I stuck in the v.26 cd, and everything worked fine again. The cd just told me my copy was current, so I confirmed with an OK and everything went back to normal. I'm trying again to get v27, but I've put in a freshly burnt copy of the disc. Again it is having a problem, so I left it at the blank screen with hopes it'll load within the next few minutes.

I'm about to burn a new copy now. I should add I burnt the last two on GQ media at 40x (max speed). After a few software loads, I've never had a problem with this combination.

Edit (8:46pm): I corrected a typo.

I just ran back out and the drive remained blank. I did the v26 swap again, so that's my fail safe option now. I'm about to try my newest burnt copy.

Edit: Success! I've concluded that my previous two copies were faulty in some way. I reburnt using a different burner, same GQ-branded media, at an even faster 52x (I'm impatient). Watching installer 7.00 was an exciting moment for me. When I switched on Perspective mode, the view was great! The time is almost 9:00pm and the sky was pouring rain a minute ago, but the nav shows a bright blue sky littered with clouds, and that reflects what I'm feeling now. Thanks to all for the prompt responses.

The street names appear absent, but I remember reading that so it's no surprise. When zooming to 1/4 scale, I can see some lake names and federal lands. With perspective mode, the scales beyond 1/2 mile are more useful now.

Congrats, man! Are you in US mode now?

FYI- most people here recommend burning a copy of the Nav OS at the lowest possible speed when you do it.

Glad you got v27 up & running.

JV

Sweet, thanks guys! I'll have to try it tomorrow.

I never left US mode. Something was quirky about the v27 cds I made. I noticed that when inserted, they read fine but then would go into the blank screen from which they will never return. I also noticed that the nav drive power light shuts off. Apparently, the discs never initiated the install, so the v26 disc simply brings it out of the blank screen mode without installing either. I'm glad you passed that tip along.

When I placed the good copy of the v27 in the drive, the same thing happened up to the point the light shut off. However, the light came back on and that started the process for the upgrade.

JV, your help was invaluable. Thanks to you and the others for the assistance.

I know about burning at the slowest speed. That's usually just a precaution that I feel has passed down from a time when burners were not nearly as efficient and refined. For instance, 2x or 4x burns used to cause problems back in the days. Drives now come with sizeable buffers, the laser writes more precisely, and CD media is better, too.

I'm also one of those people who pull the usb key storage devices out without "safely removing hardware". =)

I did the upgrade from v26 and it said System is Uptodate! after about 20secs. But I can't see the Perspective mode. I've gone into the Service mode in Settings by holding the Menu button down but there is no menu or submenu with anything about Perspective. It's as if it thinks the v27 disc is no higher than the v26 and that there is nothing to upgrade. I'm in Australia BTW.

Also what version should it be saying in Settings? Any help would be great.

v27 should display as 4-1/70. Do you have an MkIV/DVD based Nav system or an earlier type of CD based drive?

JV

Downloaded...Decompressed...Burned the CD
...
Just upgraded a stock V26 MK IV (I have a 2006 model X5).
Turned on perspective mode in the secret menu (be sure to scroll all the way down past the bottom - it is on a line by itself)
All three map mode options are available now.
Very cool.

There are no street names in perspective mode, but map landmarks are still there (so is the white line that guides you to your destination. For some reason the ETA doesn't seem to work (shows zeroes) - but maybe I have to drive around more (?)

The gang at X5WORLD rocks!

Thanks guys...I just downloaded the file. This will be in queue on my list of projects for Sunday's.

Dude...the X5 guys are so ahead of the curve...

I'm showing SW 3-1/63 is that IV? It's a 2002 330Ci.