markcincinnati

My dealer svc mgr, while I stood in his office, made some calls prompted by my question, "why can't I update my Nav disc to V7? Why does the order guide say only V5 for the 2005's?"

Here is the story he told me:

1. In 2006+ the [Nav specific] HARDWARE Audi used was changed from the hardware used during the 2004+ manufacturing of the 2005 A6's. The new hardware for '05 uses a different "microcode" than the even newer units (in 2006+) -- hence a "you can never go back" scenario is put into play.

1.1 This means, if you have a 2005 with all current PTF's applied (and this may or may not include any MMI updates such as the one I just got that replaces the Lawyer screen with a new color MMI screen and fixes the surround sound issue), you can put the V7 DVD into the nav drive and it will update the microcode thereby rendering your nav unit no longer capable of using older DVD versions.

2. They have updated MMI's and gone from V4 to V7 without consequence and with the addition of the new features and functions (and the new maps of course) -- but once you do this, you can't go back.

3. I can think of no reason, were I to upgrade to V7, that I would WANT to go back, but -- there you have it.

N.B. - the MMI update that I received late in 2006 is apparently NOT a mandatory prerequisite to being able to go to V7 nav. My svc mgr said, however, he would "prefer" that a customer has the latest and greatest MMI version before the V7 upgrade (prefer, NOT require.)

Of course the hell of it is, the MMI update will only be carried out IF the customer has previously complained, in writing (the dealer has a record of the complaint that is) that the surround mode on CD and Sat Radio resets to "normal" periodically.

"I wouldn't want to be a member of any club that would want me to be a member?!?"

Now for the question: should I go for the update to V7? I have 16 months to go on the lease and although I may get the update at no charge (a no brainer then, DOH!), is there any merit to spending the $200 for the update if that is the ONLY way to get it?

perfectlyfrank

I'll probably hold off on the Nav update and who knows if I'll ever get the MMI update. Luckily, I was able to the V5 disk on eBay for $25 a few month ago, since V4 was basically unusable.

pierreb

For me, the V7 made a lot of updates to the data available in my area and restored functionality that had been missing (i.e. '95' '495' road labels).

As to provenance, I explained before that Navteq claimed a 'new' (mid-2006) upgrade was available for my car when in fact they shipped me a 2005 database.

I borrowed a 2007 Q7 disc and made a copy.

agw2

I had such a poor experience with V5 that I downgraded it to V4 again and returned it. I'm willing to give V7 a chance but could someone answer the following questions?
Does the City stay stored as city or does it revert back to the County?
Is the metropark train station showing in the proximity of Edison, NJ when searching?
In V4 many stations and other disappeared.

perfectlyfrank

For me V4 was missing entire cities. Downtown Rockford, IL, a city of 100,000+ people only showed a few main roads. Until I upgraded to V5, I had to carry my Garmin Nuvi with me on trips as a back-up.

I believe the city stays stored.

I'll have to look up the Edison train station next time I'm in the car. I grew up in Matawan, NJ, but don't get out that way very often anymore.

agw2

Thank you so much for checking. I'll definitely get the upgrade if it improves the way the navigation system works.