Navigation Woes...

I've read many complaints about the Nav systems in our cars from posters. Just as well, I've heard from many who think that although it is not good as say Honda's or Toyota's, it does the job fairly well and is decent. Since I got the car, I considered myself in that second group who think it has flaws but is fine for the most part. My four years of use has brought me through these stages: (Like it----> Think it is decent---->Neutral feelings-----> Dislike----->Really Dislike------Hate!) My beef is not with the speed or lack of touchscreen or fancy stuff. Rather, the computer keeps screwing me over by bringing me to the wrong places. This happens about 40% of the time. I can guarantee it is calabrated and working properly too. For example, 79 Berry Hill Road, Syosset, NY. I enter the town Syosset, and then it doesn't allow me to enter Berry Hill road as if it doesn't exist. This is a major road! As I am typing it auto completes to something else. So, I then erase everything, and I attempt to put in the township: Town of Oyster Bay which includes Syosset. Then, I proceed to type in 79 Berry Hill Road and it comes up. Finally! So, I'm off on this trip and it brings me to that address in Oyster Bay which is in the Town of Oyster Bay just as well as Syosset. So, I thought Syosset was where it was bringing me. Thinking that Syosset was in this township, I thought that this was my destination and when I got there, it sure was not. I had to travel 4 more miles to get to my destination. There were two 79 Berry Hill Roads. One in Syosset and one in Oyster Bay. Mind you, this is the same road that runs through the towns. Please tell me...somebody, is this just a system quirk? This kind of crap keeps on happening to me. I think Long Island may be an unusually complex area because of all the townshps and towns within. It can get confusing. So, recently to solve this problem, when given an address, I go onto mapquest, enter it in and write down the cross streets. Therfore, I know for sure, that I am going to the right location because it is unlikely that there are two streets with the same names that interscet in another place. From now on, I dont' think I am entering a street in just by itself without a cross reference. But, how do you guys get around this when the computer auto completes your data entry to the wrong street and it doesn't show on the list when you know that your destination is in that town or township? Sorry for the ramble guys. Just totally frustrating when you need reliability. I can't seem to trust it. Please advise.

I think the system is EXCELLENT.

You do have to enter the correct destination. Sounds like you switched cities and it led you right where you asked it to, no worries. Just not what you wanted.

This happens on online maps and others. I extensively use MapPoint on my desktop and it lacks streets on occasion also. Same with the online maps. Certainly they are not perfect. New streets, old maps, etc...

You must enter the correct small city, thus you can not use Los Angeles to get to a street in Encino, even though technically those from Encino also live in the greater city of LA.

I used it all over Europe on my ED and it was fantastic, and the conglomeration of maps needed to put "Europe" on the DVD are far greater then those for Long Island. It never failed once on 2K miles of traveling.

You can also view the destination, and actually see where it is leading you, you can zoom in and select a spot to guide you too... that may have been preferable than switching cities like you did.

Sorry if my post was confusing. It sounds like it works better in Europe. What I was saying was that I first entered the correct smallest city (Syosset) and then proceeded to enter the street address which refused to come up. As you know, the computer auto-completes as you enter the street name and it completed the street name to something else that was incorrect. It doesn't let you finish typing. So, I then broadened to the township (Oyster Bay) which contains the smaller town I was aiming for (Syosset) thinking that I might be able to get the street name to come up that way. Well, I got the street within that township but it brought me to that street address in a random town within that township! I couldn't specify which one from the beginning because the damn street name wouldn't come up when I plugged in the smaller town. What do you do in this case? It's retarded.

Originally Posted by e36M3r

I think the system is EXCELLENT.

You do have to enter the correct destination. Sounds like you switched cities and it led you right where you asked it to, no worries. Just not what you wanted.

This happens on online maps and others. I extensively use MapPoint on my desktop and it lacks streets on occasion also. Same with the online maps. Certainly they are not perfect. New streets, old maps, etc...

You must enter the correct small city, thus you can not use Los Angeles to get to a street in Encino, even though technically those from Encino also live in the greater city of LA.

I used it all over Europe on my ED and it was fantastic, and the conglomeration of maps needed to put "Europe" on the DVD are far greater then those for Long Island. It never failed once on 2K miles of traveling.

You can also view the destination, and actually see where it is leading you, you can zoom in and select a spot to guide you too... that may have been preferable than switching cities like you did.

I think I understood but I don't think you can do that without the results you got. Thus when you originally went to put in the street, you should not have switched to the bigger / outlying city. It appears that street for the small city is not in the NAV DVD, so you should have navigated to that small citys - city center, or manually entered your location from the "destination input map". Otherwise, by going outside the city you really wanted, it simply found a street with the same name in the new city you had selected.

Also: Getting used to it in Europe, we found entering "Via Name" did not always find the street, sometimes it was V. Name or "Via San Name" etc... so there were times we needed to play with it...

But I do think you got the results you had programmed it for.

