Nav 5 problems

[Bobhudak]

Mt Nav 5 started acting funny in the last couple of days. When I would start the bike, the GPS wouldn't turn on for a couple of minutes. When I got home this morning, I tried updating the software. I also did a soft boot, a hard boot, and tried removing the battery. Now the GPS is on the calibration screen, and I can't get past the screen.

I contacted the dealer and spoke to someone who is knowledgeable about the Nav 5. He offered a couple of suggestions including going into the utilities and restoring the back-up to a previous date. It didn't help and the GPS is still stuck on the calibration screen.

I talked to a service rep from Garmin, and he said that Garmin would allow me to trade in the unit for another Nav 5 that is factory restored for $175. However, he strongly recommended buying the newer Nav unit.

My Nav 5 was bought new in 2014. I have a memory card in it but while linked to Garmin Express it said my memory was 96% full and recommended getting more memory.

Does anyone know of any fixes or have any experience in this area? Thanks in advance.

 

[dlowry]

Just a thought for you to try. I had issues with my Nav5 before that I traced to the memory card I had installed. While the card appeared to function correctly, it caused all kinds of issues. When I replaced the card it started to behave again.

 

[Emoto]

I have a Nav V of similar age. Haven't seen this problem, but you might want to hook it up to your PC via USB and delete old map sets to free up space. This is just a guess but if the drive has any bad sectors, freeing up space may help alleviate symptoms. I like the idea mentioned above about a new memory card, too. They're cheap enough.

What newer unit did the Garmin guy suggest? As far as I know, the Nav V and exceptionally troublesome, i.e., best avoided, Nav VI are the only ones that connect to the wonder wheel. I would hate to lose that. Love being able to zoom in and out while keeping both hands on the handlebars.

 

[Bobhudak]

Upgraded Nav

I have a Nav V of similar age. Haven't seen this problem, but you might want to hook it up to your PC via USB and delete old map sets to free up space. This is just a guess but if the drive has any bad sectors, freeing up space may help alleviate symptoms. I like the idea mentioned above about a new memory card, too. They're cheap enough.

What newer unit did the Garmin guy suggest? As far as I know, the Nav V and exceptionally troublesome, i.e., best avoided, Nav VI are the only ones that connect to the wonder wheel. I would hate to lose that. Love being able to zoom in and out while keeping both hands on the handlebars.

When speaking to the customer service rep at Garmin he suggested waiting until the end of the year to buy to new BMW GPS. He said a lot of the issues they have been experiencing with the Nav 6 would be resolved. He did not mention the model # but I'm assuming he was referring to a Nav 6 rev. unit. My local BMW dealer said the current Nav 6 unit was selling for $900 and the newer model due at the end of the year would be selling for around $1100. I got my Nav 5 working again with a new memory card and a hard boot. I'll put the details in a new post.

 

[Emoto]

When speaking to the customer service rep at Garmin he suggested waiting until the end of the year to buy to new BMW GPS. He said a lot of the issues they have been experiencing with the Nav 6 would be resolved. He did not mention the model # but I'm assuming he was referring to a Nav 6 rev. unit. My local BMW dealer said the current Nav 6 unit was selling for $900 and the newer model due at the end of the year would be selling for around $1100. I got my Nav 5 working again with a new memory card and a hard boot. I'll put the details in a new post.

Please do post how things turn out. Could be valuable for many people.

Something that gives me pause is that I have seen several forum posts on various sites where people say the Garmin rep also told them that they are coming out with fixes for the Nav VI problems. I hope it is true.