Dear MINI,
Please change the below 6 items in the Nav software, especially the first 2 which are driving me NUTS!!! Please notify me when the update is ready, it should take a 1/2 day to fix/change the software, 1/2 day to test it and get any bugs out of the update, and the 2nd day you can email me the new DVD image to burn and install to run the update. Thanks in advance!!!

1. Why can't I simply search for the name of something, without selecting a location, or type of place (business, entertainment....)? Half the time I can't even figure out what catagory to search under??? For example, todays debacle, how do you find the location of a Sign shop? I didn't know the exact town, so I had to try 3 or 4 different towns, and 4 different catagories for each town before I found the place on my own. I should have been able to just type in "J Signs" and hit search!!!

2. Why can't the location "CITY", and more importantly "STATE" fields auto populate with the current city and state when starting a search? I live in NY and have to scroll all the way 3/4 of the way down 50+ statesand country names to get to NY, EVERY single time I search for something?????!@#!@$#@%$#$%$% Probably 3 times a year, I will need to search for something in a different state. The other ten thousand times, PLEASE POPULATE IT WITH THE STATE I'M IN!!!!! I don't care to look up restuarants in Arkansas when I'm hungry and on the road!!!

3. Why can't we select an icon on the screen with the point and shoot crosshairs, and get info on it (like name and address, and/or add it to the destination....

4. Use REVERSE fonts for menu selections instead of changing colors from Green, Orange and white with different size fonts and icons!@$#$!@#!! Just simply inverse the selected item PLEASE!!! Man would that make it easier to see what your selecting.

5. When you bring up the "Route List", why can't we select an item in the list and then click "Avoid"? For example, I am navigating to a location that normally requires to go down Bayberry Rd, and I hate to drive down Bayberry rd because my old psycho girlfriend still lives on that road and I avoid it like the plague. I would like to go to rout list, scroll down to the "Bayberry rd" item, then click "Avoid" and the system would re-calc a route around the psycho!! ;-)

6. Why can't I save a phone number when saving a new destination to the address book, so I can then dial that # from the bluetooth, as I can do with the built in POI's??

 

the Birdman is chirping mad!!

 

Go over to Motoring file I think they just dealt with this .

 

Dealt with what? A Nav software update? Link?

 

Jeez, what do you expect for $2100?

 

Man, #1 and #2, are, well, ... pure #2! I ordered the NAV because folks raved about it here, but had no idea it was this stupid. My wife's Lexus let's you type in the name of anything (via touchscreen, no less). Also, it assumes you want matches closest to your current location (which you can override, as needed).

 

Two things:
1. You CAN search for "things" closests to where you are, that works fine. You select "Information", then "On Location", then select the category. The only problem with it is, you have to know the category, and they are not that straight forward. In addition, some things just aren't in any particular catagory, like a Sign shop (which I was looking for recently). Is that automotive, Yes. Is is a Business? Yes. Is it a personal Service, Yes. Is it a business service? Yes. Is it a Corporation (really dumb category by the way), Yes. ..... So where do I search for it? Some things work fine, like a resturaunt or hotel, pretty obvious where to find it and the list comes up with the closest one....

2. Even with these problems, I would still NOT purchase this car without the Nav. It just integrates everything in the car, backup sensors, Nav, software settings, radio/mp3's, Phone (Bluetooth..). I just could not see owning the car without it.

BUT, they need to fix/change these things and release a Nav software update, PRONTO!!

 

I guess your #2 item confused me - you made it sound like you had to enter your current location to search for stuff closest to you. Having to know the category sucks.

 

You don't have to enter your location if you want to search from your CURRENT location, but you DO have to enter in your location (including state$#@!) if you want to search a new location. For example, I'm in Brookhaven, NY and want to look for a restuarant in Babylon, NY (20 miles away) where I'm headed. I have to select lookup "Information", then select "ON New Location", then scroll though Canada, US, Mexixo, Alabama, Arkansas, Alaska.... bbbb.....cccc...ddd...........[yawn].....[fingers getting tire]..... New Jersey, NEW YORK [finaly!], then type in "Babylon", then select a catagory "Dinning", then select "Search".

Now, I'm in New York already, and 999 times out of 1000, I will surely be searching for a NY restuarant, why not default it to the state I'm in????? NY Besides, I'm still not convinced there are actually other states. I'm pretty sure NY is it!!

And yes, having to enter a Catagory sucks, BIGTIME, when you know the name of something. A major pain in the "MINI" [insert different word here]!!!

Why can't we just search for a keyword??

 

Wow Birdman! Your post makes me so happy I opted for printing out Google maps at home!

 

Well now lets see, google maps or Rand McNally Atlas @ $12 verses $2,200 for NAV system with so many issues...........and I'm the fool for having an Ipod and the adpater verses using discs according to birdman.

