very nice Kevin!

Now that's clean! Looks great .

I like it.

nice im gonna buy that for my sisters 325i

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-Amit

2006 BMW X5 3.0i
-Black Sapphire Metallic w/ Truffle Brown Leather and Dark Poplar Wood
-Sport, Automatic, Xenon, BMW Assist, Premium, Cold Weather, Rear Climate, Panaroma, Nav, Heated Steering Wheel, Heated Rear Seats, and more mods to come.

2005 BMW 325i
-Black on Black, Loaded

Thanks, Kevin. Good review and pictures.

I also took advantage of the Nuvi350 offer from Costco. I've had mine for over a week and I am very pleased with it thus far.

Here's my take on the device thus far:

The screen is exceptionally clear in both daylight and evening driving conditions. The instructions are excellent - in fact, it found another travel path to a favorite restaurant of ours that previously never came up on my old 540i BMW NAV system. It has gotten confused on a few one-way streets, but so did my old NAV system - it's more a function of the cartography than the actual system. It's been pretty much dead on accurate, even in downtown Los Angeles between high rise office buildings.

Firmware updates are brain dead simple. Download the binary files from Garmin, copy them to an SD card, slide the SD card into the Nuvi and boot it up to start the upgrade. From what I understand, Garmin has been putting out firmware updates almost monthly, mostly for new points of interest and also language upgrades.

I don't know the number of points of interests contained in the firmware, but it appears to be substantial. The points of interest are categorized (food, lodging, fuel, attractions, shopping, parking, entertainment, recreation, hospitals, transit, auto services, etc.), but some POI are miscategorized. For some reason, 7-Eleven's are classified as fuel locations, even though most if them that are located in greater L.A. are non-fueling locations.

There are a few other features, including an audible book player and an MP3 player accessible through the SD card port. The Nuvi is equipped with a headphone jack, so it could replace an iPod in a pinch, but lacks the feature set of the iPod's iTunes software.

The fact that I can slide it into its case and stick it in my pocket or briefcase is its best feature. From a personal standpoint, I don't have a constant need for a NAV system in my personal vehicle except when on traveling on vacation. However, I travel often for business and I'm often driving in unfamiliar towns in rental cars. I no longer have to waste my time printing mapquest maps or calling for instructions or while on the road. It's probably very useful for keeping cab drivers honest.

It's not very practical as a walking/hiking GPS because it doesn't measure latitude or longitude and lacks a cookie crumbs feature, but it might suffice in some type of walking tour on city streets.

The only thing I miss from an OEM nav system is the voice instructions over the car speakers. If the car stereo is on too loud, it drown's out Nuvi's voice instructions, if the Nuvi's volume is set too low.

Because the suction cup mount is illegal in California (and MN), I've been looking for a good mounting solution. I'm leaning towards a ProClip base mount ($29) which requires no drilling and the ProClip Nuvi attachment (also $29) which attaches to the ProClip base (Tom G at EAS can get the goodies). However, I'm still researching mounts to see what is available and also trying to figure out if I can make rig the Garmin OEM mount to be used as a permanent mount.

Side note: Wife and I went to dinner with friends; personal electronics was a dinner time discussion. Everyone pulled out their gadgets and laid them out on the table. There was a Nuvi, a Treo 650, a Samsung A900, 2 Motorola Razr's, a Blackberry, and 2 iPods between 4 people. We estimated the total present value to be $3000, but probably $200 in 5 years from now. Obviously, the price of living in a wired world.

Very nicely done.

Cool! Great review too! I'm glad we both like it. I'm also glad to hear that it's a reliable system for LA. I know my way around LA pretty well but it's reassuring to have it as a backup. I also really like the small size of it. It's really no bigger than some people's wallets.

I wouldn't worry too much about the illegality of the suction cup mount. The likelihood of being pulled over for that is very, very slim and if you are pulled over for it, be polite and plead ignorance. Look at how many people use them for GPS and even radar detectors in LA. No problem!

Funny you should mention the gadget collections. Every time I travel I feel like a walking CES show, and all the damn wall warts and cords! Laptop, iPod, iPaq, cellphone, GPS, digicam, and so on and so on....

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Thanks for the tip on the windshield mount. It gives me more time to find a permanent solution.

My wife and I have a recharging table with 2-10 outlet surge protectors just to recharge all of our electronics and portable tools. All of aforementioned items, plus cordless drill, screwdrivers, dremel tool, etc. It's so bad, I don't know which AC adapter goes with which appliance anymore.

Damn, that's me too. I took to writing in silver Sharpie on the back of each adapter so I know which device the adapter belongs to.

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