• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Nav V - am I missing something

Replacing Opening Page Icons

Is there a means so I can remove the BMW dealers from the initial where to page and replace it with the item found in categories called lodging?
 
Is there a means so I can remove the BMW dealers from the initial where to page and replace it with the item found in categories called lodging?
Not exactly Darrell, but you can add the "Lodging" icon and move the "BMW Motorrad" icon to the second last object on the screen which will, or can, mean that you would not see it unless you scroll down to the second section of the page/screen (only the first six icons fit on the screen and you need to scroll down to view icons #7 and above.

It appears that you can not remove either the "Home" nor the "BMW Motorrad" icons from that initial "Where To" screen. However, you do so with all the others that are there natively:
- Address
- Gas Stations
- Restaurants
- Lodging
- Cities
- Coordinates
- Intersections
You can also "add a shortcut". It is possible that one or two on the list above aren't native but ones that I added as I these are the ones I have on my "Where To" screen and the order that I have them in after the "Go Home" icon which is the 1st icon. After the "Intersections icon I have the "BMW Motorrad" icon and the "Add Shortcut" icon.

To add/remove an icon from the "Where To" screen simple go there by pressing "Where To' on the opening/initial screen and press the drop-down menu on the upper left then select "Remove Shortcut(s)". This will bring up all of the available icons. You will see a red trash cans with a white X beside those that you can remove from the screen but not beside the "Home" nor the "BMW Motorrad" icons (they are not removable, but are moveable within the screen itself.

To move them within the screen, simply go back to the "Where To" screen and hold you finger down on the icon you wish to move (BMW Motorrad) until it starts to visually vibrate at which time you simply drag the icon to where you want it on the screen.

Hope that helps.
 
Not exactly Darrell, but you can add the "Lodging" icon and move the "BMW Motorrad" icon to the second last object on the screen which will, or can, mean that you would not see it unless you scroll down to the second section of the page/screen (only the first six icons fit on the screen and you need to scroll down to view icons #7 and above.

It appears that you can not remove either the "Home" nor the "BMW Motorrad" icons from that initial "Where To" screen. However, you do so with all the others that are there natively:
- Address
- Gas Stations
- Restaurants
- Lodging
- Cities
- Coordinates
- Intersections
You can also "add a shortcut". It is possible that one or two on the list above aren't native but ones that I added as I these are the ones I have on my "Where To" screen and the order that I have them in after the "Go Home" icon which is the 1st icon. After the "Intersections icon I have the "BMW Motorrad" icon and the "Add Shortcut" icon.

To add/remove an icon from the "Where To" screen simple go there by pressing "Where To' on the opening/initial screen and press the drop-down menu on the upper left then select "Remove Shortcut(s)". This will bring up all of the available icons. You will see a red trash cans with a white X beside those that you can remove from the screen but not beside the "Home" nor the "BMW Motorrad" icons (they are not removable, but are moveable within the screen itself.

To move them within the screen, simply go back to the "Where To" screen and hold you finger down on the icon you wish to move (BMW Motorrad) until it starts to visually vibrate at which time you simply drag the icon to where you want it on the screen.

Hope that helps.

Awesome information! I had no idea this was possible and I thought I knew most things about the Nav V. If this is in the manual... I must have missed it; and I do RTFM. Thanks.
 
Thanks,

I've played with the NavV a bit more and am growing used to it, I still think that the GUI is really dated but I like the Info-screen (which apparently can only be accessed from the thumb-wheel) during my rides.

Is there any setting to change the default start-up screen?

Thanks,
Ski

It is dated compared to the intuitive interface in Google Maps. But the integration w/ the wonder wheel is nice, and when you factor in road avoidances and the 3 or 4 route options, Fastest, Shortest, Curvy, Off-Road, plus being able to find stuff on the fly for example fuel, food etc, it's nice to have it integrated over fiddling w/ your smartphone. I returned from a nearly 10K mile ride which we had use the exceedingly tedious BaseCamp to plan w/ only to discover BaseCamp preplanning is not needed--simply decide where you wish to stop next and enter it on the fly, done. Having the various avoidances and route options is all you need. Without question though, it's a clunky and dated interface but gets the job done.

