There are... ways
to do a self-upgrade of navigation map on HDD-based BMW navigation systems... The disks with appropriate map regions can be found online for "free"
, the activation code is not free but there are some services which can offer it for significant discount (compared to greedy dealer's prices). Google for "fscmap"
But I agree in general that Garmin or TomTom devices are much superior for navigation purposes, especially considering how cheap they are and how cheap their map data is (some models include a lifetime update of maps in their price) and that all the POI data (such as traffic/red light cameras or police checkpoints
) is fully customizable by you (the user).