Wow, it looks like BMW forgot to put something that's available on every other BMW model! (Not like it's a necessity; I never look at the one in our 325i)
It is very strange. I have an '08 535, and no compass. But since I have nav, I keep the right screen to location information, and there is a compass displayed there.
My CS told me that if you have Nav the compass (Arrow) is in the Nav. With no Nav the compass is in the mirror. That seems to make sense. My 08 535i has Nav and the arrow works fine. My wife's 07 X-3 has it in the mirror.
With Nav it tells you the altitude and that's kind of handy. Now if we could just convert the compass to a heading indicator .................aw ........never mind.
You'd be surprised at how many folks want a compass. People shopping around for cars complain that the 3er doesn't come with a compass unless you order Premium, something that's pretty much standard on many cheaper Japanese and American cars. I don't care, but apparently a lot of Americans do.
I have a 2008 535xi with Premium Package but NO NAV. I too missed the compass after having it on my last two less expensive cars. But, I think I've SOLVED THE PROBLEM.
If you use iDrive to go to BMW Assist, and then "Customer Relations" you should get an indication of your "Heading", "Longitude" and "Latitude". At least I know that I do. It changes as you're driving, but there is about a second or two delay. Since most of us drive the same place every day, you won't need to access it often, but it's nice to know it's there when you're in unfamiliar area. I tried accessing it with one of the 6 "pre-select" buttons, but I don't think it can be done.
Hope this helps those who miss the compass like I do. It sure beats paying over $500 (plus installation) for the accessory mentioned in an earlier post.
Picked up my 2014 535i and I was like "where in the hell is the compass? is there some option I didn't order?" (doubtful, but you never know)
I use it all the time in my X5.
I guess sure I can live without it but I thought it was.. odd.
Same here. I have a 2014 535i M-Sport with all possible packages (except adaptive cruise), but yet no dedicated compass other than the tiny north-pointing arrow in the navigation or position screen. That's a little disappointing because sometimes, I do need a quick check in which direction I'm going, and with a north-pointing arrow, I have to think for a few seconds. Kinda sad for a car that was ~$78,000.
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