BMW Navigator IV Impressions

[websterize]

As is true with most of my technology purchases, I got the Garmin zumo 660, and a week later BMW and Garmin announced the Navigator IV, a 660 in black clothing and what appeared to be a more robust — and easier-to-install — mounting cradle. I liked the zumo 660 except for the cradle mount and its installation fussiness. Everything worked with the 660, or so I thought. The 660 mount cradle caused the error lamps to illuminate on my BMW battery charger. If I wanted to charge the bike's battery, I had to unplug the cradle from the accessory connector. (Charger error details are here.) I couldn't reconcile that plugging and unplugging every time, so I exchanged the 660 for the Nav IV, which I've been using for a couple hundred miles. Here are some initial thoughts:






The hard buttons on the cradle mount do more than zoom on the map. They are our steering-wheel buttons. Their haptic feedback feels solid, with a resonant click, under gloved fingers. Pressing the + and - buttons will scroll up through screens or advance music tracks. The button with the square toggles through the main screens; hold it for two second and it adjusts brightness. The bottom button says the current navigation command; hold it for two seconds to adjust volume. You can do this and more with the touchscreen, albeit through more steps, no haptic feedback and, inherently, less attention to the road ahead because you have to concentrate more on the screen. The hard buttons are a thoughtful, and perhaps safer, interface improvement.






The cradle mount is much wider than the 660's, but it's not an aesthetic deal-breaker. The cradle mounts for the 660 and Nav IV screw into the BMW navigator mount (part number 71607700742 for the R1200R), which is not included with either of the units. See this realoem.com link for details.






Here is the cradle mount with the pins shielded by the plastic pin cover. Unlike the battery cover, there is no rubber seal around the pin cover. Could be a problem in a downpour.






The connector on the left plugs in to the accessory power port underneath the handle bars. It has three wires versus two on the 660. With this connection the BMW battery tender charges trouble-free, with no error lamps. I don't know if the connector with the blue circles is for newer or older BMWs. I guess BMW decided on a one-size-fits-all, Y-power connector for the Nav IV.


Downsides
With the Nav IV you lose the car windshield mount, the versatile RAM mounts, and the 4-in-1 power, USB, voice wire bundle that included with the 660. I used none of those accessories. I did use the BMW navigator mount, which fits the 660 and Nav IV. Instead of that massive wire bundle I hear navigation commands and music via stereo bluetooth with Etymotic ER6 headphones plugged in to a Jabra BT-3030. With fewer inclusion, the Nav IV still costs $50 more than the 660 ($720 versus $670 with discounts).

Speaking of the pits, Rev. 1 of most Garmin software is buggy as all get out. It seems the public is the beta test, and zumoforums.com is filled with rants about software glitches and diatribes against the folk in Olathe. During both my outings with the Nav IV the screen has locked up, requiring a reboot. And although all of my POI files transferred fine, I'm working with Garmin's IT department to transfer a Mad Maps purchase to the Nav IV. The problem? The Nav IV wasn't listed as Mad Maps-compatible in Garmin's database. Hopefully, they'll iron out the creases in future software updates. Leading edge is the bleeding edge.

[cwrose]

I don't know about the whole GPS deal. I've personally never used one. However, I am in the beginning stages of planning a cross-country trip of about 5-6k miles. I'm curious if anybody just uses paper maps anymore.. I don't really want to add another $700-900 cost to my trip, as I will never use the GPS in my home state (we have about all of 4 major highways and only a handful of destinations that I already know how to get to). Basically, is it really worth it to dump the money into a GPS unit for one long trip?

Thoughts and criticism are much appreciated.

[NeilS]

I can't say whether it's worth it for you, but here are my impressions from having used a Zumo 450 on a 7000-mile trip.

I don't need the routing functions for long legs. If I'm going, say, from Milwaukee to Denver, I know I have to go basically west, and the GPS won't tell me which is the "best" road to take. But when I get to Denver and am trying to find the BMW dealer, the street-level routing is nice. Also, if I have a route set in the GPS, and I decide to take a road that's off the route, the GPS keeps reminding me to get back with the program.

The points of interest feature is very useful, if not 100% accurate. Have you ever stopped at a crummy restaurant because you're hungry and see the "EATS" sign, then afterward find about a dozen restaurants clustered around the next exit? The GPS tells you about those other choices before you make the mistake. Same with motels. Or, if you're running low on fuel, it's nice to know there are gas stations up ahead instead of all behind you.

Maps are better for route planning, but they're not free anymore. And they're fairly useless on the road if it's rainy or windy.

So, on balance, I think a GPS is worthwhile. But you don't have to spend $700-900 if you don't want to. I paid around $400 for my Zumo 450, but I'm not sure if they're still available. And, of course, if it's only for this one trip, you could buy one used on eBay and then resell it and not lose very much.

[jimadams68]

I bought a used TomTom One for $50, a Z-tech mount for the R1200 and basically have perfectly mounted navigation for a little over a $100. Do I use it? You bet... The BMW Nav unit is certainly better and cleanly integrated, but it costs a small fortune.

