GS GDSA TFT Display

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

Marki_GSA said:
Depending on navigation app, phone based navigation can be some of the best there is. I believe sigic is listed as compatible which has everything, live traffic, the works. Will it look as pretty? No but it will get you there via what ever route you want.

Unfortunately if you want it displayed on the TFT panel I believe you have to use the BMW app which incorporates only a basic satnav. Of course you can use any dedicated satnav like the Nav V, or a smartphone based satnav app like Sygic which runs on Android and iPhone, but if you use a phone based satnav app other than the BMW one then I think you would have no choice but to use the phone display which is not always ideal, as you have to mount it somewhere suitable, possibly protect it from water, get a power lead to it, etc.

Deleted account 181015003 · Jul 15, 2017

fred_jb said:
Unfortunately if you want it displayed on the TFT panel I believe you have to use the BMW app which incorporates only a basic satnav. Of course you can use any dedicated satnav like the Nav V, or a smartphone based satnav app like Sygic which runs on Android and iPhone, but if you use a phone based satnav app other than the BMW one then I think you would have no choice but to use the phone display which is not always ideal, as you have to mount it somewhere suitable, possibly protect it from water, get a power lead to it, etc.

If that's the case it is a shame they did not use MirrorLink and Apple CarPlay tech on the bike, lots of other car manufacturers are now doing and open up a vast range of apps to the users.

Santa-2512 · Jul 15, 2017

Matty589 said:
I wonder how easy it will be to remove - if it's a couple of circlips queue a rash of new GS'es in central London visiting the dealer for a replacement dash!

No, its uses a new fixing concept -

Ve lc ro its a multipoint fixing sytem, which has hundreds of idependant locking units to keep the item secure.

Apparantly the chances of finding the exact combination of locking units is beyond the scope of the average scrote

Deleted account 190920001 · Jul 15, 2017

fred_jb said:
Unfortunately if you want it displayed on the TFT panel I believe you have to use the BMW app which incorporates only a basic satnav. Of course you can use any dedicated satnav like the Nav V, or a smartphone based satnav app like Sygic which runs on Android and iPhone, but if you use a phone based satnav app other than the BMW one then I think you would have no choice but to use the phone display which is not always ideal, as you have to mount it somewhere suitable, possibly protect it from water, get a power lead to it, etc.

BMW must be limiting this then as that isn't the Bosch system.

Deleted account 181015003 said:
If that's the case it is a shame they did not use MirrorLink and Apple CarPlay tech on the bike, lots of other car manufacturers are now doing and open up a vast range of apps to the users.

The same argument was had when KTM announced it last year. Trouble is carplay or android auto are a long way from legal as a primary display. They wouldn't play with how a manufacturer want it to look either. It's their way or no way which is OK on a secondary display.

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

Marki_GSA said:
BMW must be limiting this then as that isn't the Bosch system.

The same argument was had when KTM announced it last year. Trouble is carplay or android auto are a long way from legal as a primary display. They wouldn't play with how a manufacturer want it to look either. It's their way or no way which is OK on a secondary display.

I think that is the key point. The TFT on the GS is the sole display and BMW cannot afford to cede control of that to a third party for all sorts of reasons. When you have a secondary display, as in cars, then if you want to take it over by mirroring your smartphone to it it is not going to compromise key vehicle displays like speed, engine warnings, and so on.

MaDPRoFF · Jul 15, 2017

Actually I sort of disagree, I think it is doable to retro fit, most of the info will be built in, or use the ecu for the same info that is sent to Nav 6. if retro fit or not is another matter, but I bet they could have if they wanted to. Maybe they think it is a selling point for people to upgrade and buy a new bike over retro fits.

Deleted account 190920001 · Jul 15, 2017

MaDPRoFF said:
Actually I sort of disagree, I think it is doable to retro fit, most of the info will be built in, or use the ecu for the same info that is sent to Nav 6. if retro fit or not is another matter, but I bet they could have if they wanted to. Maybe they think it is a selling point for people to upgrade and buy a new bike over retro fits.

Absolutely BMW could retro fit but hell will freeze over first. They wouldn't retro fit a fuel float!
I thought this was about self retro fit and it's even more unlikely.

Adventure Boy · Jul 15, 2017

I love it, I want the ability to turn music up and down without leaning forward to the nav or using the headset and tracking forward and back
also will be a lot easier to see your speed

If its retro fit im in it should be cheaper than trading a 3 month old Rallye Sport in ( Hopefully ) LOL

Neil W · Jul 15, 2017

To be honest for 99% of riders it would be utterly superfluous if BMW could manage to make analogue dials that are legible and can be quickly and safely read at a glance

DC · Jul 15, 2017

Adventure Boy said:
I love it, I want the ability to turn music up and down without leaning forward to the nav or using the headset and tracking forward and back
also will be a lot easier to see your speed

If its retro fit im in it should be cheaper than trading a 3 month old Rallye Sport in ( Hopefully ) LOL

totally agree with this ...was chatting to Bmw sales today , they say it will be an optional extra at around £600,It will work with out the BMW comms system so Im betting Sena etc will connect. If it can be retro fitted, they dont know , but if it can ,Im ordering

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

DC said:
totally agree with this ...was chatting to Bmw sales today , they say it will be an optional extra at around £600,It will work with out the BMW comms system so Im betting Sena etc will connect. If it can be retro fitted, they dont know , but if it can ,Im ordering

I'm sure it will work purely as an instrument panel without the BMW Communications System, but if you want it to do anything more then I think you need two more components:

Firstly a smartphone running the BMW App and wirelessly connected to the TFT panel to provide the phone call, music playing, and basic navigation capabilities

Secondly the BMW Communications System so that the rider can interface to those services with two way audio via BlueTooth. So far it is not clear if this component can be provided by third party headsets from the likes of Sena. I would like to think so if everything conforms to industry standards, but I suspect not.

