I'm looking for some advice about upgrading the map in the Garmin GPS that came free in my 2011 SD4 FL2.

I was very happy to find the free GPS installed in the dash of my Freelander as a bonus when I took delivery of it in May last year. I was not happy when I went to the local LR dealer who sold me the car on Monday; they told me that it would cost $185 (1 hour of labour) to install the the new maps for the GPS.

Apparently what has to happen is the face plate covering the GPS is removed, the GPS unit is taken out, I take the GPS home plug it into my computer, update the maps, then take it back to the dealer who reinstalls the GPS for me!!!!!!

Why couldn't some rocket scientist has thought of the need to upgrade the maps when the installed the GPS in the first place
?

I'm assuming that removing the face plate and disconnecting the GPS is not that difficult but I'd prefer not to damage the faceplate, the unit or my car in the effort.

Has anyone else had the maps upgraded? Or done it themselves?

In the future I am considering taking the Freelander to an auto electrician to have a USB cable installed so that I can just plug in my laptop and upgrade the maps without physically removing the GPS from the car.

Cheers,

Darren Reflect on the past and plan for the future. But, above all - LIVE FOR THE MOMENT!!!

Hi Oshanda, I'm afraid you will have to remove the Garmin to update the map and, depending on what deal Garmin offered Land Rover, there is a possibility you will have to pay Garmin for the map download as well. However, if you are on the the free maps for life (of the unit!), it's not a big job to dismantle the centre facia panels yourself and then update. Although Garmin offer 4 updates per year, I only bother every 6 months. One point if you do dismantle it yourself, put a cloth over the gear lever to prevent possible scratching of the radio surround when you remove it. If you'd like more details feel free to PM me.

OSHANDA wrote:

In the future I am considering taking the Freelander to an auto electrician to have a USB cable installed so that I can just plug in my laptop and upgrade the maps without physically removing the GPS from the car.

Hi,

Been there, done that ! I purchase a USB EXTENSION CABLE - must be a 5 wire about 45cm long (and not the standard 4 wire).

Remove the top centre speaker cover first (clips out from the window front side corners with a little force) then remove the centre little rubber mat. Undo the screws and gently pull the front facia towards you.

The GPS is located in the box and is easily then removed. Unplug the USB from the unit and fit the new extension into the unit and feed it through the box and with some fiddling into the glove box. Feed the original cable also behind the facia and into the glove box. Refit GPS, refit box, refit facia and then top centre speaker.

Connect the original USB cable (male) into the extension female part and all should now work as before. When you wish to update, use a laptop and simply a USB from the laptop and plug into the Extension USB (female) now located in the glove box.

When in normal use, I just tuck the cable with a rubber band in the side of the glove box so it doesnt intrude !!

Good Luck

Last edited by greg350z on 27th Aug 2012 8:12 am. Edited 3 times in total

Why don't you install a USB extension on the unit when you remove it and leave this inside the glove box for easy future upgrades  2012 DISCOVERY 4 GS AUTO ORKNEY GREY
2012 FREELANDER 2 SD4 GS AUTO BALTIC BLUE - GONE
2011 FREELANDER 2 TD4 GS MANUAL BALI BLUE - GONE

greg350z wrote:

Hi,

Been there, done that ! I purchase a USB EXTENSION CABLE - must be a 5 wire about 45cm long (and not the standard 4 wire).

Remove the top centre speaker cover first (clips out from the window front side corners with a little force) then remove the centre little rubber mat. Undo the screws and gently pull the front facia towards you.

The GPS is located in the box and is easily then removed. Unplug the USB from the unit and fit the new extension into the unit and feed it through the box and with some fiddling into the glove box. Feed the original cable also behind the facia and into the glove box. Refit GPS, refit box, refit facia and then top centre speaker.

Connect the original USB cable (male) into the extension female part and all should now work as before. When you wish to update, use a laptop and simply a USB from the laptop and plug into the Extension USB (female) now located in the glove box.

When in normal use, I just tuck the cable with a rubber band in the side of the glove box so it doesnt intrude !!

Good Luck

Hi,

I first tried one or two from Ebay - they were rubbish and did not work. I ended up buying from the USA... works perfect and service was excellent !!

USB 2.0 Mini-B Up Angled 1 14.56 14.56
Extension -
RR-2MBR02EXT-24GL5

Here was his help and comments...

