Harmen Becker are German

Post some screen shots and photos of the nav

You can do anything with the right tools and knowledge. So if you worked in the software design department of the company that makes the nav, you could do this.

For us simple users, the answer would be NO.
Because the software for the nav is difficult to get hold of - you'd have to remove the nav, disassemble it, find a way to read out the EEPROM contents, and then start reverse engineering.
Very hard.
Also because it is the very latest 2009 model, released only this year I believe.

Older systems are a million miles away from the 2009 nav. On older systems the OS was loaded from a CD and the CD was easy to get hold of.
On the 2009 nav it is a totally different story.

I would be surprised if your nav does not have 3D view in it. 3D was in al BMW nav systems since around 2004. Read the user manual carefully.

Otherwise, if not built in, the answer is as the same as for the question "can I modify the nav".

Too new. Most nav hackers start at around the 5yr old mark when more info becomes available.

Hi thanks for this.
dont' have any pics to post, because it is just a screen.
You put the cd into the cd player.
I assume the nav system is behind the dash somewhere.
the iDrive software (basically a menu system) does the rest.

There's this new fangled gadget on the market these days called a "digital camera". Apparently, you can take photos with them and post things on web sites!!
Not sure how true this is, could be just smoke and mirrors and snake oil...??

What software version do you have loaded on the nav? Use the Service Menu in the iDrive to display. If not sure, post all screen shots.

To access service menu in i-drive cars:
1. From the main menu display, press the controller down for minimum 6 seconds.
2. Turn the controller 3 increments clockwise (to the right).
3. Turn the controller 3 increments counter-clockwise (to the left).
4. Turn controller 1 increment clockwise (right).
5. Turn controller 1 increment counter-clockwise (left).
6. Turn controller 1 increment clockwise (right).
7. Push down on the controller.
8. To exit the service mode, select the return arrow at the bottom on the left of the screen.

wow your a funny man... Yes I can do that.. of course.
ok given this new info, I'll give it a go naturally.
i assume the instructions above are not in the service manual.
I read mine, no mention of service mode at all.
And the dealer mechanics/techs all play dumb.

Awesome stuff though, I'm excited to try this.
Stay tuned I'll come back to you..

yep followed your instructions..
now submenu appeared.

I took some photos.
Dumb questions, how do I make them appear here..?
do I simply copy them to my laptop and then attach them..?

Nope, you're not supposed to know this

Good to see you have honest dealers and techies thatprovide you with a clear impression of their actual competence :-)

Most of what gets discussed on these forums here is above and beyond the capabilities of dealers. Save yourself the energy and don't even bother asking them

They just do the standard work required by the BMW factory. Nothing special. And they'll have often no clue about some of the more complex options and functions especially if we start talking about things not available on your old prison island

oh and I noticed when I turned the car on, there is a standard BMW splash page. Brown background with light tan lines, with BMW in the middle.

Photos are a bit of a pain. You'll have to host them on the web somewhere - like your own website, or a photo hosting website.

Or you upload them to your private area on this forum

And then once the photo exists on the web, use the Insert Image button above the message editor and insert the photos entire URL

Ah - User CP (top right) then in Networking (left hand panel) select Photo Albums - then you can upload some piccies

Excellent, your eyes are working :-)

That's the boot up splash screen, you're observing the nav going through it's cold-boot process.

If you turn the ign off then on again within eg 1min, the nav will still be running and you'll be doing a warm boot. No splash screen with a warm boot - not needed as the nav is immediately available.

Nav only shuts down totally when the ign is off, can is locked, and everything goes to sleep. About 2min after locking car the nav shuts down. Well, it was 2min in the old navs, maybe they extended the timeout on the newer models - not sure...

Anyway, become familiar with cold boot and warm boot, and it'll stop you asking those annoying little questions like "why do I only see the splash screen sometimes...?"