BMW F20 sat nav update

Which sat nav does the F20 have?

With the 1 Series the first question is whether there is a sat nav at all. Many F20s and F21s were built without navigation and have only a radio unit, which has no map to update. Cars that do have navigation, built between about 2011 and 2019, can have one of six units, depending on the build date and on whether the car has Navigation Professional or the smaller-screen Business navigation:

The dates are a rough guide, because the units changed with production rather than with the model year. In our own VIN lookups we have found CIC on an F20. The VIN check above covers every case, including telling you plainly if your car has a radio unit only.

Two facelifts, three Professional units

The F20 was facelifted in 2015 and again in 2017, but its navigation did not change in step with either. On Professional-navigation cars, CIC came first and gave way to NBT around 2013, bringing a touchpad on the iDrive controller for writing destinations. From about 2016 BMW moved to NBT EVO, which is the unit that matters for both the EVO maps and Apple CarPlay activation.

Because the touchpad stayed on after NBT, it separates CIC from the later units but not NBT from NBT EVO. For that, the build date gives a first clue and the VIN check gives the answer.

• No navigation menu at all: radio unit, nothing to update
• Large screen, no touchpad: CIC, PREMIUM maps
• Touchpad, built before about 2016: NBT, NEXT maps
• Built from about 2016: NBT EVO, EVO maps

Business vs Professional navigation in the F20

Not every 1 Series with sat nav has Navigation Professional. Cars with Business navigation have the smaller screen and their own line of units: CHAMP2 on earlier cars, which uses the MOVE maps, then EntryNav, which uses ROUTE. Some very late cars may have EntryNav2, which takes the WAY maps.

The difference shows up at the checkout: MOVE and ROUTE are £39.99 with a typed code, while WAY is £59.99 with an FSC file. The packages are not interchangeable with each other or with the Professional maps, so let the VIN check pick the right one.

How to update the maps in your F20

CIC, NBT, CHAMP2 and EntryNav are activated with a typed FSC code, and a Lifetime FSC code is included where your unit supports it. NBT EVO ID5/ID6 and EntryNav2 use an FSC file generated for your VIN, so don't rename it. Park somewhere safe and open while the maps install. Our BMW FSC code explained guide covers the difference in more detail.

Apple CarPlay in the F20

Whether an F20 can have CarPlay switched on comes down to the same unit question. Cars with NBT EVO ID5/ID6 and Navigation Professional can have it activated by USB from £49.99, plus £10 each for FullScreen and Video in Motion if you want them; our compatible list covers 2016 to 2020 F20 and F21 cars. Earlier CIC and NBT cars, Business-navigation cars and radio-only cars would need a hardware retrofit. Our BMW 1 Series Apple CarPlay guide goes through the options.

After the F20: the F40 1 Series

The F20 was replaced in 2019 by the F40, which uses a later iDrive (MGU, iDrive 7) with the LIVE maps. On those cars the maps update over the air while the car's map update subscription or free period is active; once it has ended, a USB update with an FSC file keeps the maps current. If your 1 Series is an F40 rather than an F20, the VIN check above will show that too.

The closely related 2 Series Coupé and Convertible have their own guide, BMW F22 sat nav update.