Nick Hodge Nick Hodge
12 May 2023, 22:07

Been enjoying plotting routes for a trip from UK to Nordkapp and back home down Finland et al starting on 29th May, using my new Lifetime Gold Membership (Caveat: BMW Connected App uses TomTom maps, so you need Gold and to plot using those maps). I have a K1600GT where the new 10.25in TFT has 'map view' and the Connected App is nearly 100% functional with it, unlike with my last 3 GS(A)s.

I am also looking forward to MRA-app Next with Navigation for other vehicles, but currently I love being able to use a quality online tool to plot my routes accurately. The beauty of this too is the new simplicity of using the MRA phone app (iPhone in my case) to move the routes WITH WAY/VIA POINTS into the connected app. These waypoints are not exactly as they are set up in MRA. (They seem to take the 'default' TomTom name for the location of your plotted waypoint in MRA not any custom name you give it. NOTE: This has a further advantage when using the 'expand' function in MRA as the MRA default-named 'Waypoint' gets converted to something more meaningful. FURTHER NOTE: There is a fifty waypoint limit in the Connected App).

Below is the process after plotting the route, all on my phone using the two apps.

  1. Open the MRA app and going through Route Lab>Routes, open your route.

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  1. Hit the 'Page menu' and select '.gpx 1.1 (route, track, POI)'

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  1. This will prepare the file for export and present a dialog. Hit 'Export'

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  1. This will display the 'options list'. Scroll fully right and select 'More'

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  1. From the list, navigate to 'Connected' and click that.

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  1. This will load the two components of the data (Route and Track). You may get a third if you added something from the POI list in MRA. You can ignore this third one entirely. You will notice the track has many points (normally thousands), the route will have the same number of 'Support' points as the Way and Via points in your MRA route. Uncheck the track (and POI if you have a third), so you just have the 'Route' selected. Click 'Import'

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  1. This will import the route into the BMW Connected App as below, still showing 'Support Points'. Click on the route to open it.

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  1. This will show you a rough representation of the route but no waypoints will be shown. Hit the three buttons top right of this screen (...)

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  1. Select 'Convert to list of waypoints'

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  1. This will literally plot single dot waypoints on the map in the connected app, with dots joining them. Hit the 'route' button. (as shown)

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  1. It warns the current map will be discarded and replaced, select 'OK'

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  1. If you are not near the start point, click 'From start point' and it'll plot the route from waypoint 1 to waypoint (max) on your imported route.

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  1. Not sure if this is the clever point but the Connected app, using the same TomTom map points, grabs the internal waypoint (and name) from the data in the imported route and maps it. Making a full list of named waypoints matching your waypoints in MRA (not by name, but position). These all show as waypoints on the bike's TFT, so can be skipped, announce, etc.

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  1. The route has now been fully built in the Connected App.

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  1. The route has been saved as a copy and the word '(Waypoints)' has been added. You can keep the old one or delete it. Note too the thumbnail of the route is clearly shown with waypoints.

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Lastly, you can of course use the Track with thousands of points and the route will be true, but you will have no ability to see waypoints and therefore if any mid-route issues arise, you cannot really manipulate it (skip), so would have to just re-plot a new route in the app.

Hope this helps those using the same two tools and Ride Safe.

UPDATE: 31st August 2024 (Connected App Version 5.4.0 - now with a black icon)

The limit of 50 waypoints still applies but interestingly, if you add more through the 'Expand' functionality in MRA Route Planner (Gold feature) and import the route as above it seems to 'honour' those waypoints whilst not allowing you to 'convert to list of waypoints' I just tried this for a route from home to Edinburgh with 75 'way/support' points and no matter the setting I chose in the Connected app (shortest, winding, etc.) the route remained the same distance and time