BMW Connected Drive - Self-created GPS / navigation routes - In car use

Wapping

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I have always known that the navigation system in my car would accept self-created routes but I'd never got around to making any. I have now had a go and (after a very decent chunk of trial and error) I've just about worked it out.

Start with: https://www.bmw-routes.com/uk/en/index.jsp

Plan your own routes: https://www.bmw-routes.com/uk/en/plan-routes/index.jsp

The route planning is quite easy as it is all based on Google maps, not on Garmin for instance. You can use the map to start and finish your routes at exact points (right click) and / or enter the places names into the fields and / or select several other points in order to drag the route around to follow exactly the roads you want to use. In essence, it's just the same as using Google maps to plot a route; no more difficult than that.

Give the route a name you'll recognise. This is the name that'll appear on the screen in the car.

You then download the route and save it to your desktop and from there import it to a USB stick.

NOTE:

(1) The downloaded files are compressed / zipped. so you'll need to open them BEFORE the device in the car will recognise them.

(2) The file is called BMW Navigation. The device in the car is very fussy about how this is named. In short, DO NOT change the name.

(3) You can only load one route at a time onto the USB and into the car. I think there might be a way to load multiple routes wirelessly but I've not yet had time to see if it's possible. I created eight individual routes, so that meant eight individual visits with the USB stick.... Plus assorted other visits whilst I worked out how it all worked (don't try to load multiple trips, don't rename the file etc etc). Eventually I worked it all out and now have the eight routes loaded into the car's navigation system.

(4) On my car (and I think several others) the USB socket is in the glovebox, in about the most awkward position possible. As luck would have it I had a USB extension lead to hand, which made life much easier.

(5) The car's navigation system is fussy about when the USB stick is plugged in, or it won't recognise it.

(6) The file extension is odd, not the usual .gpx . In my investigations as to why things didn't just work, I found out that the system in the car is UNIX (whatever that is??) based, hence the odd extension. I have no idea if this is true.

(7) I read somewhere that it's possible to create the routes in Tire, too. I have no idea but it can't hurt to try, I guess saving the route(s) with the correct file extension. Several bods on forums moaned (what's new) that the BMW route plotting map was too small. I found it OK.

I haven't tried using any of the routes I created, that will have to wait until we go to Le Mans later this week. I'll be interested to see if - and how- they work. What I'm particularly interested to see is, if the car goes 'off route' how the auto-recalulate works, if indeed it works at all. I am hoping that it won't re-write the whole thing, not least as I have created the routes to take into account the race day one-way system around the track..... Or at least I think / hope I have.
 
I tried it out and it all works well. A bit quirky but nothing a bit of trial and error can't get you past.
 
Richard

BMW currently offer two nav systems, at least they do in the 3 & 4 series: the Nav Business and the Nav Pro. I have the latter in my new 430D. What unit have you been trying this on, as I believe there are some quite big differences between the two units
 
Gawd knows, Paul.

The car was secondhand and didn't arrive with the handbook for the iDrive / Navigation system. It's a fully kitted 135M (2012 model) if that's any help.
 
Thanks for posting this. It will save my wife from the trauma of trying to read a map as I attempt to create an interesting route on the fly..
 
Quick update

Looking to import routes into my BMW and a Google search brought this thread up...small world.
It appears that the functionality at BMW-routes.com is no more and its just an ad page now.

So, this is what worked for me.
Import your route into Tyre.
Give the file a name and save as filetype 'BMW Files' (which saves it as a *.tar.gz file) into the following folder on your USB stick
BMWData/Navigation/Routes

Plug into your car and go through the 'import journeys from USB'
 


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