The Web Page of Kristopher Linquist

Versions of the NAV in the E46

• The MK2 NAV system (CD based) was available from start of production to 05/2000 production date E46s
• The MK3 NAV system (CD based) was available from 06/2000 to 09/2002 production date E46s. In 2002, it received a 16x9 widescreen display (with a cassette behind it)
• The MKIV NAV system (DVD based) was available from 10/2002 production on. It is a 16x9 widescreen display with either a cassette or CD player behind it)

There are two different ways to update your nav. The first is firmware, which fixes operational bugs and adds features to your navigtation system. To update the firmware, you burn a CD-R and place it in the drive for a few minutes - after that, it's updated! The second way is the actual maps. These CDs or DVD (depending on the generation of nav) can be purchased from NavTeq. These discs stay in the navigation system all the time. This disc also contains the database of points of interest. The map discs are often updated every year. The latest version (as of Feb 27th 2007) is "2007-2".

How do I remove the accept screen?

With V27 or newer firmware, the accept screen disappears after 8 seconds. There is another way of completely removing the accept screen - if you DOWNGRADE (then re-UPGRADE) your firmware, your nav will go into UK mode. The only difference is that the scale will be in yards instead of feet for any scale smaller than 1 mile. The majority of people think this is absolutely worth it!

How can I tell what firmware version I'm using now?

Please see this page over at X5World.com.

Enabling perspective (birds-eye view) with MKIV and v27 firmware or newer:

• Push the "MENU" button to get to the the main menu.

• Scroll to the "SETTINGS" menu selection and click the knob to select it.
• Push and hold the "MENU" button for about 8 seconds to enter the GPS Service Menu.
• Scroll beyond the bottom to a 2nd page, where you will get the Perspective option.
• Click the knob on the Perspective option to select it.
• Go back to the map view and click the knob. Select 'Map Positioning' then 'Perspective'

Firmware downloads & update instructions

The latest firmware for the MKIV Navigation system is V29.1.

Links
Download via SimplyMini.info

After you've got the firmware file on your computer, here are the update instructions:

You need two programs: WinRAR from www.rarsoft.com and ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com. Just install both with the default options.

• Right click the file that just downloaded, and select 'extract to bmw v28\' and wait a minute for the program to decompress the two files.
• Open ImgBurn, insert a CD into your burner (and wait while it spins up0, and under 'Source' click the icon for 'Browse for a file'. From there, point the file browser the location of v28.mds, which was performed in step 3.
• I burn max speed, but generally a slower speed results in a more stable burn, so I suggest burning at the minimum speed. Click the giant burn button and let it do its job.
• Take the finished cd to the car. I turn the key to the first position and let everything boot and stabilize. I then eject the Navigation Map, insert the cd, and sit and wait in the car. The process claims to take 6 minutes, but it feels far less than that. Once the process finishes, the screen will tell you to remove the cd, which you should and insert back the map disc. Give it a minute to reboot, and it should have finished

The latest firmware for the MKII/MKIII Navigation system is V22.1.

Links
Download via e38.org

(thanks to e38.org & simplymini.info for the download. Administrators, if you wish for me to stop linking to this file, contact me.)

 

After you've got the firmware file on your computer, here are the update instructions:

You need two programs: WinRAR from www.rarsoft.com and CloneCD: Download here. Just install both with the default options.

• Right click the file that just downloaded, and select 'extract to v22_1_CloneCD\' and wait a minute for the program to decompress files.
• Run CloneCD. You'll get 4 big buttons. Press the second from the left (Write from Image File). Browse to the .CCD file inside the v22_1_CloneCD folder you extracted the files to.
  Make sure you choose a slow burning speed (like 4x) to improve the quality of the burn... then choose to proceed burning the CD.
• Take the finished cd to the car. I turn the key to the first position and let everything boot and stabilize. I then eject the Navigation Map, insert the cd, and sit and wait in the car. The process claims to take 6 minutes, but it feels far less than that. Once the process finishes, the screen will tell you to remove the cd, which you should and insert back the map disc. Give it a minute to reboot, and it should have finished

My Hacked Firmware

I've hacked a V29.1 firmware disc to:

• Change the startup screen
• Change the "sky" in perspective mode (pictured here is a sunset, however, v29 has a mountain range instead)
• Change the menu text to be a little more intuitive to native English speakers
• It's internally labeled as v29.11 so it should upgrade over v29.1.

Here are some screen shots:

Disc won't eject?

BMW Navigation systems tend to not want to eject if you've inserted a disc it didn't like (whether it be burned incorrectly or bad media). To get it to eject, with the car on, press and hold the eject button for ~3 minutes. Release it and immediately press-and-release it again. The disc should now eject.

Can't find a point of interest category?

Click on the attachment below for a cheat sheet you can print out and keep in your car.