wmbiii

I have to disagree "a little"; yes if I was to sell the car in the next 2 years, having NAV would help me sell it. But 3,4 or 5 years from now, when all cars on road will have this option (GPS technology becoming more available and inexpensive), it will be very old technology I think you would agree? When I see the Lexus with touch screen, it makes me think BMW NAV is almost already outdated.

I believe, and I am sure I will be corrected here if I am wrong, that the next generation on-board computer will be much more sophisticated, be touch screen enabled, and include options that we do not even think about today. The early NAV systems in the pre e60 models are obsolete today. Take a look on ebay at what they look like on a 4 year old 540 or 530. In my humble opinion, after trying to sell my 2002 530 for about 5 weeks, having NAV was a non factor. In fact some of the folks that drove my car prefered not having the NAV screen on their dash as it was so outdated and not useful.

I guess that was my original point. I am not trying to offend as I honestly believe that technology is turning out so quickly now, there are so many toys that one can get, that within years, some of them will be obsolete on a $70,000 car. I opt'd to not get NAV because I really do think it will be outdated and more of a hindrance with 3-5 years when I decide to sell my car privately.

Bokke

Could not agree more....it's not getting to place's, it is when you are in unfamiliar places and want to find the short cuts back to the places you know...

Since 2001 NAV has been a must....plus with HUD how can you not like it

Plus, one could spend the rest of their life waiting for the next best version or any product


Cheers,

swajames

Not sure I agree. The only relevant comparison here is with other E60s of equivalent age at the time of sale, and, particularly on a high end E60, I think a car with no factory navigation will suffer - more of an issue if you were to sell privately, a dealer won't care, but you will get less. KBB already shows my car to be "worth" $1000 more running a test with my spec but with and without navigation. Whether or not the technology is obsolete (and BMW it seems don't consider touch screen to be an advantage, the tecnology was available when the e60 was designed and likely would have been comparable in price) - BMW simply think or thought that iDrive type interfaces (and the related haptics/force feedback) was where they wanted to go.

swajames

Not sure I agree. The only relevant comparison here is with other E60s of equivalent age at the time of sale, and, particularly on a high end E60, I think a car with no factory navigation will suffer - more of an issue if you were to sell privately, a dealer won't care, but you will get less. KBB already shows my car to be "worth" $1000 more running a test with my spec but with and without navigation. Whether or not the technology is obsolete (and BMW it seems don't consider touch screen to be an advantage, the tecnology was available when the e60 was designed and likely would have been comparable in price) - BMW simply think or thought that iDrive type interfaces (and the related haptics/force feedback) was where they wanted to go.

cwoarmy

This is my first car with nav and I am very happy I got it. I believe that it will be a major consideration in any other vehicle I purchase. I used a Garmin once on a trip to Scotland and yes its handy to move from car to car but found it cumbersome trying to get it set, keep the screen from jostling around, keep the GPS centered for reception, etc. There are updates to nav and agree in the future everything today will be improved upon and improved upon. Just look at the improvements from MY 04 to MY 07!!!!! I'm still stuck in the non-bluetooth technology. I think it was a very worth while investment.

fantomas

At first, I didn't saw the interest of an embedded nav. Why paying a new navigation system every 3 years each time you change your car ? I tought that an independant device like a Tomtom was the good solution.

The Nav was included in a package so I get it with my car. And after one year, my point of view has completely changed. The embedded nav is far more precise and easy to use (even with i-drive) than an external device.

My HP PDA is equipped with a GPS module and I already tried it simultaneously with the BMW nav during a trip. I wish you good luck to find you way in a city with the PDA !

Veight

Im glad I ordered Nav for the resale of the car. However I havent received my car yet. Some dock worker somewhere is driving my car in and out of ships. In fact there is probably 4 dock workers having lunch in my car and smoking cigarettes in it. Id gladly give up my nav if I could have the car today.

katheikia

I have an 06 550 with the nav. and hud. IMO the hud should be part of the nav standard. There is no better place to arrow display the directions than on your windshield period.

SolarFactory

I use my constantly. I am always going someplace new everyday.

Gadgets

I was only joking... sorry for that.. I have always been the 'clown of the class'...

I really use the NAV alot and just like you said: 'I didn't want to clutter my dash with 3rd party device'...