Having a navigation system for Europe is essential IMO! Having said that, I'm hoping to place my order for ED this week on a 325i but still have very mixed feelings about i-drive and nav.
I was just thinking bypassing them and going for a portable solution like a garmin. I have nav in my current car and rarely use it for daily driving.
One advantage I see in a small portable unit is that you can always take it with you on foot while you explore a city and can program it to find landmarks or, more importantly, your way back to your own hotel. Since I can't speak any of the languages where i intend on going, i'd like to be able to get around without having to ask to many questions.
I looked at the garmins but they have spotty coverage in Czech republic and hungary which are 2 places i'm absolutely going to.
Any thoughts/experiences on what you guys have done for navigation?
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You are right, Nav is very important, esp. in areas where one has never been before.
The integration of the Nav into the overall car is a very important component of why the BMW Nav is generally a better solution. How many people do you see walking around with pocket nav systems anyway? And they look really stupid suction cupped to the windscreen.
You are right - you will find spotty coverage of eastern europe on most systems. You can fill in missing details with maps.
But all in all, the integrated Nav is definitely the way to go.
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Quote: One advantage I see in a small portable unit is that you can always take it with you on foot while you explore a city and can program it to find landmarks or, more importantly, your way back to your own hotel. Since I can't speak any of the languages where i intend on going, i'd like to be able to get around without having to ask to many questions.
| Two more pieces of advice: learn a few words in the language of your host country. Get a map from the concierge and ask him to give you a general orientation of the area.
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The Garmin portable might be an excellent idea. The Street Pilot is being heavily promoted right now. Is there a way you can buy one with the option to return it if you don't like it? Maybe you could try it at home before you go. It's worth a shot.
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I had the Nav and dloved it. iDrive is much more than just the Nav - the integration with bluetooth, being able to change all settings for the car... the list goes on.
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Hey - we just got back from our ED a few weeks ago - no nav and we did just fine!
I have a portable Garmin chart plotter for my sailboat (176C) which has the ability to upload maps. I think it would have cost about $200 for the entire European map set. We decided to spend the $200 on food and wine instead!!!!
I also did't get NAV because I would rarely use it at home.
I did spend some time in my cousin's E60 530d with NAV in Germany. One REALLY COOL thing about the NAV in Germany is that it links to their real-time traffic reporting system, and will direct you around a traffic jam automatically rerouting you!!!! Now if we had this feature in the US i would have gladly spent the $2000!
Maybe im old-fashioned, but we drove over 1200 miles in 1 week and had lots of fun plotting our routes on good old michelin maps. I've been doing driving trips in Europe for almost 20 years and always managed just fine without NAV.
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Navigation ideas for ED