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-   -   Navigating the navigation (https://xoutpost.com/electronics/navigation-system/12735-navigating-navigation.html)

spud 03-16-2006 07:10 PM

Navigating the navigation
 
Ok just wanted to gripe for a second.
I have been using a garmin streetpilot for a couple years now.
My fiancee got GPS in her 330i when she purchased the car last summer. I also have in in my 2006 M3. Before we became a BMW family, we both happily used the garmin GPS between both our then current vehicles.

The touchscreens, the icons to click, and the ability to find locations were/are so much better.

We both find ourselves FREQUENTLY frustrated using the nobs and understanding the BMW navigation system. We put in the destination city and try to enter in the names of restaurants, other businesses and such and I say 80% of the time we cant find the place. when we put the garmin on the dash, 98% of the time we can find the business/restaurant etc.

Not having the touchsceen is not that big a deal, but NOT FINDING a majority of the businesses and restaurants in the area is rather annoying.

I have been playing with her navigation for about a year now, so its not b/c i havnt tried.

Anyone else find it difficult to find locations by name?
Now finding a place via the address is GREAT. If i look up on the web the restaurant/business address, it gets there just fine. This plan does not work well when we want to find a place when we are not near a high speed web access.

I would appreciate any comments. Maybe some tips/tricks that I just havnt figured out would be helpfull too.

Finding stuff based on destination vs Current location are both equally frustrating..

Im a college educated guy and I work in the IT industry and Software development is part of it. So im not a total idiot. Just the layout and design of the nav is just awfull compared to aftermarket. BMW engineering DID NOT go into the SW development for SURE!

Thanks for reading!

Quicksilver 03-16-2006 09:36 PM

I'm not trying to be funny so don't take it that way but have you read the manual?

shoimin 03-16-2006 09:53 PM

I'm looking for some tips to use the navigation as well, so perhaps the other members can share. Maybe this will turn into a stickied Tricks and Tips thread.

I find I almost use Travel Information exclusively. Finding restaurants isn't too difficult if I know the type (Asian, European, whatever). Remember, the fewer variables you enter, the broader the search is and better chance the system will find what you're looking for.

If there's something I'd appreciate in the system, it'd be a way to search all categories by name rather than trying to pick a category first, then entering our search variables.

spud 03-17-2006 08:34 AM

Yes, i read the manual and I listened/watched the movie CD that came with the car.

I did another comparison test last night.

I live in a densely populated area. Rather close to a popular mall. So popular that people visit the mall in bus loads.

I digress. I would say in roughly 10 square miles, there are probably 200 or so restaurants. Just a guess. In other words, a LOT of them.

I threw my garmin on the dash and did a search by restaurants in the are. I just clicked the restaurant icon. The thing would show EVERY restaurant, even 200 miles away. The liest was endless.

I then used the BMW navigation. I first did by location. Under restaurants, i counted only 5 restaurants under the american type. I did the same search by destination and entered my current city. Same thing.

I then tried a search for a business by name. I chose Golds gym. On the garmin, it found 8 gyms w/in 15 miles. On the BMW nav, 1 gym.
Pathetic.

The fact that i needed to do 5 clicks and some wheel turning before i got to anything usable was awful.

The only reason i have it on the M3 is b/c I bought the car off the showroom floor and all the other options were what I wanted.

Again if there are any tips/tricks that could make life easier, i would appreciate it.

Am I the only one having this problem?

TheOfficeMaven 03-17-2006 11:25 AM

Hi spud,

No you sure aren't! I'm a Garmin guy as well and so the POI searching feature in the BMW nav system totally sucks for me as well (when comparing it to the Garmin). I can't stand it!

The BMW system is amazing at how fast it can calculate (and re-calculate) a route, has great looking maps now with the new V26/V27 maps & new 3D Perspective view, and is great at routing to known addresses. However, as you've mentioned, it completely falls on its face when it comes to looking up POI's.

I have a Garmin Quest that I carry with me and that's what I use when I want to look up Points Of Interest like restaurants, gas stations, etc. With all the work that BMW/VDO Dayton is putting into the interface lately, lets hope that they re-work the POI search feature soon.

spud 03-17-2006 11:30 AM

bummer. Ok, just wondering if i was missing something. Shame b/c i would rather not carry around my garmin for POI


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