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BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum > E90 / E92 / E93 3-series Technical Forums > AUDIO/VIDEO + BLUETOOTH + Electronics/Alarm/Software > E90 Navigation Problem!



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      05-17-2005, 10:32 PM   #1
haroldho
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E90 Navigation Problem!

I turned on my E90 today, and to my dismay I encountered my first problem with the car. The navigation arrow displayed my location about a mile off from where I actually was. I drived around for a while hoping it would eventually correct itself, but it didn't. I also tried turning the car off and on, and ejecting the navigation dvd, but neither worked. I'm hoping when I turn on the car next it will have fixed itself somehow, but if not, has anyone heard of this problem before? I did get the windows tinted, but they were tinted at the dealer before I picked the car up, and the navigation was working fine until yesterday. Someone in another forum said there is a "vehicle position" setting that allows you to manually set your position but I can't find it (I think he has an E46). I'm really hoping there's an easy fix because the drive to my dealer is quite long. Thanks
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      05-17-2005, 11:29 PM   #2
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I've had a similar problem already. The initial BMW screen came on for extraordinarily long time, then instead of giving me the legal page, it went right to the iMenu. When I selected Navigation, the map completely disappeared. I ejected the DVD, reinserted it, turned off the car and waited, and nothing. Finally I read the manual, and it said this happens occasionaly. From time to time, it may lose your position, point to a different location (from where you're already at). I got worried, because I turned off the car, then turned it right back on and it still didn't work. Then I waited about 15 minutes with the car off, then tried again and it worked fine again. Maybe you should turn it off and just wait for a while and see what happens. With any luck, it just needs to reset, so to speak. I hope it isn't anything major. Good luck.

PS: I think the navi works via that fin on the back, so window tinting shouldn't affect it. I'm thinking about it a little more, and maybe there is a setting on the Navi that you accidentally set to a different location (it's easy to screw up the settings on the iDrive if you're aren't too familiar with it, like me, for example ) If you can't get it to go, my advice would be to read through the manual and see if you can pick anything up. If not, call the dealer. Maybe they're more familar with the settings and can tell you right away if it's an issue with the iDrive setup or a physical problem with the navi.

Last edited by deutschmann59; 05-17-2005 at 11:37 PM..
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      05-17-2005, 11:33 PM   #3
haroldho
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I waited overnight, and I still have the problem. I guess I'll give it some more time.
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      05-19-2005, 01:40 AM   #4
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Hmm... third day and the nav is still messed up. I called the dealer and they don't know what's up. They said they'd do some research and get back to me. I've read through the manual and couldn't find anything. Even the compass directions are messed up (north on the nav isn't the actual north).
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      05-19-2005, 01:45 AM   #5
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how about trying disconnecting the battery or taking out the fuse and let it reset that way.
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      05-19-2005, 04:24 AM   #6
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I recall seeing something on the manual about setting your location/zone for the compass to work correctly. Might be related to this problem. I will try to look up the manual and reply with the page number.
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      05-19-2005, 05:34 AM   #7
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check out pages 94-95 of the online manual posted on this forum for setting the compass zone. hope this helps.
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      05-19-2005, 06:49 AM   #8
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Exclamation

Quote:
Originally Posted by timzerofive
how about trying disconnecting the battery or taking out the fuse and let it reset that way.
Hi,

don't disconnect your battery for reseting the Navi!
It will reset everything in your car and the manual says, you have to drive to your dealer then and ge everything back to work

Greetings from Munich, Germany, Europe, Earth, ...
mwie
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      05-19-2005, 11:19 AM   #9
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Then maybe find the fuse to the navi and unplug. Either way, if it doesn't work, he will have to drive back to the dealer anyways, haha. What kind of stuff needs to be reset by the dealer? Only dealer set function I thought was the DRL.
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      05-19-2005, 02:16 PM   #10
haroldho
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A61
check out pages 94-95 of the online manual posted on this forum for setting the compass zone. hope this helps.
I don't think the compass that is part of the premium package, which I don't have, is related to the navigation system. Thanks though.
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      05-19-2005, 03:18 PM   #11
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Haroldho, do you have any news? I'm really interested in finding out what the trouble seems to be with your Navi. I've been kinda busy lately, so I haven't done a whole lot of research, but I will look through the manual again later and see if I can find anything at all about your problem. I was hoping your system would have reset itself and gone back to normal by now...
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      05-19-2005, 03:43 PM   #12
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Maybe this is obvious - but navigation systems need a line of sight to normally at least three satellites. Thus, it will not work indoors (eg. in garage), or where there are high buildings or a lot of trees that can block the lince of sight. Have you thought of this? If this is the case, then drive to an oepn space and try again.
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      05-19-2005, 04:30 PM   #13
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Sharp, I still have the problem. Thanks for your interest.