"The reason that the traffic etc doesn’t respond is that Garmin uses all 5 wires in the cable. Most 5pin Mini-B extensions only connect 4 wires (power, ground, data +/data -), which is sufficient for most USB applications, except this one. This uses a 5th wire, which is the optional wire. We include that in the part that you specified.. since all 5 wires are connected.

In essence, our part will work, guaranteed.

Shipping to Sydney is $8.50 through the standard postal system, an upgraded Priority mail runs $14.95, shipping times are generally around 3-6 weeks to Australia using the postal system.



Thanks!
-Rick


http://www.USBFireWire.com
PH: 877-522-3779 x2
FX: 316-239-2555"

Hope this helps...

Thanks Greg most helpful.
Peter

greg350z wrote:

Hi,

I first tried one or two from Ebay - they were rubbish and did not work. I ended up buying from the USA... works perfect and service was excellent !!

USB 2.0 Mini-B Up Angled 1 14.56 14.56
Extension -
RR-2MBR02EXT-24GL5

Here was his help and comments...

"The reason that the traffic etc doesn’t respond is that Garmin uses all 5 wires in the cable. Most 5pin Mini-B extensions only connect 4 wires (power, ground, data +/data -), which is sufficient for most USB applications, except this one. This uses a 5th wire, which is the optional wire. We include that in the part that you specified.. since all 5 wires are connected.

In essence, our part will work, guaranteed.

Shipping to Sydney is $8.50 through the standard postal system, an upgraded Priority mail runs $14.95, shipping times are generally around 3-6 weeks to Australia using the postal system.

Thanks!
-Rick

http://www.USBFireWire.com
PH: 877-522-3779 x2
FX: 316-239-2555"

Hope this helps...

Easy money for them from their contract with Garmin, then future money from dealers providing the update "service". In a word, profit. Ours - 2008 Stornoway Grey HSE Auto
Tricia's - 2006 Royal Blue Beetle Cabriolet Auto
Mine - 2014 Vespa GTS 300 Super Sport Matt Black
Ours - 2007 White Bailey Pageant Champagne

Glad to have helped.

The other thing I did was install an on/off switch. The power is taken from the cigerette lighter on the centre gear shift cover. Easily removed the surround and poked hand under and pulled the antenae and power lead out.

I broke the positive connection to the lighter and fitted a small round rocker switch - the only down side was a hole i had to drill next to the lighter.

This now looks neat and allows me to turn the unit off (by disconnection of the power) when not needed.

Cheers
Greg

I simply find the 5 inch screen on the Garmin to be too small to be useful when driving; particularly off-road where it's important to what's down the road (or track).
If you zoom out to get a better perspective, the road or track you are currently on disappears from the screen. On the other hand, if you try to scroll to see what's ahead, you end up in an almighty mess. It's also a tad dangerous whilst driving.
I'm currently experimenting with a Aldi 10 inch tablet that "pairs" to my phone. The Maps on the Tablet are excellent to see and will prove very useful in the future I'm sure. I need a better cradle for the tablet and a better solution to pair the GPS functionality of either the Garmin or my smartphone to the Tablet, since the Tablet doesn't have an in-built GPS receiver. It works well when stationery, but loses the plot when I start driving.
Any suggestions????

Found another problem with the Garmin. Mine has frozen on several occasions and the only way to fix it is to reset the device. But guess where the reset button is? Yes the on off switch. The only way to get to the on off switch is to remove the device from the the dash. I'm lucky I can do this work, if you can't it could be expensive. I've got to say I'm over this Device and I'll be letting the Dealer know of my dissatisfaction.

Just did this today thanks everyone for the tips.

I purchased the lifetime upgrades for my garmin 1490 and yes I know I could have bought a new one but I didn't want to risk size or cable diffrences. Installed the Extention usb cable (I could not find this anywhere in Australia ended up buying from USBFireWire) and fed through the glove box.
while I had the unit out I also added a landrover logo to the JPG folder and set it to show the image on startup.

Jimbo90. How much did you pay for the Maps upgrade? I was shocked when I initially enquired about 18 months ago (the maps upgrade was more than the cost of a whole new unit) so if they are smart, they will have brought their price down - way down!
I have also installed "Shonky Maps" for offroading - free download and pretty basic functionality, but it does come in handy when away from civilization. The commercial "HEMA Maps" is very expensive.
The Mapping capabilities of my Smartphone are now almost as good and with a screen size of 4,8 inches versus the Garmin 5 inches, there's not much difference. Both are still hard to see whilst driving through.