Another Nav software glich - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

raland9 · 1st May 2002, 22:11

For some reason, BMW seems content to allow buggy software on their Nav system. My 2001 originally came with v.3.0 (17.0) which had numerous bugs including going to a straight line instead of displaying the radio station frequency numbers at least daily. Versions 4.0 and 4.1 (18.0/18.2) had numerous gliches including being painfully slow, displaying the extraneous "T", etc. Most of the time the Nav display was showing "...generating new map."

The latest, 5.0 (19.0) has several gliches though it corrects some of the problems in 4.1. One new glich that I discovered today is that the scale often reverts to a different scale. If I set it at 125 or 250 yards, the next time the car starts it may be 125 or 250 yards, but just as well may be 450 or 900 yards. So, while I may not have to press "Accept", I do have to check and reprogram the scale numerous times a day.

It is positively shameful that BMW does not pay more attention to the quality of the software on the Nav screen. It would not be acceptable for any of us that run companies, big or small, to release software of this quality and be unwilling to correct it. With a few man (or woman) hours of programmer's time and attention, this could easily be corrected, but as it is, it almost seems to be the quality of a high-school introductory computer software project.

Rick

tfung · 1st May 2002, 22:47

well, at least these bugs are minor annoyances... not bugs that make the whole system crash...

celler · 1st May 2002, 23:11

Not trying to sound like the dealer, but I think "they all work that way." There is a reference in the manual about the scale changing automatically when you get close to your destination.

Now, yours may be doing this when you are not actually navigating, but in map mode, but at least for active navigation, the system appears to be disigned to change the scale for you.

Hope this helps.

Craig.

young-nyc · 2nd May 2002, 05:52

actually i believe the map "scales out" because one is moving too fast for the computer to redraw the map in time. The computer is compensating for the loss in distance by going to a higher scale to keep up.

raland9 · 3rd May 2002, 05:44

It happens when I start the car and haven't moved!

Rick

celler · 3rd May 2002, 16:03

Then I would have it checked out. I have not experienced, nor have I heard of anyone experiencing, this type of issue.

Craig.

M5AV8R · 4th May 2002, 12:07

I've been running v19 for a week and haven't seen any erroneous scale changes, but it's really cool that the scale can be changed by rotation only!

One thing that has happened is that I can't seem to get rid of a damned destination when going back into map mode. Admittedly, I've not spent a lot of time trying, but v17 made it easy with an option labeled "Delete Destination." Now I have to reselect "United States" (erasing the destination, or so it says) then turn off the car for a while (I couldn't get it to go away.. then it was gone in the morning) for it to stop drawing that lovely white line in front of me. Anyone know if there is something I'm missing here?

FYI - Most of you probably know this, but it aggravated me for a few days and isn't documented so I'll pass it along. I prefer to have the map oriented to driving direction and would rather see the map move than the "car." Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be possible. I thought I was going crazy last week when I saw the map moving in the background.. and would have chalked it up to hallucinations.. but I had a witness. After a whole week of driving like an drunken idiot while staring and cussing at the display.. daring it to move.. I decided to try North orientation. Whaddya know... it moved. Moral: If you're like me and get tired of watching the virtual car utilize half the screen and wander the the edge of the $%#^ map.. switch to North up.

And this was supposed to be a short post...

Wait.. there's more! While I'm on a roll, does anyone know how to get a listing of a particular type of destination (restaurant, etc.) by name? There are times when I may be looking for a chain, but not have the foggiest what city to start with. I could swear that v17 had this, but I can't seem to make it work on v19

Thanks!

Stem · 4th May 2002, 15:22

The problem with the Nav system is that there is a moving map display that is manufactured. I have been flying aircraft for over 15 years that have it! That would be one way to get rid of that exceptionally annoying feature that drives you into the top corner of the screen, just when you are coming to an important turnoff in a strange city. I don't know about you, but that's when I really like to be able to see the path I've just been on, rather then where I need to go. That way I can miss the turn.

This has to be the weakest non-mechanical system on the car. I'd say brakes are the weakest mechanical system. But ohhhh, the motor IS nice!!

M5AV8R · 4th May 2002, 21:18

I know what you mean. I, too am a pilot and have flown behind moving maps. I just automatically expected the map to move in both modes. If I had to guess, I'd think they didn't have the processor horsepower to redraw the map at all different angles, depending on your direction. One other thought might be that it could get really confusing to follow the lablels when doing any significant turning.

Dunno...

Noka · 4th May 2002, 23:25

General comment:

I asked my service advisor about upgrading and he said they have seen the system run slower after upgrades. I have an old version 3-1/20 but it works OK and I also get the combined radio/OBC page I would miss if I upgraded. I think I'll wait for a confirmed bug-free, faster version before overwriting my old version.

Rgds,
Norm