I thought everyone in Oyster Bay had a driver....what do you need navigation for?

Check this out. I know for a fact that the disk contains that street address I was looking for. Here's how I know. My original destination was Berry Hill Road in Syosset. So, as I said, the computer doesn't recognize it and auto-completes to something else. Ok. I go on Mapquest and find a cross street to Berry Hill Road in Syosset which is Hillside Ave. I go back to my car, and I input Hillside ave in the town of Syosset and that comes up fine. Now, I go to the intersection option and what do I find? I find Berry Hill Road among others as intersecting roads. I select Berry Hill road. So now, I have Hillside Ave and Berry Hill Road intersecting one another on the screen. Why wasn't I able to enter it in the other way with Berry Hill Road first? The disk contains Berry Hill in Syosset because it came up as a cross street so it obviously knows it exists. Why couldn't I select it from the start? I think the software is the problem. No? Thanks again for your thoughts.

Originally Posted by e36M3r

I think I understood but I don't think you can do that without the results you got. Thus when you originally went to put in the street, you should not have switched to the bigger / outlying city. It appears that street for the small city is not in the NAV DVD, so you should have navigated to that small citys - city center, or manually entered your location from the "destination input map". Otherwise, by going outside the city you really wanted, it simply found a street with the same name in the new city you had selected.

Also: Getting used to it in Europe, we found entering "Via Name" did not always find the street, sometimes it was V. Name or "Via San Name" etc... so there were times we needed to play with it...

But I do think you got the results you had programmed it for.

How new is your CD/DVD? Perhaps your misfortune has been fixed in the latest revision. I've got the 2005-2 DVD in my car.

I'm really good with directions, yet I consider NAV a must-have.


Edit: You can also update the firmware in these things, which has been known to increase accuracy of mapping. Check out the "BMWNAV" yahoo group for more information on where to get it and how to do it. The latest firmware is v25.

Thanks Kris. My car is an 01'. So, it has the small screen MKIII computer with the CD ROM. However, I did have the firmware upgraded to the split screen type. I believe the software version is SW 3-1-63 currently on there. Didn't seem to help with the accuracy of inputting the data though.

I just don't get how a street in a certain town could be on the disk, but the only way to access it is to first type in another street in that town that the computer recognizes, and then find the one you originally wanted in the cross street option. Strange, isn't it?

(btw, nav is still definitely a must have in my book)

Perhaps KrisL can try entering that city/street on his and see if it takes it. I'd do it on mine, except the car is on a ship over the Atlantic right now. Basically it could easily happen, these things are hardware/software and data, so that there has been upgrades is obvious (since 2001) also there will always be idiosyncracies with any computer.

Still, your original problem was 'user error' and not the nav. It took you exactly where you asked it to. Just be aware of what you did, (expanding / changing the city) and 'don't do that again'

Cliff, you have just saved me $2900cdn on my new 330i.
Enter Montreal on your Nav, and I'll buy you a Guiness when you get here!!

Originally Posted by e36M3r

Perhaps KrisL can try entering that city/street on his and see if it takes it. I'd do it on mine, except the car is on a ship over the Atlantic right now. Basically it could easily happen, these things are hardware/software and data, so that there has been upgrades is obvious (since 2001) also there will always be idiosyncracies with any computer.

I just tried. I put in Syosset, then chose Berry Hill Rd. It listed two of them:

Berry Hill Rd, Oyster Bay Cove
Berry Hill Rd, Town Of, O..


so it looks like it hasn't been fixed . There is a form on the Navteq web site where you can submit errors in the maps...

Stew: put down the pipe buddy... The NAV is absolutely awesome, you'd be foolish not to get it. The fact that his 2001 map did not have a street is a lousy reason to not get the nav

Kris, sounds like it now works. What are you talking about? Cliff was unable to get that street to come up when entering his city. You just did, why do you say it's not working?

You guys are are awsome! Kris, it looks like it was fixed. I can tell you that the second option, Town of Oyster Bay is incorrect. That's the one that my system defaults to. The first one, Oyster Bay Cove, may well be the correct location. I looked it up on Mapquest and it appears that Oyster Bay Cove translates to Syosset. Wow. That's awsome. Now, what can I do about this? Is it the fact that you have a DVD or is it the new software that you have. Maybe I should ask for an upgrade. Mine is version 3-1-63. What is yours? You guys rock.
Cliff

Originally Posted by KrisL

I just tried. I put in Syosset, then chose Berry Hill Rd. It listed two of them:

Berry Hill Rd, Oyster Bay Cove
Berry Hill Rd, Town Of, O..


so it looks like it hasn't been fixed . There is a form on the Navteq web site where you can submit errors in the maps...

Its likely the map data, which means you need a new CD. I'm not sure if you can buy updated CDs try giving Navteq a call and see. Be sure to post your findings. Also you can try ebay for a more recent data CD.

