[Marc-Robinson]

I purchased a Navigator VI today as my dealer was selling them at a bargain price, It became apparent almost immediately that the unit was not interfacing with my bike as no Navigation option was appearing under the menu's. He told me to go home and read my user manual which was no help at all. I have cleaned the contacts in the cradle with contact clean/lube and still nothing unless I can get the unit to interface with my bike its an $1100 accessory I dont want or need as it provides no more functionality than my phone or the Garmin Zumo that the previous owner had installed. It powers on with the bike and thats it, When I turn the bike off it takes a minute or so before a menu pops up saying external power lost and giving me the option of shutting it down. I called the dealer this afternoon after doing some googling and he says it should and is working regardless of no interface with the bike, menu or wonder wheel. Some old posts I found says my bike needs a software update possibly. Any tricks on getting it to work would be appreciated or it looks like a long process in getting my money back if at all.

 

[Whitey193]

I purchased a Navigator VI today as my dealer was selling them at a bargain price, It became apparent almost immediately that the unit was not interfacing with my bike as no Navigation option was appearing under the menu's. He told me to go home and read my user manual which was no help at all. I have cleaned the contacts in the cradle with contact clean/lube and still nothing unless I can get the unit to interface with my bike its an $1100 accessory I dont want or need as it provides no more functionality than my phone or the Garmin Zumo that the previous owner had installed. It powers on with the bike and thats it, When I turn the bike off it takes a minute or so before a menu pops up saying external power lost and giving me the option of shutting it down. I called the dealer this afternoon after doing some googling and he says it should and is working regardless of no interface with the bike, menu or wonder wheel. Some old posts I found says my bike needs a software update possibly. Any tricks on getting it to work would be appreciated or it looks like a long process in getting my money back if at all.

I had a 2012 GT with a Nav IV. Not VI. I have a GS1250 with a Nav VI.

From memory I’m sure the salesman told me the cradles are different and that I couldn’t use my Nav IV on the GS which would mean vice versa.

Now considering I got he NAV VI as a freebie as part of the package, why would he be telling me feebies (lies).

I’ve got both so I’ll have a look at the backs.


*** Edit - so the back of the navs look the same so I tried the Nav IV in the GS cradle and it works. So either the salesman knew and lied, or wasn’t up to speed.

So I can only assume that it’s an update to the software being required on the GT to use it ****

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk in

 

[Gunnert]

I had a 2012 GT with a Nav IV. Not VI. I have a GS1250 with a Nav VI.

From memory I’m sure the salesman told me the cradles are different and that I couldn’t use my Nav IV on the GS which would mean vice versa.

FWIW, I've been riding a '12 GT for over 8 years. Over those years I've upgraded from the NAV IV to the NAV V and now have the NAV VI. Cradle on the bike accommodated all. I did change out the NAV shroud each upgrade to get full use of the screen.

Duane

 

[ViennaK]

Make sure that the bike has the software installed. Try a VIN decoder that gives you the factory specs when it was delivered.

 

[Roy_F]

Yep, as above, VIN Decoder is what you need to use, see if your bike has the Navigation preparation fatory installed..... Nav 4, 5 and 6 should all be interchangeable electrically, (ignoring size of physical shroud) as Duane says....

Free BMW VIN Decoder : ///M Decoder

BMW VIN decoder will check your BMW VIN and show you full vehicle specification

www.mdecoder.com

Enter your VIN number, and you should see under 'Other Equipment' further down the page a reference to 'navigation preparation'. I've got audio and navigation on mine and get this line item, see below, you may have something different if you just have nav but not audio or vice versa.......

Your worst case is that you don't have navigation preparation factory installed and the previous owner simply mounted a cradle and picked up a live from the aux power socket or similar to supply power to their Zumo. It will still work, but as you've found, you will loose a lot of enhanced functions like using the wonder wheel / menu buttons etc....

X0267​

Audio system ECE + prep. navigation​

Roy.

 

[Marc-Robinson]

Yep, as above, VIN Decoder is what you need to use, see if your bike has the Navigation preparation fatory installed..... Nav 4, 5 and 6 should all be interchangeable electrically, (ignoring size of physical shroud) as Duane says....

Free BMW VIN Decoder : ///M Decoder

BMW VIN decoder will check your BMW VIN and show you full vehicle specification

www.mdecoder.com

Enter your VIN number, and you should see under 'Other Equipment' further down the page a reference to 'navigation preparation'. I've got audio and navigation on mine and get this line item, see below, you may have something different if you just have nav but not audio or vice versa.......

Your worst case is that you don't have navigation preparation factory installed and the previous owner simply mounted a cradle and picked up a live from the aux power socket or similar to supply power to their Zumo. It will still work, but as you've found, you will loose a lot of enhanced functions like using the wonder wheel / menu buttons etc....