If you still wish to pre-plan every stop this is the far superior app over Basecamp:

https://www.motogoloco.com/map/
 
Awesome information! I had no idea this was possible and I thought I knew most things about the Nav V. If this is in the manual... I must have missed it; and I do RTFM. Thanks.
Not sure if I read it in the manual or stumbled across it on the GPS itself, but it is in the full 22-page manual on page 3. I too read the manuals (as much as possible) and also try to get PDF copies of all manuals to a) load onto my phone for access on the road if needed and b) load onto my desktop computer for easy of reading but even more importantly, so that I can to a search for specific items/areas if desired.

It is dated compared to the intuitive interface in Google Maps. But the integration w/ the wonder wheel is nice, and when you factor in road avoidances and the 3 or 4 route options, Fastest, Shortest, Curvy, Off-Road, plus being able to find stuff on the fly for example fuel, food etc, it's nice to have it integrated over fiddling w/ your smartphone. I returned from a nearly 10K mile ride which we had use the exceedingly tedious BaseCamp to plan w/ only to discover BaseCamp preplanning is not needed--simply decide where you wish to stop next and enter it on the fly, done. Having the various avoidances and route options is all you need. Without question though, it's a clunky and dated interface but gets the job done.

If you still wish to pre-plan every stop this is the far superior app over Basecamp:

https://www.motogoloco.com/map/
Agreed, it would be nice to have all the benefits of both. We can only hope that things move in that direction sooner, rather than later and it would be very nice to have integration with Google Maps. I have a VW Touareg with factory Navigation which is a Garmin product IIRC. In Europe the latest versions of the VW Nav integrates with Google Maps but not the North American versions for some reason.

Thanks for the link to Motogoloco.com I think I'll likely use it a fair bit. Now if only I could get my computer to consistently recognize my Garmin things would be so much easier.
 
Thanks for the link to Motogoloco.com I think I'll likely use it a fair bit. Now if only I could get my computer to consistently recognize my Garmin things would be so much easier.

If you haven't tried riding w/o planning beyond just inputting your next destination in Nav V, I highly recommend it--quick and easy. If you're heading to a place w/ unfamiliar roads, using Fastest, Shortest, Curvy routing options, plus tweaking the various avoidances you will get a nice set of routes you can view in Nav V on the fly to decide which one you want to take. It's often the case you may not know which roads/routes are better anyway--this worked out fine for sections of our 9,163m coast to coast and back the long way trip this summer. No planning needed--just follow your Nav V :)
 
How do you purchase the traffic app? The Garmin site says it is $49.99 whereas I see it on this forum and app at $19.99. Any assistance would be appreciated.


Didn't see anyone answer your question, apologies if I missed that.

You have to put the Smartphone Link on your phone first, then order the traffic/weather etc from there.
 
Also, once you have the "Garmin Smartphone Link" you can also get for $5 (as I recall) the weather app which will give you warnings about local weather events. I think it's less useful than the traffic link, however.
 
I'm brand new to the Nav V - but a long time user of Google Maps when navigating in my Cage. I just finished my first ride (4 days of riding - ~1200 miles). I love the bike! I realise that there is a lot of love for the Nav V - but I just don't feel any of it. To me it feels so far behind the curve on functionality GIVEN the price.

