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

[Omega Man]

Here we go with what we can all hope is another great piece of navigational gear, the Navigator VI (Nav-VI).
Let's use this thread for info, purchases, impressions and of course- any Tips and Tricks to have it working "just right".
As random posts appear, we will endeavor to move them here.
Thanks, The Moderator Team.

[ExGMan]

Since Gary has taken the bull by the horns (so to speak), I figured I'd make the first post.

It looks like the Nav V price is tanking as the Nav VI supplies arrive in the US. BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta has the Nav V on sale now for $599. Seems like eBay prices are a lot higher, though.

[179212]

Since Gary has taken the bull by the horns (so to speak), I figured I'd make the first post.

It looks like the Nav V price is tanking as the Nav VI supplies arrive in the US. BMW Motorcycles of Atlanta has the Nav V on sale now for $599. Seems like eBay prices are a lot higher, though.

Product announcement from local dealer (gateway bmw St. Louis) nav 6 $949 without cradle $999 with cradle plus $100 gift certificate good on next purchase. Seems like nav 6 in very expensive tank.

[BMW Triumphant]

Product announcement from local dealer (gateway bmw St. Louis) nav 6 $949 without cradle $999 with cradle plus $100 gift certificate good on next purchase. Seems like nav 6 in very expensive tank.

I assume these are USD prices...so the CDA price might be 1.36 times higher, approx. if the exchange rate is applied. Else, this might be a good reason for US riders to shop in Canada.

Now, the Nav V was $800 CAD when I bought it in Sep '15 and that was as much as I was willing to pay. Any premium over that - better have a good reason, damn good reasons at that.

[AlanColes]

I assume these are USD prices...

Yes, they are.

...so the CDA price might be 1.36 times higher, approx. if the exchange rate is applied...

It is very rarely a matter of the actual exchange rate.

It is almost always a combination of:

• what the exchange rate was when product pricing was done
• what the anticipation was on the future direction of the currency
• what the market is perceived to be willing to accept and buy at.

Typically when there are significant currency differences it creates a situation where even though the pricing (currency adjusted) might be identical, the actual pricing will be somewhat lower to make sure the market will actually consider buying the product.

The price difference on a 2017 R1200RT is only 17% more in Cdn $$$ which means the bike actually costs 14% more in the US than Canada on a currency adjusted basis. But these things are dynamic and move back and forth favouring one side vs the other as currencies fluctuate constantly but pricing tends to get locked in for extended periods of time.

Another consideration that is always looked at when pricing a new product is that a devaluing currency (Cdn$ vs US$ over the past while) that country's spending power is reduced on any imported items and therefore tends to get reduced overall, so there is always pressure to keep pricing at something other than the actual exchange rate.

[marcopolo]

Also bear in mind that the $949 is full retail. There are dealers (here in the U.S.), who will sell at a discount. I ordered a Nav VI on Friday, as part of a group buy, and the dealer offered a sizeable discount (because of the number of people buying).

[seanka106]

Purchased a new Navigator VI from my dealer on Friday. I had reservations about buying, based on cost and the fact that it was new with no “in the field” reviews. I probably should have waited. This is not meant to be a full review. I did want to convey to anyone considering buying a Nav VI that the biggest disappointment for me is that the streaming music feature does not work as advertised. It will stream music from my phone to my helmet thru the Nav VI, but the buttons to stop, play/pause, next track, etc on the Nav VI do not work. It also is not possible to “browse” music titles, albums, categories, etc. (gives an error message "Please wait, music data is being downloaded from the Apple device." Even after waiting > 20 minutes, the buttons still do not work, and I continue to get the same error message.) So, if you want to pause music, you have to get your phone out of your pocket, unlock it, and hit the pause button on your phone’s display. Not practical for obvious reasons.

I do have a service ticket open with Garmin. I was pleasantly surprised that they responded to my web support inquiry within about 2 hours on Friday. They suggested I update my phone’s OS, but that did not make a difference. I’ve also tried 2 different phones (Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone SE), and two different headsets (my primary headset is a Sena 20S).

On the positive side, the screen is excellent. It is brighter and clearer than the Nav V. Even in direct sunlight, it is easily readable. To me, this is a major improvement. I haven’t tried the “curvy roads” routing, but that is also something I was interested in.

