Navigator VI (Nav-VI)...Tips and Tricks

Sound Quality with NavVI

Greetings.

I am a new owner of a 2018 1200rt which is now sitting at the dealer waiting for spring.

I come from a 650 VStrom which I am keeping as my bike for "dirty" trips.

I have been reading about the BMW Garmin Nav VI. I currently use a Garmin 660 which will mount on the factory provided mount on the 1200rt. I understand that it will work fine as a GPS but will not connect with the bike. For sound I have been using a Sena 20S. While the Garmin 660 will broadcast music to the Sena 20S, I find the sound quality is vastly inferior to my Iphone. My question is whether the sound quality from bike audio system through the BMW Nav VI is similar to the Iphone? The Nav VI has many advantages and I would consider it if it provides a quality broadcast to the Sena 20S.

Thanks

rpr1200rt said:

Greetings.

I am a new owner of a 2018 1200rt which is now sitting at the dealer waiting for spring.

I come from a 650 VStrom which I am keeping as my bike for "dirty" trips.

I have been reading about the BMW Garmin Nav VI. I currently use a Garmin 660 which will mount on the factory provided mount on the 1200rt. I understand that it will work fine as a GPS but will not connect with the bike. For sound I have been using a Sena 20S. While the Garmin 660 will broadcast music to the Sena 20S, I find the sound quality is vastly inferior to my Iphone. My question is whether the sound quality from bike audio system through the BMW Nav VI is similar to the Iphone? The Nav VI has many advantages and I would consider it if it provides a quality broadcast to the Sena 20S.

Thanks

Click to expand...

I have a 2018 R1200RT-LC for a little over a year.
Let me see if I can help you out with your questions.
You can connect your Nav VI directly to the Sena 20S and receive instructions from it.
But the Nav VI will not play music like other GPS‘s units, when it is installed on the R1200RT.
My solution to the problem is as follows.
I installed a Monticello Speaker Bridge and ran the 3.5mm audio cable to the front of the bike.
I connected it to a Sena SM10 Bluetooth dongle. The SM10 connects and sends stereo music to the Sena 20S.
The trick is that the Nav VI will send voice directions through the BMW Stereo system to the SM10.
You have to set the stereo system to Aux, to receive only directions from the GPS unit.
If you play music from the stereo system, either from the FM band, the Sat Radio or music form the build in USB port, you will get GPS route directions as the music mutes 50% or so.
The nice think is that not only can you control the volume from the Wonder Wheel. You can also set the preferences to automatically increase the volume as the travel speed increases.
Now as for your iPhone, you can activate Siri by pushing the phone button on the Sena 20S and use voice dial.
I use earplug speakers with my Sena 20S, for better sound.
I hope this helps.

I can play music from the Nav VI sd card or music from my phone thru the Nav VI to the Sena 20s.

bdfbeemer said:

I can play music from the Nav VI sd card or music from my phone thru the Nav VI to the Sena 20s.

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How? I would appreciate, if you wouldn't mind telling me/us how you pair your devices.

Thank you.

I have it written down. I will look for it. Also there are some Utubes out there describing the sequence.

bdfbeemer said:

I have it written down. I will look for it. Also there are some Utubes out there describing the sequence.

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Thank you Buck, I would really appreciate if you could either share it here or send it in a PM.
I have tried all those YouTube videos and all sorts of versions and could only come up with the solution, I wrote about a few posts up.

Thank you!

Here it is Bernie.

I have two bikes and going back and forth was a pita. So I have a helmet, GPS and Sena dedicated to each bike.

1. unpair everything
2. Pair Sena to bike
3. Pair Phone to Nav
4. Pair Nav to Sena
5. Pair phone to Sena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nB3JiPEqpQ

I hope you figure it out. Works well for me. I also have fitted ear plugs with speakers. Sound is amazing. The brand I have has given me problems. Customer service is poor. I pan on switching
to another company in a month or so. Need to save up some coin.