Originally Posted by Cliff330i

You guys are are awsome! Kris, it looks like it was fixed. I can tell you that the second option, Town of Oyster Bay is incorrect. That's the one that my system defaults to. The first one, Oyster Bay Cove, may well be the correct location. I looked it up on Mapquest and it appears that Oyster Bay Cove translates to Syosset. Wow. That's awsome. Now, what can I do about this? Is it the fact that you have a DVD or is it the new software that you have. Maybe I should ask for an upgrade. Mine is version 3-1-63. What is yours? You guys rock.
Cliff

Originally Posted by Cliff330i

You guys are are awsome! Kris, it looks like it was fixed. I can tell you that the second option, Town of Oyster Bay is incorrect. That's the one that my system defaults to. The first one, Oyster Bay Cove, may well be the correct location. I looked it up on Mapquest and it appears that Oyster Bay Cove translates to Syosset. Wow. That's awsome. Now, what can I do about this? Is it the fact that you have a DVD or is it the new software that you have. Maybe I should ask for an upgrade. Mine is version 3-1-63. What is yours? You guys rock.
Cliff

Cliff,

The street addition would be on the map cd, not related to the firmware. Even though BMW doesn't use Mk3 CD NAV systems anymore, Navteq is still updating the CDs.

You can purchase the update from Navteq -or - find someone on the BMWNAV yahoo group who would be willing to make you a copy.

Glad I could help!

I will check out the yahoo group as well as consider a new map CD. Although, I'm still alittle sketchy on one thing.. maybe i'm slow.. lol. but hear me out. If I can't pull up Berry Hill Road by entering it straight in, but I can pull it up by first entering another recognized street and then choosing Berry Hill Rd. through the intersection option, how is it my CD map? I mean, it is on the CD because it is listed as an intersection. I just can't seem to plug it in directly because when I start typing... B-E-R-R.... it auto-completes to something totally different and doesn't let me finish. Yet, it's listed as a cross street in Syosset when I choose to input another street first. Strange. But, I will try the yahoo groups and see what I find. Thanks again friends.

Originally Posted by KrisL

Cliff,

The street addition would be on the map cd, not related to the firmware. Even though BMW doesn't use Mk3 CD NAV systems anymore, Navteq is still updating the CDs.

You can purchase the update from Navteq -or - find someone on the BMWNAV yahoo group who would be willing to make you a copy.

Glad I could help!

Originally Posted by Cliff330i

I will check out the yahoo group as well as consider a new map CD. Although, I'm still alittle sketchy on one thing.. maybe i'm slow.. lol. but hear me out. If I can't pull up Berry Hill Road by entering it straight in, but I can pull it up by first entering another recognized street and then choosing Berry Hill Rd. through the intersection option, how is it my CD map? I mean, it is on the CD because it is listed as an intersection. I just can't seem to plug it in directly because when I start typing... B-E-R-R.... it auto-completes to something totally different and doesn't let me finish. Yet, it's listed as a cross street in Syosset when I choose to input another street first. Strange. But, I will try the yahoo groups and see what I find. Thanks again friends.

Your guess is as good as mine on that one .

[QUOTE=e36M3r]Stew: put down the pipe buddy... The NAV is absolutely awesome, you'd be foolish not to get it. The fact that his 2001 map did not have a street is a lousy reason to not get the nav
QUOTE]


LOL, I'll get it just for the way it looks...I like the second wave on the dash!

Yes, the data is incomplete. That's why we need to update the maps sometimes. Getting a new DVD or CD in your case is just like buying a new, updated paper map, has new streets on it, things are fixed, etc... no problem. Typical stuff.

I just looked up your street on MapPoint 2004 They have two listed (Plus a bunch of Berry Hill Rds in other states) one in Oyster Bay, the other in Syosset.

Glad you understood that it WAS working in Kris's test.

Stew! The Guiness sounds like a great idea my friend.

LOL, I'll get it just for the way it looks...I like the second wave on the dash!

Oh, e90, you will have the newer nav like on the 5 serice, I think they have added features, like "birds-eye view", and some others. But all in all, it's a great tool, and fun too. First time with made a mistake following the directions, she said "Please make a legal U-Turn" and the 4 of us cracked up with that. But we were all constantly amazed at how it got ut around Europe.

In the old days you would get some instructions, drive a few blocks and ask again, as you couldn't understand the long anwers in another language. This time I don't think we ever stopped for directions. If you get it and like it, I'll take that bier!

We'll just have to do Bimmerfest Canada in Montreal sometime at Hurly's Irish pub on Crescent Street!!!

The Nav system works great 99% of the time. What frustrates me to no end is that my house doesn't exist. Or rather it doesn't like to navigate down the main road that leads to my neighborhood. In fact on the map, you can't even see a line for the road. It detects the road name just fine. But if I try to navigate my way home, it has me taking all sorts of back streets in the neighborhood as opposed to taking the one main street that leads right to my house.

Did you try some of the options, like "shortest route", "fastest route", etc?