NAV III equivalent

[mostlyirish]

Getting ready to pop for a new 07LT to replace my totaled 03. Question is what is the Garmin equivalent for the BMW NAV III? What other Garmin products will work with the GPS pre-wired 07LT and what are the advantages of one over the other (including price advantages). All opinions welcome. Thanks.

[Steve_R]

Any of the 27XX and 28XX units will work with the BMW Nav III wiring. I think the 2820 is the NAVIII equivilant. Just remember if you get the BMW cradle, the 4 buttons will not work with anything but the BMW badged units even though all the 2xxx units will mount in it.

[VitesseLT]

Hi - a brief compare/contrast recently discussed here ...

http://www.bmwlt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17798

I bought a 2006 LT with nav prep, added the Garmin mount and a 2820 and don't regret not having the Nav III (except for those of you that got yours for free -- free would have been good.)

The 2820 has "more" than the Nav III in some respects, such as the music player, and doesn't have the extra four buttons and the preloaded BMW moto dealer addresses. I can't verify or not the difference in physical robustness / protection for fuel splashes, but that is a claim for the BMW unit.

The 2820 is also USA street-priced at half as much as the Nav III, so it's hard to knock that. You can buy the Garmin mount at under 20USD shipped; you need that piece (or its equivalent from some other source) to mount the 2820 to the nav prep. The power and (monophonic) audio cable is the same. The extra / unused wire for the four-button console is merely tucked inside the factory prep mount atop the stingray when you assemble it all together. If you want stereo tunes, you run a separate wire from the left side of the 2820 to your aux in. Installation is about 20 minutes ... super easy.

[VitesseLT]

Some photos of that install for you; again, very simple to implement.

[mostlyirish]

Thanks for the replys. Sean, did you get the Garmin mount directly from Garmin or another source? I see you are from West Bloomfield. When I hook mine up I'll PM you if I run into any questions. But based on your excellent pics it looks very straight forward.

[rando]

I just got a 2610 from ebay and the motorcycle mounting kit, whcih comes with power cable and cradle (same for the 27xx and 28xx, I think) from an Ebay Express store. The mount kit was $40, which was $10 cheaper than Garmin MSRP. I work in a sign shop, so I bent a 2" x 4" pice of .063" aluminum to about a 75 degree angle. Painted that flat black and used 3M automotive trim tape to attach to stingray. Looks very much like mount in pics posted here. Brought the cable around the side of stingray. No intereference. May be slightly different for the setup you;re describing, i.e. pre-wired bike.

Good luck with it.
Randy

[VitesseLT]

Thanks for the replys. Sean, did you get the Garmin mount directly from Garmin or another source? I see you are from West Bloomfield. When I hook mine up I'll PM you if I run into any questions. But based on your excellent pics it looks very straight forward.

Pat,

No problem on a PM; with the arrival of a little snow (finally) yesterday, the streets are just slick enough that the LT is likely to be in the garage a bit more than normal and I could double-check anything you need.

I ordered the Garmin mount online because nobody stocked it locally. It's available with and without the cable -- you only need the mount itself if you get nav prep, although you might want to have a cable later on if you decide to put in on another motorcycle or in a car -- your call. BTW, it's often referred to as a 2610 mount; fits that chassis family that includes 27xx and 28xx, so no worries. You can get them from many sources ... here's a proven one with Garmin P/Ns ...

010-10495-01 Mount only:
http://www.thetwistergroup.com/product/010-10495-01%20W02654.html

010-10495-00 Full kit mount and cable:
http://www.thetwistergroup.com/product/010-10495-00%20W02653.html

010-10495-02 Cable separately later on should you need it:
http://www.thetwistergroup.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=010-10495-02%20W02655&source=dt

A few extra notes: Nav prep includes some fasteners that you may use, notably, those flat nutserts it comes with are fairly important to complete the install. The Garmin mount packaging includes yet more hardware and a "security driver" that let's you lock down the screw atop the mount's retention/release slider. Anyway, it's fairly obvious that there's only four mounting screw holes, so, you won't need all the fasteners provided from both sources.

Regards

[Tomakazie]

I to have a 06 LT pre wired for a GPS.. Could not see paying $1300.00 for the BMW Garmin so I found a Garmin 2610 for $450.00 and it mounts just like all the other posts. If you don't want to spend a lot,,,, this is the way to go.. Good luck

[brantvol16]

[...The power and (monophonic) audio cable is the same. The extra / unused wire for the four-button console is merely tucked inside the factory prep mount atop the stingray when you assemble it all together. If you want stereo tunes, you run a separate wire from the left side of the 2820 to your aux in. Installation is about 20 minutes ... super easy.[/QUOTE]

I have the 2810 and the Garmin mount which i attached to the factory prep on my bike. BUT I have not been able to get the turn by turn instructions to play. I don't have headsets for the intercom but I do have Voice III (assume that is right for an '06) so I am just looking to have the sound play thru the speakers.

What did I miss?

Geoff

[VitesseLT]

I believe you'll need headsets to hear the monophonic audio coming through the nav prep power/audio connector. If you run a line to your intercom aux in from the audio out of the nav system, you should be able to hear nav system audio out of the speakers when you select the aux position on the intercom. You might try a search on this topic to confirm this -- I use a headset so that's where I get everything from.

[used2jeep]

A problem that I had with my Garmin and the audio output is that the female end allowed the male end to get pushed it too far and not allow the audio signal to come out. The solution is either some folded paper between the two ends to take up the extra 1/16" or so.

[VitesseLT]

Hmm ... that's interesting - never heard of that issue. Assuming that's not a 2-cond./3-cond. (one black line or two) problem, it could perhaps be a very minor dimensional differences against "spec dimensions" of the 3.5mm mini-plug and jack standard or a well-worn/defective jack. The jack "should be" easy to find and replace ... but if the paper shim is working out, great.

[412driver]

Some photos of that install for you; again, very simple to implement.


awesome. my question, does it block your view of the front screen?

[VitesseLT]

If I'm "slouching" and have the sun screen on it, it can obscure the bottom of the center digital display. I've enclosed a photo to present the worst possible combo for me. If I sit up I can read it all. If I take off the sun screen I can read it all. If I do both, I can of course get it all. Your personal torso-to-eye height, forward/rear position, seat height, instrument panel configuration of your model year, etc. might change your results/findings. It's a really good place for the nav and if back sunlight is obscuring the instrument panel or nav screen, lean forward to shadow them.

[wstalker]

I just picked up the 2820 at a store on the net called the nerds.com. They were fast, friendly and everything arrived just as they said it would. Around $450.00. I have my Zumo 550 in the classifieds if anyone is interested.