brosken

BMW E60 CiC Retrofit.doc
Hi guys,

Seeing I got so much help from everybody with the CiC project I thought maybe I'd make a small compilation describing the steps made.

I'll probably follow up with the controller retrofit and combox later on.

Hope it helps you out. Enjoy

Sven

healthservices

bruce_miranda

Nice DIY.

There is another alternative to the hacked Hi-Fi. Buy a small 4 channel amp and house it above the glovebox. Now feed the line level outputs of the CIC into that 4 channel amp and the amp outputs back to the speaker wires from amp. What I have found also if that the old Hi-Fi amp that was used to drive just the subs can actually be reused to drive a couple of the speakers. But then in that case you will need two hi-fi amps.

The most important thing to do upfront is to make up your mind about the Combox or not before you start this. Because if you decide to do the Combox at a later date you have to strip the car off the CIC, pack it send it back to Patryk and then wait for him to return that back to you. The software on the CIC cannot be upgraded remotely.

andy545

Thanks for taking the effort for the write-up Sven - very nice. I've been thinking about this excellent retrofit and will make up my mind later on in the year, but all these contributions have made future installs all but a breeze.

• Did your stock idrive controller work straight away or did you need to code it to work properly?
• Reference the swap of CIC --> stock CCC in case of a necessary programming visit to the dealer. What about the new CIC idrive controller ? I hear that it gets coded to work (properly) with the new CIC - will it function when you swap back to the CCC ?
• is the ventilation airflow problem something specific to you or is this a known problem with this install - I must say I would find this slightly annoying (even more if I had to change the climate control unit to have proper airflow control)

bruce_miranda

Your old idrive knob will work on the CIC just fine. It requires one of the parameters to be changed on the CIC but I guess Patryk will do that as part of the coding.

If you choose to get the new CIC control then you can get that to work on the old CCC as well. I've just helped d4rkchocolate retrofit the new CIC idrive knob on the old pre-LCI CCC. You have to update the software of one of the CCC components (not required if you have the latest software in your car), and you have to change a parameter in the CCC to recognise the new knob. But atleast this way you know that once you've made a hole in your trim you never need the old knob again.

Using the old AC panel on the CIC trim will leave you with gaps. You have two solutions here, if you only ever keep your AC on AUTO needing to buy a new LCI AC may not be required. I managed to get the LCI AC front panel one its own for next to nothing. Its a shame that BMW don't sell the LCI AC buttons as spares, even though they sell the pre-LCI ones! I then transplanted all the buttons from it into the old pre-LCI AC. The results look like https://5series.net/forums/topic/911...2#entry1078802
Yes, you are left with two Max buttons but atleast you don't have the gaps. Moving the buttons across will take time, BenAnd actually moved some of the SMD LEDs on the AC panel to make the buttons work. I took a slight easier route and just opened up the holes for the LEDs in the buttons a bit more to allow them to 'click'. Either way it works absolutely fine. But be warned, the pre-LCI CCC had more AC features in the idrive itself. The LCI CCC and the CIC expects the LCI AC and hence only acts as a confirmation screen to what you are doing on the knobs, you can't actually change much on the idrive itself. So you may want to consider buying the LCI AC if you want perfect integration and lots of control, again this will work fine even with your CCC. In the 5 years I've owned my car, I've never adjusted anything in the idrive for climate, so I skipped this.



brosken:

You may want to update your DIY a little. Firstly to get people to consider if they want the Combox or not upfront.

Refer to https://5series.net/forums/topic/994...st__p__1207895 on how to get the centre console off. The only things missing in that DIY was the fact that you need to disconnect the lighter socket from its harness and that there is a small screw that holds the eject box wiring harness plug to the bottom of the centre console in the back that needs to be removed. This is also best done with the trim on the PDC button panel off, makes it easier to lift the centre console without scratching it.

Give instructions to people on how to modify the LCI AC to get this to work on the CIC. https://5series.net/forums/topic/994...st__p__1244430

Show https://5series.net/forums/topic/994...st__p__1266678

Ehssan

Bruce : so swaping the Pre-LCI I-drive to CIC I drive is possible , which Parameter to be changed in the CCC ? , I had my car updated with the latest software available last month , and the PRE-LCI i-drive is socks ,

thanks

brosken

Thanks for the hints Bruce, I've added them to the document wherever possible. Had to upload it to this post because either I'm getting blind or can't find the edit button for the first post .

Good idea about the additional amp Bruce for the base, think I'll look into that.

brosken

You're welcome Andy Actually the guys that were the pioneers for the CiC retrofit deserve all the credit, I just followed what they did and compiled it .

I must say this retrofit is probably the best thing I've done for my car, it's fast, interface is more intuitive, has mp3 capability, usb, etc...
As you can see the people on the forum are pretty quick in responding to any questions you might have.

Ehssan

BTW you have a funny Signature

brosken

Lol cheers m8 it was either Nixon or that Iraqi guy