# Garmin Street Pilot III Review



## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

I finally bit the bullet and bought this unit. A deluxe package was released in the summer which included all unlock codes for North America and a 128mb card.










With 2 vehicles, there was no way that I wanted to spring for 2 OEM integrated Nav systems. The Street Pilot is excellent value for the money.

One of the first things I did was verify the speedometer accuracy. My E46 runs about 2kph fast at lower speeds and 3 kph fast at ~150kph. So the E46 is fairly accurate.

One nice feature about the Street Pilot is that it has a "dashboard mode". The dashboard gives a car dash like display that gives all your trip related info on 1 screen. Current speed, trip distance, moving trip time, stopped time, total time, moving avg, stopped avg, total avg. Maximum speed is tracked and a quick button is available to clear that out! 

Accurate gps time is also nice to have when setting your clock (since your fiddling with them anyway, it's kind of nice to set it correctly!)

Another nice feature is that as you drive along a city street, it will show the current address you are at (real time) and the cross street you are coming up on. This saves you from having to crane your neck forward looking for cross street signs. Just look at the unit and it tells you what is coming up. Slick.

The units interface is well thought out. Map drawing speed is on the slow side, but it's still in the acceptable range.

A GPS tracking screen shows the current satellites that are in the sky, the sun's position and the signal strength of each satellite that it is tracking.

I was hoping I could integrate the unit nicely into the E46 interior. Unfortunately, this has not yet been possible. Permanently mounting the unit in the car is not desirable as you don't want it stolen while it's parked. So, the unit has to be removable.

The bean bag mount works very well. It stays on the dash quite well and completely disappears when you park it. I wasn't willing to mar the E46's dash with a permanent mount. Running power cables is a little much for short trips so I'm using AA rechargables.

All in all, it's a nice little unit for the car. I'd say that it's a 50/50 toy/tool. On long trips in unfamiliar territory it will come in very handy.


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

Nice review JP, thanks.

I too am leaning toward the Garmin SPIII+ (when we take delivery on my wife's new Ody sometime in November). We had originally ordered the OEM Nav system, but later rethought that position (#1: it was $2k; #2: it didn't have our street on the DVD, despite the fact that the street has been here for several years; #3: I like the fact that I can move it from her car to my car to a rental, etc.; #4: Garmin has an excellent Java applet on their web site that lets you see if a street you're interested in is on their CD---every one I looked for, including some that I thought were quite obscure, was there--very impressive).

I expect to pay around $740 (U.S.) for mine (etronics); mind if I ask (if it's not too personal) if you were able to get yours for less (before I commit)?

Thx,

hts


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

I got mine from gpscitycanada.com which was a rare pleasure to deal with a competitive Canadian internet company as opposed to ordering from the USA and being hammered on duties&taxes.

Here is their US branch: http://www.gpscity.com/products/garmin/streetpilotiii.html

I ended up paying ~ $800US which I am very pleased with.

The flexibility of Garmin's maps was also a reason why I chose them. I wanted a product that showed offroad trails central Ontario.

Garmin has a Canadian enhanced basemap that had logging roads on it. Flexibility, price and functionality is at a sweet spot with the SPIII.... particularly with the new Deluxe pkg.


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

JPinTO said:


> *I wanted a product that showed offroad trails central Ontario. *


Why? Thinking of getting an xiT Monster Wagon to replace that POS ML? 

j/k


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

hts said:


> *it didn't have our street on the DVD, despite the fact that the street has been here for several years*


DVD? My understanding is that the DVD's for the 2003 BMW NAV won't be here for a month or so.

I live on a one-block-long side street that even the local taxis don't know how to find, and it was on the NAV CD. Also (assuming they ever get my car fixed so I can use the NAV and phone  ) the integrated NAV lets you do things like look up local hotels/restaurants/etc. on the map, sorted by distance, and call them on the phone. I really like the way the integrated NAV, well, integrates  with the rest of the car.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

[email protected] said:


> *
> 
> Why? Thinking of getting an xiT Monster Wagon to replace that POS ML?
> 
> j/k  *


Sure... can it do this?


