UK customers will be happy to hear that BMW Navigation will be included as standard across the entire BMW range before the end of the year.
First up to receive the upgrade will be the BMW 2 Series Convertible and 2 Series Active Tourer. These two models will receive navigation as a standard feature from July onwards – which means you won’t have to wait that long for it if you’re a potential customer.
In addition, also from July, the Z4 range will receive BMW Professional Navigation, while in September, the 1 Series range and the 2 Series Coupe will also include sat-nav as standard.
Furthermore, every model in the company’s range will soon come with a 6.5″ screen, iDrive controller and Traffic Message Channel. However, going for the Professional Navigation system will net you a larger 8.8″ screen with iDrive Touch controller, Real Time Traffic Information (RTTI) and BMW Online – which includes BMW Remote Services such as Remote lock/unlock, vehicle finder, headlight flash and Google search.
The good news doesn’t stop here as the cost to upgrade to Professional Navigation in the 1 and 2 Series models has been reduced. Upgrading your 1 Series Sports Hatch and 2 Series Coupe & Convertible in such a way will only cost you £900, while the upgrade cost for the 2 Series Active Tourer and Gran Tourer has been reduced to £1,395.
According to Forecasting Editor, CAP, Jeff Knight, this is a “first for any mainstream manufacturer in the UK and will inevitably pave the way for others to follow. On-board navigation systems now offer so much more technology than previously seen with the likes of 2D & 3D navigation map displays, traffic information and particularly with BMW standard e-call functionality which is a key safety feature. As well as having standard navigation across the range all BMW models will see an improvement on their residual value from between £300 to £600 (model dependant) so this is good news all round for the customer.”
Improving your car’s residual value should prove very appealing for customers, especially those interested in buying a premium product.