Best aftermarket nav with traffic?
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 166
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From: SoCal
For those who've installed or investigated an aftermarket navigation unit in their E60, which one (mfr and model #, please) has the best traffic feature?
I live here in Southern California
, and since I know my way around the streets and highways pretty well, I'm actually more interested in accurate, timely, color-coded traffic conditions being displayed on the nav screen. It would also be nice to have re-routes suggested when traffic is heavy, and a traffic antenna that's built in (not external). I realize I'll likely have to pay a monthly fee for the traffic feature.
I live here in Southern California
, and since I know my way around the streets and highways pretty well, I'm actually more interested in accurate, timely, color-coded traffic conditions being displayed on the nav screen. It would also be nice to have re-routes suggested when traffic is heavy, and a traffic antenna that's built in (not external). I realize I'll likely have to pay a monthly fee for the traffic feature.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 166
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From: SoCal
Originally Posted by alpinewhite' post='537383' date='Feb 28 2008, 12:31 PM
Garmin Nuvi 680
Thank you! The Garmin Nuvi 680 specs are exactly what I'm looking for, so I bought it online (Amazon) for $457 + $0 tax + $10 for overnight shipping (I'll receive it tomorrow!) Woo-hoo! 
I prefer to buy electronic gear in local stores, but Best Buy and Circuit City both wanted $599. (List is over $900.) The local CC store store manager yielded under some phone pressure to go as low as $549, but throw in tax (that I don't pay on Amazon), and it's hard to justify spending an extra $125.
Final question: How/where to mount the Garmin 680 in the car? (If I'm not mistaken, a windshield suction cup is illegal in CA...and those things don't look very good either.)
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 1,712
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From: Encino, CA
My Ride: 04 545i - Titanium Silver/Black, Sport pkg, Comfort Seats w/ Lumbar, Premium Sound, power rear sunshade, Adaptive Xenon Headlights, Steptronic, Park Distance Control, Fold down rear seats w/ski bag, Aux jack, 6-disk changer, puddle lamps...
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Interior: Portable Sirius Stilletto 100 w/car kit, Garmin Nuvi 680 mounted below rear-view mirror, LCI-style I-drive knob, Dark Poplar Center Dashboard Trim.
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Originally Posted by GoRovers' post='537448' date='Feb 28 2008, 04:01 PM
Great suggestion! Thank you! The Garmin Nuvi 680 specs are exactly what I'm looking for, so I bought it online (Amazon) for $457 + $0 tax + $10 for overnight shipping (I'll receive it tomorrow!) Woo-hoo!
I prefer to buy electronic gear in local stores, but Best Buy and Circuit City both wanted $599. (List is over $900.) The local CC store store manager yielded under some phone pressure to go as low as $549, but throw in tax (that I don't pay on Amazon), and it's hard to justify spending an extra $125.
Final question: How/where to mount the Garmin 680 in the car? (If I'm not mistaken, a windshield suction cup is illegal in CA...and those things don't look very good either.)
Thank you! The Garmin Nuvi 680 specs are exactly what I'm looking for, so I bought it online (Amazon) for $457 + $0 tax + $10 for overnight shipping (I'll receive it tomorrow!) Woo-hoo! I prefer to buy electronic gear in local stores, but Best Buy and Circuit City both wanted $599. (List is over $900.) The local CC store store manager yielded under some phone pressure to go as low as $549, but throw in tax (that I don't pay on Amazon), and it's hard to justify spending an extra $125.
Final question: How/where to mount the Garmin 680 in the car? (If I'm not mistaken, a windshield suction cup is illegal in CA...and those things don't look very good either.)
I've been using mine for quite some time. A couple of things to know though - the MSN Direct traffic antenna resides within the POWER cord. It contains a small battery to keep the MSN location settings for a while. if you run the Nuvi off the batteries, you'll lose MSN Direct updates and information. It's still a great unit - it's proven quite useful driving across the states, driving to Banff/Lake Louise, etc, but beware that the traffic antenna is NOT built into the unit itself. Mine is mounted just below the rear-view window for now(see pic). Since the portable units BMW sells for the 3 series are Garmins, I'm hoping they'll come out with a nice mounting bracket for the E60.
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Joined: Mar 2007
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From: NYC, Rego Park, Queens
My Ride: 2004 E60 530i, 2012 E70 X5 35i
Model Year: 2004
I mounted mine on the dash near the I drive, like this guy,
Link to Navi mounted
But my navi is on the right side of the idrive.
Let's the passenger help enter in stuff if i'm driving too fast. hahaha.
Link to Navi mounted
But my navi is on the right side of the idrive.
Let's the passenger help enter in stuff if i'm driving too fast. hahaha.
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