Buck

Card Size

Can someone tell me the max size the NAV VI can use?
Thanks Gator

If IIRC, it's a 32gb microSD card (or MicroSDHC,, or MicroSDXC). They must be formatted to FAT32.

What are the terms of the subscription services (weather, etc) offered on the Smartlink app? Is this a yearly or monthly fee? I click on the terms link and the link is broken (page not found).

sandman333 said:

What are the terms of the subscription services (weather, etc) offered on the Smartlink app? Is this a yearly or monthly fee? I click on the terms link and the link is broken (page not found).

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I paid one time 3 years ago.

I've used the app with two different phones and two different Zumos, only paid for weather once. The one time payment is linked to your app store ID.

When I paid I only paid for weather. About a year later I started to notice traffic info on the GPS.
Makes me wonder if weather and traffic are both free now?

I don't remember what I paid for weather, it was a small amount like $5.

Lee, IIRC, and that's a big if, when I paid (very early), it was for both the "Advanced" Weather (basic was free), and a second fee for Traffic. Both one-time fees. One was around the $5 you mentioned and the other was just a bit more or less.

Shortly after that, one of those two became either became free or included with the other from that point forward and was retroactive for all. That's my recollection.

I'd wished I had only taken Traffic, which I use and actually rerouted me around a 20-minute traffic jam on the way back from the Des Moines Rally last year. My riding buddies, who'd started earlier than me didn't have the auto-reroute enabled and ended up arriving at our hotel after me because of it. They were also considerably less comfortable than me, having spent significant time sitting in traffic in the sun on a hot day. I was already sold on auto-reroute from past experiences, but that one was the clearest example of one of the main benefits.

AlanColes said:

Lee, IIRC, and that's a big if, when I paid (very early), it was for both the "Advanced" Weather (basic was free),

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I keep forgetting there was a basic weather option.
I paid for the option that gave me live radar on the GPS.

Lee said:

I keep forgetting there was a basic weather option.
I paid for the option that gave me live radar on the GPS.

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I did as well Lee, but wish I hadn't.

For many, it is likely useful but I don't use it because my vision is not great for small details so I can't really see it unless stopped. Also, I have never figured out how to adjust the warnings that it gives out at such a high volume. I live and do most of my riding close to the ocean and for some frustrating reason continually get marine weather warnings "Small Craft Advisory" which I really prefer not to be inundated with.

AlanColes said:

I did as well Lee, but wish I hadn't.

For many, it is likely useful but I don't use it because my vision is not great for small details so I can't really see it unless stopped. Also, I have never figured out how to adjust the warnings that it gives out at such a high volume. I live and do most of my riding close to the ocean and for some frustrating reason continually get marine weather warnings "Small Craft Advisory" which I really prefer not to be inundated with.

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If I had the choice to pick my options I would select weather radar and skip all the other options.
Now that I have speakers in my helmet all the weather warnings are annoying.

Lee said:

.... Now that I have speakers in my helmet all the weather warnings are annoying.

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We've had the Shoei beaten off of my helmet and the visor tinting beaten off of Susan's helmet by hail, snowed on in August going up Mt Evans, sleeted on in July at the north rim, and barely missed a rain wrapped tornado in Shamrock TX that blew semi's off the road a few miles behind us. Maybe I need to look into this weather app thing a little more.

p.s. OP tie-in. We have the Nav VI on our GS. I love the display options!! Ont tip -- when off road set the GPS display to tire pressure and engine temp! You can always scroll it to the GPS when you wish but it's very comforting to be in a long slow climb and see that the tires and engine are still happy!

platypus said:

Rapiddog, we are in the same boat. The best result I've found so far is to pair both devices directly to the Nav VI. Do not pair the iPhone directly to the SRL. You can pair the iPhone directly to the Nav VI AND directly to the SRL (using the "second phone pairing" channel under the Configuration menu) but I found things didn't work as well. For example, you can't control the Media Player either through the Nav VI or by using Voice Commands with the SRL. Only directly through the iPhone screen, which, with gloves on, is near impossible.

