# Loading your European route into the 2011.5 iDrive



## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

Last year several threads discussed that the import destination from USB feature in the iDrive was not functional in Europe when an US-version BMW was picked up thru European Delivery, the USB destination menu selection simply was not shown in the iDrive.

The latest iDrive update in the USA -Oct 2010- includes the option "Stored Trips", which it is the option that enables the import of Google Maps destination/trips into the Nav. What is interesting, to say the least- is that BMWNA has not implemented an USA version of the European BMWRoutes site so this feature can be functional in the USA.

So I tried to create a route for my future European delivery using the Stored Trips feature in my updated iDrive using BMWRoutes to set the trip while being in the USA... and it actually imported the route:









































































I do not know if this will work now with this latest update when an USA BMW is picked up at the BMW Welt with Euro maps loaded, but for sure it works in the USA, with BMWRoutes and with US maps... _go figure_.


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## Erregend (Apr 22, 2003)

Nice! In what format and how does one put the maps/routes on the USB for loading into the car?


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

The steps are explained in detail in www.bmwroutes.com as stated above. :thumbup:


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## SD ///M4 (Jan 24, 2011)

I tried this last night after reading the first post. Not yet having a BMW I had not way to create an account and therefore save my routes. But it did let me create a route and download it to my PC for import to the car via USB.

The zip file contains a tar.gz file which contains an xml file and a png file, although the png file was just the universal symbol for "no", a circle with a diagonal slash through it.

I'm hoping that this will be a viable way of planning all of the routes for my upcoming ED before I leave and being able to upload them to the car in Munich.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

SD 335is said:


> I tried this last night after reading the first post. Not yet having a BMW I had not way to create an account and therefore save my routes. But it did let me create a route and download it to my PC for import to the car via USB.
> 
> The zip file contains a tar.gz file which contains an xml file and a png file, although the png file was just the universal symbol for "no", a circle with a diagonal slash through it.
> 
> I'm hoping that this will be a viable way of planning all of the routes for my upcoming ED before I leave and being able to upload them to the car in Munich.


The png file is any photo of your choice of less than 1MB of size.

No need to create account just create as many routes as you want, name and save them in an USB stick.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Technic said:


> The png file is any photo of your choice of less than 1MB of size.
> 
> No need to create account just create as many routes as you want, name and save them in an USB stick.


Cool.. And you put the zip file on the USB or the inner tar.gz file?


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## bayoucity (Jun 11, 2010)

This is not new. I've done it on my ED trip last July, except back then my delivery adviser told me to use www.bmw.com/routes which will re-direct to the same site. The format saved on the USB stick shall be tar.gz .


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

bmw325 said:


> Cool.. And you put the zip file on the USB or the inner tar.gz file?


tar.gz (png and xml) as a zip file.


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## bkmk5 (Feb 19, 2008)

Seeing this post saved me a BIG headache! Thank you so much! Leaving for Munich in 10 days!!! Woohoo!

Much appreciated Technic!


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## SD ///M4 (Jan 24, 2011)

Just so everybody's clear, these are the instructions from the bmw-routes website:

*Transfer route to vehicle.*

The route file can now be saved.

1. Save the route as a ZIP file, e.g. on your desktop.
2. Unpack the ZIP file. Define your USB stick as the target folder. A folder with the name "BMWData" will be created on your USB stick. The route file will be located in the subfolder "Nav" using the file format "tar.gz.".
3. Insert the USB stick into the port in the glove compartment of your BMW and switch on the ignition.
4. You can now start importing your route to your navigation system using the iDrive operating system.

To restate, the ZIP file should be unzipped onto your USB drive, creating a folder and subfolder called BMWData\Nav. The Nav subfolder will contain the tar.gz file. The ZIP file does NOT get copied to your USB drive.


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

The file in the BMWData/Nav folder is actually named *XXXX.tar*, where XXXX is the name of your route and the .tar file itself is a zip file with the png and the xml files inside.

Regardless, if BMWRoutes is used then all this process into the USB will be automatic. However, this also means that any Google Maps destination *in the USA* can be also saved and imported into the iDrive by _manually_ creating the png and the xml file of the USA destination, zipping those into a .tar file and saving it in a USB stick without using BMWRoutes.

