Maddog-99

Good question about Sirius & HD radio.

I opted to go without, my understanding was doing it with was more expensive, though Bimmertech gave me the option.

Frankly, I prefer to use the mobile app for Sirius on my phone & then bluetooth it over to the system. This isnt as integrated, but the mobile app has more functionality than their hardware units (show recording, rewinding, etc) and is easier to navigate IMO.

Also the subscription to mobile only is under $10 a month & often you can find 6-12 month free trials that are for mobile only. Something to consider.

MP1472

great write up i acutally emailed bimmertech some questions yesterday i am also considering doing the combo box along with the retrofit .... i just bought my e60 and its sad to have such a horrible un user friendly nav system that i pull out my phone when i need navigation. I mean what a let down anyway do you feel the streaming blue tooth audio is equal to the sound quality when playing your i pod through the 6fl input?

This is probably the most important thing for me as ill be ripping out the stock audio system shortly and always stream from my tablet. (i hate apple!)

Maddog-99

Glad you brought up Nav as Ive now had this for over a month & have more knowledge.

Nav: I love the new Nav on this. You have to do something different if you are a fixed in car solution as (like you said) you are competing with everyones smartphones. BMW did a great job as you have a really large display & cool technology behind it that lets you:
- scrolling panoramic views
- cool 3D terrain
- live traffic option
- can turn on or off key points of interest (I leave hospitals & gas stations always on: that gives you insight into how I drive )
- store locations onboard by address or by your gps location
*** Integrates with voice commands: this is cool! use it to bring up your address book, or to directly input an address.
*** Bimmertech turns off all Nav restrictions in coding: programming in motion, access, etc are all there.

Its the screen I most often "leave on" when driving & I really like it.

Bluetooth Audio: the standard A2DP protocal is really helpful. I like using it a lot, primarily for podcasts from my android. BUT I prefer my music audio coming from my hardwired iPhone.

I did a lot of research on my own about fidelity & prefered connections. As with all things, there is science & then there is your opinion of what sounds good.

The science is that a digital or analog hardwired connection will be superior to the standard A2DP BT connection. A2DP is better than a headset jack connection (not a pure source), fm transmitter or cassette adapter.

So for me: great for podcasts, but I can tell the difference when blasting tunes. I suggest having a dedicated ipod/touch for the audio part & using you android for the phone calls part. This is easy to do & if you have questions let me know.

BTW: I highly suggest doing all of it. You are basically transporting a 2012 entertainment system into your e60 car & that is both fun & just cool.

other74

Where do you place the combobox in the dashboard? I have placed mine in the glove compartment, but that is obviously not perfect :-)

Maddog-99

The dashboard is a brave choice. Lots of rewiring to get it in there I believe.

I kept it where the previous unit was: in the trunk. Its next to the silver/finned amp as you can see in one of the pictures.

All the cable runs work from there & its worked out great. Im that much further into using this setup now & still loving it.

Only problem is getting BMW to recognize email from my phone in its Office setup through iDrive. This is a bluetooth MAP protocal problem, not an install/coding issue. Texts show up fine but no email.

Frankly its probably good that I cant see email while driving so Im not pushing too hard...

qubit

Bro, You are tha man!!! I making my plan for this upgrade and finally have the $$$$. I contacted Patryk and he mentioned I should find an LCI Air Control unit to fit. How did you solved this? I mean, where can I find the LCI unit (where did you?).

Thanks again for such a great post.


Cheers

Rob

Maddog-99

I thought Id answered this but apologies I did not:

LCI Climate Controller:

First off I recommend going this route. Getting the new Climate Control controller & installing it.
You can fairly easily find them on ebay. You want an LCI model, basically 2009 or later to be safe.
It looks similiar to the current model, but the icons on the buttons are changed. You can best see this if you look at the related links I provided at the front end of this post.

The results of the new controller took getting used to for me. Thanks to Zino for his help in walking me through it.

Basically, the use case for it changes: in the past I just set a temp & then used the middle velocity dial to get me the kind of breeze I wanted. Now its best used by setting a temp & hitting auto & letting the car work out the rest.

The problem for me was in this new way the velocity is all crazy at first as it "races" to get you to the desired temp. Also it overly uses the middle vents & not the top & bottom for a more stable indirect cooling/heating.

The more I used it, the more I liked it though. Ive come to really like it & have no problems.
It requires an added twist to your install: getting the part, wiring specifically to support it (splicing) as shown in the walk throughs. But you get integration to the idrive screen with it, ie: you can control 3 levels of auto & make changes through the idrive.

Totally worth it & I highly recommend as part of the retrofit.

Maddog-99

Update:

I have added a Speckdock as a dedicated iPod solution in the car.
This is a 30 pin Apple dock solution that is custom mounted to fit cleanly into your ashtray (replacing the ashtray part).

It is a great, clean solution that allows my iPod to be outside of the armrest & easily reached if I want to turn on BMW apps, Pandora, or other easy to get at needs.
There is no lost functionality as its simply a dock to female connector, that the armrest male connector then plugs into.

Definitely improves the overall experience & I highly recommend.

Patrys

Great writeup!

Thank you choosing BimmerTech

sfcacique

Thanks for the write up, MadDog, cleared up quite a bit of my questions. I'm also talking with Patryk and plan to start my install in a couple of weeks.