[hoopvillian]

I love tech BUT I plan on keeping my car for a long time, even after I upgrade, that I went no navigation. 20-30 years from now it will be unsightly in my opinion.

I understand I'm a special case and most people will own for 4-6 years then upgrade but I think no navi is timeless when it comes to looks and style.

[jcarv20s]

Def Navi, dash looks plain and from 1999 without it.

[RonPaul4Prez]

People that get navi are probably auto drivers too. I prefer manual transmissions and nnothing cluttering my dash or center console.

[e92oholic]

Originally Posted by RonPaul4Prez

People that get navi are probably auto drivers too. I prefer manual transmissions and nnothing cluttering my dash or center console.

Nope, 6MT. I prefer to be able to see my radio screen without taking my sunglasses off thank you very much

[VMRWheels]

In the past, do you find yourself using in-car navi at all? If so, definitely get it. However, I recommend those who use their phone more often to not buy navi. Some people just like using their phone more :shrug:

[RonPaul4Prez]

Originally Posted by e60oholic

Nope, 6MT. I prefer to be able to see my radio screen without taking my sunglasses off thank you very much

The polarized glasses thing is the only downer for me. I still think the auto trans and navi correlation is reasonable to assume. Not hatin'.

[reddevil12]

The nav is nice and does come in handy when it comes to car settings but I honestly think I could live without it. My idrive has failed on me twice in the past year. Glad I had factory warranty because its over $1k to repair. Also, the navs on my phone are much better and I actually prefer to scroll through my music with my iphone. Damn idrive knob is too slow imo.

[chaz_master]

Originally Posted by kkakonn

Ive owned both a 3 with and without navi and I personally enjoy having the screen. Not so much the navigation feature but the media is better. I have thousands of songs on my ipod and when i hooked it up to my non idrive car it literally takes forever to scroll all the way up and down to find the right artist. Having the idrive screen makes everything so much easier. Plus I actually like the way it looks.

This.

I don't like the actual navigation system on mine (2007), but I think it's worth having for things like media. Plus I like the hump, and others seem to like it too when they see it.

[marcus321]

Originally Posted by chaz_master

This.

I don't like the actual navigation system on mine (2007), but I think it's worth having for things like media. Plus I like the hump, and others seem to like it too when they see it.

I like the navigation. To me it looks more luxury to have a screen and people always comment on how big the screen is.

[N8N]

Originally Posted by drevil2k2

Yes, because I like tech and eye candy.

Retrofitted an OEM navi in my old A4 (got to love eBay sellers from Eastern Europe).

Ordered it for my old C300 - despite the sales person saying, "Why don't you use those suction cup ones and save a few grand?" My answer, "Don't like things cluttering my windshield and I like all the extra features that come with the navi option".

Ordered it with my current E90. Funny thing though, the head unit had to be replaced because I got the red startup screen and the DVD drive not reading my DVDs. Not sure how common this is, but mind you my E90 was in an accident.

Honestly, I agree with the Merc salesman.

I really, really like the iDrive in my 335i - even though when it came out I thought it was crap and out of place in a BMW now that I've actually used it for a few weeks I really, really like it, even though it is proof positive that BMW has strayed very far from its sports sedan roots. My car I don't consider a "sports sedan" (well, coupe) but rather a small "personal luxury car" with a sporting flavor. And I'm OK with that, because honestly, that's really more what I need, otherwise I would have been looking at a Lotus or something for my latest vehicle.

But to my original point, as useful and nice as the iDrive as a whole is and how much I like how everything is integrated, my 5 year old Garmin kicks the BMW nav's butt, is much more user-friendly, and not only that, for a one time cost of $130 or so I get lifetime map updates (I think the new Garmins actually include same for free.) My suggestions for BMW, not that they'll listen:

1) touchscreen!

2) Use Garmin, Magellan, or TomTom so that we can use our own custom POI files e.g. traffic camera databases.

3) speed limit display

The main reasons to get the nav have in my mind nothing to do with the nav itself, it's 1) aesthetics and 2) everything else that comes along with the package.