And again, I'm not 100% sure that importing an Euro destination using BMW Routes into the iDrive will work at European Delivery pickup of an USA BMW since Oct 2010, as it could be possible that the iDive version loaded at pickup is different from the latest USA iDrive version. Some USA 2009 iDrive versions worked, then BMW eliminated the option in MY2010 and 2011 versions and now it looks like it is back in MY2011.5.


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## mgthompson (Oct 14, 2007)

I used this feature every day on our ED in '09. It really worked great. It was removed last year when I got a software update. Maybe they will put it back with another software update?

There was a thread on another forum discussing the schema for the XML file that contains the route and how to translate a route from another GPS package for the USA. The effort stopped when the feature was removed from the US navigation software. Maybe it is time to restart the effort.


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## Erregend (Apr 22, 2003)

Technic, two points:

1) Examination of the XML file created by "routes" shows a pretty complex file.
Any thoughts as to your idea of "manually creating the xml file"?

2) Have you tried putting multiple xxxx.tar.gz files in the Nav folder on the USB stick? 
Does the iDrive see all of them? [By the way, it is xxx.tar.gz, not xxx.tar]


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## Technic (Jun 24, 2002)

Erregend said:


> Technic, two points:
> 
> 1) Examination of the XML file created by "routes" shows a pretty complex file.
> Any thoughts as to your idea of "manually creating the xml file"?
> ...


1) I will be trying to create that XML for an USA destination soon. Will report back.

2) I have not tried multiple destinations yet, only one route. The file that I have in my USB is named XXXX.tar, but I have not seen its properties to really see the .gz extension.


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## Erregend (Apr 22, 2003)

Technic said:


> 1) I will be trying to create that XML for an USA destination soon. Will report back.
> 
> 2) I have not tried multiple destinations yet, only one route. The file that I have in my USB is named XXXX.tar, but I have not seen its properties to really see the .gz extension.


1) Thanks, Please keep us informed.

2) If I open the downloaded *.zip file using WinZip (for example) I can see the inner filename as Title.tar.gz (and I extracted as G:/BMWData/Nav/Welt_To_Dingolfing.tar.gz )
I hope we can put multiple trips on one USB as it will help me in getting ready for May ED.


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## Erregend (Apr 22, 2003)

Just checking in to see if anyone has tried this yet?

I plan on attempting to do so next month on my ED.

Still hoping that I will be able to load ALL of the routes I have created.

Anyone tried it yet?


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Erregend said:


> Just checking in to see if anyone has tried this yet?
> 
> I plan on attempting to do so next month on my ED.
> 
> ...


I tried it and nothing came up, but maybe I screwed up something copying it onto the USB stick


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## Erregend (Apr 22, 2003)

bmw325 said:


> I tried it and nothing came up, but maybe I screwed up something copying it onto the USB stick


Your USB stick should have a folder called *BMWData*
and that folder should only contain a folder called *Nav*

Inside Nav should be a file named *YourTripName.tar.gz*

The .gz may be hidden if you are not "showing extensions" in your system.
This is quite common; it is the Windows default setting.

So if your USB is "E:" you should have E:\BMWData\Nav\YourTripName.tar
(maybe with a ".gz" on the end.)

I can e-mail you a route file if you like.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

Erregend said:


> Your USB stick should have a folder called *BMWData*
> and that folder should only contain a folder called *Nav*
> 
> Inside Nav should be a file named *YourTripName.tar.gz*
> ...


Too late now, I'm back from ED. But I did follow that structure. Maybe somethig got screwed up cause I copied it over on a Mac (perhaps one of its hidden desktop files messed things up)


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## Zeichen311 (Mar 31, 2011)

Technic said:


> The latest iDrive update in the USA -*Oct 2010*- includes the option *"Stored Trips", which it is the option that enables the import of Google Maps destination/trips *into the Nav.


There's more to it than that. *Stored Trips* is present even if the USB import feature is not--it lets you save multi-destination trips entered entirely via iDrive and recall them at any time. The USB import feature is separate.

As for Oct 2010 ... well, color me annoyed. :banghead: My production date was late September 2010, I picked up the car early October and I *do not* have the USB import feature. I could have really used it in Europe. 

FWIW, my navigation version is:

```
NA
BMW Group
112091.0.10
Road Map North America Premium 2010.
```
I'd be grateful if someone having a system with a working trip import feature would post their version info. It will help if I decide to look into an upgrade.


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