E60_530D

Hi,

I have a may 2006, model with Pro Nav. I have the traffic information set to Auto.

Is it me or is the Traffic Information list stupid. (I haven't read the manual)

When I have a route set, the red triangle shows there are problems. I select it, and it lists every problem in the country as far as I can see. It puts a triangle next to the ones on my route. It seems to start the list in the middle. These days the list has literally hundreds of entries and spinning the I-drive to locate them is pretty dangerous, and if you stop for too long it goes back to the middle of the list again.

Is there a setting that means it only lists traffic on your route ?, as I am starting to find the list useless as i-drive makes it almost impossible to access.

Your comments would be appreciated

xBMWx

I have the business Nav and use this function a lot, both in Germany and the Netherlands. I have also used it in the UK. Mine also shows all of the traffic information in the country and lists the alerts by distance away from my current location.

Those alerts on my route that are within about a 100KM range are listed first. Those alerts on my route further than about 100KM are simply listed by distance away from my current location along with all the other traffic alerts.

It does mean scolling down the list for those items further than 100KM away, but I think this is done deliberately, because the Nav system may choose to dynamically re-route as it gets closer, so does not see the need to list all items on your route at the top of the list.

I did not make any adjustments for this feature, so assume it is a standard BMW setting.

Make sense?! I understand the issue you have with it, I too sometimes find myself taking my eye off the traffic for too long because of the way the listing works, but on the whole I find the features work well.

Cheers

Hawkwing

Well it's not helpful that's for sure.

The TMC list is indexed on nearest to the car's position - however as you rightly state the focus of the highlight/pointer in the list appears to be plum in the middle of the list, these listings are not trivial in length within the UK! The pointer should be set to the top of the indexed list to be uselful............it's yet another example in lack of attention to functional detail within the Pro Nav system (only 5 chr Postcode being another!)

aybeesea

I think it's something more complex - associated with the lat/long of the last highlighted traffic incident.

ABC

535dMAN

Trust me TMC is s h i t! It has NEVER worked for me - the traffic updates are at least 45 mins out of sync with realty!

aybeesea

In some cases.

GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) - the first tenet of information systems.

TMC is FANTASTIC in some mainland Europe territories (eg France).

It's down to the data providers rather than the technology.

ABC

535dMAN

AMC - never tried it in Europe but I do around 100 miles a day in the UK and it (TMC) has NEVER been any use to me!

aybeesea

In UK you're at the mercy of the data provders and the influenced by the roads you use.

In UK TMC data is only provided on Motorways and major trunk roads AFAIK so if your journey is not then you won't benefit. Also not all incidents are regarded as "worthy" of inclusion.

Our beef should be with the data provider (not BMW or TMC pers se) since a much better service is provided elsewhere to set a standard. It's down to business pressures as always.

Perhaps we ought to exert some.

ABC

535dMAN

My daily communte includes the M1, M25 and the M4 - and apart from the M6 I can't seem to think of any motorways worse then these

95% motorways used in my journey. AFAIK the data provider for TMC in the UK is trafficmaster (RAC group) and these include the motorway camera's and blue sensors you see hanging off bridges on carraigeways.

I have Smartnav installed in my 318i and that too is run by trafficmaster - that is REAL TIME traffic info as it happens and your route is diverted to take you away from the traffic but lo and behold Smartnav is C R A P!

Why? coz it only takes motorway traffic in to consideration and when it does take you on to local roads, those are not monitored by their sensors/cameras and boy oh boy do you get stuck! You would be better off staying on the motorway unless its a weekend!

I have had smartnav divert me off a motorway SOOOOOOO many times only to get stuck on A and B roads.......FRUSTRATING!

SO yes ABC what you say does make sense - it's traffic master (TMC company) who need to get their act together BIG TIME - ps I pay ?120 a year to use smartnav apart from the kit which cost something like ?500!!! Waste of money IMHO.

And yes, I have compained to Smartnav loadsa times but sorry is all I get

MrTrilby

I'm in the UK and I can't say I've really noticed a problem with the list of traffic delays. I'd not noticed the cursor starting in the middle. I'll watch out for it tonight, but I thought it started at the top of the list. I also thought that it listed all delays that affect my journey at the top of the list; delays not on my journey appear underneath, sorted by distance from me.

It's helpful seeing all delays nearby to you, because I use that information when deciding whether to switch to an alternate route. Useful to know if the roads nearby are also snarled up.

The biggest problem for me is that there aren't really many alternatives to motorways - once I'm on one, unless it's a massive delay the best option is often to stick with it. The rare exception is when going from Birmingham to London, the car can tell me whether I'm best using the M5, M40, or M1.

I used to use TomTom before I got the E60. That definitely displays traffic information for local roads in addition to motorways and A roads. I'm not sure, but I get the feeling that the E60 displays much less traffic information. I *think* TomTom and BMW use the same data provider, implying the fault is with BMW's maps or software.