[leosong11]

I got my car w/o iDrive/navigation but still want navigation. Anyone install or get a separate navigation system yet? Which do you recommed? I guess another option is to get a pocket pc with GPS kit..

[Swoosh]

How much is a Pocket PC with Nav system? I'd assume if you went that route you'd want to have it mounted somewhere in your car, right?

I'm kind of contemplating getting an LCD in there and putting a Playstation 2 or something in my car, but I might just go for a nav/LCD screen system that can do both.

[BMRu4ia]

Try to check out the demo at Garmin. the streetpilot 320. very easy to use. The TomTOm Go 300 is very similar but is the better of the two. Small, bright screen, touch screen, simple, i was able to figure out how to use it in 3 min. $599 at costco for both units.

[Kimo]

Originally Posted by BMRu4ia

Try to check out the demo at Garmin. the streetpilot 320. very easy to use. The TomTOm Go 300 is very similar but is the better of the two. Small, bright screen, touch screen, simple, i was able to figure out how to use it in 3 min. $599 at costco for both units.

I'll second the rec for the Garmin -- I have the Streetpilot c330 in my e46. In fact, I liked it so much that I hardwired it and have it mounted semi-permanently just above my ashtray and below the climate control. Comes on and off with ACC. Sorry, but no pictures yet.

While my wife's e90 will have the stock NAV option, my little Garmin is pretty neat -- and it's touchscreen. The C330 comes pre-leaded with maps, etc. The C320 does not (thus, it is cheaper). The TomTom is similar, but my diligence led me to the Garmin over the TomTom.
http://www.garmin.com/products/sp330/
http://gpsnow.com/gmspc330.htm
Mike

[chuckie789]

I'll third the Garmin. Although I have the StreetPilot 2620. What a fantastic little beast. Does everything you could ask for and more. The remote control is quite convenient, surprisingly. They are all on sale these days. Worth every penny. You won't regret it!!!

[andrewlin]

Thanks for the info guys. I've been interested in a GPS unit as well and have been debating b/w the TomTom and Garmin. The other option is just to get the TomTom software for my Treo (with the bluetooth GPS unit). That way I don't have to worry about another device..... But, I wonder if having a dedicated unit is better... Any thoughts?

[yetdog]

Originally Posted by Kimo

I'll second the rec for the Garmin -- I have the Streetpilot c330 in my e46. In fact, I liked it so much that I hardwired it and have it mounted semi-permanently just above my ashtray and below the climate control. Comes on and off with ACC. Sorry, but no pictures yet.

While my wife's e90 will have the stock NAV option, my little Garmin is pretty neat -- and it's touchscreen. The C330 comes pre-leaded with maps, etc. The C320 does not (thus, it is cheaper). The TomTom is similar, but my diligence led me to the Garmin over the TomTom.
http://www.garmin.com/products/sp330/
http://gpsnow.com/gmspc330.htm
Mike

I'd love to see any pictures of how you have this mounted if possible!

[hwkdrvr]

Aftermarket Navi Install Link

Scroll down to the Navi Install pic.

M.

[dpinto1]

I have Magellan Roadmate 700 and it works great. Before that i had the Garmin3 and it was not as good. Gave wrong directions especially within large cities.

[Kimo]

Originally Posted by yetdog

I'd love to see any pictures of how you have this mounted if possible!

Here ya go:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1431

[deburn]

Hi Kimo,

I just bought the Garmin c320. You've done a really great job with the e46. Any installation suggestions on the e90 would be appreciated. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Kimo

Here ya go:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1431

[freeman]

get a Garmin 296/396 ,especially if you own a samll aircraft,so you can use it in both of your car(with Automotive kit) and aircraft. save you time and money.
best of all,you get a very easy to use GPS unit all the time,so you won't get lost again.
http://www.garmin.com/aviation/products.html#portable

[Kimo]

Originally Posted by deburn

Hi Kimo,

I just bought the Garmin c320. You've done a really great job with the e46. Any installation suggestions on the e90 would be appreciated. Thanks!

Since my wife's e90 (a) has not yet arrived and (b) will have iDrive/Navigation, I can't really help you with the e90 install. However, since those pictures were taken on my e46, I've slightly reworked the install so that the unit sits further back into the console, and that piece of mounting adhesive that is clearly visible on top of the Garmin unit in all of the pictures is now gone (it drove me nuts). Very tacky (excuse the pun).
Since the unit is now semi-permanently installed, we use it all the time . . . and it still works flawlessly. I'd highly recommend it if you aren't going with the stock navigation unit. I'm sure a clean install is possible, and even if you have to mount it on the windshield only when you need it, it's still OK. I did that for about a month, but was careful to remove it when parked. Really no big deal at all.
Mike

[c1pinang]

How is the Garmin SP 330 compared with Magellan RoadMate 760?

http://google2-cnet.com.com/Magellan...-31468556.html

Which one is better?

[justchecking]

Originally Posted by leosong11

I got my car w/o iDrive/navigation but still want navigation. Anyone install or get a separate navigation system yet? Which do you recommed? I guess another option is to get a pocket pc with GPS kit..

I used a garmin c320 recently and it is really good. I plan to use the car 90% around town and did not like vagaries of idrive. Garmin c320 turned out really useful in my ED trip too.

