally figured it out

 

I am hopeful that anyone else with Nav issues will see this thread and inform their SA of the trials I went through.

It's a little painful having to run back and forth to the dealer, but of the four visits, I have been given a fresh CMS to drive and my ALL4S comes back freshly hand washed.