[terrypin]

My 2012 F30 has ConnectedDrive, but it cannot be used while BMW implement a 'new system', apparently taking several weeks, at least in the UK.

So meanwhile I'd like to try an alternative way of getting route directions from Google Maps or Google Earth onto my Pro iDrive via a memory stick and the armrest USB socket.

Does anyone know how to do that please? If I simply copy the KML file from GE onto the memory stick, will the idrive Navigation find and use that? If not, what other type of file should be transferred? I cannot do it using GM's 'Send to car' feature because I cannot get registered by BMW for the reason mentioned.

Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[Peter-K]

I've just tried the UK site. With an "NBT" system I can log into ConnectedDrive then My Services > BMW Routes >plan your own routes. Plan the route and click on Save to USB and a pop up widow gives instructions on loading into car.

[terrypin]

Thanks Peter. Unfortunately I can't use that method because despite having ConnectedDrive I can't register it and get a user Id and pw, as BMW cannot process new applications while installing their 'new system'. Presumably, from your test, the services themselves all still work OK?

So I used this link from GunRunner in the BMWland forum

https://www.bmw-routes.com/uk/en/plan-routes/index.jsp

to download and save a test route. After uncompressing the .tar.gz file that it generated I had a file on my PC called 82059.xml. That's the type of file (rather like KML from Google Earth) that I'd expect to represent a route. I copied it to a mem-stick but cannot get my Pro Nav to find it, in either of the two USB sockets. So I'm stumped at present.

[Peter-K]

Top of my head.
Go to navigation menu and select "saved trips" then "import trips" then usb????
(the other option here is download from BMW?)
Use centre console socket
The route you get in the car may not match what you saw on the internet map.
It looks like BMW generates its route to go between sets of Lat/Long coordinates in the KML file and how it does that differs from the Internet (google?) version.

I see one example of this problem all the time because whoever did the mapping in my area mapped "private" roads on top of the public roads so that a factory entrance breaks the road and BMW views that road as two cul-de-sacs and refuses to use it. If I stop 50yds from my local railway station (on "Station Rd"!) and set it as the destination the route starts with a U turn and 4.5 miles later gets me there - from the other end of Station Rd.

[terrypin]

Thanks Peter. I eventually got my head around it. And also discovered how to do several routes at once.

For anyone with a similar question who ends up in this thread, here are some notes:

1. Open https://www.bmw-routes.com/uk/en/plan-routes/index.jsp
(Or the USA or other country equivalent.)

2. Enter the route details.

3. Choose 'Save route on USB stick', say to C:\BMW Data. A ZIP file will be saved there, e.g. MyFilename.zip

4. Extract the ZIP file, initially to a folder on your PC. Within that, the unzipping will create a folder called BMWData, with subfolders \Nav and \Navigation. \Nav contains MyFilename.tar.gz. \Navigation contains a subfolder called Routes. \Routes contains another file named the same as above, MyFilename.tar.gz, but it's a different size, (e.g. 9 KB v 7 KB). (Not sure of the respective purposes. The BMW instructions 'Transferring routes to your vehicle' mentions only Nav, not Navigation.)


A BMW note says:
"Earlier routes stored in the navigation system with the same name will be overwritten." That seemed to preclude the possibility of transferring multiple routes in one session, a major flaw IMO. But I've found what seems to be a solution. At first I tried renaming BMWData as BMWData01 and then adding BMWData02 etc. That failed. But if the respective tar.gz files are added to the sub-folders, with all folders retaining the expected names, that does work.

See this illustration to make it clearer:





--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

[DrGadget]

Originally Posted by terrypin

4. Extract the ZIP file, initially to a folder on your PC. Within that, the unzipping will create a folder called BMWData, with subfolders \Nav and \Navigation. \Nav contains MyFilename.tar.gz. \Navigation contains a subfolder called Routes. \Routes contains another file named the same as above, MyFilename.tar.gz, but it's a different size, (e.g. 9 KB v 7 KB). (Not sure of the respective purposes. The BMW instructions 'Transferring routes to your vehicle' mentions only Nav, not Navigation.)

--
Terry, East Grinstead, UK

/BMWData/Navigation/Routes is the path for for NBT iDrives, while /BMWData/Nav is the path for CIC iDrives. Put the file in both folders is the surefire procedure.

[ooshnoo]

Originally Posted by DrGadget

/BMWData/Navigation/Routes is the path for for NBT iDrives, while /BMWData/Nav is the path for CIC iDrives. Put the file in both folders is the surefire procedure.

You do realize you just responded to a post that's 5 years old????

[Yiolli]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

You do realize you just responded to a post that's 5 years old????

Yeah that guys car is in the junkyard by now