I'd really be just as happy if my car didn't have nav, although I probably would investigate getting something nicer looking than a suction cup bracket to mount a newer Garmin - or maybe I'd just use my smart phone and run Trapster. (now if we could integrate Trapster with the nav, that would be incredible, but I don't know how you'd do that without going back to the bad old days of having a "car phone")

[etichi]

Originally Posted by e60oholic

NOOOO get nav! try seeing your radio screen with polarized sunglasses on! Its also a lot nicer because you can change more settings easier, ipod control is much better, you can set automatic ventilation etc etc etc. The hump isn't ugly, people just need a reason to justify their car and not feel shitty about not having nav.

eh, yeah. Maybe that's how you look at the world.

I'm a neat freak and like the look with out it. For those that say it looks boring that's just kind of weird. Its a dashboard.

[techy1]

i have nav... but i only paid $120 for it =)

[BLKBRY]

Love the nav...wouldn't have purchased without it.

[rondocap]

Honestly now that I got used to the iDrive, I really like it - and I think it is better than most of the other brands navigation systems - stuff like touch screens and things aren't as efficient as the controller, it's so ergonomic.

I have the 2008 iDrive, but have used the 2009+ one as well - it gets even better and faster. The 2008 is not slouch, though - it does what you need it to after you've learned it.

[Eric in SD]

Originally Posted by Rollo`

As I type this I am shopping for a 2009+ 328i.

A few good candidates I have recently found have navigation. I don't really want it but my question is should I avoid buying a car with nav?

I've seen a few threads complaining about it, does the nav system break often?

thanks....

Rollo,

I know you got your answer and have moved on. But I am bored on a Friday night so I did a quick bit of research. Nationwide on Autotrader there are currently 8,276 328i's for sale. If you select for Nav, the number drops to 1,395. If you select for a manual trans the number is 300. Select both Nav and manual and you get 50.

What is the number one thing you want in the 328i? I wanted a manual. They are rare. Everything else was a compromise. If it had Nav oh well, I would have gotten it. Only you can answer what your number one is. If it comes with Nav, and you like everything else, get it anyway. But I think you already figured that out.

I need another beer....

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by Eric in SD

Rollo,

I know you got your answer and have moved on. But I am bored on a Friday night so I did a quick bit of research. Nationwide on Autotrader there are currently 8,276 328i's for sale. If you select for Nav, the number drops to 1,395. If you select for a manual trans the number is 300. Select both Nav and manual and you get 50.

Try that with an E91 (wagon). After looking for 6 months, I finally found a MT CPO '07 a couple of years ago - with ZPP, Navi, Sirius, etc.. But it was the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Tom

[Eric in SD]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Try that with an E91 (wagon). After looking for 6 months, I finally found a MT CPO '07 a couple of years ago - with ZPP, Navi, Sirius, etc.. But it was the proverbial needle in a haystack.

Tom

Oh my god yes, that is extremely rare. Good find!

[ny325]

I personally don't care for it. It turns little things like turning on the radio, and AC into a PITA. For me, one less electrical problem to worry about.

[bavarianlover]

Originally Posted by electro-house

When I had a loaner without nav, a few girls all said the interior looked very cheap compared to my e92 with nav. Some love it, some hate it. But, it is more than a navigation system. Having your ipod tracks displayed on the screen and being able to scroll through them is cool enough.

Sometimes at night the nav screen/light is annoying and I just turn it off. It was cool with the e46 nav, the screen would stay black until you hit the accept button.

is that some kind of update? So u can see the playlist from the phone on the screen? I have a e90 -06

[Harry335i]

Yes

[Dozhdbog]

I intentionally went with no nav. I have a garmin nuvi and I've done side by side comparisons with BMWs nav system and found the BMW's sorely lacking.

[ThEnder]

If the new navigation unit then I would be indifferent. If the old nav unit, I would actively avoid.

My E90 does not have navigation and I find the radio works very well with everything I use: Spotify, SIRI, Google Maps, etc. I still get turn by turn directions over the factory audio so it's all good.