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## GSR13 (Apr 30, 2002)

Terry Kennedy said:


> *
> DVD? My understanding is that the DVD's for the 2003 BMW NAV won't be here for a month or so.
> 
> I live on a one-block-long side street that even the local taxis don't know how to find, and it was on the NAV CD. Also (assuming they ever get my car fixed so I can use the NAV and phone  ) the integrated NAV lets you do things like look up local hotels/restaurants/etc. on the map, sorted by distance, and call them on the phone. I really like the way the integrated NAV, well, integrates  with the rest of the car. *


If you read his post again, you will see he is talking about a Honda Odyssey for the wife. It was the OEM Honda DVD, not BMW.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

Terry Kennedy said:


> *
> DVD? My understanding is that the DVD's for the 2003 BMW NAV won't be here for a month or so.
> 
> I live on a one-block-long side street that even the local taxis don't know how to find, and it was on the NAV CD. Also (assuming they ever get my car fixed so I can use the NAV and phone  ) the integrated NAV lets you do things like look up local hotels/restaurants/etc. on the map, sorted by distance, and call them on the phone. I really like the way the integrated NAV, well, integrates  with the rest of the car. *


The DVD will have the same data as the CD... just on 1 disk instead of many.

The integrated NAV is the way to go if you have 1 vehicle but if you have several, then the costs can be prohibitive.


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## Capitalist (Oct 12, 2002)

JPinTO said:


> *Sure... can it do this? *


Man, this is the first time I see someone actually using a luxoute for off-roading. :thumbup: I don't think my X5 will ever see the trail...


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## hts (Dec 19, 2001)

Capitalist said:


> *
> 
> Man, this is the first time I see someone actually using a luxoute for off-roading. I don't think my X5 will ever see the trail... *


Ya' call *that* (thanks TD) off-roading? Hell, I've been to JP's place in TO--he's just on his driveway trying to get home.


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## ·clyde· (Dec 26, 2001)

JPinTO said:


> *
> 
> Sure... can it do this?
> *


I'd have to say yes (on the assumption that the photos are a fair representation of the route you took that day, which could be a pretty big assumption). Of course, if I actually fell into the ruts, I could have a problem.


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## SchwartzBlack (Jan 4, 2002)

I've been looking into getting a GPS myself and a friend of mine showed me his Toshiba e570 with an attached GPS module (CompactFlash size?). It seemed to be just as good as a standalone unit like the Garmin. The graphics were sharp and it had turn by turn voice prompts. Maps were downloadable and were loaded on the 128Mb SSFDC cards. 

Wouldn't it be more cost effective to get something like a used iPaq with a GPS card? Plus you'd get a PDA thrown in?


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## Terry Kennedy (Sep 21, 2002)

GSR13 said:


> *If you read his post again, you will see he is talking about a Honda Odyssey for the wife. It was the OEM Honda DVD, not BMW. *


Oh. I missed that. But the rest of my comment still stands - the Navigation Technologies web site says that "_Every vehicle navigation system in North America and the majority of vehicle navigation systems in Europe that offer turn-by-turn route guidance use NAVTECH data._", so I'd assume that the Honda DVD NAV would have equally complete data.


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## SilverBmw (Dec 23, 2001)

I bought the SP III deluxe from gpscity.com back in july. It is invaluable to me since i just moved to LA. I posted a thread in the OT forum on how i installed it in my car. I did take pictures of how the entire process of installing it, but my digitial camera was stolen a couple of days later. Maybe this weekend i can take new pictures of the finished product.

I agree 100% with your review. I reccomend it to anyone that is looking for a portable GPS.

Here is my thread.