- I found that it did not contain small towns. My unit is completely updated.
- It is missing the real-time updates (especially Police Ahead and automatic rerouting based on real-time traffic) that are now part of Google Maps courtesy of the Google integration with Waze.
- It was painful to move between the Map and the Audio Player screen - for instance to pause a song, or skip ahead.
- Lack of voice integration (speaking into the unit instead of typing) is a clear miss.
- I turned off the voice prompts - found them to be far to loud and not clear (perhaps there are settings to help with this though) through my Cardo. Add to that the hack required every-time you start the bike that others must use who do leverage audio prompts.
- I also had problems with the unit locking-up. First the audio would get screwy, then Icons would disappear and finally I'd have to force a reboot. It's going back to the dealer for this issue - we'll see what happens.
- The unit doesn't lock onto the bike (R1200RT) - who designed that?
- It often fails to connect to my phone over BT. I am forced to go into settings and reconnect about 50% of the time.

Overall, given the price of the Nav V, I am quite disappointed. It feels like a $100 unit, not an $850 CDN unit. For the money, I could have bought a brand new phone dedicated to the bike!

Question, has anybody been able to run Google Maps on this device (getting data from a BT connection to a phone)?
 
Question, has anybody been able to run Google Maps on this device (getting data from a BT connection to a phone)?

I don 't think there is any way to run Google Maps on the Nav V, I doubt that Garmin uses an Android operating system. The closest thing would be to get the Smartphone Link app that has already been mentioned. I like the Smartphone link (with the traffic service) because you can search for a location on the phone and then "Send" it to the Garmin, no typing out a name on the Garmin keypad - which doesn't seem to work that well.

The only problem with the Smartphone link is that it adds one more Bluetooth connection to an, already crowded, phone. I have the NavV, a Sena 20S, and a radar detector all wanting to connect to my phone at the same time. I've tried connecting the phone to the Sena through the Nav V but the sound quality is really bad.

Oh, and for the Sena 20S you hold the button for 5 seconds to pair and 12 seconds to reset.
 
I'm brand new to the Nav V - but a long time user of Google Maps when navigating in my Cage. I just finished my first ride (4 days of riding - ~1200 miles). I love the bike! I realise that there is a lot of love for the Nav V - but I just don't feel any of it. To me it feels so far behind the curve on functionality GIVEN the price.

I agree completely w/ the crudeness of Nav V, only exceeded by horror of BaseCamp!

This being said, Nav V was flawlessly useful on my 9,163mile trip this summer. It got us everywhere we needed to go, there was really no need to plan stop by stop in Basecamp or other software--just pick your next stop and hit Go! and you're off and running using the various routing options and avoidances. The wonder wheel control was useful. It was nice to see estimated time of arrival among other things, elevation, etc on Nav V.

I use SENA 10R and use my iPhone for music. The phone always connects itself to SENA, and NAV V flawlessly connects to SENA right after the phone does. It was very useful, on the fly, to punch in a gas station or restaurant, though not always did the stop exactly match what was last updated Nav V. When I stopped at a restaurant I would store Nav V into a lockable cubby unless I had line of sight to the bike from the restaurant. Not a big deal, removing Nav V. Back home I remove Nav V as fortunately I can still find my way around the neighborhood. Some folks have come up w/ mechanisms to lock down Nav V on the '14+ RT, but I don't see the need myself, again in part because I don't use it for local riding.
 
...Thanks for the link to Motogoloco.com I think I'll likely use it a fair bit. Now if only I could get my computer to consistently recognize my Garmin things would be so much easier.

If you haven't tried riding w/o planning beyond just inputting your next destination in Nav V, I highly recommend it--quick and easy. If you're heading to a place w/ unfamiliar roads, using Fastest, Shortest, Curvy routing options, plus tweaking the various avoidances you will get a nice set of routes you can view in Nav V on the fly to decide which one you want to take. It's often the case you may not know which roads/routes are better anyway--this worked out fine for sections of our 9,163m coast to coast and back the long way trip this summer. No planning needed--just follow your Nav V :)
I've been using my GPS for several years to do multi-day trip-planning. Regarding using the various route modes options (Fastest, Shortest, Curvy), I tend to use those most of the time but find that it really requires using BaseCamp and shaping-points to get good custom routes that aren't either all super-slab or too curvy. Taking residential roads rather than secondary roads isn't my idea of what I want when I choose "Curvy" routing.

