BMW NAVI VI Issue and Solution

[jdmcd]

I have a '21 R1250GSA with the BMW Navi VI. I began to have issues with the unit recently, thinking it was the common "ghosting" issue many riders have experienced. My issue was that the touch screen was no longer responding: random screens would appear and the buttons would flash when touched, but would not work. I could not even get my ghosting Garmin to connect to my computer for a possible software update.

And then, I had an epiphany! What if the problem was the anti-glare screen protector?? I peeled it off and incredibly, my ghosting Garmin began functioning as new! I have had that screen protector on the unit since new (the past year and a half) without any problems.

Has anyone else experienced this?? Also, is there a better screen protector? I have the one out of England (I cannot remember the name).

John

[henzilla]

Welcome to the forum

Have you used any cleaning products other than water on the screen? The screen on my phone did not like something I used and had issues. Peeled off and back in business
In my experience, not everything needs protection and none of my GPS screens has been overlayed.

[BC1100S]

In my experience, not everything needs protection and none of my GPS screens has been overlayed.

I was thinking of putting a screen protector on my Nav V and then thought, why?

[Lee]

In my experience, not everything needs protection and none of my GPS screens has been overlayed.

Same for us. We have not used a screen protector on any of our GPS units or the TFT on our bikes or my car.

[selyab]

I was thinking of putting a screen protector on my Nav V and then thought, why?

I have a 1/4 inch scratch right in the middle of my Nav 5. No screen protector. It might have come from my older Aerostich gloves with the threads in the fingertips for phone use which no longer seem to work.

[jdmcd]

Welcome to the forum

Have you used any cleaning products other than water on the screen? The screen on my phone did not like something I used and had issues. Peeled off and back in business
In my experience, not everything needs protection and none of my GPS screens has been overlayed.

No cleaning products. And you make a great point that not everything needs protection. Thanks for the input!

[brownie0486]

Same here, never have used a screen protector on the gps's or RS's dash. Don't find it necessary

[gordsmarsredrt]

I have a '21 R1250GSA with the BMW Navi VI. I began to have issues with the unit recently, thinking it was the common "ghosting" issue many riders have experienced. My issue was that the touch screen was no longer responding: random screens would appear and the buttons would flash when touched, but would not work. I could not even get my ghosting Garmin to connect to my computer for a possible software update.

And then, I had an epiphany! What if the problem was the anti-glare screen protector?? I peeled it off and incredibly, my ghosting Garmin began functioning as new! I have had that screen protector on the unit since new (the past year and a half) without any problems.

Has anyone else experienced this?? Also, is there a better screen protector? I have the one out of England (I cannot remember the name).

John

It doesn't take too much research to see that the Navigator VI is a lemon. Many owners have returned four and more units for a refurbished Nav VI from Garmin at no charge. Garmin seems happy to keep turning them around - refurbish, replace, repeat. It appears that those who've had no issues with their Nav VI don't use them as frequently as some. I have one friend with a 5 year old Nav VI who rarely uses it. For what it's worth, I sent my fourth failed Nav VI back to Garmin Canada in July, 2022. I told Garmin Canada I did not want another Nav VI, I would buy a Zumo XT instead. Garmin offered to replace my Nav VI with a Zumo XT. I would be responsible for purchasing an adapter so the Zumo XT fits in the gps dock on my RT. Adapter 3D Motorrad, in Italy, make the adapter. I took Garmin up on their offer. The adapter from from 3D Motorrad and the Garmin Zumo XT have solved my Nav VI problem. P.S. I haven't used screen protectors. Best of luck!20220816_092331(2).jpg

[akbeemer]

It doesn't take too much research to see that the Navigator VI is a lemon. Many owners have returned four and more units for a refurbished Nav VI from Garmin at no charge. Garmin seems happy to keep turning them around - refurbish, replace, repeat. It appears that those who've had no issues with their Nav VI don't use them as frequently as some. I have one friend with a 5 year old Nav VI who rarely uses it. For what it's worth, I sent my fourth failed Nav VI back to Garmin Canada in July, 2022. I told Garmin Canada I did not want another Nav VI, I would buy a Zumo XT instead. Garmin offered to replace my Nav VI with a Zumo XT. I would be responsible for purchasing an adapter so the Zumo XT fits in the gps dock on my RT. Adapter 3D Motorrad, in Italy, make the adapter. I took Garmin up on their offer. The adapter from from 3D Motorrad and the Garmin Zumo XT have solved my Nav VI problem. P.S. I haven't used screen protectors. Best of luck!20220816_092331(2).jpg

Give Garmin some credit. They are standing behind their product and acknowledged the problem. A Garmin rep said they plan to continue to replace defective units and believe they will have the ghosting issue solved by the end of 2023. Annie & I stuck with the NAV VI on our R1200 GS & GSA. Mostly because of the interface with the bike, the Trip Computer screen and wonder wheel control. When I moved to a R1250GSA I swapped to a XT because the TFT provides much of what the trip computer on the NAV VI. Annie will stick with the NAV VI on her R1200GS. We have three units so we should be able to keep on functioning. ��

[gordsmarsredrt]

Give Garmin some credit. They are standing behind their product and acknowledged the problem. A Garmin rep said they plan to continue to replace defective units and believe they will have the ghosting issue solved by the end of 2023. Annie & I stuck with the NAV VI on our R1200 GS & GSA. Mostly because of the interface with the bike, the Trip Computer screen and wonder wheel control. When I moved to a R1250GSA I swapped to a XT because the TFT provides much of what the trip computer on the NAV VI. Annie will stick with the NAV VI on her R1200GS. We have three units so we should be able to keep on functioning. ��

You're right, Garmin deserves much credit for standing behind their product. I became frustrated at the inconvenience of sending my Nav VI back to Garmin and waiting for the replacement. My initial Nav VI worked fine through two riding seasons here in British Columbia, 2018 & 2019 and 40,000 km. The three subsequent units failed increasingly sooner, the fourth working for only two weeks. I am perfectly satisfied and happy with the way Garmin treated me. I like the Zumo XT. I hope they do finally fix the Navigator VI. It's great (until it's not).