I've gotten a few hours of driving time in out in the open, so I can't imagine that line of sight is the problem. I just hope that if I take it in to the dealer they'll have the necessary part to fix it. It's a 1.5 hour drive for me each way.
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      05-19-2005, 04:50 PM   #14
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Sorry to hear that. I don't think it's a line of sight problem either, as it would be with say, satellite TV, where the dish has to be pointed in an exact, unobstructed location, at all times. My map software still pinpoints my location, even from inside my garage. Have you heard anything from the dealer? Have they heard about this happening before (maybe not in a new 3, but in the old E46, or other navi-equipped BMWs)? I read through the manual again because I know there are a lot of features that we could've overlooked, but I've gotten fairly familiar with all of them, and none of them provides any clues as to solving the problem you're having. Anyway, keep us informed, and let us know what the dealer tells you.
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      05-20-2005, 01:14 AM   #15
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I work at a company that makes satellites and asked a couple of my buddies about how GPS works (I'm a software guy, so I didn't know). There's several explanations as to why your Nav might be messed up.

It could be that 1 out the 4 satellites needed to triangulate your location is screwed up somehow. This would explain how it just all of the sudden stopped working...while other people do not have the same problem. I'm guessing this would promptly get the government's attention and would get fixed soon.

Another possible problem is that the DVD has incorrect information about the city that you live in...you might be able to verify this if you can get the longitude and latitude coordinates from the Nav itself (you can on Acuras). Check this with actual coordinates of the points of interest in your city.

Another source could be that your receiver has been screwed up somehow and is causing some accuracy problems...don't know if this is even possible.

Keep us updated and let us know what you find out please. Just curious.
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      05-20-2005, 02:47 AM   #16
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Hey guys. Thanks for the help so far. I thought I'd give an update.

A guy from the shop at the dealer said he was going to do some research and get back to me because off the top of his head he didn't have any ideas as to why I am having problems. It seemed to me like this was something he hadn't encountered before.

I don't think it's incorrect DVD information as the navigation was working fine a few days ago for locations that now do not work. I checked the latitude and longitude readouts and they match the map display. Both are off my real location by about 4 miles, however. Hence the problem.

Last edited by haroldho; 05-20-2005 at 02:59 AM..
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      05-22-2005, 11:35 AM   #17
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The nav needs to be calibrated. my dad has a lincoln with nav and every once and a while it will be off, like your situation. all i do for his is go into the nav menu and settings and go to calibration of position and since its touch screen i can touch where i actually am to change the position. im sure there is something like that built into the idrive, you just have to look for it.
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      05-22-2005, 03:31 PM   #18
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Sat. nav only needs 3 "viewable" satellites to calculate your position. A 4th satellite is needed to determine your altitude (in flying circles its referred to as 3D navigation). The way it works is that each satellite has an extremely precise clock in it (down to nanoseconds), and this timestamp is transmitted to the receiver via a very low-strength signal (which is why the antenna needs to be outside the car). The differential in times from the 3 satellites is used to triangulate your position on the surface (I'm simplifying a lot here, but this is pretty much the gist of it). Given that, there are a couple of possibilities for your position to be off: your receiver could be malfunctioning, you could be in an area of "selective availability" - the military can locally degrade the GPS signal and cause it to be inaccurate, you may have settings in the sat. nav system that offset your location by a certain amount (you can get this feature in aviation GPS systems, so it may be the same in your car).
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      05-22-2005, 03:44 PM   #19
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hey. I drive an E46 325ti (E90 is on order) and I had a similar problem with my navigation earlier this year. I started my car one day, and it didn't know where the hell i was, if i drove up a road, the navi thought i was going the other way. I freaked out a little, and unplugged the battery. Needless to say, it didn't fix the nav, and my windows and all stopped working (they worked about 30 mins later). After playing and playing, the navigation suddenly started working, I think it might have been me driving around and around 1 city block until it figured out where i was. Haven't had a problem since.

In South Africa, we have BMW oncall who will come out and look at your car no matter what is wrong (dead battery, flat tyre, weird noise). Maybe you guys have something like that there? You could call them?
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      05-23-2005, 07:42 PM   #20
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The dealer is calling Navteq to inquire as to what the problem might be. It seems to me this is probably a hardware problem so I'm not sure what calling the software maker will do. Oh well.
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      05-23-2005, 08:03 PM   #21
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haroldho, a hardware problem, eh? Great, I'm sure that's just what you wanted to hear! . Oh well, the good thing is it is still under warranty, so you won't have to worry about getting it fixed out of your own pocket. It's just that I'd expect a BRAND NEW BMW to be kind of free from flaws, and it's a shame that you have to worry about this at all.

I just hope mine doesn't start playing games again. Just about a half hour ago, I was going home and when I started the car, the Legal screen was all auf Deutsch. I took 5 years of German I'm fairly fluent in it, but the screen is supposed to be in English! Everything else went back to normal once I accepted, but I really hope nothing goes wrong with the system again. It seems to be very temperamental...
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      05-23-2005, 09:44 PM   #22
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These are the little bugs we put up with in exchange to be one of the first people to own this car. But it's all covered under warranty so it's all good.
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