...Nav V ... To me it feels so far behind the curve on functionality GIVEN the price...
It seems to me that you're referring to and comparing two dissimilar systems. For a motorcycle usable GPS (weather protection, vibration resistance, Exit data, speed of routing/re-routing, etc.) you are really comparing apples to oranges. It is crude compared to Google Maps, but not compare to anything else that will work in the rain, sun, vibration, etc., that makes up a motorcycle operating environment. I'd love to see a melding of Google Maps and Garmin for the Nav-V, but I'm not sure that's in the cards even for Nav-VI that should be out within the next 12-24 months.

...- I found that it did not contain small towns. My unit is completely updated.
- It is missing the real-time updates (especially Police Ahead and automatic rerouting based on real-time traffic) that are now part of Google Maps courtesy of the Google integration with Waze.
- It was painful to move between the Map and the Audio Player screen - for instance to pause a song, or skip ahead.
- Lack of voice integration (speaking into the unit instead of typing) is a clear miss.
- I turned off the voice prompts - found them to be far to loud and not clear (perhaps there are settings to help with this though) through my Cardo. Add to that the hack required every-time you start the bike that others must use who do leverage audio prompts.
- I also had problems with the unit locking-up. First the audio would get screwy, then Icons would disappear and finally I'd have to force a reboot. It's going back to the dealer for this issue - we'll see what happens.
- The unit doesn't lock onto the bike (R1200RT) - who designed that?
- It often fails to connect to my phone over BT. I am forced to go into settings and reconnect about 50% of the time...
Unfortunately, automatic re-routing isn't yet available, but user selectable re-routing based on real-time traffic is through a subscription within SmarkLink. It will provide you with options and show you the amount of time to be saved. On my Garmin 56LM with Traffic, on several occasions it was apparent that the re-routing wouldn't really save me much 2-3 minutes over an hour with a lot of extra turning, merging, etc. Sometimes it helped a lot. The lack of automatic re-routing is definitely a big area for improvement.

While voice integration would be great I'm not sure we'll see that for awhile do to the necessity for it to be usable with all forms of helmets/bikes. Fine for inside a cage, but for someone on an open-faced helmet on a Harley with big-pipes, it likely isn't going to fly and the manufacturers don't want to hassle with angry customers.

Sound-level is adjustable, just like it is on your phone. It should be right there on the "Home" screen. There should be four icons at the bottom of the screen (L-R: Phone, Volume, Apps, Settings). Your Cardo should also have adjustable sound-levels for audio coming from the Nav-V.

The sound quality is likely something wrong with your system, either the Cardo or installation of it. The Cardo, like many others is sensitive to speaker placement within the helmet and one needs to spend time getting placement correct.

I don't have any issue whatsoever with volume on my Nav-V, typically run it around 50% volume, nor any issues with connecting or locking-up in the 4+ years of using my Sena SMH10 with my Garmins. Only issue I've had so far has been due to operator error. :-(

...Overall, given the price of the Nav V, I am quite disappointed. It feels like a $100 unit, not an $850 CDN unit. For the money, I could have bought a brand new phone dedicated to the bike!...
If you do much GPS assisted riding on the bike, for my money, you are far better off with a dedicated proper GPS, not a phone. I bought a Garmin nuvi 56LM from Canadian Tire for $135 Cdn. (us it in my wife's car rather than updating the car's maps @ $250+ each time). Sure, it's not weather-proof etc., etc., but neither is a phone. It has many features that are very helpful for when/while you are driving and is far more legible than any phone I've tried.

Everyone is different, but for me, I find a good dedicated GPS far better than a phone with a GPS app. When there are places that Garmin can't find than I can easily pull them off my phone and input them to the GPS. Definitely not ideal, but I've been using GPSs for quite a long time now and so I'm very comfortable with them and don't have any issues.

