iDrive route download

No beaming up of Routes in the U.S. That is only a European feature, at least for now.

I picked up my latest X5 earlier in the year - the first one I'd ordered with an inbuilt GPS.
I was used to using DiscoverAus (maybe called MapSend in America?) mapping software with a Magellan GPS to create routes so I could get from a to b via a route of my choice! With the new one I was frustrated by not being able do this, as I live in Australia am therefore just a little out-of-zone for BMW-routes.
I searched BMW forums to find out how I might create a file, but couldn't find anything.
I then created and downloaded a BMW-routes file for London to Bath (or somewhere), and used it as a proforma to edit and replace the coordinates with ones appropriate to my planned trips. It imported to my car via USB and worked pretty well.
Manually editing files for each trip was a fairly cumbersome process though. I then wrote a programme in Excel VBA which imported a DiscoverAus route file, and converted it to the BMW xml format. I've since also written a programme to import GoogleEarth (*.kml) files and again converting them to the BMW xml format. So now I can easily create my trip on GoogleEarth, import it to my computer, then with one click create the BMW file.
Anyway as far as I can tell, the only reason why the BMW-routes files don't work outside Europe/GB is that the site doesn't have that capability. Otherwise I find it all works beautifully.
I'm not a VBA programmer, so the code's probably not that pretty, but it does the job for me. The purpose of me joining and putting up this post was to make this Excel spreadsheet available to other people who currently share my earlier frustration.
Let me know if I can email it to anyone who's interested.
Simon

That KML -> BMW utility sounds useful/interesting. Thank you. Why not post it here? Just rename the extension to add .PDF, post it using the Attachments button, and make sure to tell folks to rename it back to the correct (identified) extension once they have it.

E.g. Post "MyUtility.exe.pdf".

Frank.

Here 'tis.
Once downloaded, change the name of the file and remove the ".pdf" extension.
This makes it a macro-enabled Excel file (hence the "m" after the ".xls").
Ensure your computer allows macros to run. Depending on your Excel version, you can have a look at your "Trust Centre Settings" in your Trust Centre in Excel and make changes if necessary. Some versions just have a pop-up message when you open the spreadsheet, asking if you want to enable macros.
Go to Google Earth, and use the directions options to create a route. There's a button there which allows you to save this as a .kml file. By default it will probably put this in your "Downloads" folder, which sits in your "My Documents" folder.
Now click on the right-hand blue button in the "Master" sheet of the spreadsheet. It should open up your "Desktop" folder, and you can find your .kml file from there. This then automatically converts the .kml file, and creates the BMW .xml file. It puts it in the same folder as where the spreadsheet is. On your USB drive you need to create a folder called "BMWData", and within that a folder called "Nav". The new file goes into this "Nav" folder. That is, the path on the USB drive will be "BMWData\Nav\1234567890.xml". Stick that in your BM and smoke it
As aforementioned, I'm not a programmer by trade, and I take no responsibility for any outcomes as a result of your using this spreadsheet. If you want to look at, or play with the code, right-click on the "Master" tab sheet, and go up to "View Code". The top half is the code for converting DiscoverAus routes, and the Google Earth converter starts about half way down.
Hopefully this assists anyone interested in this stuff.

Simon