-jc

[justchecking]

Originally Posted by leosong11

I got my car w/o iDrive/navigation but still want navigation. Anyone install or get a separate navigation system yet? Which do you recommed? I guess another option is to get a pocket pc with GPS kit..

I used a garmin c320 recently and it is really good. I plan to use the car 90% around town and did not like vagaries of idrive. Garmin c320 turned out really useful in my ED trip too. C320 itself is only around $400 these days, but europe maps cityselect v7 set me back $300.
So total $700.

-jc

[danatk]

I have a tom-tom go 700 - it's fantastic. It has a built-in hard disk with all maps of western europe and loads of space for your own POIs.

The screen is great, although small compared to an i-drive, but is touch-screen making it easy to enter street names etc with the on-screen keyboard.

The maps and voice prompts are great, the routing seems to work really well and there are plenty of options for advanced route planning etc. You can load in a database of speed cameras and have it warn when you're near them, plus it also connects to the tomtom traffic service via a GPRS/bluetooth phone and puts live traffic info on your routes and can route you round jams - this has been fantastic and saved me lots of time already.

You can also use it as a handsfree kit for a bluetooth phone and the sound quality is pretty good, but if you get one make sure your phone is on the compatibility list because it won't work with all phones.

A friend has a garmin and I have to say that I found the voice prompts quite annoying - not sure which model it was but the lady sounded very robotic and seemed to talk much more than she needed to. The voices on the tomtom are very well done.

Dan.

[tima]

Does the shark fin include a GPS antenna? Could a Garmin 330 be wired to it?
.

[Kimo]

Originally Posted by danatk

A friend has a garmin and I have to say that I found the voice prompts quite annoying - not sure which model it was but the lady sounded very robotic and seemed to talk much more than she needed to. The voices on the tomtom are very well done.

Hey Dan:
I can't say that I disagree with you on the voice intrusions -- but having never heard the Tom-Tom I can't compare the two. I DO know that the Garmin is one fantastic little unit -- especially for the price. In fact, having now had the opportunity to play with my wife's e90 iDrive Nav, I can compare it to the Garmin I have semi-permanently installed in my e46. All in all, I like the Garmin better! There, I said it.
While the integration of the e90 Nav is very cool, the unit is nowhere near as user friendly as the touchscreen Garmin. You can't pull phone numbers, you can't search by business name, and the "Information" function is not worth the time to dig into the menu. On the Garmin, all of this is just a few touchscreens away. It is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Sadly, the e90 unit is not.
I have found that with any unit, the incursion of the nav lady's voice is an intrusion, especially when a particularly good song is on. However, during those times when you're in an unfamiliar area and a little late for an engagement, her voice guidance becomes welcome -- and I actually find myself hoping to hear from her.
That said, my wife becomes especially irritated by the Garmin lady's "You have reached your Desti-NAY-shun" command.
Oh well. Bottom line, if I didn't have Nav in an e90, the Garmin would be a no brainer. I suspect an install similar to the one I did in my e46 (and pictured somewhere in this thread) would be possible, and look pretty good.
Mike

[danatk]

hey kimo - i bought my tomtom before my e90 (which should be delivered in 3 weeks time ) so when selecting options i had a good look at the idrive and nav to decide whether to sell my tomtom and go for the OEM nav.

Advantages of OEM nav that I could see:

- huge screen

- integrated with car speaker system

- built into the dash

- perspective view is excellent and gives a great overview of surrounding area

Disadvanatages

- Idrive controller felt heavy and clunky, and was a pain for entering text. the touch-screen on the tomtom is much much easier.

- can't customise it in any way. I have loaded all kinds of useful POIs into my tomtom (my favourite is Gourmet Pubs of the UK...!)

- £2000 option, which is a lot of money. My tomtom cost £600 and has better software.

As for tomtom vs garmin - i have seen both in action, although I have no idea what model the garmin was. I have to say I preferred my tomtom, but then I'm probably biased. As I said, the voices on Tomtom are excellent - there are English, American & Australian accents (male and female) for the English language, and several other voices in other languages. All are very clear, polite and unobtrusive. You can also download novelty voices, e.g. John Cleese, Yoda, Darth Vader etc. I have also customised the warning sounds to provide voice alerts for speed cameras, e.g. 'warning - speed camera, 70mph ahead' etc...works like a charm.

[markh]

I've gone for the Tom Tom 700
It has a touch screen and is easy to navigate.
You can personalise the voice - I've changed to John Cleese.
Has hard disk storing all of Europe on it.
I use a Bluetooth mobile, which enables handsfree, and reception of SMS. Your text messages flash on the screen and you can send SMS messages with it too.
I've downloaded speed camera data (available free of charge), which gives me a warning as I approach them.
I've subscribed to traffic data (using GPRS), which works very well.
you can access weather information (e.g. for your destination).
The OEM sat nav has a nice big (and brighter) screen and is integrated. However, the TomTom is much easier to use, you can take it out of the car to set up routes etc, and has better functionality.
Being black with silver trim, it matches perfectly with my black leather/titanium trim.

[c1pinang]

FYI

Portable GPS review
http://www.the-gps-review.com/?source=google