Aukpf

The factory navigation in my 550i is terrible, routing me in awful ways and also I'm unable to find many points of interest through the "information" tab within the nav.

"fastest time" preference routes my the way where I can travel at the highest speeds, even if that way is out of the way. "shortest distance" routes me the way is the shortest, even if on 20mph roads. Is there no combination of the two? I want the fastest, shortest route, without it trying to take me 60 miles out of the way to put me on an interstate or without it taking me through speed-controlled neighborhoods just because my odometer is trying to finish the trip with the least amount of miles...

I have the 2012 nav discs, but still think the system is subpar. Am I missing something here?

I just put my Garmin back on the windshield...

AchtungE60

LOL. BMW navi sucks. Get's me where i need to go fine but looks like poo (interface that is)

SD5Series

CELL PHONE GOOGLE MAPS! works just fine for me

turboawd

.

i'd rather use google nav on my phone.

luigi524td

If I'm in totally unfamiliar territory I run both to increase my odds of actually getting where I want to go ... but alas, sometimes Google Maps / Nav on my Moto Bionic Droid messes up

bikerdib

Garmin and Google maps are FAR from perfect too. Google shows my neighbors house when I search for my address and Garmin shows my girlfriends house 3 block from where it actually is. Lots of other mistakes have shown up with both when I used them in the past also.

jgt

No factory navigation here. It wasn't really a deal breaker when I bought the car since I used it numerous times before in a friend's E60 and wasn't impressed. Not at the additional cost anyway.
I just use a Garmin Nuvi for long trips and Google Nav on my G2 for short trips and getting my bearings.

pukka

You can try selecting fastest time and then AVOID HIGHWAYS and see what that does.

The POI function does suck and apparently it hasn't changed over the last few years (I still use 2008 discs). But since I pay for the concierge service I don't need it. Another thing is you are in Columbus. I've used my NAV in/around Atlanta, Macon, and Savannah with no problems. Whoever makes the maps probably felt it wasn't worth updating that area.

Aukpf

Okay, I will take no offense to the Columbus slams (maybe unintended) since I just moved here from Atlanta, and consider Atlanta home! That said, I can't even find categories, and when I do, things that have been here, or in Atlanta, for years aren't there. For example, i go to "information," "shopping," "Home improvement" or "hardware," can't remember what it is called, and it finds one hardware store within 25 miles. No Home Depot or Lowe's, even though I am a mile away from each.

I met a friend at a country club for lunch the other day, and had no idea how to get there. It wasn't in "restaurants," nor was it in "parks and recreation." (there is not a category for "snobs"). So i wanted to just type the name of the place in, but I first had to tell BMW if it was a business, service, restaurant, etc.

Solution? Take out the Garmin and type the words "Columbus Country Club" and it found it.

What surprises me is that the 2012 map disc has the TomTom logo, so I thought it would be better.

I can try selecting "fastest time" and "avoid highways," but I am afraid one of two things will happen:
1. The iDrive will shout a few cuss words in German at me, and then slowly melt into a puddle on the new floormats I bought.
2. It will take me the fastest route while avoiding all highways, which in most cases is not going to be the fastest route. I need it to take me on the route that is not the fastest (in terms of top speeds), or the shortest (in terms of mileage), but the one which requires the least amount of time! I wish there was a "Timeliest" setting...

syrousd

it is not the greatest and it takes some getting use to, but works fine for me especially after real time traffic upgrade!