...Question, has anybody been able to run Google Maps on this device (getting data from a BT connection to a phone)?
VW started running Google Maps on their Touareg GPS units in Europe starting with the 2015 model, but I was very disappointed to find that my North American Touareg can't/won't run it. It is my understanding that the VW GPS is a Garmin based unit like the Nav-V is, but I've not heard of anyone doing a work-around on this yet.

I don 't think there is any way to run Google Maps on the Nav V, I doubt that Garmin uses an Android operating system...
No need for the Android system, AFAIK, VW like the majority other vehicles on the road uses BlackBerry's QNX operating system for their Infotainment systems which provides Google Earth Maps, Google Street View, realtime traffic information, points-of-interest search, voice control, etc. (More than 40 automotive OEMs use QNX software in their vehicles...deployed in more than 50 million vehicles worldwide)
 
On a related note, can someone tell me how to increase the volume of the Nav 5 voice? When the directions are given, the audio from the radio are muted, but the Nav 5 voice is not loud enough to be heard at highway speeds with my helmet speakers. Can't seem to find the control to make the voice louder with respect to the radio.
Thanks for any help you can give.
John
 
Thanks Alan.

It seems to me that you're referring to and comparing two dissimilar systems. For a motorcycle usable GPS (weather protection, vibration resistance, Exit data, speed of routing/re-routing, etc.) you are really comparing apples to oranges.
I think that this is all in the packaging. There is no need for the Nav V to 'not be just as good' as Google within the same package. However, perhaps this is a complaint of most GPS units - rather than of the Nav V.


While voice integration would be great I'm not sure we'll see that for awhile do to the necessity for it to be usable with all forms of helmets/bikes. Fine for inside a cage, but for someone on an open-faced helmet on a Harley with big-pipes, it likely isn't going to fly and the manufacturers don't want to hassle with angry customers.
Perhaps - but a MAJOR focus these days is on hands-free support. This is even more important for motorcycles, as the passenger can't help out. In my mind, this would be a very solid feature to add.

Sound-level is adjustable, just like it is on your phone. It should be right there on the "Home" screen. There should be four icons at the bottom of the screen (L-R: Phone, Volume, Apps, Settings). Your Cardo should also have adjustable sound-levels for audio coming from the Nav-V.
I will dig into this. However, the issue is that when I get my music (streaming from the Nav V) at the correct volume, the GPS voice prompts are to loud. I am connected directly to the Nav V (I don't have the BMW sound system) - and I can't find a GPS Prompt specific volume control. In fact, I cannot change the volume at all on the Nav V - since it is connected by Bluetooth to my Cardo.


The sound quality is likely something wrong with your system, either the Cardo or installation of it. The Cardo, like many others is sensitive to speaker placement within the helmet and one needs to spend time getting placement correct.
Actually, I'm just fine with the sound from the audio app on the Nav V. I use ear-buds. However, the quality of the audio prompts seems bad. Perhaps it's the volume difference though...

VW started running Google Maps on their Touareg GPS units in Europe starting with the 2015 model, but I was very disappointed to find that my North American Touareg can't/won't run it. It is my understanding that the VW GPS is a Garmin based unit like the Nav-V is, but I've not heard of anyone doing a work-around on this yet.

No need for the Android system, AFAIK, VW like the majority other vehicles on the road uses BlackBerry's QNX operating system for their Infotainment systems which provides Google Earth Maps, Google Street View, realtime traffic information, points-of-interest search, voice control, etc. (More than 40 automotive OEMs use QNX software in their vehicles...deployed in more than 50 million vehicles worldwide)
Very interesting! Thanks for this info.
 
Thanks Alan.
I will dig into this. However, the issue is that when I get my music (streaming from the Nav V) at the correct volume, the GPS voice prompts are to loud. I am connected directly to the Nav V (I don't have the BMW sound system) - and I can't find a GPS Prompt specific volume control. In fact, I cannot change the volume at all on the Nav V - since it is connected by Bluetooth to my Cardo.
You can adjust the volume independently. Select the Volume button, Audio settings (the little wrench upper left), Audio Mixer.
You will see the individual slider bars.

