How To: Update your BMW navigation maps to 2018-1.

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MattyGigawatts

New member
Joined
Jan 15, 2018
Messages
4
I recently updated my nav maps to 2018-1. I needed to watch multiple videos to gather all the needed information before doing this myself, so I thought I would put together my own, up to date video, summarizing the procedure from download to install and here it is. Enjoy!

https://youtu.be/nbvWJk_InCI
 
What's different about the 2018 version vs the 2015? Is it just road updates on the map in case there were construction changes or is there something different about the actual interface of the navigation?
 
sipabit said:
What's different about the 2018 version vs the 2015? Is it just road updates on the map in case there were construction changes or is there something different about the actual interface of the navigation?
I updated our 2014 map version to 2018-1 hoping improvements in the navigation route which can be unbelievably terrible (e.g., the main international airport exit from the westbound freeway is ignored when routing to the airport!), but for the routes that I use, I've experienced no improvement.

The update must show new roads, etc., but I rarely found map errors in the 2014 version. The navigation interface is unchanged.

For me, the cost of the 2018-1 update was a waste of money. Of course, this is almost certainly location-dependent, so an update could be worth the cost for those in other locations.
 
There's more in the update than roads...there's speed limits, businesses, phone numbers, charging stations, potentially improved terrain data (the car uses elevation changes, speed limits, distances, etc. to pick between shortest, fastest, and most efficient routes) and probably other things as well. Throw in potentially reassigned one-way streets, etc., and the updates could be quite useful. It depends on where you travel and how much actually has changed in the area where you are interested in having up to date data.

As said, though, this is only a data update. While the dealer might occasionally have a functional update to the nav processor's software, that is a totally separate thing from the data files that allow it to function. FWIW, I've not heard of a nav program update, but there may have been one along the way since original i3 release. Data updates, OTOH, occur at about every 6-months. Whether it's worthwhile to you to do, can't say.
 
I need clarification please. When I called BMW and asked them about my 2018 i3, they told me that the map update for the Navigation system is done over the air. Does this make any sense?

Thank you.
 
Shrink13 said:
When I called BMW and asked them about my 2018 i3, they told me that the map update for the Navigation system is done over the air. Does this make any sense?
Whether this is true or not, it makes sense because pre-2018 i3's have 3G cellular data hardware whereas I believe 2018 i3's have 4G. Over-the-air updating of ~30 GB of map data over a 3G cellular data connection would be impractical whereas it's reasonable over a strong 4G connection (i.e., not while one's i3 is parked in the lower level of a multistory concrete parking garage with a weak data connection).
 
Over a year ago, BMW announced that eventually, all new cars would be updating map data OTA. There is an easy way to tell what version you're currently running...with the nav screen up, press the options button, and I think the entry is near the bottom of the list. It may now be the case on the i3...don't know.
 
Thanks for the replies. I still have 12-4 version of the maps and I was wondering if anyone can confirm that they have actually received an over the air update in their i3?

Thanks again.
 
Not sure if or when the i3 actually was enabled to get OTA map updates. My guess is that if you're eligible, it would have happened already. 2018-1 has been out for awhile, and I expect -2 to show up in the next month or two.
 
I recently bought a new 2018 i3. The manual says OTA updates. I checked today and I have version 2017-4. My home isn't on it, built in 2015.
Anyway to get Google maps or Wayz from an Android on the big screen?
 
Here is the short answer and if you have further questions please contact me. There was an option for Apple Play on the 2018 and if you ordered it you would have in your car.

There is indeed an OTA update on the 2018's, but it does not always work. It is only a regional update for the maps, not a update for the whole US. You do have to go to the BMW website and check off what region you live in so that you get the correct update.

That said, I did not receive an update from 2017-4 OTA and I bothered lots of folks at BMW and they offered me a free update at the dealership. They said that this may trigger the OTA's updates in the future, but that has not happened as of yet.

Good luck.
 
FWIW, it may depend somewhat on the strength of the cellular signal where the car spends most of its time. There is a huge amount of data to update the whole map, and this is one reason why it wasn't done on earlier models...their cellular connection was too slow to be feasible.

In theory, if they rearranged the data, you could do incremental updates (i.e., only send what has changed verses a full, new data set), but at least on the earlier ones, it was an all or nothing update.
 
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