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=12471

-SilverBmw


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

[email protected] said:


> *
> 
> I'd have to say yes (on the assumption that the photos are a fair representation of the route you took that day, which could be a pretty big assumption). Of course, if I actually fell into the ruts, I could have a problem.  *


Not without Low range and HIGH clearance on the route that I took. The pictures underrepresent the route. My camera ran out of batteries on the coolest part where I had to cross a very tight boulder infested stream.

Now that I've got trail maps, GPS and bi-Xenons... I'm ready to head up again. This time with extra battery set.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

SchwartzBlack said:


> *I've been looking into getting a GPS myself and a friend of mine showed me his Toshiba e570 with an attached GPS module (CompactFlash size?). It seemed to be just as good as a standalone unit like the Garmin. The graphics were sharp and it had turn by turn voice prompts. Maps were downloadable and were loaded on the 128Mb SSFDC cards.
> 
> Wouldn't it be more cost effective to get something like a used iPaq with a GPS card? Plus you'd get a PDA thrown in? *


I thought about the iPaq/Palm route... but in the end I decided to just go with a Garmin. I feel that a single purpose unit will functionally be superior than a multi-purpose one... albeit at the expense of flexibility.

Of course if you already have a PDA, then that might make the decision easier.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

Capitalist said:


> *
> 
> Man, this is the first time I see someone actually using a luxoute for off-roading. :thumbup: I don't think my X5 will ever see the trail... *


I wouldn't really call a base ML320 (no roof, leather, nothing) much of a "luxo"-ute. Of course you can option them out with loads of lux, but ours isn't.

As a result, I have no problems bashing it through trees and rocks and mud. I haven't cleaned it in weeks as I don't really want to see how many scratches I put on the thing.

It's great not to have to care about a vehicle.... and just enjoy it!


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

I also forgot to mention in my review that the SPIII screen is excellent. The brightness is great even on a sunny day.

The 128 MB ram card seems like alot. I got all of Toronto street detail and southern ontario extended basemap in 32mb. One could easily get 2-3 states and 2 very large city road details loaded into 128mb.

I picked up a Maha charger and PowerEx 1800 batteries. This review rates both highly. Powering a GPS receiver & screen with 6 AA's uses them up quickly, so the best batteries are warranted.

http://www.imaging-resource.com/ACCS/BATTS/BATTS.HTM


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## joema (Aug 28, 2002)

JPinTO said: "I was hoping I could integrate the unit nicely into the E46 interior"

I have a monochrome StreetPilot and I found a good place to mount it on my 2003 330i SP. It might work for you, too.

My StreetPilot has a velcro strip on the bottom for attaching to the bean bag mount. Rather than use the bean bag, I just put a small strip of black velcro tape on the top of the steering column. You can't really see the tape strip from within the car, as the steering column top curves away from the driver. The StreetPilot almost would stay there without the Velcro, but that secures it left/right in turns. However my telescoping steering column is full toward me. If your column is positioned away from you, maybe there would be less space for the StreetPilot on top.

The StreetPilot sticks on the velcro just fine, and only obscures the bottom-most part of the speedo and tach, plus the OBD readout. I can still see the OBD readout by leaning forward.

It's a very convenient non-obtrusive location. It's also easy to keep my eyes on the road. Other cars can't easily see it like they could mounted on your dash. It pops off in one second and fits in my glove box.

I also use NiMH rechargeable batteries, which last about a full day of constant use, probably because the monochrome StreetPilot uses much less power than the new color one.

The monochrome StreetPilot doesn't do routing. However the main reason I wanted a GPS is a quick "you are here" tool. I always think of my position as on a map, vs some people who think in terms of landmarks. So it helps me when in new places. I also like the "find" features, such as "find next exits", eating places, gas stations, etc.

-- Joe


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## Emission (Dec 19, 2001)

I've been using a Garmin eMap in my cars for some time now. In all honesty, the Garmin units are easier to use than the Nav system (I've been driving my dad's 540i-6 with Nav for the past week). The Garmin's have more detail, can be read with Polarized sunglasses (at least the eMap can), and you can take them with you (out of the car).


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