This forum has some great information and unbelievably generous members that share their time and expertise to help fellow BMW owners. I am not a frequent visitor, am not really a Dummy, but have no coding experience and was still able to complete the Navigation Map update to USB 2020-1 at no cost other than my time.
While my update worked, it took over 6 hours to load the new maps via a single USB plugged in to the glovebox port. Hopefully I get some feedback on why it took so long.
For others starting from zero base knowledge and experience, below are the steps I needed to follow to complete the task. They are all on the forum and full credit goes to those I reference below, and I’m sure others I didn’t.
To complete the learning process on how to update the Navigation Maps on my 2009 BMW 335i E92 Coupe, I needed to search a few threads to piece all the steps together. I knew my car would support the update since I had done a Premium update in 2016 and I have the check mark and (i) displayed in the bottom left corner. The information was great but at least for me, each thread seemed to assume I had full knowledge of all steps and terms needed to understand and I did not. For example, I was not familiar with or I had forgotten over time about torrent’s and RAR. Again, not difficult but a bit like trying to translate a foreign language you don’t have experience with at times.
1) I first found a thread started by @remlemasi, Road Map North America PREMIUM (USB) 2020-1
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1654612
I was not familiar with torrent and before I was able to download the files, I needed to download a torrent downloading program. I found this requirement on page two of remlemasi’s thread. Thank you remlemasi.
2) I remember needing an FSC code when I purchased the 2016 update and found a thread started by @portalseo. Again, this was all new to me but I was able to follow the instructions and pulled the 1b file from my car with the unpacked 1b.zip file and loaded it on a formatted USB stick. My stick was a USB 3.0, 64GB but I formatted it as FAT32, 32GB. Detailed instructions in the link below. The USB stick I inserted in the glove box port pulled the required 1b.hex file as described in the link below. I didn’t confirm the 319 byte file size since I didn’t open it with a hex editor but all worked fine so I assume it was the correct size. Thank you portalseo.
a.
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1461515
3) Next, I downloaded the windows version of “bmw_cic_fsc_generator.zip”, the FSC generator I believe developed by Jaeger. Opened the FCS Generator, selected the 1b.hex file from the computer folder I stored it on after completing the steps outlined by portalseo, selected the Map Type, Region, and MAPS option, checked the Lifetime box, and hit the Generate button and got my code. Thank you Jaeger.
a.
https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1453464
4) I made a failed attempt to load the new maps via the USB port in my glove box before searching some more and finding I needed to unpack the RAR files first. I downloaded WinRAR, selected all 5 RAR files, right clicked on the five highlighted files and extracted them to folder I had created. I opened the new folder and copied the new pkgdb folder and the config.nfm file to the root of a USB stick.
5) I put the single USB stick with all the maps in the glove box USB port, received the request to update to a newer map version, selected yes, was prompted for the FCS code, entered it and installation began.
While more experienced coders my find this post simplistic and the information already exists in other threads, it might help others with little to no background complete the update without missing steps taken for granted by the regulars. Please add or correct if I left something out or gave incorrect advice.
I’m not sure the time it took me to work through the learning curve was worth the $40 I could have paid for a code, detailed instructions and a download link but it gave me a sense of accomplishment and if I had the knowledge I have now and summarized above, the time required would have been cut at least in half.
Thanks again to everyone that helped me, especially remlemasi, portalseo and Jaeger.