![\"old](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/dscn1662-1600x1200-800x600.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1\" "\\"old")
<\/p>\nThe M5’s native navigation system is incredibly slow and ugly. All the graphics for the computer and radio functions look rather 90s.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I had acquired a widescreen unit for the front of the car, but this didn’t really improve the on-screen graphics, and the navigation was still so very slow.<\/p>\n
![\"Widescreen](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/04\/dscn1706-1600x1200-800x600.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1\" "\\"Widescreen")
<\/p>\n
The navigation computer is a MkII CD based device in the boot.<\/p>\n
![\"MkII](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1113-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"MkII")
<\/p>\n
I acquired a MkIV DVD based system on eBay, so pulled the fuse for the nav system, hauled out the out unit. They are both the same physical size, but the new MkIV unit has an additional connection (see below in red).<\/p>\n
![\"rear](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1114-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"rear")
<\/p>\n
It turns out that this is for the GPS aerial. In standard form the car has a “Trimble” GPS module to which the GPS aerial connects. This information then passes to the nav computer along the main wiring. The MkIV computer has its own on-board GPS module, so I needed to locate the Trimble unit, and move the GPS aerial connection. This connection can be seen in the centre of the photo below. I tried to highlight this in red, but perhaps a different colour would have made matters clearer!<\/p>\n
![\"trimble](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1116-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"trimble")
<\/p>\n
This done, it was time to get the new computer in place.<\/p>\n
![\"MkIV\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1117-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"MkIV\\"")
<\/p>\n
I popped the nav system fuse back in, switched on the ignition and waited. Immediately I got the nice ~BMW~ logo on screen that I am familiar with in the 330d. Next the interface came to life looking significantly improved. The only issue seemed to be that the car thought it was somewhere up north.<\/p>\n
The GPS service menu (accessed by going to ‘SET’, moving the cursor down, then holding down ‘MENU’ for about 6 seconds) told me that there was satelite inteference. I wasn’t sure what to do at this point – I knew I had connected the GPS cable correctly, and there’s not much else that can go wrong! I nipped back to the laptop to do some research, returned a couple of minutes later none the wiser, but did find that the car had found a couple of satelites. It still thought it was up north though! Still, about five minutes later I was greeted with this display:<\/p>\n
![\"position](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1120-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"position")
<\/p>\n
Bonus! Lo and behold, the map system is now nice and spangly, with the added bonus of it even knowing where I am!<\/p>\n
![\"nav](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1121-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"nav")
<\/p>\n
![\"tidy](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mukerji.s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/dsc_1118-800x535.jpg?resize=800%2C535&ssl=1\" "\\"tidy")
<\/p>\n
Nice and smart in the boot too. Overall – *so* much better than before. It is really quick too – maybe I need to do the same in the tractor!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The M5’s native navigation system is incredibly slow and ugly. All the graphics for the computer and radio functions look rather 90s. I had acquired a widescreen unit for the front of the car, but this didn’t really improve the on-screen graphics, and the navigation was still so very slow. The navigation computer is a […] Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1309,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions\/1309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mukerji.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}