Should I get BMW SatNav?
 

I'm about to purchase a new X5 and trying to decide if I should spend the extra money to get the BMW SatNav.

Here is Australia the BMW SatNav/TV package costs over $7000 and the Exec/Innovation model which includes this now adds $15000 cost.

Would I be better off saving my money and getting a separate GPS unit?

I really want SatNav but it seems the separate units (NavMan, TomTom etc) or even the new Droid, all offer alot more.

If I don't get the BMW SatNav I will miss voice recognition as well, but many of the stand alone units seem to have this now.

Interested in people's opinions.

In three years, whatever is installed now will be obsolete. Why spend all that money when you could just replace an aftermarket unit (over and over) for the latest tech and still spend less.

I think needing to have the in-dash is just an ego trip.

My opinion:

If you love technology, high quality and integration, and money is not an object - then get the built-in factory system

If you are short on money, don't mind having extra devices in the car stuck to windscreens etc, and don't mind a total lack of integration, then get the aftermarket system eg a TomTom

People say to me "I'd love to have a built-in nav integrated into the car like yours - I get fed up with having to install and remove the nav everytime I get in then leave the car".

Here in the UK, these portable devices are a prime target for the thieving scum that seem to frequent this green (and very wet) island!! And I always think that seeing a BMW with one stuck to the glass, the car must be 'poverty spec', cloth seats, 4-pot 1.8litre - probably a bit unfair though!!

I paid for a dealer retrofit in my previous car (E46) and it transformed the car - though that was 4 years ago, and the old BMW Nav is getting a bit dated. But dispite the look, friends still seem impressed with the system integration into the car, and the fact that the X3 has the pop-up monitor and voice recognition/control of both the phone and nav.

The only real downside is that speed cameras are not part of the package and require a bit of fannying about to update, unlike the portables that you just plug into your PC to update.

$7Gs?! The marketeers must be laughing out loud in the cost
accounting dept., every morning...

If that hunk of dough doesn't matter, then get it, but a <$300 GPS unit
does the same and the cosmetics don't bother me, 7 Grand worth of irritation.
GL,mD

Then that built in system will be OBSOLETE six months after you drive it off the lot.

There will always be much beter techmology a few months later.

No offense, but as I said, this sounds like a "ego trip" issue more than anything else.

BTW, what is a speed camera?

Thanks for the various responses on this. It seems the real value is integration and the down-side is obsolesence.

So can I ask people's opinions on how useful the integration is? Does the voice recognition work well (I expect not for Australian accents)? And how well does the integration go with the phone, iDrive,radio, MP3 music?

I'll be comparing this to running a standlone system like TomTom with voice recognition, bluetooth, MP3 etc..

Are there major improvements now with the latest iDrive?

Hardly an 'ego trip' when you've had your side window stoved in by some little scrote looking for your portable sat nav just because he could see the mount on the windshield :rolleyes: - at least three of my friends have had their cars broken into because of portable satnavs. One even used to take the mount of the screen, but they could see the round mark where the sucker went.

But then if you don't live in the UK where the crim's 'human rights' are put at the top of the list just below bent Members of Parliament...... :yikes:

A labour government cash machine :rofl: