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BMW Navigation .... sucks?

32K views 164 replies 69 participants last post by  Spyder1963 
#1 · (Edited)
I did not have navigation in my previous car (an E46 M3). In my household, my wife's honda accord was the only vehicle with navigation. In her car, we have not once in 6 years of ownership had an issue with the navigation routing us to the wrong place. I've had the 535 for about 3 weeks now, and it has mis-guided me at least a handful of times. It has pointed me in the wrong direction many times, including wrong corners, wrong streets, wrong TOWNS. This morning I made sure the building number, street, city, state, were all input correctly, and notwithstanding that, I was routed to the wrong town.

Did I miss a memo on BMW navigation or is it really this terrible?
 
#114 ·
#117 ·
The map is ok on it but it has no clue how to optimize for traffic and divert. In NYC it loves park ave where the lights are not timed and is generally congested. It LOVES timed square and will try to take bevthere any time I leave town. My TOM TOM which I paid $100 for completely blows it away. I use both together and follow the Tom Tom 80% of the time which is sad. Instead of proposing alt routes it will consistently lead me directly to the Jam. Loves the LIE as well which cracks me up when I am on the northern state at full speed and can literally see the traffic on it while it tries to get me to switch Over. Incidentally, it shows the jam so it knows it is there but is too dense to do anything. I have checked all settings and confirmed everything is up to date with dealer. It is by far the weakest link on the car. Luckily the car is a joy otherwise and I get around the issue by using the TOMTOM which also frees up some monitor for alt views or entertainment. Be careful if you set the avoid tolls option. I didn't realize it was on when in NJ and rather than say it can't be done, it tried to take me 200 miles out if the way. No smarts whatsoever. The TOM TOM in same situation tells you no route. It also has a feature to show current speed on current road which the car does not offer and shows how long you have till you hit the next traffic spot and how long the delay is. I can't believe they don't offer at least the same options for paying over a grand. Luckily the car really is a joy to sit in and to drive aside from the NAV :)
 
#118 ·
...It LOVES timed square and will try to take bevthere any time I leave town. ...:)
Probably just wants to take in a show. :)

Actually, I also find that in general it assumes that the major route is always the best route. On my way home from work it always wants to route me 5-6 blocks out of my way to a major street instead of just directing me to take a left onto a minor street which takes me to my garage it 2 short blocks. Crazy.
 
#123 ·
The current 2013 CIC maps data (just released a month ago) is TeleAtlas/Tom Tom. Good news is the Navteq will be back soon. But I don't know it it will help us.
 
#124 · (Edited)
This is one of those easy things to "complain" about since you do not need to be a vehicle expert to compare products. Most of us have used others navigation system and can fairly compare these products (this is in response to the poster calling us whiners).

The bottom line is that compare to my old dashboard GPS this system sucks. Today I was driving low on gas and needed a fuel station. I went through 4 of the closest gas stations listed in the points of interest before finding one that actually existed. One of them was shut down so it is possible it was a recent closing. But when following the other 3 I was brought to places where there was no sign of a gas station anywhere near the vicinity.

One more (and I have 10), when missing a turn or an exit, instead of just recalculating from where you now are, the GPS insists on bringing you back to the spot where you sent of course. For example, I miss an exit. I know I could just eat off the next exit, make a few turn, and be there. Instead, the GPS insists I get off the exit, make a u-turn, get back on the highway, only to make anothe u-turn toget back on my old route.
 
#125 ·
It really does suck...

I got lazy and used the in dash nav instead of Waze and tying to figure out which road to stay on with several exit ramps almost made me crash into a divider. It warns you to "prepare" to turn (not telling you the street) a mile away and then leaves you hanging about where the turn is. The system is downright dangerous and has no intuitiveness at all. Coming into Manhattan from NJ it thinks it is faster to take Broadway through times square from the Holland tunnel instead of the Harlem River Drive with no traffic? Its affection for Park Avenue tries to make me go several avenues out of the way. Insult to injury is when you ask if there is anything they can do they try to charge you 500 for an update. Really? Really?
 
#126 ·
Not only that, its slow like hell!! When I turn it takes the NAV around 5 seconds to turn the map and sometimes I get to consecutive turns were I get lost as i enter the first one and look at the nave without knowing which direction to go as it needs time to turn the map and follow!!

I was trying to go from NY to NJ and the George W bridge was close the other day, the car showed that its green and took me to the upper ramp that was closed!! It happened so many times were it takes me to a closed road!!! really!!! Not sure what the hell Advanced Traffic Update means!! They claim its an IP traffic service, my brothers MB does much better job using the XM traffic updates and he told me that his map showed him that the bridge is under construction and took him directly to an alternate route!!
 
#127 ·
Sorry, no picture, but here's another example from Chicago. Those of you who know the city will recognize Lake Shore Drive at Belmont. LSD makes a little curve there, so going Southbound there is an exit onto Belmont just before the curve, meaning the exit looks like you're going straight while LSD turns, and the entrance ramp back on is just a little to the left ahead of you. You know where this is going...