 

Taking my SMALL complaints, and logicaly deducing that you should not get the nav at all is equivalent to saying "People get hurt in car accidents, so NONE of us should drive cars at all".

I have 6 complaints about the Nav software, all easily fixable with a update. Just like everyone else fixes/updates there software after releasing it, the MINI nav needs an update.

BUT, I could list at the very least about 100 things that are GREAT and amazing about having the built in navigation, VS's using paper maps or an aftermarket unit.

Here's a few with NO words needed, which basically just ends that discusion:

And PS- What is an "Ipod"??



Just plain old COOL lookin!!! (IPod that!!! )

 

Thank you once again for inferring something I did not state. I used google maps and Rand McNally as two examples other than a $2,100 NAV system.
I do have a portable GPS system that is used any of my 3 vehicles, along with when I travel in the US/Canada. I do agree GPS systems are "safer" than
maps/atlas, but one does not need to invest $ 2,100 NAV system to do it.

This is another reason I prefer a portable GPS, I receive updates to the software, along with new maps.......and it is free.

I'm sure you could list many things you like about the NAV system, I agree it is cool looking and does some cool stuff. Also I'm very happy that you are pleased with it, after all it is your money, your choice. At the same time I'm happy with my choice of an after market, having purchased three new cars in the last four years, adding a NAV system to each would have been an investment of $5 - 6k, my Garmin was $950., does what is needed, and I seem to have a few less software issues with it than you do with the Mini NAV system.
As for your pics, I already stated I think it is very cool looking, especially at night.

I just don't understand why you can not give people the same consideration on their choices when purchasing their new Mini (Ipod being just one example), it is their money, their Mini, and like you they have good reasons for their choices.

 

Tharkun,
Ok, maybe becuase of your mindset on this subject, that was a bad example I gave. I was NOT referring to safety. I was referring to the lack of logic in your generalized statements that you should not get the Nav system because there are a a few customer complaints, like mine listed above. That is flawed logic. Yes, it has problems, but that does not mean you should not get it. If the problems were BIG ones like it didn't work, or it could not be used becuase the roof covered the antenna, or the screen was so small you couldn't see it, thos e would be "show stoppers" (aka don't buy the system). But because the menu doesn't have an option that CAN and probably will be added later, is not a reason to tell people to not buy it. That was the point with accidents, not safety.

now:
You seem VERY bitter about the money aspect of the Nav unit. We are NOT discussing the money aspect of anything. We are discussing FEATURES of the built in Nav system. I've said a million times here, and to you in particular in other threads: IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THE OVERPRICED NAV SYSTEM, BY NO MEANS SHOULD YOU BUY IT. Yes, it is WAY over priced, that is how they make money unfortunitely. I've said MANY a time, it should be STANDARD equipment that does not cost anything "extra". I think it is STUPID that in 2007, we have to "add on" navigation on a premium new car. It should be standard, period.

Now that said, IF you happen to be lucky enough to have the money, or are border line and trying to make the decision on wether or not to get the built in Nav, I stand by my statement: I would NOT own this car without it. There is too much on this car that is integrated into the nav and nav screen to not get it.

Now if you aren't getting any of those things that integrate: don't care about music (not upgrading sound system...), don't want/need backup sensors, live in the mountains and don't care about traffic, won't ever fiddle with the software settings, use a bluetooth phone with address book, ..... then I would not get it. Now throw in, that on top of all that, it is a Navigation system, shows you were you are, gives you directions to were your going, does route planning, lets you easily find new or known places (the POI db). I just don't see how you would not get it, if you can afford it??

If you can't afford it, and you go out and mount a nice Garmin unit which makes the best gps units available today, updates the software all the time, updates the maps, has tons of great features, then good for you. BUT, the better option is still, to get the built in, integrated unit. I have a boat, and there millions of folks with bigger and better boats than me. But I do not tell them, "You really should not have bought the bigger and better boat and spent that much money, instead you should have bought the smaller cheaper brand."

 

Scoopmama tiptoes out of the room, clutching a Thomas Guide, and tripping over hubby's Nav system

Did I accidentally start something? Oops!

To quote Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks. . . "Why can't we all just. . . get along?" *Martian's eyes well up momentarily*

I love my hubby's nav system when I'm a passenger! When I drive, I don't look at it at all. Probably if I had a talking one, and commuted more than the 1.5 miles to work, I'd not be able to live without it (hubby puts on almost 3K a month and LOVES his Nav!)

Just wanted to wave a white flag here!

 

Does anyone know if there have been significant feature changes/fixes since the R56 Nav was first released? In other words, does Mini have any track record of fixing this sort of thing?

 

Scoop,
Yep, it's all your fault!!

