[JohnAG]

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie to this forum as I just ordered my first BMW ever early this week, a 2016 X3 xDrive 28i M Sport, with pretty much all available options/upgrade. I'm told that I probably won't see it until August because I'm located in South Korea...so the long wait begins.http://x3.xbimmers.com/forums/images/smilies/sigh.gif

So my newbie question is, since like I said I'm located in South Korea and I'll be receiving the US X3 model, I know that it will come with the US Navigation software and I'm told that it will not work here in Korea. So has anyone figured out a way (or a hack perhaps) for the Navigation to work in Asia? I say Asia since if someone figured it out how to make it work say in Japan, I'll be almost certain that it can be done in Korea as well.

I had another car that used DVD for its map database, so when I went to Germany all I had to do was replace the DVD with the German version to have the Nav to work there. I'm wondering if it is just a matter of loading the software into the NAV, even if the software is not in English. I've gotten used, or should I say found a work around, to the Korean NAV with my current Korean model car.

I'd really hate to have a fully loaded car with a Nav unit stuck on the windshield which I see all the time here . Thanks in advance.

[ND40oz]

You just need to purchase the maps and fsc code and load the maps. The dealer "should" be taking care of this for you and then you have to figure out how to load the US maps back when you ship it back. At least that's what I've seen happen in the past with European purchased US spec vehicles. Might depend on your purchasing dealer as well though and if they're delivering the vehicle or your taking delivery at a different center.

[mge92]

Nope it doesn't work like that. The US and Euro maps can only be put on Euro and US vehicles. Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China all have a separate different unit which cannot handle US Maps and thus the US and Euro Vehicles cannot be loaded with maps from Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China. There is of course a different version for the Middle East but thats another story.

[JohnAG]

Thanks for that info ND40oz. With the overseas buying service we have here in South Korea, we don't deal directly with the dealer, just the sales people, so it's like having a dealership complete with a showroom without a service center since they can't even provide the free maintenance service that owners in the US gets with new car purchase. So if loading the maps and fsc code doesn't require expensive special tools, I'd like to know how to go about doing this. Where do I buy these from? Is there a step by step instructions I can get my hands into? I'm a pretty handy man type person since I was once a car and helicopter mechanic and currently working in the IT arena, so as long as I don't need to buy a super expensive tool, chances are I can probably do it myself. Thanks.

[JohnAG]

Originally Posted by mge.92

Nope it doesn't work like that. The US and Euro maps can only be put on Euro and US vehicles. Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China all have a separate different unit which cannot handle US Maps and thus the US and Euro Vehicles cannot be loaded with maps from Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China. There is of course a different version for the Middle East but thats another story.

So, what you're saying is that basically I have to buy my own Asia NAV unit if I want to have this functionality, correct? I was afraid I was going to do that, so then this will require that a dealership shop to do it. Any idea how much a NAV unit will cost? Perhaps a question that I need to ask the local dealers here in Korea?

[ND40oz]

Originally Posted by mge.92

Nope it doesn't work like that. The US and Euro maps can only be put on Euro and US vehicles. Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China all have a separate different unit which cannot handle US Maps and thus the US and Euro Vehicles cannot be loaded with maps from Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and China. There is of course a different version for the Middle East but thats another story.

I was under the impression that the hardware was slightly different to support the different radio bands but it didn't affect the mapping software. Good to know that that is not the case.

Originally Posted by JohnAG

Thanks for that info ND40oz. With the overseas buying service we have here in South Korea, we don't deal directly with the dealer, just the sales people, so it's like having a dealership complete with a showroom without a service center since they can't even provide the free maintenance service that owners in the US gets with new car purchase. So if loading the maps and fsc code doesn't require expensive special tools, I'd like to know how to go about doing this. Where do I buy these from? Is there a step by step instructions I can get my hands into? I'm a pretty handy man type person since I was once a car and helicopter mechanic and currently working in the IT arena, so as long as I don't need to buy a super expensive tool, chances are I can probably do it myself. Thanks.

The X3 will be our third purchase through military sales, it does make some things difficult but it's nice having a US spec vehicle that you can ship back. You may try contacting someone like bimmer retrofit to see if they can help with the hardware side of things. If you didn't need a hardware change, they could get you the maps and fsc code.

http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/store/...&product_id=64

They have Korean listed as a supported language, so hopefully that means the can provide maps and/or hardware for that region. The link is for the CIC retrofit but they do NBT retrofits as well, which is what you would need.

[mge92]

I tried getting Hong Kong Maps placed onto a Euro spec Rolls Royce which has the same Idrive system as BMW's and the research was all based on BMW's Idrive. From the research shawnsheridan helped me get hold of there are three different head units. In order from a US vehicle to have Korean software there must be a retrofit of the head unit as well as coding since various function interface with this unit. The most cost effective solution is to buy a garmin unit or some other standalone unit. From the research we were looking at about a couple thousand USD.

[JohnAG]

Originally Posted by mge.92

I tried getting Hong Kong Maps placed onto a Euro spec Rolls Royce which has the same Idrive system as BMW's and the research was all based on BMW's Idrive. From the research shawnsheridan helped me get hold of there are three different head units. In order from a US vehicle to have Korean software there must be a retrofit of the head unit as well as coding since various function interface with this unit. The most cost effective solution is to buy a garmin unit or some other standalone unit. From the research we were looking at about a couple thousand USD.

I'm thinking it would be easier to just go ahead and purchase a Korean head unit to replace the US head unit...assuming that the connections are the same. Was this option considered when you were doing your research?

[JohnAG]

Originally Posted by ND40oz

I was under the impression that the hardware was slightly different to support the different radio bands but it didn't affect the mapping software. Good to know that that is not the case.



The X3 will be our third purchase through military sales, it does make some things difficult but it's nice having a US spec vehicle that you can ship back. You may try contacting someone like bimmer retrofit to see if they can help with the hardware side of things. If you didn't need a hardware change, they could get you the maps and fsc code.

http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/store/...&product_id=64

They have Korean listed as a supported language, so hopefully that means the can provide maps and/or hardware for that region. The link is for the CIC retrofit but they do NBT retrofits as well, which is what you would need.

Thanks for the info. I will keep them in mind if the Korean dealers are much more expensive.

[mge92]

Originally Posted by JohnAG

I'm thinking it would be easier to just go ahead and purchase a Korean head unit to replace the US head unit...assuming that the connections are the same. Was this option considered when you were doing your research?

The option was not considered because the cost of retrofitting the unit in a Rolls Royce would be significantly more expensive than retrofitting one into a BMW.