Navigation...is it worth it?

[jdwright590]

Been intending to buy an X5 for a while and although my mind has been jumping around alternatives for months I've always come back to the E53. Although there is no shortage of X5's out there, I seem to want the most popular combination (3.0d in black/grey w/heated leather and nav) which seems difficult to find for what I consider a reasonable price.

I've seen a few for around the £10k mark which I can pay, but for around £8k it seems possible to get a similar car just without nav. I'm just wondering whether you guys consider the navigation worth that much extra money...especially as it's fundamentally a 10 year old system!

I don't do too many miles at the moment so I guess I could just plump for a higher spec petrol for £8kish, but I am aware of the whole petrol vs derv argument

Thanks!

[X5Sport]

Nav is useful and may come with added functions such as Digital TV (2004 onwards) if that is your thing.

The system is as you say, 10 years old, but the OEM look is better (IMHO) than a stuck to the dash gizmo.  There are limits to it's abilities and there is no 'connected' function. 

Whether it is worth the extra £2k is debatable given the alternatives with connected updates etc, and a new disc is the same price as one of the Garmin/TomTom type units as well.

It all comes down to personal preference I suppose.

Richard

[MrMaloo]

The e53 sat nav is RUBBISH! No 3d view as standard, no 7 digit postcode entry and no traffic updates. Defo get a tomtom and stick it in the window....doesnt look as pretty as an in dash unit but it's a lot more reliable and easier to use, plus you can take it with you into a different car.

Just my 2 cents

[Don Coffey]

If you don't need it, do without and save the cash, but you do need to bear in mind that when you come to sell, it will be harder to move on as most people want OEM nav regardless of its limitations, hence the £2k difference in price.  The Pro Nav was around £2k as an option.  Not many options hold there price that well.

Don

[dark_stranger]

[quote="MrMaloo"]
The e53 sat nav is RUBBISH! No 3d view as standard, no 7 digit postcode entry and no traffic updates. Defo get a tomtom and stick it in the window....doesnt look as pretty as an in dash unit but it's a lot more reliable and easier to use, plus you can take it with you into a different car.

Just my 2 cents
[/quote]

Agree.  Save you cash and maybe look at upgrading the whole stero with a better sat nav system.

[m3rk]

When I was looking for an x5 I ideally wanted one with the OE factory nav like yourself.

In the end I bought a late facelift without the nav, just standard business headunit, mainly due to its condition, mileage and stamped service history.

I'm currently looking into getting an Andrive or Eonon equivalent but the lack of the obc through these systems is putting me off slightly. You can find online, through the likes of ebay the full OE nav kits for sale and retrofit it but most say it's not worth it for the time involved and the technology that is 7/8 yrs old.

[scratchpole]

[quote="m3rk"]
When I was looking for an x5 I ideally wanted one with the OE factory nav like yourself.

In the end I bought a late facelift without the nav, just standard business headunit, mainly due to its condition, mileage and stamped service history.

I'm currently looking into getting an Andrive or Eonon equivalent but the lack of the obc through these systems is putting me off slightly. You can find online, through the likes of ebay the full OE nav kits for sale and retrofit it but most say it's not worth it for the time involved and the technology that is 7/8 yrs old.
[/quote]

I had an Eonon unit but without the satnav. There were so many glitches it became frustrating, particularly  with the  lack of sensitivity of the touch screen and it was a really distracting when you lost the radio signal when trying to concentrate on which lane you needed to be in at a junction. It now resides in a box in the loft!

[CondorX5]

I wouldn't call the OE setup "rubbish" but it does not have a full postcode option as standard and the map upgrades are a completely crazy price from BMW.......you could buy 2 TomToms or equivalent for the price of one map upgrade!  The older maps obviously don't have road updates which can be a bit disconcerting if you are on a new bypass, but for the most part it manages to do the job pretty well and its totally OEM. I am pleased I went for the option in my X. Years ago the Xes without satnav were not viewed as desirable, but the cars are pretty old now and that gap has reduced considerably, I am sure. 

Down to personal choice, in the end. I have a TomTom Live set up for the traffic updates as they are much better than the dated TMC system which misses warnings and alerts you far too late of jams and accidents.

I bought an Eonon drop down dvd for our motorhome and was disappointed with the cheap quality - so much so, I did not bother to fit it. They are cheap for a reason.

[Raj]

I've never been a big fan if the OE satnav systems hence going to my Pioneer double din unit. Horses for courses as they say.

[MrMaloo]

I'd save the cash and look for car without dsp and get an andrive unit fitted....retain oem looks but then have access to features like satnav, bluetooth streaming etc etc

When i said the bmw sat nav was rubbish perhaps i should have said instead that its the worst sat nav i've ever used. The MOST basic of tomtoms far exceeds its capabilities and will feel like a breath of fresh air.

[graemeX5]

Hi when I have talked to a car dealer friend of mine he basically said he wouldn't buy an x5 without sat nav as too hard to shift them on, and if offered one in trade in he would knock £1500 off the value of the car because of it.

But given the x5 E53 is at least 7 years old then if I found the perfect car without it I would not worry about sat nav as you can get better units for less money as previously mentioned.

And to put it into perspective the vauxhall Astra built in sat nav a £1250 option new in her 2007 Astra also doesn't do postcodes - the reason was the post office wanted too much money from vauxhall so it wasn't incorporated and can't be added later which is a pain as you have to use the full address which is really slow.

I have sat nav in my x5 and it sometimes fails to work and I use the £80 garmin one which works better than the BMW one and is also easier to use than the £400 Tom Tom one I bought 3 years earlier.

So for me I would go aftermarket - and this year I plan to replace the head unit with a kenwood unit with it all built in.

[X5Sport]

The Post Office must be using the BMW pricing model.  I was paying over £250,000 per year to use their database on a Government IT system nearly 20 years ago!!!

[jdwright590]

Thanks guys. I've yet to have a proper look at the system in person but going by videos I know my 5 year old Tom Tom is still probably going to be more usable!

I agree that the condition of the car at this age is going to be more important than the nav, so I think I'll probably just view it as a secondary factor