GPS Hacker wanted

I have a 2009 Honda Fit with the Honda in-dash navigation/gps installed. This was a very pricey option (near $2,000, although it did come bundled with traction/stability control and a much fancier stereo) and I like its functionality very much. The map information is stored on a DVD that must be in the nav unit for it to function.

Unfortunately, it does not come with maps of Mexico. According to Honda, only US and Canada are included in the North American map set, and there are no plans for Mexico maps anytime soon.

My hand-held Garmin Nuvi 360 with Mexico maps is a pretty weak substitute for the factory Honda unit.

As best I can tell, the Honda's GPS is manufactured by Alpine, and is common to the Fit, the Civic, the Element, and the CR-V. The genuine Honda North America maps come from Navteq.

Navteq has a line of Mexico maps available for Garmin. These are the "official" Garmin maps.

Bicimapas also has Garmin-compatible Mexico maps, they are what I use in my Nuvi.

If Navteq makes Mexico maps for Garmin, and they make North American maps for Alpine/Honda, is there any chance that there is enough similarity in the formatting that a clever hacker could make me a DVD with Mexico maps (I'd prefer the Bicimapas maps, but could live with the Navteq maps) that would work in my Honda?

I will pay $1,000 for such a DVD.

I'm not trying to cheat any map makers out of their money. I am perfectly willing to buy the appropriate maps if I can then have someone modify/reformat/whatever them to make them work in my Honda.

Any takers? Any suggestions as to where to look for someone?

tanstaafl.

I know that Navteq supplies map data, but I don't know if they actually make any data discs or formats for anyone. So you may find for instance that the file format and structure for the Garmin maps is completely different than that of any other product with Navteq data.

It might be like comparing a PNG to a GIF. The hack here will be decoding both formats and then converting the data. Then figuring out how to structure the disc to make the newly created files accessible to your in-car nav. Sounds like it could be pretty complex.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was encryption involved, too. Honda doesn't give updates away for free. They may have taken steps to make sure that someone couldn't load their own map data.

Actually, this might be useful.

And here's some information on the important parts about maps. This confirms what I mentioned earlier, that Navteq supplies the data and each vendor then uses that data in their own proprietary formats. What this page doesn't have is any information on what Honda (specifically) is using. Honda is mentioned only historically.

Unfortunately the bin dumping and modifying information Bitt posted seems only useful to modify text and background images of the system, not actually modifying or taking apart the maps.