[Big Windy]

Gents,

Well, after some time behind the new navigation system featured in Gen 2 iDrive (or whatever we are calling it), I figured I'd post a review with some pics. As you would expect, the new navigation system is much more sophisticated than generation 1. Most importantly (and what all of you want to know), is that the new system allows you to search for any POI without having to pick a category first. By selecting ALL categories, you can search through a list of POIs, or you can type the POI in yourself and see what the system comes up with. It is truly handy, and we are very fortunate that BMW didn't stick with the very restrictive confines for POIs that we encountered in Gen 1. A couple of other pros/cons:

PROS

-Exit Ramp mode- truly sweet. I don't have a pic of this (but I know there was one in the original press release), but it is a really cool graphic that is very functional. It is amazing that the system can give you such a detailed picture of what the offramp or transition really looks like.

-Route modes- the nav will give you up to three selections to choose from so that you can pick the route of your fancy. It will highlight all three routes in different colors on the map so that you can see the differences, and it will also give a route time with each selection so you can know which is faster and which is slower. Awesome feature!

-Screen capabilities- besides the improved graphics, the full screen and split screen content features are really functional. You can put virtually anything on the split screen, and "night mode" is awesome too.

CONS

Navigation voice volume- this is a HUGE mistake on BMW's behalf. I commented earlier that the nav voice is a bit more realistic sounding in this version. However, I uncovered a serious mistake in the programming of the system today. When trying to make the guidance voice louder, I realized that the guidance volume is not indepedent from the stereo volume. As you know, the volume is adjusted by turning the knob while the lady is giving some route guidance. However, in turning up the lady's voice, you also turn up the volume of the stereo as soon as she is done talking. I tried it a million different ways by having the radio off or on mute, and there is no way around it...as soon as the CD or radio comes back on, it is way louder than you initially had it. I am going to report this to my dealership so that BMW can work on a software fix. It is incredibly obnoxious because you can never hear her voice unless you want to have the radio on very loud. How did BMW miss this????!!!!! I confirmed with a friend in a 335i with the new iDrive as well, in case you think I'm full of BS.

-Traffic Info- doesn't work for me here in Germany. Something about US spec vehicles not having the right coding or something. Anyway, it is probably not a CON in the US, but I can't use it here so BMW obviously overlooked something.

I don't know how to do captions on the pics, so I hope you can figure out which is which. The system is really good at finding POIs both manually (with you inputting the name) and by searching through the categories. Frankly, if you know what you are looking for there is no reason why you would not go directly to manual search and punch in what you are looking for.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the shots.