Cheers all. Happy New Year. Only 73 (or so) days 'til Spring!

[motormike]

I bought a lightly used Nav VI at a decent price. I use it on my 1250GS. So far it has given me no problems. But on longer mult-day trips I take my older Nav V along just in case. My big problem now is I can no longer get the Nav VI or my new XT to update using Garmin Express. It always crashes an hour or two into the update. I've re-installed the most recent Garmin Express, jumped through all the hoops, etc. but nothing seems to work. The updates are horrendously long, 11+ hours. It sees everything (data feed, voltage, internet connection, etc.) has to be perfectly stable or the update will crash. I think I've purchased my last Garmin device; they are just to buggy to use by the average consumer like me. I have an older Iphone with no sim card I use to display Google Maps, Ride with GPS, and other mapping and routing products. While sometimes hard to use with gloves on, it's a whole lot more stable and reliable than Garmin products at this point.

[lkraus]

I bought a lightly used Nav VI at a decent price. I use it on my 1250GS. So far it has given me no problems. But on longer mult-day trips I take my older Nav V along just in case. My big problem now is I can no longer get the Nav VI or my new XT to update using Garmin Express. It always crashes an hour or two into the update. I've re-installed the most recent Garmin Express, jumped through all the hoops, etc. but nothing seems to work. The updates are horrendously long, 11+ hours. It sees everything (data feed, voltage, internet connection, etc.) has to be perfectly stable or the update will crash. I think I've purchased my last Garmin device; they are just to buggy to use by the average consumer like me. I have an older Iphone with no sim card I use to display Google Maps, Ride with GPS, and other mapping and routing products. While sometimes hard to use with gloves on, it's a whole lot more stable and reliable than Garmin products at this point.

Use one of these four methods to reset your Nav VI, and then try the update again.

Any of these four:
Cold Power off. Power on - wait for first copyright screen (after Garmin screens). Hold lower right for 10 seconds. Erase User Data dialog box is displayed.
Settings->Device->Reset->Reset Settings (or Delete Data and Reset Settings).
Settings ->3 Bar Menu -> Restore (to restore all settings to their default values)
View Map->Speed Button->Speed Circle (hold for 10 seconds until screen changes)->Clear all User Data

A firmware update should be followed by another reset - it prevents a lot of weird behavior. Map updates should not require a reset.

There were initially some problems with the recent CNNA NT 2024.1 map update. It would install just fine on a Zumo, but would not install on a PC for Basecamp. The map installer file had a bad checksum and the problem was corrected within a day or two.

If the reset does not clear things up, I'd call Garmin for some assistance. I curse their (lack of) documentation, but their phone support usually gets problems solved.

[310JEN]

I do believe that it is cold weather that affects the NAV VI and makes them ghost. We are on about 9 replacements so far between us. I had one replaced and the replacement went in a week!

[jgoertz]

I bought a lightly used Nav VI at a decent price. I use it on my 1250GS. So far it has given me no problems. But on longer mult-day trips I take my older Nav V along just in case. My big problem now is I can no longer get the Nav VI or my new XT to update using Garmin Express. It always crashes an hour or two into the update. I've re-installed the most recent Garmin Express, jumped through all the hoops, etc. but nothing seems to work. The updates are horrendously long, 11+ hours. It sees everything (data feed, voltage, internet connection, etc.) has to be perfectly stable or the update will crash. I think I've purchased my last Garmin device; they are just to buggy to use by the average consumer like me. I have an older Iphone with no sim card I use to display Google Maps, Ride with GPS, and other mapping and routing products. While sometimes hard to use with gloves on, it's a whole lot more stable and reliable than Garmin products at this point.

Check your download speed. With a reasonably fast internet connection, the download, including the update to Garmin Express 7.16.1.0, should take less than 30 minutes (my download speeds range from 8mb/s to 17mb/s). After reading your message, I checked my setup -- Yep, a new version of Garmin Express is ready to download, and there is a new map update (2024.1). My total updates, via a wireless internet connection from my home network, and <30 minutes later I'm all up-to-date and all is working as expected. I think you may be having internet problems, not GARMIN problems!

Good luck

[cymru59]

I have a 2021 1250GS and for the first time a few days ago my Nav VI started to play up. Random screens appearing, flashing and home screen popping up but being unresponsive. Tried turning it off and back on but that did not work. Tried doing a re-boot and that did not work so did a software update and took it back out for a ride. Within a few minutes the same problems appeared.
The unit has only ever been cleaned with a soft cloth and has never had a screen protector. I looked on YouTube to see what other people had seen with the same unit and the exact same issues were common. Luckily I found a post with the phone number for Garmin customer support. So I telephoned them and got to talk with a representative who was very helpful and opened a ticket for replacement. Unfortunately however, the units are on back order until some time in March. I will be sending my unit off to Garmin today and will just have to wait until next month for a replacement.
The representative did mention however that the word is that in the second half of this year there should be a new release with an updated software package that resolves this issue. Fingers crossed I suppose.