When driving on south on Lake Shore drive, instead of telling you to STAY ON the drive, it instructs you to exit at Belmont, make a left hand turn, and then immediately make a right hand turn up the entrance onto the drive. So, instead of just staying on the major highway, which is both the shortest and fastest route, you're instructed to exit and then reenter almost immediately.
 
#128 ·
I have to say the nav while it looks beautiful it does suck. It made me almost late for a wedding when in fact i should have arrived early. For some reason the nav likes making me exit the highway just to do a circle and make me enter back on the same highway. Does turning off the traffic assistant help at all?

BTW mine is a 2014.

Alan
 
#153 ·
Had that too, usually just a mile or two detour when it happens, but in France it wanted me to go on a 20 mile detour and come back to the same junction !! It was there over 2 days and it was not posting any traffic issues or lane closures at all, never mind one that initiated that detour, and it did have the direct route in there - it was not a new road issue.

No sat-nav is perfect, but my BMW has managed to surpass any I have previously had it terms of ridiculous routing behaviour and faults.
 
#129 ·
Good to know they have not solved the issue in 3 years. Way to go BMW.

No, changing the settings does not help.


Sent from BimmerApp mobile app
 
#130 ·
Is this type of thing unique to BMW nav? I've been "Garmined" many times over the years with similar weird directions to roads that don't exist or if they do are one way (the wrong way), exits off the highway then back onto the highway etc.

I will say the european maps on my recent ED were almost always correct.
 
#131 ·
Out of all the car oem navi I have had, I must say, BMW is the wrong at mapping out the route, Acura was probably the best. I usually use the fastest route setting, I had it on the shortest route for a while until it took me off road in my 535i in a rural area, that was the last time I use it.
 
#132 ·
Use Waze instead

I use my car Navi for macro view only now. Waze gives live traffic much more accurately in populous areas as well as police and accident sightings. THey should just make it so the screen displays your iphone apps and give up trying to recreate far superior tools.
 
#133 ·
Sounds like the '14's have learned little from the 11's.
 
#134 · (Edited)
I live in Edgewater, NJ. When I drive home from north Jersey it always make me go to GW bridge as it thinks that there is an exit before the toll gate.. I ended up in new york for two times in a raw before learning my lesson!!! Not sure why it thinks that there is an exit before the bridge while it does not exist!! I think it cant figure out if I am at the upper or lower level of the bridge as I believe there is an exit at the lower ramp not sure though!!

Also there is a construction at GW Bridge and the upper ramp was closed last night while the NAV showed it as green and routed me towards it!!! Not sure what is the Internet/IP advanced traffic they are talking about!!! My brothers MB ML 350 is using XM traffic and he don't have a single complain as its accurate most of the time and picked up the GW bridge construction and routed him to the lower ramp directly!!

Today I tried again as the bridge still has under construction however the traffic summary showed everything as green!! I started the route guidance and after 6 mins it showed me 3 mins delay due to congestion on the bridge and highlighted it as yellow !! but it was too late as I already crossed the bridge!! The funny thing is when I stopped the route guidance the bridge returned back to green!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looks like there is a bug on the traffic service were the car does not show everything unless you start the route guidance then it will pull up the traffic updates on the selected route!!! maybe they try to save data, not sure though !

I started a new route to test again and this time it never showed any traffic delay on the bridge and I waited for 10 mins to no avail!!! Last resort, I switched the traffic update off and on and it showed the congestion on the bridge again after 2 mins and it stayed as yellow even though I stopped the route.

After switching the traffic update on and off I tried again one more time and it picked up the delay on the bridge directly, maybe turning traffic updates on and off fixed the software bug, not sure though.

I bought the F10 as I thought the NAV and tech is far superior to the E350, however looks like the screen and interface is nicer but the functionality is not on par with the Mercedes or even my previous Nissan Maxima with XM traffic. I always compare to my brothers 2012 ML 350, my car is 2013 - June Production date
 
#135 ·
This was my first BMW and the thought of a huge beautiful Nav screen encouraged me to spend the money and get the Nav package. One year later I'm using my iPhone, "Google maps", and putting in the cup holder to quickly and correctly navigate around San Diego county. Such a huge disappointment. The rest of the car I love but come on BMW my wife's 150 dollar Tom Tom blows it out of the water. I'm thinking about buying a tom tom and mounting near the windshield.
 
#147 ·
Could not agree more. Car is amazing except for NAV. Best option I have found is clipping iphone to vent, using google maps or Waze with Pandora for music (XM isn't very good and you can't fast forward to next song not to mention price changes everytime you talk to them). Using this with blue tooth and the passenger glove box power source provides a pretty clean way to get music and voice instruction. I also keep a tomtom in the car but haven't used it much since Waze.
 
#136 · (Edited)
Don't do it. BMW uses TomTom's data set.

Something is wrong with the routing algorithm though... as others have stated, the nav just can't be trusted, even with Dynamic Guidance OFF.