No need for a white flag, it's all good, in my mind anyway. This is exactly the kind of stuff needed on here so new folks (like me a few months ago) can weigh it all for themselves, their budget, the goods, the bads, the ugly (no search without a location and catagory! ) and the alternatives.

Then make a decision based on what I tell them!

 

Pasta,
There have been software upgrades for the R56, I'm not sure if any of them updated the nav specifically though. Could have, but I don't know. I'd guess most of the updates so far were to fix broken things (aka, make the car run better, better fuel, fix the Voice command that didn't work at all early on). The things I'm askin for aren't really "broken", they are just things that need changes really. Although, the search thing I would almost consider "broken".

I'm pretty sure in the past, there have been nav software updates in the mini, and I know for sure, in other brand vehicles there have been nav software updates.

Me things, Mini will update this for us when they find out MINIBIRD is a mobster!!

 

In my experience, firmware that is not 'clearly broken' rarely get fixed, no matter how easy it may seem. Especially when the fix would require documentation updates (not sure if that is the case here). The typical response is 'works as designed', even if that design is poor to begin with.

 

I've noticed this too. Bugs get fixed fairly quickly, and the manufacturers will make "behind the scenes" improvements, like better memory management, more efficient routing algorithms, etcetera, but they're slower to actually add new features or change the "look and feel" of the overall software.

Two examples:

The Garmin Nuvi has a touch-screen keyboard for entering information. Problem is, it's an "ABCDEF" keyboard instead of a "QWERTY" keyboard. Users have been screaming for a QWERTY keyboard (or at least the option) since the Nuvi came out, but Garmin hasn't implemented one yet, even though it would be trivial to remap the onscreen keyboard.

In the OS X operating system on the Macintosh, if you drag a folder into a directory that already has a folder of the same name, instead of merging the contents of the two folders (like Windows does), and prompting you for permission to overwrite any files in the destination folder that have the same name, OS X instead *completely deletes the destination folder*, and then replaces it with the folder you're dragging.

So if you've got a folder called "MINI" in your photos directory, and it has 1000 pictures in it, and you have another folder on your desktop called "MINI" with one picture in it, if you drag the "MINI" folder from your desktop into your photos directory, it deletes the folder with 1000 pictures and replaces it with the folder that has one picture. This has been high on users' "B*tch lists" since OS X came out, but it's never been changed.

 

Here's another software item that needs to be fixed. I hope to get a Clubman in the future and I would really like to see this fixed by then.

In the R56 Nav, street names are all drawn horizontally on the screen. This makes it difficult to identify which name goes with which line on the map. Here's a photo posted by ninja_van1sh:


On my R52 factory Nav, the street labels are drawn to run along the angle of the street line. I'm in San Francisco, and lately I've been looking at my Nav and imagining how the map would be undecipherable if all the street labels were horizontal. I can only imagine how it would be even worse in parts of Boston.

 

Even my $150 GPS handheld can do that. And they're regressing from the R52? WTH?

 

That's insane. I can hardly figure out what street is what on that example. Who ever saw a map like that? The more I read about the Nav the happier I am that i didn't get one. Nuvi 660/Kuda mounts for the Newt! And I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for software updates Birdman. I just have a feeling that maybe they just won't get around to it. When you're in the business of selling GPS and cellphones if you don't come up with software fixes for existing customers guess what? They ditch Tmobile after their contract runs out. I don't think BMW fears anything similar if they don't update the Nav software. They're in the car biz.

 

I did some surfing, and discovered the R56 NAV is based on BMW's famous (infamous?) iDrive (aka iCrash), which was overhauled in the face of very poor public reception. I also discovered it's built upon Windows CE.

I wonder if it has settings that would address some of the issues raised in this thread. Anybody have a pointer to recent iDrive manual (Mini or BMW)?

 

The BigNewt,
I agree that is another problem, but I don't see it that bad too often. You could go down to 400ft(instead of 800ft) and you would get much better detail, but still not right (angled names...).

As for software updates, the reason Garmin hasn't changed to the qwerty keyboard is they can't. Some things can be changed via software, but some things are controlled via software AND hardware (aka logic chips, or dump processors as I like to call 'em). That ABCD... keyboard is probably linked to a logic chip somehow, and that's why they haven't fixed it. Garmin is the BEST company however, for fixing and changing their software. They do it all the time.

My issues SHOULD be able to be easily changed via a software update.

For those interested, MINI nor BMW makes the idrive nav unit in the MINI. It's made by a division of Seimens called Seimens VDO. http://www.siemensvdo.com/home The unfortunate thing for us is, Seimens is historically the WORST at releasing updates. BUT, if MINI get on them, and threatens to drop them in favor of Garmin (hint hint hint!), well, maybe a magical update will show up.