If anyone has had success with streaming music from an iPhone 7, I’d appreciate knowing if this has worked troublefree, or if they discovered a setting that enabled it. I'll update this post after add'l responses from support @ Garmin. Thanks in advance.

[marcopolo]

Until Garmin fixes this with a software update, why not access Siri, by pressing the phone button on your Sena headset, and you can at least use a few voice commands to start and stop the music (that's how I do it now with my Nav V and Sena 10S). I'm not suggesting that this is a permanent solution. The Nav VI should work as advertised, and you're not the only person to report this problem.

[seanka106]

Great idea... thank you... I had not thought of that but will give it a try...

[marcopolo]

I use Siri commands like, "Play All Music", or "Shuffle All Music". When I want to stop the music, I just say, "Pause The Music".

By the way, Siri also works if you want to hear any text messages. I just say, "Read Unread Text Messages". I hear who sent the message, and then the contents are read to me. I'll then be asked if I want to reply. If I answer yes, I'll be given the opportunity to dictate a response. That said, I'm not advocating sending 300 texts an hour, or anything like that, but in the proper circumstances, it can be very useful, and low risk. Also, you can practise the voice commands off the bike before you ever try it.

[BMW Triumphant]

Purchased a new Navigator VI from my dealer on Friday. I had reservations about buying, based on cost and the fact that it was new with no “in the field” reviews. I probably should have waited. This is not meant to be a full review. I did want to convey to anyone considering buying a Nav VI that the biggest disappointment for me is that the streaming music feature does not work as advertised. It will stream music from my phone to my helmet thru the Nav VI, but the buttons to stop, play/pause, next track, etc on the Nav VI do not work. It also is not possible to “browse” music titles, albums, categories, etc. (gives an error message "Please wait, music data is being downloaded from the Apple device." Even after waiting > 20 minutes, the buttons still do not work, and I continue to get the same error message.) So, if you want to pause music, you have to get your phone out of your pocket, unlock it, and hit the pause button on your phone’s display. Not practical for obvious reasons.

I do have a service ticket open with Garmin. I was pleasantly surprised that they responded to my web support inquiry within about 2 hours on Friday. They suggested I update my phone’s OS, but that did not make a difference. I’ve also tried 2 different phones (Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone SE), and two different headsets (my primary headset is a Sena 20S).

On the positive side, the screen is excellent. It is brighter and clearer than the Nav V. Even in direct sunlight, it is easily readable. To me, this is a major improvement. I haven’t tried the “curvy roads” routing, but that is also something I was interested in.

If anyone has had success with streaming music from an iPhone 7, I’d appreciate knowing if this has worked troublefree, or if they discovered a setting that enabled it. I'll update this post after add'l responses from support @ Garmin. Thanks in advance.

I will bet those keys will work only if the music is on an SD card that is inserted into the Nav VI itself. You are asking a lot of the Bluetooth interface to the phone if you expect the Nav VI to control the music on the phone, in my opinion. Try to put a few songs on an SD card in a folder named MP3 and see if the keys work. By the way, the songs must be MP3 format unless the rules have changed from the NAV V days.

[t6pilot]

Cross country BMW had a special on the V's a couple years ago, no such luck on the VI's yet (1k)
Anybody find a reasonable price out of there?


Jim

[craigjv4]

I use this to control my iphone when streaming my saved music or when using the Pandora app.

https://www.amazon.com/Satechi-Bluet...s=media+button

I also have music saved to an SD card in my Nav V but find the media button easier than pushing the fwd/rev/play/stop buttons on the Nav V.

[marcopolo]

Cross country BMW had a special on the V's a couple years ago, no such luck on the VI's yet (1k)
Anybody find a reasonable price out of there?


Jim

Yes, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I ordered one from a dealer, as part of a group buy arranged by someone over at ADVRider.com; it was a good discount compared to full retail.

[Lee]

Yes, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I ordered one from a dealer, as part of a group buy arranged by someone over at ADVRider.com; it was a good discount compared to full retail.

I saw the thread on ADV but the price was never mentioned. One post said he was trying for $800 or less.
Out of curiosity what was the group buy price?

I'm happy with my V but others may be interested.