Toyota vs BMW NAV

[spyderdoc]

I just bought the wife a 2006 X3 w/ NAV. I must say that the Toyota NAV system is 1000x better/easier to use than the BMW's.

-The Toyota has a touch screen. The BMW does not. This makes it very difficult to enter in addresses, or to look ahead on the map. You have to use a knob and toggle between the different fields.

-The Toyota NAV screen dims when you turn on your headlights. The BMW does not. It glares in your face at night. Very bright...

-The BMW does not let you see the map while giving you directions to a location. You have to go into the setup menu and toggle on the split screen function in order to see the map. Even then, the map only takes up half the screen, so it is tiny...

-One nice thing about the BMW NAV is that is gives you your current altitude, whereas the Toyota does not.

-Another nice thing is that you can enter in destinations while moving. I know there is the bypass for the Toyota, but you have to go through the motions everytime you power up.

-Oh, and BMW also has the annoying disclaimer/caution button that you have to "agree to" each time you start you car.

So, essentially, although they have basically the same functions, it just seems that the Toyota's NAV unit is much more user friendly.

 

[Mark86]

My parents used to drive an X5 with nav and I was very surprised at how bad BMW's nav was. The screen did not have clear graphics, maps were not detailed at all, and entering destinations with a knob was a pain. I don't know how the nav on your X3 is, but the X5 had the integrated radio like on our 4Runner's. The screen would only display parts of the song name/artist and only like 5 letters fit on a line. Toyota has a much better setup with the radio. At least you can see what stations you have preset and just touch one to change the station. In addition, the BMW nav did not have all the goodies like a calendar, building shapes for major cities, and mainenance reminders. The only thing I liked better on the BMW was the ability to enter destination while driving. I thought I was only one to notice this!

 

[Fourty-four]

Navigation systems in German cars have ALWAYS been way behind the systems in Japanese cars. Hell, BMW and MB just recently started using DVDs for their mapping software. Before that, their mapping software was on 6 or 7 CD-ROMS that covered the U.S.

 

[pipspeak]

heh heh... German nav systems are the butt of many jokes in the UK too. A friend of mine here in CA just got a 2006 Merc M-class, loaded, and the nav system is a joke. Not even touch screen. No text-to-voice capabilities. Very 2002!

The car, on the other hand, is an astounding piece of engineering, especially the 7-speed auto transmission.