Last week I went to a tradeshow in Brussels. Drove my E60 across. Some quote odd things with satnav.

First of all I programmed in "Channel Tunnel". In destination I put Folkestone, and found the entry for channel tunnel. Great! Not that I actually need to do that, as I know where it is. Anyway, it actually directed me to drive to the return side of the tunnel. That is, go to Dover, catch a ferry, goto Calais, get on the train, and come back to the UK. WTF! Not ideal if you didn't actually know where to go.

I also entered Brussels, and found the hotel that we were staying in was listed. Satnav took me right to the front door of the hotel. Perfect!

Going to the exhibition centre, it directed me to go via a route that had roadworks on and the road was closed. No fault of satnav, but more joy to find where to go. Belgium is very short on signs I've noticed. And the roads are crap (bumpy and full of holes). The Dutch guys I went with made their usual "Belgians are dumb" jokes.

Difficult to get lost coming home anyway - E40 all the way to Calais.

An interesting experience. Fantastic sometimes, and almost suicidal at others. I guess others have had similar experiences. But generally it's great to be able to drive across Europe without having to have lots of maps.

One thing I was told. Apparently the typical BMW driver in Netherlands/Belgium is Turkish. And often the 5er is a stolen one. Made for an interesting discussion. Also, Volvo/Saab drivers aren't disliked as they are in the UK. Interesting how we stereotype people/cars.

 

Reminds me of a black guy who was working on the building site when I bought my house.
We got to talking about cars and he mentioned he was looking for a more sporty car.
When I asked was he thinking of a BMW he said "No, everyone will think I'm a drug dealer"
Sounds like similar predjudice in the low countries to thier major ethnic group.

 

I took ours on a family tour to Reims/Trier (to get on the Autobahn ) and Bruges.

I thought the SATNAV did OK - apart from one leg when it was really late at a junction (never had that before) and I took the 50-50 gamble and ended up going 20miles int he wrong direction (on a bloody toll road!!!!)

Apart from that - did the hotels OK which was cool. traffic even worked in some countries.....

Highlight was letting my wife drive, for the first time on the wrong side of the road (with a RHD car), at night, when I was tipsy. I did help her by putting the Nav voice on in French though.....

 

I find the sat nav is generally great. But it twice has tried to get me to swim across substantial lakes

 

Did you choose fastest route or slow boat to China route?

 

Just like you guys make fun of Belgians, drivers in Illinois make fun of drivers in Wisconsin.

 

Fastest route. But I did wonder, so I double checked.

While actually sitting on the train (in the car), The screen clearly showed the "route" it wanted me to take. Down to Dover, across the channel, and back again. With the destination flag only 100m away from where I was.

Maybe Navteq have been "sponsored" by the ferry company, rather than the train company.

TMC worked in Belgium though. It told me about an accident that had happened an hour ago, and had cleared by the time I drove past it. Luckily going the other way. It's smart enough to tell you to drive on the right, but not smart enough to NOT tell you to go down roads that are "bus & taxi only"

 

BM satnav has never been any good at water. There was a story on the press of a Grman guy who drove into the Rhine because the Satnav didn't tell him to wait for the ferry - take with large pinch of journalistic salt.

I don't trust it to cope with a full journey (it has guided me off the M25, round a roundabout, and back on again...), I can do the long bit myself, especially with the map on screen which I love.

What it is fantastic at is getting you through cities, and finding locations. For this alone (and the on screen map) I pay the money.

P.S. Bought a Road Angel Navigator for the other car (also Navteq maps), will let you know if it any better.

 

I had a similar good experience driving from Stuttgart to Brussels. The Navi did great...took me to the Sheraton Towers and delivered me right to the front door. I've also done the same trip previously with a dash mounted Garmin; the map data was similar, but the Garmin had great difficulty obtaining a sat fix in downtown Brussels without an external antenna. Makes the shark fin that much more valuable...stylish and functional at the same time!