It's not really that bad.
It kicks Mercedes ass in every which direction. It's about comparable to Lexus IMO because the Lexus loses second place for the following reasons.
1. You can't enter in stuff while in motion.
2. You can't hack it. (It's hard)
First place IMO is Honda's navigation systems. You can hack it, it's touch screen, and it works. I remember our 2000 Odyssey was faster, and overall better then even today's 2005 LS430.
All in all though, now that I've learned that you can get the navigation updates for the BMW for next to nothing (price of a dvd) and that you can upgrade it manually, it moved BMW to second place.
On that note, I think this person
Edmunds.com Manager of Vehicle Testing Kelly Toepke
must be a -f-ing idiot. BMW is almost idiot proof with their navigation. Perhaps they weren't using the X5's?