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

Neil W said:
To be honest for 99% of riders it would be utterly superfluous if BMW could manage to make analogue dials that are legible and can be quickly and safely read at a glance

I sort of agree, but I don't believe it is possible to make analogue dials which are much more legible without either making them enormous, or putting them much closer to the rider's face, both of which are not attractive solutions. Instead, all I want is for them to make a simple but effective digital replacement instrument panel, without any bells and whistles, which just replaces the analogue instruments and existing digital display, comes standard with the bike, and which should cost less than the analogue instruments to make so should attract no price premium.

Typical BMW, instead of making the standard instrument panel usable, they have to produce an expensive and over complicated system just to claim bragging rights by leap-frogging the other manufacturers with more features, and then make it an expensive optional extra, so you are left with the choice buying the bike with the current fairly useless analogue system or opting for the expensive optional extra TFT. No doubt it will eventually become the standard fitment, but only after they have milked all the early adopters.

Why can't they just update the bike with a basic TFT panel as standard, and then by all means offer the super-duper version as an extra for those who really must make and receive phone calls and listen to music while riding, and want a built-in GPS, albeit a very basic one. As it stands BMW buyers will have to pay extra for the sort of usable digital instruments which come as standard on the competition.

Deleted account 190920001 · Jul 15, 2017

fred_jb said:
Typical BMW, instead of making the standard instrument panel usable, they have to produce an expensive and over complicated system just to claim bragging rights by leap-frogging the other manufacturers with more features, and then make it an expensive optional extra, so you are left with the choice buying the bike with the current fairly useless analogue system or opting for the expensive optional extra TFT.

.

They are actually playing catchup!

solidstate100 · Jul 15, 2017

How much is it? unnessasarily expensive of course.

Do you actually need it? No, of course you dont.

Yet another example of how BMW are peerless in coming up with ways to empty your wallets, fellas.........

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

Marki_GSA said:
They are actually playing catchup!

If they were simply playing catch-up this would have been a standard fitment on all future models, but it isn't. Instead they have made it an expensive optional extra. In other words the standard GS/GSA will not have caught up at all with the standard models from some of the competition. Is the much praised flat panel display on recent KTMs an optional extra? Having looked at the specs for this it does look comparable to what BMW are now offering as an option, though not sure if it offers the basic GPS display. However it seems superior in some respects in that there is apparently a waterproof powered compartment to store the phone, that similarly to the BMW, you need to pair to the display to get some of the features. Seems like you have to make your own arrangements for this if you have the BMW TFT.

Blackal · Jul 15, 2017

Pride of place goes to a huge rev-counter.................

Anyone actually consult the rev-counter, while riding?

yofi · Jul 15, 2017

fred_jb said:
I'm sure it will work purely as an instrument panel without the BMW Communications System, but if you want it to do anything more then I think you need two more components:

Firstly a smartphone running the BMW App and wirelessly connected to the TFT panel to provide the phone call, music playing, and basic navigation capabilities

Secondly the BMW Communications System so that the rider can interface to those services with two way audio via BlueTooth. So far it is not clear if this component can be provided by third party headsets from the likes of Sena. I would like to think so if everything conforms to industry standards, but I suspect not.

I know the sat nav is garmin, but you can do two way comms with this, e.g choose speak now and say Call NAME to make a phone call. Not sure why it should be different for the Tft screen, given that you'd expect these and the sat nav to be compatible.

Deleted account 190920001 · Jul 15, 2017

They are playing catch-up technology wise. If your not happy go elsewhere and get it as standard fitment and no need for a helmet. The choice is yours but moaning will just fall on deaf ears. The only thing BMW will respond to is lost sales.

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

Marki_GSA said:
They are playing catch-up technology wise. If your not happy go elsewhere and get it as standard fitment and no need for a helmet. The choice is yours but moaning will just fall on deaf ears. The only thing BMW will respond to is lost sales.

I don't listen to music or use the phone while on the bike as I like to concentrate 100% on riding, I don't even listen to the radio while driving the car. All I really wanted, in this age of stricter speed limits and a proliferation of speed cameras, was an easy to read at a glance digital speedo, and one which can be switched easily between mph and km/h for European touring - I couldn't believe it when I found this was not possible with the existing digital speed display. I now have that through fitting a GPS driven digital speedo panel which cost me all of £22 via eBay, so they won't be getting any more money from me even if they offer this as a retrofit!

I think BMW will lose sales due to this specific issue - they needed to go to a digital instrument panel to compete, but by not making it standard I think they have grossly miscalculated the market. Yes it may have a couple of features the competition doesn't have, but making it an expensive optional extra is not going to play well, and will not look good when reviewers and potential owners make comparisons.

fred_jb · Jul 15, 2017

yofi said:
I know the sat nav is garmin, but you can do two way comms with this, e.g choose speak now and say Call NAME to make a phone call. Not sure why it should be different for the Tft screen, given that you'd expect these and the sat nav to be compatible.

I think that the difference is that you are interacting with a piece of purely BMW kit in the form of the TFT panel which has no need to be compatible with Garmin's way of doing this stuff, and that in any case is getting much of its functionality via being hooked up to the BMW app running on a smartphone. It is anybody's guess whether this means that any old BlueTooth headset will be able to interface with this TFT/BMW app combo, or whether the latest version of the BMW Communications System will be required.

GS GDSA TFT Display

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