I am a BIG fan of nav units on bikes. Paper maps?? You bet, have one in my pocket as a backup. :-)

[ka5ysy]

For what its worth, I have been using the Garmin GPS Map 376, and now a 478 with the XM receiver attached. I originally started using the Street Pilot units, but was not impressed with the functionality. The GPS Map versions are sold as marine chart plotters, but actually work much better as street navigators than the real car and motorcycle navigators do. I love having the XM and the XM Weather service, as I have used it to avoid major weather at times before ever getting into it. A lot of times if you stop and look at the animated image (if you have that turned on), you will see the storm track and can decide to reroute, duck into a restaurant, or get the rain gear on. Mostly I tend to stay dry, which is really nice!

I recently went to the 478 because it was time to upgrade maps (annual occurrence) and I really needed to purchase another large data cartridge to load the maps for a road trip. The 478 has all the US base maps and low level streets loaded, so no data cartridge needed !!. One thing that I did note immediately is that the routing algorithm has been refined. Using the old 376 coming back to the Baton Rouge area from Florida always wanted to route me through New Orleans I-10 to my house which is a dumb route. The new 478 correctly calculated that the quick route is via I-12, then back to my house in Prairieville (south of Baton Rouge). The current map set shows a lot of great small roads for bikers.

It also is not psycho in trying to route you into loops when it gets confused.

As mentioned, the services search function is great. Restaurants, gas stations, services of all kinds, all readily available to you. It is worth the investment even locally. On a long trip it is sometimes priceless when you need to reroute instantly (traffic accidents, etc) or if you screw up and take a wrong turn.

If you happen to be a fisherman, a side benefit is that these units have an accessory fish finder sonar that you can attach to the USB port that works really, really well ! So you get a two-fer for the price of one unit.


https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=402

[deilenberger]

Bill, thanks. Looks like I hold off a bit to replace the Nav-III.

As far as GPS's on bikes - the good and bad:

GOOD
- Keeps me on track without having to look at maps, I have mine BlueTooth'd to a Jabra dongle and use Etymotics as ear plugs. I'm wireless that way, and I just have to listen to Doofus, not look down at maps.

- Lets me take the road less travelled - or as Yogi said "When I come to a fork in the road, I take it.." - I've become less reliant on maps to put me back on track or take me home, so I feel much better about just taking any interesting road I see to see what's on it and where it comes out. I can alway press the FIND button twice and the GPS will route me home.

BAD
- Harder to layout a trip on them. You can give it a destination, but it's not easy to pick the roads you might want to go on with the GPS interface. Garmin's mapping software sucks for user interface - so it's not a lot better. Ideally - we want a tool that takes a Google Maps route and makes it into a GPS track that can be downloaded. There are some tools on the web that try to do this - but the success of them is limited. Willing to bet Google is working on one that WILL work well. (They do have an APPY and an export feature that come close..) Sometimes I like a paper map to get a look at the big picture - can't do that on a GPS.

- Tempting to play with while moving. Have to resist entering destinations while moving. The BMW buttons are a big help - as Bill pointed out - they work with gloved fingers, something a touchscreen really doesn't do.

- Can't always rely on the maps/waypoints/destinations. Went through the Cumberland Gap tunnel 4 times looking for a Best-Western that had been torn down 6 years ago.. I have 2009 maps/waypoints/destinations loaded on my NAV-III. Not only was the motel gone - the exit that went to it had been removed. WAY out of date data..

That's the quick/short version. I've had GPS on bikes for close to 10 years now. Wouldn't want to be without it. Just realize the limitations, and try to ignore playing with it while moving and you'll be OK. A motorcycle specific one is better - and the BMW one is one of the best - just because of those extra buttons.

[cwrose]

The points of interest feature is very useful, if not 100% accurate. Have you ever stopped at a crummy restaurant because you're hungry and see the "EATS" sign, then afterward find about a dozen restaurants clustered around the next exit? The GPS tells you about those other choices before you make the mistake. Same with motels. Or, if you're running low on fuel, it's nice to know there are gas stations up ahead instead of all behind you.

I suppose that is one of the great features of the Nav unit. I've never really done any traveling in the lower 48, so I don't quite think in the mindset of where is there a nice eatery or a good motel to spend the night. But then again, aren't some of those experiences what make the trip an adventure?

Lets me take the road less travelled - or as Yogi said "When I come to a fork in the road, I take it.." - I've become less reliant on maps to put me back on track or take me home, so I feel much better about just taking any interesting road I see to see what's on it and where it comes out. I can alway press the FIND button twice and the GPS will route me home.

This was my worry with paper maps; generally you plan a route and you don't wander. I would be much more nervous about getting lost using only paper maps and the good old compass. The reason I would be taking this trip is to visit some family that I have not seen for 15 years, but I want the trip to be one of exploration. Thinking like Don, if I see a road that I want to travel, that is what I'll do.

I will surely be giving this aspect of my trip much more thought. As the BMW Nav IV has obviously made an impressionable mark, perhaps there will be used Nav III units on the used market as time progresses. Thanks for all the feedback!