So for me, so far, if I ONLY pair the iPhone directly with the Nav VI AND directly pair the SRL to the Nav VI, I can control the Media Player by using Voice Commands via. the SRL, hear GPS turn directions, and use the intercom - all at the same time. Oh, and make phone calls. However, I can't use the iPhone Sena App. To do that, I need to first pair the iPhone directly with the SRL, make whatever changes to settings I want to make, then "Forget this Device". If I only "Disconnect" streaming media (I use Spotify) just reconnects itself.

Only rode for the first time with the SRL last Sunday and this is what I found out. You may find a way to make everything work all at once, which would be the ideal.

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I realize this is an old post, but forgive me as I'm making my way through the lengthy thread. There is another way to make this work so that you can use the Sena app at any time with the SRL (I think it works with the SRL, but that may be neutered. I know it works with the 20S and I would assume 30K). Sena allows you to "split" your BT connection with the Nav 6 and phone between phone functions (Phone Selective Pairing or HFP protocol) and media functions (Media Selective Pairing). At least on Android phones with the updated Android OS, you can also select which data set is sent to which device in the BT connection settings page.

If you connect your phone to the Sena via Media Selective Pairing (see the Sena manual), and then connect the Nav 6 to the Sena via Phone Selective Pairing (in the Sena manual, same page as PSP), you can then connect your phone to the Nav 6 using the Nav 6 BT menu. Go into your phone BT connection settings and make sure that the Sena connection is set for Media only and Phone Audio is off. Then check the Nav 6 connection on your phone and make sure it is set for Phone Audio, Contacts, and Call History and Media Audio is off. If you set up your connections this way, you will have Caller ID on both your phone and the Nav 6. You will have access to your contacts and call history on the Nav 6. You will have a media (music) connection from your phone to the Sena and you can control the next/last track using the Sena buttons. You will be able to use the Sena app at any time and there will not be any BT conflict even though you have a triangular BT connection, as only media goes between the Sena and phone, while phone calls go from phone to Nav 6 to Sena. You will also be able to use the Garmin Smart Link app on your phone to quickly find addresses and instantly send them to the Nav 6, rather than use the slow and clunky Nav 6 search interface.

Disadvantages are that you cannot use the Sena phone buttons to place or answer a call. You must do that on either the Nav 6 or your phone. You can still voice dial using the voice dial function of the Nav 6, as it has access to your phone contacts. Also, GPS instructions from the Nav 6 will completely interrupt your intercom conversation, rather than lower the volume to the background while the instructions play. I'm not sure about your phone conversation yet- haven't tried that scenario.

Advantages are full time access to the Sena app for your phone (no pairing and then unpairing to avoid BT conflicts), full controls of media by the Sena buttons, and the ability to use Garmin Smart link on your phone to find and send navigation data to your Nav 6, all without pairing conflicts. You can also use "OK Google" or "Hey Siri" commands and control your phone as you would without the headset in this setup.

Just a quick FYI, hope this helps someone.

cburbank said:

I remember reading , I think in this thread, about a problem that i am having. I cannot find the reference, NAV VI on a 2013 K1600GTL with SENA 30K headsets using earbuds: After the GPS speaks and the sound returns to music, the volume is earsplitting. I have to turn the jog dial just a fraction and it returns to normal. I cannot remember the solution. Can anyone help?

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I had that exact issue with the 20S, and it lasted for well over a year. I think it was a firmware bug. Since upgrading my 20S to firmware 2.0, I haven't experienced it again. If this is still not solved, you may want to downgrade to earlier firmware on the 30K and give that a try. Sena is painfully slow to address problems. I started several support tickets with them and got no solution (not even the suggestion to downgrade firmware) for well over a year.