Navigator V - Review

So when do us mere mortals get to buy the the not-so-abserdly expensive Garmin version of this?!

I take it that it's not intended to be exclusive to BMW indefinately - Garmin couldn't justify the research and manufacturing costs just for a one-make model - or could they?!:nenau
 
Will any micro SD card do the job to add music and additional maps?

I'm hoping to add 2000-3000 songs and North America and Canada. I see there are such things as 64GB cards available these days, is that about the size I'll be needing? Too much memory/too little memory?
 
On the Nav IV, garmin Support recommended a maximum card size of 8GB, although most peeps seem to use a 16GB card with no problems.

You can also get cards with higher data transfer speeds, but I do not know if they make any difference or if, indeed, the Garmin devices support the higher speed cards
 
BMW says 64GB micro-SD is supported. Garmin says 32GB is supported. I've read reports of folks successfully using 64GB.

Cheers,
Dan
 
So, on an LC is it better with the standard LC mount (no buttons, only the wheel thingy) or are you better off swapping the mounts and using the "4 button mount" mentioned in the BMW blurb?
 
So, on an LC is it better with the standard LC mount (no buttons, only the wheel thingy) or are you better off swapping the mounts and using the "4 button mount" mentioned in the BMW blurb?

Der LC Multicontroller ist die bessere Wahl zur Verwendung an der LC!
 
I would agree with catch, having the multi-controller right by your left thumb while still having your hand on the bar is a much better control point than having to reach to the unit - even if it does have buttons.
 
I find that I quite often nudge the wheel when I'm using the clutch, inadvertantly changing the page on the GPS unit.... :nenau
 
I discovered some flexibility in searching when navigating a route.

Condition: You are currently navigating a route, and decide to search along it.

1. Click Where to

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Then click on the Searching near box in the upper right corner of the screen.

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The Search near default is to search near your current location, however, clicking on this brings you to another screen that lets you select where to search. As you can see, it allows you to choose searching near:

My Active Route
My Destination
Where I Am Now
A Different City
Recent Destination
Saved Place

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(I included two images because the last choice could not be seen without scrolling down. )


I called up a route that started far away from my current location and ended even farther away, told the unit to Go (navigate it) and then searched for a steakhouse near my active route. It found one. I did not take the next step of telling it to go there, etc., but at least it seems like searching along the route is possible. It seems like there is a lot more flexibility to the searching than I had thought.
 
The Nav IV / 660 does something pretty similar, though I can't remember if it had so many options on places to search 'near to'.

The small problem sometimes encountered when searching near a route (or near your current position) is that it displays the distance away as the crow flies, in a straight line.

For example, if you are trundling along following a route up a motorway and suddenly have the pressing need to go to the cinema or play golf, there may well be a golf course or cinema in the town off to your left, across the fields, two miles away. Excellent, you think, let's go there...... 20 miles later you get to the next exit....... it then routes you back down the other carriageway of the motorway, past where you first felt the all consuming urge to watch Bruce Willis or swing your putter, on for another ten miles...... off at the next junction........and then 15 miles across country on the diagonal. By this time you gave missed half the main picture and / or only have time to play nine holes.

To avoid this happening, ask the device to display the cinema / golf course on the screen in relation to your route / current position then make an informed decision as to whether you really need to see 'Die Hard 17' or lose six balls in the water hazard of the tricky par three 14th that much. Alternatively, ask the device to calculate the route to the cinema or golf course and then look at the distance to destination / time to arrival / estimated arrival time; you may learn that it's a lot, lot further than two miles.

Seriously, I have known bods get caught out searching for fuel, making the mistake, with the added bonus of then discovering that the petrol station has long since closed and is now a cinema or the club house of a golf club.


PS Niceley displayed post, Mermoto. Thanks for taking the time to do the screen prints, add the arrows and give a clear explanation etc. Very helpful and a useful heads-up to bods who are new to the device or using GPS for the first time.
 
As above, that is a real pain. You are going along on a route that you created and are currently on a long French motorway. You see that you only have 40 miles of fuel left. So you look on the 660 to see the nearest fuel stop and notice it is only two miles away. Great you think.....only the 660 sees it as the crow flies and to actually ride there (assuming you're not going to leave the motorway off the hard shoulder and across Pierre's freshly ploughed field) is actually 41 miles away! :-( Why can't it simply have fuel station distances ON ROUTE. It seems pretty bleeding obvious to me.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
But doesn't the unit also display the petrol stations as a symbol on the screen too. So that you can see that it is not conveniently located for a motrway excit. But you can then choose a petrol station by tapping on it etc etc...
 
But doesn't the unit also display the petrol stations as a symbol on the screen too. So that you can see that it is not conveniently located for a motrway excit. But you can then choose a petrol station by tapping on it etc etc...

Yup, providing you have the fuel stations ticked as 'To be displayed'.

Failing that....

To avoid this happening, ask the device to display the cinema / golf course on the screen in relation to your route / current position then make an informed decision as to whether you really need to see 'Die Hard 17' or lose six balls in the water hazard of the tricky par three 14th that much. Alternatively, ask the device to calculate the route to the cinema or golf course and then look at the distance to destination / time to arrival / estimated arrival time; you may learn that it's a lot, lot further than two miles.



One more hot tip on the 'Hunting for fuel' issue. The list of fuel stations displayed is only as good as its database. So, if the nice fellows at Texaco or Esso decide not to tell the good folk at Garmin ( or whoever makes the maps / stores the data) that their petrol station is now a Bingo hall, then Garmin will not know. Some possible help is at hand though....

Many supermarkets now sell fuel. It is much less likely that a supermarket is now converted into a bowling alley or block of flats, so try to head for them. Many are now 24 hours and / or have automated machines, so the chances of you finding the fuel you so desperately seek are improved. Does it work every time? No. Sometimes you are are unlucky.... as they say in Anchorman, "60% of the time! it works all the time".
 
The thread is about the Nav V, where there is an option to chose what to display. I turn it off to avoid cluttering the map, particularly in large towns and cities.

Hey-ho.... Let's go.... Strictly from memory.... On the Nav IV it's not possible to do it, or if it is I have forgotten how, so let's work around....

Where to and / or Where am I (shows nearest hospitals, fuel stations and cop shops)

Fuel

Show on map

As I often run down chunks the same roads on Wanders I have saved several (lots) of fuel stations into my Favourites, which will then display. I enter them manually, with a simple 24/24 if they are card enabled, open twenty four hours.

If I'm going with a large group I may sometimes work out that we will all need fuel around about town XYZ, so before I go I will have a look on the internet to see if there are any likely fuel stations there or there abouts and mark them up, again in Favourites. It takes time and is not foolproof but never mind.
 


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