I am bout to purchase a 04 530i with sport package. the vehicle matches my criteria perfectly, the only one thing is that the sales man says i need to buy software from dealer to get navi working since it is navi ready. is that true? the car has small screen, not the bigger one like i saw in other navi equipped ones. and one more thing, is the 04 models any different than the 05? the car still have about 9 months or 25K miles of original warranty, what items should i have BMW dealer check after i purchase it? how can i find out what options have been installed on the car given the vin number? i am very close to closing the deal with them, please give my some suggestions before i ink the paper. thanks.

 

All Nav equipped vehicles in the US have the large screen and two CD slots, one that plays regular and MP3 (If enabled) CDs and the other one that also plays the Navigation DVD. If the car has only one slot, then it does not has Nav.
If you are able to take it to any BMW dealership, they should be able to give you all the service history. They should be able to give you a list of the options the vehicle has (Those might be codes they will give you, so you might have to cross reference the codes to their meaning). Some dealerships offer a free 40 point (Or something like that) inspection/check up. Ask at the dealership if they offer that.

 

Doesn't sound right about the small screen. If it wasn't built on or after March 2004 then you can't easily get bluetooth, the TCU is different.

 

If it has the small screen (in BMW NA markets), then it does not have satnav. The upgrade would be very expensive.

 

Don't trust the used car salesman.
NAV is running with DVD. Is there a DVD player in the car?

 

Regardless of DVD player, small screen = no nav. To have this retrofitted is _thousands_ and usually not worth doing due to the cost. Personally, I would not buy this car, as the salesman has no idea about the car - or does have an idea, and is lying to you. Either way, I would not buy a used car from that man.

 

Bear in mind that the 2004 has the older 170kw engine as opposed to some of the 2005's which have the 190kw engine.

 

i hear you but for 375 you can get a dinan SW that will solve this issue and make it the same power stance,,

 

RE: Dinan SW - Is this the Dinan SW your talking about? The website says $299.
http://www.dinancars.com/Series.asp?Series...0&Model=106

I wonder if this is the type of performance upgrade BMW will offer directly soon?

Back to the original question about adding navigation: The only way I would add navigation after the fact is if I could go all the way & add real-time traffic capabilities. Man, that salesman isn't doing you any favors.

 

i know navi is not currently installed, and i know i am not gonna retrofit it. i can live without navi since i have nuvi 350 that i use in my x5, the only thing i really want to know is what items should i have it checked at bmw after i purchase it since it still has some original warranty left. the carfax they provide gives me some idea of service history but not enough.