Quote:
Originally Posted by Booster4075
In looking in your thread, obviously (like me) you will get a lot of criticism for even thinking of doing this (everyone will tell you to just buy another car.) For me, doing the retrofit on my E90 was very rewarding, I learned a ton about the cars and their superior (and confusing!) engineering. I was pushed even harder to rise to the challenge, since everyone told me it couldn't be done.
That being said, there is a basic thing you need to figure out;
Do you plan to retrofit the older (1st-gen) i-drive (CCC) or the newer 2009-based (2nd-gen) i-drive (CIC) ?? This is the first decision you have to make before going any further. Obviously the parts, the diagrams and programming knowledge is out there to complete the 1st-gen retrofit. Although, its safe to assume no one has retrofitted a 1st-gen i-drive onto a 2009 model (which was equipped with 2nd-gen i-drive from the factory.)
If you plan to retrofit the 2nd-gen system (or for those of you who want to upgrade from the 1st-gen), there are a few unknowns out there, and the used parts just aren't really available yet to play with. In looking at the dash, its looks like the dash with the monitor has a recessed area where the screen flange (for the lack of a better word) drops into - it might look cheesy if the display hole is cut out and this "flange" rests on top. It might be worth a real good look at an i-drive dash and how the monitor mounts in. It took me like 2 hours to get the dash out of my E90, so its not something to be scared of (just a little pricey.) That said, that guy that put in the storage bin made it look real nice - does the display monitor have the same "flange"?
At www.E90post.com, we've been talking about the 2nd-gen upgrade for a while, but still don't know some important stuff - including, proper VO changes, how to integrate into the TCU/Assist (especially with the new Google maps integration), wiring changes (at least for the controller, since no one knows what the connector looks like yet - I'm assuming its still similar) and other minor issues. We know that the 2nd-gen display is not compatible with the 1st-gen due to its higher (double) resolution and new LVDS cable. The CIC looks like it should plug-n-play into existing cables, including the fakra antenna cables.
You likely won't get a dealer to make these programming changes since they are not authorized and most techs don't know how to properly change a VO and such. That being said, there are certain "smart" people at the dealer and independent shop level that DO know what they are doing and they can help with their knowledge and the right tools at their disposal. Yes - it would be tons easier if BMW just decided to make a factory authorized retrofit with the parts in a big fat kit with the authorized programming changes...I'm not going to hold my breath.
I have yet to find a very current WDS with the wiring diagrams for the CIC (on the 1 or 3) and haven't been able to find many part numbers - please post if you guys come up with some current info. I will be following this thread as well. :wink: |
Booster,
First off (A
I'm planning to retrofit the 2nd-gen system. I'm waiting for an email from my local BMW that has a list of all the parts he thinks I need, and prices. (P
I haven't found any one that has successfully retrofitter the (2nd gen) and the problem that I have is I was told from the Dealership (The software isn't available yet) and from tom@eas (That the software isn't available yet). So i've decided i'll give it a try and I will start ordering the pieces (new).
As far as the flange problem, I'm going to order the monitor, when I get it in i'll take pictures and decide if just ordering a "new" dash would look and work better.
Booster, thank you so much for this post, your a pioneer in this area with your e90 retrofit.