Premium car manufacturers such as BMW may have traditionally been notoriously stingy when it comes to standard equipment on their models, but the company has now decided to fit sat nav as standard to all of its cars built from September onwards.

This means that everything from the £20,000 1 Series hatchback to the company’s flagship £104,590 i8 hybrid supercar will include a dash-mounted sat nav system. This is good news for the majority of car buyers who would like to have a helping hand when it comes to directions, already installed in their next car.

A consumer survey on car buying expectations and in-car technology carried out by Motors.co.uk in March discovered that 60 per cent of the 431 motorists questioned would like to have a built-in sat nav in their next vehicle – a similar figure to surveys in 2013 and 2012.

BMW introducing navigation across its entire model range is a first for any mainstream manufacturer in the UK and will inevitably pave the way for others to follow.

Jeff Knight, forecasting editor cars at car valuations body CAP, said: “BMW introducing navigation across its entire model range is a first for any mainstream manufacturer in the UK and will inevitably pave the way for others to follow.”

From July onwards the BMW Z4, 2 Series Convertible and Active Tourer ranges will feature sat nav as standard, with it becoming a standard fixture on the 1 Series and 2 Series Coupe ranges from September.

Also standard on BMWs now are Emergency Call – a system which can send out an alert to the authorities should a car be involved in a crash – along with digital radios and Bluetooth with audio streaming.

Picture: BMW