With the latest additions to BMW’s satellite navigation system there is less reason to get lost. It now provides detailed routing to the residential addresses of nearly nine million people, 6 588 travel destinations, 366 hotels and 477 restaurants in South Africa. Plus the system will soon be available to non-BMW drivers too.
With the latest additions to BMW’s satellite navigation system there is less reason to get lost. It now provides detailed routing to the residential addresses of nearly nine million people, 6 588 travel destinations, 366 hotels and 477 restaurants, 99 golf courses and 57 BMW dealerships in South Africa.
Satellite Navigation for South African BMW drivers has taken a huge step forward with the release of the CD-ROM containing detailed maps of urban Gauteng, the Western Cape, East London and Durban, together with the major routes that connect these cities.
The new disc also provides coverage in a number of Garden Route destinations, as well as details of petrol stations and other points of interest along the National Roads connecting these destinations.
In practice this means that Johannesburg family going on holiday to Cape Town can key in the street address of their hotel or holiday home and sit back and relax as the satellite system guides them to their front door. Along the way the system will inform them of interesting places worth visiting, and help them find the nearest filling station should they be running low in fuel.
And once they have arrived at their holiday destination, the system will help them find restaurants, shopping centres and places of interest with pin-point accuracy.
“This is a perfect example of BMW’s commitment to bringing the latest advanced automotive technology to South Africa,” said Ian Robertson, managing director of BMW South Africa. “It was an important milestone not only for BMW South Africa and BMW owners, but also for the whole of South Africa. It brings automotive technology in this country in line with that of leading international markets, and forever changes the way we plan our trips and reach our destinations.”
Robertson also said other local motoring companies, with the necessary technology in place, can now also offer in-car navigation to their customers, as BMW has agreed to make the mapping information available to them.
“From the outset we realised that bringing satellite navigation to South Africa will not only benefit BMW drivers,” Robertson said. “The map data can be adapted for use in other in-vehicle navigation systems. Due to its extreme accuracy and level of detail, it clearly has a number of other benefits, such as not getting lost, finding the shortest and quickest route, and for accurately dispatching of emergency services to accident scenes.
“The information will also be very valuable for other purposes such as ‘smart’ commercial telephone directories”.
BMW offers two levels of satellite navigation in its cars. The basic system, retailing at R10 500 and available only on 3-Series- and Compact models, is called Radio Navigation.
“This system provides the user with navigation instructions in two forms: arrows indicate whether you have to proceed straight on or turn, with the distance to the next turn given, and spoken instructions ensure that the user need not keep an eye on the display.
“The more sophisticated system uses a 16:9 aspect ratio full colour monitor. This system combines the navigation functions with the On-Board Monitor display, already a standard feature on the BMW 7-Series and a R16 500 factory-fitted option on all BMW X5-, 5-, 3- Series and Compact models. Apart from the visual and spoken instructions, the split-screen display also shows a clear, full colour route map on the 10×15 cm monitor screen.
This system has the added benefit of showing where the car is currently positioned relative to the target destination, thereby giving the user a clear overview of the route that will be followed. Additional benefits are the larger display, the ability to view a map of the immediate area, in different scales (from 100m to 50 km), and to enter a destination on the map by simply selecting a point on the map.
The system is also linked to the car’s on-board computer, which will provide additional details such as the distance to the destination and expected time of arrival. For an additional R6000, a television receiver can be installed that allows the On-Board Monitor to function as a colour TV-set when the vehicle is stationary.
On both systems the driver selects a destination by typing in the destination by its town or city and street address, using a predictive typing system that reduces time of the typing process. The driver also has the option of selecting popular destinations such as shopping centres, hospitals, hotels, recreational areas and service stations from an on-screen menu, and compiling a list of up to 50 frequently visited destinations.
The Satellite Navigation system also forms the basis for the BMW ASSIST service already used successfully in the European market. It incorporates a mobile telephone network that automatically makes an emergency call in severe accidents, giving the car’s exact position and connecting the driver to BMW’s 24-hour stand-by breakdown service. The service also offers real-time traffic information, advising the driver of traffic jams and suggesting alternative routes.
Another feature already in place in Germany is the data feedback function transmitting address data and telephone numbers – for example of service stations, hotels or the venues of specific events – from a BMW Call Centre straight to the navigation system or telephone of a car on the road. In most major German cities the system can also help the driver find parking in one of the many parking garages, reserving a spot for him and guiding him to his selected parking bay.
South African drivers will, however, still have to wait a few years before any of these features are introduced locally.