[David325Australia]

So many wonderful things I am discovering about the E90. Like for instance your estimated arrival time on iDrive navigation screen that sits top and centre.

I could not find this feature in the book in the navigation section other than in the on-board computer menu after you input the various parameters.

Much nicer and more appropriate in the navigation section anyway.

Loving every minute driving my E90.

[en3rgie]

I still havent figured out a way to searcch for points of interest by name.

I would assume that to be a must for any navigation but i guess they decided to leave it out.

[David325Australia]

I must try that feature out myself - if it in fact does exist. Will let you know how I fair when I remember to test it out.

[Squawks]

You can't search places of interest by name? That sucks horribly, then.

I fell in love with navigation in the first place from my g/f's brother's Acura TL - you can find the closest StarBucks, McD's, etc. etc. while you're in the middle of the boonies.

[scottz5]

Acura's navi are #1 and Lexus #2.

Estimated arrival time on my wifes Lexus is great since you tell the car how fast you drive above the speed limit on different types of roads. It then adjusts the time from that based on the roads you travel. It is sick and works great! I love her Navi so mush I could not spend the 2g's on something less. BWM should look to Alpine and use there stuff same which is on the Acura which is even better then Lexus.

[Imperial]

I tried to search by name the first day I had my E90 and was a little disappointed by not being able to do so. If you turn the "points of interest" thing on in nav, it puts these little blue flags up, but I think they're for gas stations or something. I dunno, I've left my nav off recently since I haven't really gone anywhere unexplored...


But I don't really care cuz I like the nav system a lot anyway. I look forward to checking out the ETA thing

[itznin]

Originally Posted by scottz5

Acura's navi are #1 and Lexus #2.

Estimated arrival time on my wifes Lexus is great since you tell the car how fast you drive above the speed limit on different types of roads. It then adjusts the time from that based on the roads you travel. It is sick and works great! I love her Navi so mush I could not spend the 2g's on something less. BWM should look to Alpine and use there stuff same which is on the Acura which is even better then Lexus.

The BMW calculates it based on how you are driving in the current conditions.

This seems to be a bit more accurate. For example if your route is all NJ Turnpike and you calculate yourself at say 70mph for that type of highway, and you suddenly hit "congestion" it would be automatically calculated in the E90.

My old Acura did this as well saying "time left", but not actual time of arrival (for example 9:30pm).

The text search, I agree is a problem, but if you put in the area you are in and then do say "fast food" under categories you'll eventually come across the infamous "White Castle" or whatever you are looking for.

[scottz5]

Originally Posted by itznin

The BMW calculates it based on how you are driving in the current conditions.

This seems to be a bit more accurate. For example if your route is all NJ Turnpike and you calculate yourself at say 70mph for that type of highway, and you suddenly hit "congestion" it would be automatically calculated in the E90.

My old Acura did this as well saying "time left", but not actual time of arrival (for example 9:30pm).

The text search, I agree is a problem, but if you put in the area you are in and then do say "fast food" under categories you'll eventually come across the infamous "White Castle" or whatever you are looking for.

yea the lexus does that also.

[Squawks]

The Acura navigation system had fancy picture logos for many amenities/hotspots (i.e. it would actually show gas station logos, Starbucks, etc. on the map). Does the BMW navigation also does this? I'm picky about filling on gas (Chevron all the way) and this little thing usually helps.

I was dwelling about the navigation, and was wondering if it's possible to use another 3rd party navigation disc, thus changing/adding more features (i.e. voice recognition of specific amenities and even text searches of specific places)? Or can only specific navigation DVDs be used with the navigation system?

[silverado]

You can only use the CD/DVD made specifically for your navigation system (it's a DVD in the case of the E90). The software is already in the car; there is only data on the DVD. So even if it accepted other discs, it won't be able to support features it is not designed to support.

[Ewrek]

Select "Information" on the 2nd menu down on the navigation menu, then "On Location" or "On Destination". You can search motels and dining stuff etc.

[iDrive-E90]

To me, "time of arrival" means more than "time left". Yes, I can do the math, but I'd prefer not. I also like the fact that the BMW system covers Canada as well as the US on the one DVD disk. The Acura only covers 48 contiguous United States. That's important to me also.

[ncoig]

Originally Posted by silverado

The software is already in the car; there is only data on the DVD.

NavTech adds features via disc upgrades, which leads me to believe otherwise...

-N

[JamieA]

I have used the navigation system extensively while highway driving and have noticed that it seems to be an hour or so out when travelling long distances (4-500km) this gradually reigns in as you get closer.

