WH0A

Hi Grant Sincere thanks for your comments and your direct message. Sounds like I'm stuck - one more expensive update and then no more. (The Aus suggestion you made appears a no go.) So ... if the car lasts 15 years to end of life the best one can hope for (whomever owns it by then) is a 10 year old map! Quite a few road changes in 10 years methinks. I'll give it some more thought, but looks like there are few if any choices. That sucks. But appreciate your taking the time to let me know the situation. Cheers, Mark

Hi Apologies from a newbie if this has been covered elsewhere, but I've searched and can't find anything. I have a 2006 E90 330i, bought new in NZ as a Motorsport with almost every option available at the time. (Hey, I like toys!) I understand this issue applies to many BMWs from the same period though. The car is excellent and overall it was a great choice. A big disappointment though is the lack of navigation updates for the DVD-driven iDrive system. In the 5 years I've had it, there has been just ONE update of the database. As a consequence it's terribly out-of-date - Auckland is almost unrecognisable after its motorway and suburb constructions over that period and in Wellington (where I live), my Bimmer tells me I live in the middle of a field! I've been pushing BMW and the franchises because I think it's ridiculous to pay the sort of money we do for these systems and then have such poor service. Get a $300 unit from d*ck Smith and it'll update once a month if not more often of course. Little result over the last couple of years, so I threw a spaz recently and my franchise (Jeff Gray) did eventually get back to me at last with the news that there is another upgrade available. Surprising, since I had been asking for months that it suddenly appeared when I kicked up a fuss, but so be it. And now there's the week matter of price ... $793.50!! What the??!! You can get whole top-end nav systems for less than that. Just ridiculous. And they can't tell me what it actually does - whether it's just the nav database or if it's more of an upgrade to the software as well. They and I will only know when they get it in from Germany. I'm sick of this and would like to know what my options are. Does anyone know?! I bet there are heaps of people in the same predicament as me. Can I buy the DVD elsewhere or download it somehow an burn myself? (Unlikely, I know.) Or is there another way to tackle this problem? I would even consider paying to retrofit the new iDrive system with hard drive, etc, if that meant easier upgrades through USB or internet. But everyone seems to think this is impossible with my car. So am I going to be blackmailed by BMW for the rest of my car's life with no other options ... ?! Any help or suggestions really appreciated! Regards, Mark