You're right that the issues aren't limited to the Nav V. All GPS have limitations. That includes google maps and all apps or websites using the Google Maps API. It all depends on how you use it and what you want to achieve.
 
I'm brand new to the Nav V - but a long time user of Google Maps when navigating in my Cage. I just finished my first ride (4 days of riding - ~1200 miles). I love the bike! I realise that there is a lot of love for the Nav V - but I just don't feel any of it. To me it feels so far behind the curve on functionality GIVEN the price.

- I found that it did not contain small towns. My unit is completely updated.

Overall, given the price of the Nav V, I am quite disappointed. It feels like a $100 unit, not an $850 CDN unit. For the money, I could have bought a brand new phone dedicated to the bike!

Question, has anybody been able to run Google Maps on this device (getting data from a BT connection to a phone)?

Are you sure you're accessing the correct map? Occasionally I've had to go back through the update process a couple of times to get the most recent version of the map installed. Check your settings! That said, how about listing some towns that show up in Google that you're not seeing on the NAV 5. I'd like to compare yours with some of my units.
 
There are some towns that do not show up on the NAV V. I too have experienced this with the latest and greatest map updates.
 
Last edited:
...Perhaps - but a MAJOR focus these days is on hands-free support. This is even more important for motorcycles, as the passenger can't help out. In my mind, this would be a very solid feature to add...
I agree, just don't think it will come for some time unfortunately.

...the issue is that when I get my music (streaming from the Nav V) at the correct volume, the GPS voice prompts are to loud. I am connected directly to the Nav V (I don't have the BMW sound system) - and I can't find a GPS Prompt specific volume control. In fact, I cannot change the volume at all on the Nav V - since it is connected by Bluetooth to my Cardo...
Set your volumes first on the Nav-V and then adjust each one with the Cardo (when you are receiving that particular audio feed), that's how my Sena works, but I don't know about the Cardo.

I've set all volume levels on my Nav-V at 100% and adjust everything through my Sena. Don't have any quality issues, but if they were a concern than I'd look at setting the Nav-V audio levels at say 85% and adjust the cardo from there.

...Actually, I'm just fine with the sound from the audio app on the Nav V. I use ear-buds. However, the quality of the audio prompts seems bad. Perhaps it's the volume difference though...
That's my thinking as well. Give it a try and let us know what happens.
 
I agree completely w/ the crudeness of Nav V, only exceeded by horror of BaseCamp!

This being said, Nav V was flawlessly useful on my 9,163mile trip this summer. It got us everywhere we needed to go, there was really no need to plan stop by stop in Basecamp or other software--just pick your next stop and hit Go! and you're off and running using the various routing options and avoidances. The wonder wheel control was useful. It was nice to see estimated time of arrival among other things, elevation, etc on Nav V.

I use SENA 10R and use my iPhone for music. The phone always connects itself to SENA, and NAV V flawlessly connects to SENA right after the phone does. It was very useful, on the fly, to punch in a gas station or restaurant, though not always did the stop exactly match what was last updated Nav V. When I stopped at a restaurant I would store Nav V into a lockable cubby unless I had line of sight to the bike from the restaurant. Not a big deal, removing Nav V. Back home I remove Nav V as fortunately I can still find my way around the neighborhood. Some folks have come up w/ mechanisms to lock down Nav V on the '14+ RT, but I don't see the need myself, again in part because I don't use it for local riding.

I'm in 100% agreement. Total ripoff at that price point. I was just as satisfied with my $100 Garmin and it had free traffic! just to use the media player when it's docked I had to tape over one of the leads in the back in order to fool the unit into thinking it was not docked with an RT with audio system. Also you can't use the my motorcycle app on an RT so one of the features that was a selling point for me is not even available. I don't think I'd buy it again if I had to do it over. I'd just Velcro my old unit onto the cover and call it good.
 
Back
Top