Z8 will stay at home...Need some Navi advice - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

2001's X5/Z8 · 19th February 2003, 03:42

I'm moving to New York (westchester) area. The Z8 will not be ready for the cold winter and the city roads, so she will stay in Fla until summer. So I will be driving up in the X5 which does not have a navi. I'm looking for some suggestions and any feedback on some of the handheld untits such as Magellan and Garmin. My price range is 300-800. I know that a lot of the units don't come with the detailed maps. You have to buy those as an added option. I'm looking for an all inclusive unit that will cover me in just the tri state area...I don't need nationwide capabilities. Just complete tri state coverage....

PS...I'm moving in two weeks so I need to get a move on....No pun intended

Thanks Guys...

RAREM5 · 19th February 2003, 04:39

Mike, if you are heading up I-95 north, you need to make a quick stop at Jax.

Sang

slief · 19th February 2003, 04:51

You can find a non DVD Alpine setup with disply in that price range. Well worth it, even in non DVD. They work much better than the BMW CD nav or other protable ones.

MEnthusiast · 19th February 2003, 05:35

I recently bought a gps as a holiday gift for a friend. I wasnt in the ~1k budget range, but from my research, the best one for this range is the garamin (sorry dont remember the exact name). it will act very much like a std. navi. if youre only moving up here for the winter then definately leave the Z8 at home, but if you think you might be up here for longer, bring her... we can go out on early morning Z8 drives. get the heated Z3 roadster vest, a hat some gloves.... lol

2001's X5/Z8 · 19th February 2003, 05:53

Quote:

Originally posted by slief
You can find a non DVD Alpine setup with disply in that price range. Well worth it, even in non DVD. They work much better than the BMW CD nav or other protable ones.

Could you point me in the right direction??? Maybe the model number?

kwalls · 19th February 2003, 11:26

Mike
I have had some experience with handheld GPS systems prior to getting a nav system in my cars. I have an older Garmin Streetpilot that does most of the things the car system does. More recently, Garmin offered a Streetpilot that gives turn-by-turn directions and will update for errors enroute but cannot perform the ‘averaging’ computations your car system can. While all of the Garmin Streetpilots have the basic highway structure for NA or Europe (depending on model) you need a CD (they have several programs), a PC interface cable and one of their flash cards to download specific location. To make the display populate with downloaded data you need to zoom in otherwise the display still shows the basic highway structure.
My older system worked fine in the US but has had problems working here in Europe as advertised. Just like the CD nav systems there are only so many map plots the flash card can hold and it works great when you have good satellite reception but is degraded when you don’t. It might have problems keeping your position in the city or if you go through a lot of tunnels and such.
Ken

2001's X5/Z8 · 19th February 2003, 16:08

Kwalls,

Did you find the garmin was suffuicent right down to the side street level as it came, with no extra Cd or flash card.....I don't want to have to spend 750 on the unit then another 75 for a cd and another 50 or 60 for a flash card....

It needs to be all in one package....And like I said, I don't need the detailed coverage nationwide, just in my area....

kwalls · 19th February 2003, 16:12

Mike
I only used my Garmin in the states for about a month before coming to Germany. I suspect the standard model now would do you for Boca and West Palm but not Miami without the metro downloads. Now that I have nav in my cars, the Garmin is only used when I have a rental and need 'macro' info.

Hope that helps.
Ken

2001's X5/Z8 · 19th February 2003, 16:24

Quote:

Originally posted by kwalls
Mike
I only used my Garmin in the states for about a month before coming to Germany. I suspect the standard model now would do you for Boca and West Palm but not Miami without the metro downloads. Now that I have nav in my cars, the Garmin is only used when I have a rental and need 'macro' info.
Hope that helps.
Ken

No, I will bee moving to the New york metro area and the most important thing is that I have all the streets in the area.....Now my question is will that all be included with the unit or will I need additional cds?

kwalls · 19th February 2003, 16:30

Mike
Don't know what package deal Garmin is offering now but the streetpilot came with a database of all major NA roads, to get street level detail you need a metro CD, flash card and PC interface. As mentioned above, you might also have reception problems that could delay your position unless you upgraded to an external antenna, I did not have much experience in big towns with my unit. You might try this source for current deals
http://www.thegpsstore.com/
This is where I got mine in 00.

Ken