I would love to know if there are some map heuristic information stored on the dvd re average speeds etc achieved under normal conditions... or perhaps the navigation system uses an assumed delay factor per km driven... have been very curious on this point.

I find the places of interest by location or by destination to be very easy to use, and have never wanted to find one by name only. One thing that is inconsistent though is that when you are entering a destination it prompts you for City/Postcode, though there seems to be no way to enter a postcode, as there isn't an option to enter digits... anyone know how to do this, or is this a bug/ Australian pecurliarity?

[ItalyBMW325]

Originally Posted by Imperial

I tried to search by name the first day I had my E90 and was a little disappointed by not being able to do so. If you turn the "points of interest" thing on in nav, it puts these little blue flags up, but I think they're for gas stations or something. I dunno, I've left my nav off recently since I haven't really gone anywhere unexplored...


But I don't really care cuz I like the nav system a lot anyway. I look forward to checking out the ETA thing

How do you "turn on" points of interest?

[Jongi]

Originally Posted by JamieA

I have used the navigation system extensively while highway driving and have noticed that it seems to be an hour or so out when travelling long distances (4-500km) this gradually reigns in as you get closer.

I would love to know if there are some map heuristic information stored on the dvd re average speeds etc achieved under normal conditions... or perhaps the navigation system uses an assumed delay factor per km driven... have been very curious on this point.

I find the places of interest by location or by destination to be very easy to use, and have never wanted to find one by name only. One thing that is inconsistent though is that when you are entering a destination it prompts you for City/Postcode, though there seems to be no way to enter a postcode, as there isn't an option to enter digits... anyone know how to do this, or is this a bug/ Australian pecurliarity?

I'm pretty sure I've entered a destination by postal code on mine.

Although my 90kph problem still persists

[sunchild]

no, i had an acura TL with navigation, i have used it extensively like a freak. the bmw nav is much better.

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by ItalyBMW325

How do you "turn on" points of interest?

I think they have to be encoded onto the DVD you use. I am sure BMW use a different map provider country to country. If they are on the DVD you will see them in the menu.

They come under "Information", which is one of the "New Destination" options, along with "Address Input", "Address Book" etc.

Once you select "Information", a menu comes up and you select either "On Location" (where you are) or "On Destination" (where you are going) and then you see a sub-menu asking for the type - petrol station, resturant etc and then once you select that you see the list, with arrows pointing to where they are, names and distance from current location. You can click on any of these and select "Guidance" which will take you there with navi, or "Details" which will show a screen with the address and phone number, or "Call" which will use your phone to call the number in the details section.

So check it out, if "Information" isn't on your address input options, this service may not be on your map DVD, I would ring your dealer and ask about it in that case.

As you are in Italy, are your maps of the whole of Eurpoe? They may not have been able to fit all that info onto a single DVD...

[JamieA]

Originally Posted by Jongi

I'm pretty sure I've entered a destination by postal code on mine.

Although my 90kph problem still persists

Hmmmm, must be a map feature, perhaps the Australian map DVD does not feature postcodes.

[Robin Hood]

Originally Posted by JamieA

As you are in Italy, are your maps of the whole of Eurpoe? They may not have been able to fit all that info onto a single DVD...

On my former BMWs with satnav(M3 E46 and inbetweengokart.com 120D with I drive) I had the map of whole Europe Jamie. Worked great. The I drive didn't imho....

[MrIvory]

David and Jamie
The Prof Nav in Australia to my knowledge does not allow you to enter the postcode. This is not too annoying to me but I agree it is really annoying that you cannot enter a street name before you choose a suburb. Sometimes you do not know the exact suburb when a street passes through.

You can select an aread by dragging the cursor over a map and zooming in and out to select a location - but this is tiresome. I gather this would not be available on the Bus Nav as I didnt think it had maps?

Interests in Australia seem to be limited - it definitely doesnt have startbucks or other such points of interest - probably a future upgrade.

To my knowledge, you are correct the nav calculates the time remaining based on you average speed and the distance remaining. It does not have knowledge of the speed limits - but you find as you get on a highway the time comes down - as you get closer it is more accurate.

Overall - Nav is great and the position is excellent to save on looking down like in an A4 or Merc, but there is room for improvement with the software.

Ivory

[ncoig]

Originally Posted by en3rgie

I still havent figured out a way to searcch for points of interest by name.

I would assume that to be a must for any navigation but i guess they decided to leave it out.

Added to latest version of iDrive that was uploaded to my 330i.

-N