X0267​

Audio system ECE + prep. navigation​

Roy.

The guy from the dealership said that he looked up my VIN number and the NAV VI was listed as the part number for my bike. One guy from the facebook K1600 forum said "
On the pre 2013’s there isn’t much interface, because the electronics aren’t there to run anything. They didn’t start linking up to sensors until after the bike upgraded to Canbus in late 2012. Even then it was simple. It did t really come into their own until 2015.
It’s all working fine, your expectations are just a little too high." Well to me thats a pretty expensive high expectation. I guess as a worst case scenero I have a GPS system now that can fit into a later model bike if I ever upgrade or write this bike off. But still feel it is 1100 dollars that would have been better off in my pocket.

 

[Marc-Robinson]

Yep, as above, VIN Decoder is what you need to use, see if your bike has the Navigation preparation fatory installed..... Nav 4, 5 and 6 should all be interchangeable electrically, (ignoring size of physical shroud) as Duane says....

Free BMW VIN Decoder : ///M Decoder

BMW VIN decoder will check your BMW VIN and show you full vehicle specification

www.mdecoder.com

Enter your VIN number, and you should see under 'Other Equipment' further down the page a reference to 'navigation preparation'. I've got audio and navigation on mine and get this line item, see below, you may have something different if you just have nav but not audio or vice versa.......

Your worst case is that you don't have navigation preparation factory installed and the previous owner simply mounted a cradle and picked up a live from the aux power socket or similar to supply power to their Zumo. It will still work, but as you've found, you will loose a lot of enhanced functions like using the wonder wheel / menu buttons etc....

X0267​

Audio system ECE + prep. navigation​

Roy.

iT SAYS "

X0267​

Audio System ECE + Prep. Navigation​

"

 

[ILGTLowner]

The guy from the dealership said that he looked up my VIN number and the NAV VI was listed as the part number for my bike. One guy from the facebook K1600 forum said "
On the pre 2013’s there isn’t much interface, because the electronics aren’t there to run anything. They didn’t start linking up to sensors until after the bike upgraded to Canbus in late 2012. Even then it was simple. It did t really come into their own until 2015.
It’s all working fine, your expectations are just a little too high." Well to me thats a pretty expensive high expectation. I guess as a worst case scenero I have a GPS system now that can fit into a later model bike if I ever upgrade or write this bike off. But still feel it is 1100 dollars that would have been better off in my pocket.

The high cost of the GPS is why I opted to not have the GPS on my 12 GTL when I purchased it new. It was my understanding, at the time, that the bike needed preparations as described above and adding a GPS was not a simple plug and play procedure. Let us know if you get a solution. I’m planning a long trip and there are some features that may be nice to have if I can add this to the bike....but still not worth $1k in my opinion given other options available for navigation.

 

[dcGrizz]

I have an '18 GTL which I bought new with the Nav VI option. The original Nav unit worked ok for about 2 yrs before starting having the roll-in screen issue. Garmin replaced it with another refurbished unit which worked ok for about 5 months. As of last week the Nav has quit being recognized by the BMW controller (or vice versa) so the thumb-wheel can not control the Page or Zoom. The GPS still operates fine but in parallel with the BMW controller. When the ignition is off the GPS stays on for 1 minute before shutting off (time lapse is user selectable from GPS, from 1 min to Never).
I discussed the issue with my BMW dealer trying to determine if its Garmin or BMW induced. They are checking and will let me know at which point i will post it here so someone else may benefit as well.

My other bike is a 2020 GSA; as I am typing this I am waiting for my third Nav VI replacement since I purchased the bike. The Garmin replacement policy with refurbished units is nothing more than a Band-Aid buying time until the 5 yr warranty expires. Obviously there is a fundamental flaw with the unit that causes the recurrence of the loss of screen functionality.

 

[Roy_F]

Ok, so looks like you have the 'Audio' and 'Nav Preparation' as X0267 option the same as mine which is a good start...... Not sure what your Facebook Forum guy was referring to with the electronics not being there to run much, and you expectations are a litle high ?? I disagree with that........ I have a factory standard October 2011 build GT with the Audio and Nav Prep, and the wonder wheel works just fine and with the Nav installed and you should see the extra functions appear in Multi Function Display as you scroll across..... Nav V or VI should both work just the same. You most likely either have some problem with the cradle / wiring or you have a faulty Nav VI...... Before you start tearing things apart, I would plug another known good BMW Nav unit in to eliminate that as a first step......... On later bikes there was more info available on the Nav unit that was pulled from the bike itself, but on all bikes you should have at minimum full wonder wheel functions and access via the menu screen for page, zoom etc etc...

Roy.

