so my mom has one of those Magellan Roadmate 700's, and it works in her bmw pretty well with the external antenna. the antenna that it comes with that is attached to the unit does not get any satellie signal in my A4 or her 5 series. is there anything that could be killing the signal, like the XM radio? or should it be working, and the unit is just bad?

 

not sure too many people here have tons of experience in nav systems.. check out one of the NAV forums for your best bet

 

its probably her windshield that is blocking the signal...

 

my dad has one, and it works fine in his XUV with the regular antenna

 

maybe the antenna that is built into the window interferfes.

 

I've been using my Magellan Color in my A4 without any problems. It's antennae is self contained, but it does have input for an external antennae. I've never had to use the external antennae as it locks onto 6-7 sats quite easily. Even maintains lock under heavy tree cover aswell.

I've heard some GPS units (Garmins, eTreks) do benefit from an external antennae - you might need one and have the end of it located outside the car.