Applying a Maps update doesn't help the routing, it just refreshes the data set and POIs.

Too bad because iDrive still has the best UI out there in my opinion.
 
#138 ·
I give it an average score. Having a Honda system and several Lexus systems, It falls somewhere in the middle... The Honda system was the best IMO so far. At least with the BMW system you can be moving and enter a destination, unlike Lexus.

I just drove from MD to Yellowstone and back. 4800 miles and it was never incorrect.
 
#139 ·
It probably depends on where it is being used. Mine has worked just fine for me here in Chicago. It may not be as accurate as the one in my Honda Odyssey, but it's close. In just about all cases, the route it gives is the same thing that Google Maps gives.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using BimmerApp mobile app
 
#141 ·
It probably depends on where it is being used. Mine has worked just fine for me here in Chicago. It may not be as accurate as the one in my Honda Odyssey, but it's close. In just about all cases, the route it gives is the same thing that Google Maps gives.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using BimmerApp mobile app
I used mine all over NY, PA, DC and Houston TX.

It sucked EVERYWHERE.

It's not the maps, it's the algorithms. See earlier in this thread for my examples.
 
#140 ·
I'm in Houston, my navi is constantly 2-3 blocks behind. When I'm parked in my garage, it shows my car 3 blocks south at someone else's house...Rarely do I get any pre-turn announcements.

Took it in, and as usual they could not find anything wrong with it. Next time I'm taking the SA for a ride.
 
#142 ·
Car Air vent holder for iphone

I use an air vent clip on holder for the iphone and it works great. You can run the power cord from the passenger glove box (there is a usb cord in there if you did not know) and it doesn't really show or block anything. Bluetooth works great with iphone and I use Waze with Pandora for music. The directions come on over the music just like the car does. This way you get better music (sat radio is pretty lame and you cannot skip a song) and better nav with police warnings. You can use the steering controls for Pandora or idrive to look at song info and ff just like the adapter in the center console.

I use the car nav for macro level view on long trips. I also have a tom tom that i was using before Waze and I can assure you it is not the same as the cars. I used to laugh when using both and one would tell me turn left and the other right.
 
#143 ·
I believe BMW is use INRIX as the main traffic source for all new cars. My traffic service is very poor and updates are minimal-in NY/NJ area. Example River Road in Edgewater, NJ allways shows green even when there is an accident!.

Today, me and my brother met at the Paramus Park Mall, NJ and when we returned home (Both live in same community in Edgewater, NJ) he reached 10 mins before me as his Mercedes Benz ML 350 that uses XM Traffic detected all the traffic jams, accidents, congestion,.etc and routed him through open local roads as the main highway was congested , he reached home and called me to check as he know I have concerns regarding my traffic service, I was stuck on the highway as my NAV showed it as green while there was a car accident, the NAV turned red after I got stuck which was too late.. then it directed me to the River Road which was really congested and again it showed as green!! I asked my brother about his NAV and he told me that both the highway near GW bridge and river rd showed red and thats why his car routed him through local open roads and he was home 10 mins before me.

3 weeks ago there was a big festival in Hoboken and my car directed me to the closed road where the festival was held!!! the NAV showed it as green!!

INRIX sucks, XM traffic is much better and was always accurate on my previous Nissan Maxima.. the INRIX real time traffic data is BS.. Not sure if their service is better in other states but here in NY/NJ it really sucks.. Wish I could get XM
 
#144 ·
I believe BMW is use INRIX as the main traffic source for all new cars. My traffic service is very poor and updates are minimal-in NY/NJ area. Example River Road in Edgewater, NJ allways shows green even when there is an accident!.

3 weeks ago there was a big festival in Hoboken and my car directed me to the closed road where the festival was held!!! the NAV showed it as green!!

INRIX sucks, XM traffic is much better and was always accurate on my previous Nissan Maxima.. the INRIX real time traffic data is BS.. Not sure if their service is better in other states but here in NY/NJ it really sucks.. Wish I could get XM
I've had completely opposite experience in Atlanta. XM NavTraffic is COMPLETE and UTTER rubbish. It is garbage.

In my BMW, I've been forewarned about traffic, festivals (1-2 days in advance + day of), etc.
NavTraffic? I've sat in standstill traffic as my flow shows green - and I've used it since 2005 with no improvements. Only fewer outages.

Here's a tip - don't trust your car as the only source. Use Waze (free). Use Google Maps (w/ traffic) - also free. Then make your decision.

Honestly the new(est) BMW system (ARTTI in iDrive 4.2+ driven by 3G T-Mobile connection) has been the most accurate on incidents and time. In morning traffic I find it's +/- 2 minutes, and will update as appropriate. Not sure what the difference is on data source in NYC.

Don't like any of these? Use Nokia's new predictive software, and buy a car with it when it's available:

http://gigaom.com/2013/07/02/living...5-cities-with-interactive-data-visualization/

or today for free: http://here.com
 
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