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Hello everyone:
So I've been scouring this site for a few days now and it is wonderful. My daughter wanted a BMW as her first car, and I got her a "flawless" 2004 545i, with the 4.4. Well, I am oblivious to BMW's and have never worked on one before. But I consider myself a good mechanic on anything else. I got the car and it had some codes and maintenance that needed done. I fixed everything myself and now the car purrs like a kitten and is ready to hit the road. I cleared all the codes and nothing is popping up so far. My one gripe so far is the lack of online information available for these cars (or me not being able to find it) For example, the only cosmetic blemish on this vehicle is not having a radio. There is literally a gaping hole where it should be lol Of course I can rewire the whole system and bypass the amp and throw in an aftermarket, that's not the problem. The problem is that I want the other stuff to work (steering wheel buttons, info screen etc) I am pretty good with electrical stuff, but it has proven impossible to find the pin-outs for the factory radio harness itself; NOT the wires coming out of the rear amp, I already figured those out. But I need the pin out to the harness that plugs into the factory unit if it had one. Also the info screen does not turn on. I'm figuring it's probably a closed loop and not having the original radio is breaking the loop? Anyways, any info is helpful, I'm sure I'll be asking more questions lol
I do have the logic 7 system with the fiber optic cable going into the head unit to the amp (i assume)
It sounds like you may want to invest in a service manual like the one found here. In addition, the collective knowledge found on this site probably has the answers you seek or can point you in the right direction. Hopefully, someone reading this can start that process.
Hello everyone:
So I've been scouring this site for a few days now and it is wonderful. My daughter wanted a BMW as her first car, and I got her a "flawless" 2004 545i, with the 4.4. Well, I am oblivious to BMW's and have never worked on one before. But I consider myself a good mechanic on anything else. I got the car and it had some codes and maintenance that needed done. I fixed everything myself and now the car purrs like a kitten and is ready to hit the road. I cleared all the codes and nothing is popping up so far. My one gripe so far is the lack of online information available for these cars (or me not being able to find it) For example, the only cosmetic blemish on this vehicle is not having a radio. There is literally a gaping hole where it should be lol Of course I can rewire the whole system and bypass the amp and throw in an aftermarket, that's not the problem. The problem is that I want the other stuff to work (steering wheel buttons, info screen etc) I am pretty good with electrical stuff, but it has proven impossible to find the pin-outs for the factory radio harness itself; NOT the wires coming out of the rear amp, I already figured those out. But I need the pin out to the harness that plugs into the factory unit if it had one. Also the info screen does not turn on. I'm figuring it's probably a closed loop and not having the original radio is breaking the loop? Anyways, any info is helpful, I'm sure I'll be asking more questions lol
I do have the logic 7 system with the fiber optic cable going into the head unit to the amp (i assume)
what's wrong with an 04 I wouldn't trade my o4 for anything under a 2012 lol but then again I only have 125k miles so the car maybe old in terms of age but just broken in when it comes to being driven.
what's wrong with an 04 I wouldn't trade my o4 for anything under a 2012 lol but then again I only have 125k miles so the car maybe old in terms of age but just broken in when it comes to being driven.
I'm with you (although mine is a 2008 with 230k km). I work with a guy who thinks that spending money maintaining "such an old car" is a waste. He buys a new car every 2 years and is constantly in debt and fighting depreciation. I picked up this car in 2012 and the cost of ownership is less than 20% of his payments for his economy cars.
lol ya so far thankfully I haven't had to put a lot of money into the car other than very basic maintence and I got a really good deal on it so I definantly complain.
03-13-2019, 07:38 PM
BMW newbie
to the forum!