 

[Hugelhoff]

It's my understanding that there was a new cradle for the Nav 6. You may want to check with your dealer about this.
I don't have any part numbers, but I was told that many of the older bikes have problems with the Nav 6, without the new cradle.

 

[JamesDrouin]

iT SAYS "

X0267​

Audio System ECE + Prep. Navigation​

"

Marc, I believe Roy's suggestion is good and that the Facebook guy doesn't know what he's talking about. You might also consider taking the Nav VI to the dealer and have him or her plug it into a showroom bike. If the Nav VI is fully functional, you'll know right then and there.

 

[Heli]

It's my understanding that there was a new cradle for the Nav 6. You may want to check with your dealer about this.
I don't have any part numbers, but I was told that many of the older bikes have problems with the Nav 6, without the new cradle.

Nothing has changed with the cradle in the K16/BMW Navigator since inception. The shroud changed with the Nav VI to accommodate the larger screen.

Marc, I believe Roy's suggestion is good and that the Facebook guy doesn't know what he's talking about. You might also consider taking the Nav VI to the dealer and have him or her plug it into a showroom bike. If the Nav VI is fully functional, you'll know right then and there.

I’ll let Marc explain but the unit is now working. Setting it up did highlight the changes in functionality over the years so the ‘Facebook guy’ (not me!) is correct in pointing out that it won’t perform in a 2011 K16 with the same information as in a 2021 K16.

 

[Geoff_3]

I purchased a Navigator VI today as my dealer was selling them at a bargain price, It became apparent almost immediately that the unit was not interfacing with my bike as no Navigation option was appearing under the menu's. He told me to go home and read my user manual which was no help at all. I have cleaned the contacts in the cradle with contact clean/lube and still nothing unless I can get the unit to interface with my bike its an $1100 accessory I dont want or need as it provides no more functionality than my phone or the Garmin Zumo that the previous owner had installed. It powers on with the bike and thats it, When I turn the bike off it takes a minute or so before a menu pops up saying external power lost and giving me the option of shutting it down. I called the dealer this afternoon after doing some googling and he says it should and is working regardless of no interface with the bike, menu or wonder wheel. Some old posts I found says my bike needs a software update possibly. Any tricks on getting it to work would be appreciated or it looks like a long process in getting my money back if at all.

The cradles are different a mate of mine filed the plastic to make his Nav 5 fit and it worked. I don't think it worked with the wonder wheel but. But it did connect with the bike and have all the info as per normal.

 

[Heli]

The cradles are different a mate of mine filed the plastic to make his Nav 5 fit and it worked. I don't think it worked with the wonder wheel but. But it did connect with the bike and have all the info as per normal.

Geoff, the shroud is the only change; not the mount. The shroud is quite cheap (<$A50) and easy to replace.

 

[Geoff_3]

Geoff, the shroud is the only change; not the mount. The shroud is quite cheap (<$A50) and easy to replace.

Thanks for that I am hoping that Marc can get his to work without too much hassle. Saves throwing away his new $900.00 Nav.

 

[Heli]

Thanks for that I am hoping that Marc can get his to work without too much hassle. Saves throwing away his new $900.00 Nav.

Yes, Marc’s is working fine and he has my spare shroud fitted so he can see the whole screen😎

 

[DanDiver]

You won't get the roller wheel features, but mounting the GPS just about anywhere, except the console, will allow you to more eaisly read the screen. I'm a casual user so not being able to read the screen most of the time is not a big deal. I can always hear the prompts. I rarely use the wheel to make GPS changes. Just my personal experiences on my 2012 GTL and a Nav 4 (IV).

 

[Rider2]

Mounting cradle works for Nav 4, 5, and 6.

Shroud is different because the 5/6 screen is larger than the 4 but as noted above it's not expensive. The nav fits just fine but you can't see the edges of the screen.

Wonderwheel controls work the same regardless of model, basically the same functions as the old 4-button cradle.

My Motorcycle app is not available in early K16 or wethead RTs The software is in the Nav but the bike is unable to wake it up, and puts it to sleep if it is awake. A story: I had a 2012 GTL and a Nav 5. Took it with me when I test rode a 2015 RT & a 2015 GS back to back, My Motorcycle was only available when riding the GS. Some of its features are only available with the unit off the bike, Last Ride for example. Removed it from the GS, i could still check that until I put it back in the GTL, all gone. According to my dealer, the app was not supported in non-GS models until 2016 or 2017. It's more than just a software upgrade, it's a hardware issue.

 

[Jonnybow]

Facebook K16 groups are completely filled with idiots. 1 out of 10 knows their elbow from a hole in the ground. This forum is filled with knowledgeable folks who help eachother out and will correct the gossip garbage. My opinion is to stay off the facebook groups so you don't get sideways with garbage answers.