OK, so after much research and messing around with getting a working navigation unit in my P38 without spending a fortune here are my findings.
Assuming you have a factory fit navigation system, with the 4 buttons on the left and knob at the bottom regardless if it has a Mk2 or Mk3 navigation computer in the back, (I'll get to that), this information should be able to help you.
The navigation system in a P38 comes from the partial involvement of BMW at this stage, infact looking at a late 90's BMW navigation screen you can see the distinct similarities in the actual display in the dash. However its the computer that we are really interested in here. Basically its either a standard BMW Mk2 unit or a Mk3, the Mk2 had a separate trimble unit for the GPS receiver but this can be removed and the GPS aerial cable plugged straight into a MK3.
MK2 - has a CD IN light
MK3 - does not have a CD IN light. and is plain on the front. Best option for the P38
MK4 - Has a DVD logo on the front, I have since been told these will work but there needs to be some modification to the audio output for the instructions to work properly. Although they are annoying and probably best muted. Unless you are really keen these are probably best avoided as for various reasons they will not work perfectly with the set menu becoming greyed out after a time and it won't shut down properly or reliably and they are the most costly units
Basically if you have broken MK2 (or even a working one and want to upgrade) the best way to go is to upgrade to a MK3. Now if you can find a working MK3 from a P38, either YIB000060 or YIB000110 (later unit) you can plug and play and you are sorted. (The Mk2's part number appears to be YIB000050)
However as I have found, working P38's original units are expensive and getting harder to find however, as the system is essentially a BMW unit with some different software surely we should be able to make use of the much more common and cheaper BMW MK3 or even others from other cars.
I bought a standard MK3 BMW unit which does work OK for navigation purposes but there is no ofroad navigation, extra options which are NA to the P38 and the set menu doesn't work after a couple of minutes, I then bought a Land Rover Mk3 unit which had L322 software on it which ironically was actually less useful than the BMW unit as although the of road navigation and on road navigation worked OK the set menu was inaccessible all the time. You will also find that the audio instructions do not work and cause interference with the radio, making it go quiet or not work at all until navigation is stopped etc.
I got in touch with a guy called NavTvMan on ebay who has reflashed my Mk3 with L322 firmware on it to make it back into a P38 unit. It appears although they are all MK3's there are different hardware (HW) versions and only some are compatible however the following units are suitable to be reinstalled with P38 software:
BMW Mk3 with HW version 1.1 ONLY
Rover 75 with HW 1.1 or 1.2
L322 with HW 1.1 or 1.2
The HW version can be seen by looking at the top of the navigation computer.
Any of these 5 options can be made into a suitable unit for a P38. However the HW 1.2 units are apparently more stable and able to handle things like a jump start without giving the white screen of death. The reinstall of the software cost me £60, obviously additional cost if you have a faulty MK3 that needs repair but where as a BMW Mk3 can be had for £70 plus the reinstall of £60 makes it £130 for a working original P38 unit where as £200 to £400 to buy.
NavTvMan (Andy) was also able to provide me with a modern, 5 digit post code enabled map CD for the MK3 so I can now use post codes (well most of the post code). They are £25
http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/navtvman?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
I have also since found there is a fully custom retrofit kit available for anyone who does not have ANY navigation fitted to their P38 and would like to fit it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/P38-SAT-N...hash=item41a7e4b389:m:mCLf2C8osTic9eqJDx9gwNQ
Edit 2/4/16 - Added correct information about MK4, corrected mistake in MK3 part numbers and added retrofit kit.
Assuming you have a factory fit navigation system, with the 4 buttons on the left and knob at the bottom regardless if it has a Mk2 or Mk3 navigation computer in the back, (I'll get to that), this information should be able to help you.
The navigation system in a P38 comes from the partial involvement of BMW at this stage, infact looking at a late 90's BMW navigation screen you can see the distinct similarities in the actual display in the dash. However its the computer that we are really interested in here. Basically its either a standard BMW Mk2 unit or a Mk3, the Mk2 had a separate trimble unit for the GPS receiver but this can be removed and the GPS aerial cable plugged straight into a MK3.
MK2 - has a CD IN light
MK3 - does not have a CD IN light. and is plain on the front. Best option for the P38
MK4 - Has a DVD logo on the front, I have since been told these will work but there needs to be some modification to the audio output for the instructions to work properly. Although they are annoying and probably best muted. Unless you are really keen these are probably best avoided as for various reasons they will not work perfectly with the set menu becoming greyed out after a time and it won't shut down properly or reliably and they are the most costly units
Basically if you have broken MK2 (or even a working one and want to upgrade) the best way to go is to upgrade to a MK3. Now if you can find a working MK3 from a P38, either YIB000060 or YIB000110 (later unit) you can plug and play and you are sorted. (The Mk2's part number appears to be YIB000050)
However as I have found, working P38's original units are expensive and getting harder to find however, as the system is essentially a BMW unit with some different software surely we should be able to make use of the much more common and cheaper BMW MK3 or even others from other cars.
I bought a standard MK3 BMW unit which does work OK for navigation purposes but there is no ofroad navigation, extra options which are NA to the P38 and the set menu doesn't work after a couple of minutes, I then bought a Land Rover Mk3 unit which had L322 software on it which ironically was actually less useful than the BMW unit as although the of road navigation and on road navigation worked OK the set menu was inaccessible all the time. You will also find that the audio instructions do not work and cause interference with the radio, making it go quiet or not work at all until navigation is stopped etc.
I got in touch with a guy called NavTvMan on ebay who has reflashed my Mk3 with L322 firmware on it to make it back into a P38 unit. It appears although they are all MK3's there are different hardware (HW) versions and only some are compatible however the following units are suitable to be reinstalled with P38 software:
BMW Mk3 with HW version 1.1 ONLY
Rover 75 with HW 1.1 or 1.2
L322 with HW 1.1 or 1.2
The HW version can be seen by looking at the top of the navigation computer.
Any of these 5 options can be made into a suitable unit for a P38. However the HW 1.2 units are apparently more stable and able to handle things like a jump start without giving the white screen of death. The reinstall of the software cost me £60, obviously additional cost if you have a faulty MK3 that needs repair but where as a BMW Mk3 can be had for £70 plus the reinstall of £60 makes it £130 for a working original P38 unit where as £200 to £400 to buy.
NavTvMan (Andy) was also able to provide me with a modern, 5 digit post code enabled map CD for the MK3 so I can now use post codes (well most of the post code). They are £25
http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/navtvman?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
I have also since found there is a fully custom retrofit kit available for anyone who does not have ANY navigation fitted to their P38 and would like to fit it
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/P38-SAT-N...hash=item41a7e4b389:m:mCLf2C8osTic9eqJDx9gwNQ
Edit 2/4/16 - Added correct information about MK4, corrected mistake in MK3 part numbers and added retrofit kit.
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