I just got an 05' black on black on black Z4 3.0 2 weeks ago, and on the way home I noticed that the GPS system was not picking up any satellites at all.

I brought it back to the dealership thinking there was just a loose cable, and they condemned the entire unit and are replacing the entire GPS. I was shocked! This must cost a fortune, and I got the car as a certified pre-owned BMW, and they didn't notice that the GPS was not functioning?

Fortunately I am not paying a cent for it, but is this a common problem? Has anyone else had to replace their entire GPS unit? If so, how much does it cost and do you know what went wrong?

Thanks, and happy motoring!

I think you are a one off. They don't fail like that often on any car. You had a major hardware meltdown. It's cool your getting a whole new system.

I think that certified pre-owned is nothing more than marketing trick. BMW are very reliable cars, so any can be stated like that without any look.

Runs about $1800 as an option installed, so you're getting your money's worth. Probably costs the dealer about $20.

That's a mark up of only 9,000%. I thought the dealers got 10,550%?

Okay, so I got the car back today, and they updated the firmware (not the maps, the software that runs in the car). In my dad's 04' BMW X5 4.4 with nav, we updated the firmware ourselves with a burnt DVD. This allows you to turn on perspective view, which gives you a really cool 3D view of what's in front of you. However, to activate it, you have to hold down the menu button for a few seconds to get into the technical settings menu, then you can turn on the perspective view and it will be available.

However, in my car, holding down the menu button does nothing. Anyone know how to get to the hidden menu? I asked the dealership and they said I'm not supposed to know about that.. ha!

I got to the secret menu!! You have to go to the menu and press the menu button for a long time, then scroll all the way down and enable perspective mode. Yay!!! I love the perspective mode so much, and the navigation feature works SO WELL!!