BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I guess most of us with RT's fitted with the audio system are frustrated that the Nav VI Media player is disabled when connected to the cradle.  I contacted Garmin support and received a prompt response:

"The media player is intentionally designed by BMW to not function when connected to your bike. They want the customer to use solely the on board media players and systems when connected to the bikes that include the NavPrep system. Unfortunately this is something BMW has requested of all the recent products we manufacture in partnership with them, we don't have any way around this"  
I do not understand the logic behind BMW's decision.  The poor quality of the BT connection and audio quality has been discussed on this forum ad-naseum, and I had hoped for the functionality at the time of purchase.

This is not something that would take much effort to resolve.  Just a decision by BMW.  But how do we make our needs known to them?

So how will allowing the nav to act as the media player sort out the BT connection from the Nav or the Bike. Its the same type of connection. I might add that if you use the BMW audio in your helmet its supposed to be better.


I have a scala Pactalk and can listen to music ok, as well as music on my memory stick, its not hi fi but hey ho. You can upgrade helmet speaker which apparently improves things. Or follow the autocom wired route.

My Sena 20s connects to the GPS for voice commands and cellphone.  The media player outputs directly to the headset when not on the cradle.  The BMW onboard audio is linked directly to the 20s, ie, not through the GPS.  Browsing the forums is seems the on-board BT (v2.1) is the reason for poor audio quality.  Some suggest the BMW headset works better (I would hope is does) but overall it's way behind the times in therms of BT quality.

I agree, you would think BMW would update to use the latest BT release. Again hope this happens, I can't see any reason for using the inferior comms connection, unless their own system is not using the latest software.

There is a thread somewhere on this forum that talks about how to defeat BMW's disabling of the media player on the Nav V.  It involves putting a small piece of electrical tape on one of the pins where it connects to the nav cradle.  Probably in the audio section.

3rd pin up on the right as you look at it from the back

Maz12 wrote: 3rd pin up on the right as you look at it from the back

This doesn't work on my Nav V.

It does on mine

I tried taping 3rd pin from the bottom on the right when viewing the Nav from the rear.  It did not work.  The only change seemed to be the Nav no longer recognizes the ignition is off.
I suggest this is the incorrect pin.  Any other suggestions?[attachimg=1]

duckysan1 wrote: I tried taping 3rd pin from the bottom on the right when viewing the Nav from the rear.  It did not work.  The only change seemed to be the Nav no longer recognizes the ignition is off.
I suggest this is the incorrect pin.  Any other suggestions?[attachimg=1]

That works on my nav v,  although I use electrical insulation tape (that looks like masking tape)
To be honest I haven't tried it for a long time so maybe a firmware update has put a spanner in the works?
I'm off on the bike tomorrow so if I remember I will give it a go

duckysan1 wrote: I tried taping 3rd pin from the bottom on the right when viewing the Nav from the rear.  It did not work.  The only change seemed to be the Nav no longer recognizes the ignition is off.
I suggest this is the incorrect pin.  Any other suggestions?[attachimg=1]

Try 3rd pin from the bottom on the left instead.