545felix

E46 electronics will not work in the E60. the E60 uses a fiber-optic bus (MOST) to communicate with all the other modules in the car, the E46 used the older copper-based I-bus.

that wire was not part of the retrofit kit- it was connected to the TCU. you have to disconnect the GPS signal from the TCU and connect it to the lead for the CCC. I am not sure if the pre-wire option included the wire from the sharkfin to the CCC, as my car wasn't pre-wired. If it didn't, don't waste your time. buy an aftermarket GPS antenna and put it in the speaker grille in the center of the dash, since you don't have Logic 7.

I think that TCU is from the E46, correct? it will not work in the E60, but if it needs a home let me know, i've got a friend with an X3 that could use it.

AchtungE60

I can tell you this much...when I took out my M-ASK there was a blue FAKRA connector back there unused. It didn't have a home. My car is pre-wired and the CCC just happened to have a blue connection in the rear of the unit and they went together like PB&J. The US retrofit instructions show the Sharkfin with the Aerial GPS having 3 connectors and the one in the middle being the one for the GPS. However it wasn't blue. So I did a swap on all of them and interchanged all different ways and still nothing. I have a blue Fakra connected to the TCU. Right over there I also have another blue FAKRA that was wrapped up. Perhaps that's the CCC lead....but I'll be damned if I start taking the rear seat apart to reroute the wire, so I just ordered a little antennae a few days ago and I'll stick it to the roll bars inside the dash. All my GPS were done this way. Hope it all works out.


It most definately is from an E46 and it sure could use a home. I wont be using it in my other two E46 vehicles. PM me. I just took out the entire HK sound system in the E46 as well. I didnt cut any wires as of yet but it appears as if Im going to have to do that since these harnesses are all proprietary. Who knows it may too need a home. I was gonna throw all this stuff up on ebay but let me know.

vegadonovan

Hi Rafaie,

I am also in the process of doing the retrofit. As I did not have any other cables inside the dash, I presume the car wasn't prewired. And thus everything booted up with my destination in Munich. The CCC was sent from someone over there.

At first I thought there was no need for an antenna as it shows me driving around in munich, so I thought its because I don't have the correct DVD yet. After restarting the CCC, the map was gone and I can only see brown and the compass in the NAV window even after I put in the correct country DVD.

Now I suppose the antenna would bring it up so I ordered it. It is ready for collection already. I will plug in the antenna this weekend and see if it works.

I will let you know of the results before I start to rip open the headliner and routing the cable to the sharkfin. And I ordered another Antenna which is capable of Phone and other stuffs. In case it is not needed, I will just sell it off again.

545felix

I'm sure you have the right cable at the CCC, the question is the rear cable. the GPS antenna in the sharkfin is used for the Assist module. However, unlike the instructions state, mine was absolutely NOT the middle connector on the sharkfin. Remember, that diagram is for EU cars.

the other option would be to disconnect the blue from the TCU and connect it to that unused cable back there. (I'm assuming the unused connector is the opposite gender to the one that plugs into the TCU?) Once the car is coded (which yours is) the TCU gets its location from the CCC instead of directly from the antenna, so no GPS connection is necessary.

AchtungE60

Cool thanks for the reply. Keep me posted. My money is on the antennae. I'll also update when I figure mine out too. It will happen! lol If it's just antannae I wouldn't bother removing the headliner and so forth just put it behind your iDrive screen or behind your instrument cluster....there are metal rollbars beind the dash and the GPS ant is magnetic. Just slap it on.....Once you start taking these cars about you get little noises here and there.....i cant stand noises.

AchtungE60

I'll try this when i get home!

AchtungE60

FIXED!!!

OK you're going to laugh at this.....REMEMBER, my car was Navigation Pre-wired. Had a blue connector on back of donor CCC. Blue cable dangling in the dash. Connected them because it seemed logical. My sharkfin had 3 connectors in order: Maroon, Grey, Blue.

The U.S. retrofit instructions said to connect the GPS lead to the middle connector on the sharkfin. So i had to swap the grey fakra connector with the blue in order to do this. Still didn't work. I swapped them all and gave 5 min in between to connect to satellite. Still didn't work.

I have a blue female fakra in the back by the TCU wrapped up. I unwrapped. Looks like it will fit perfectly into the blue male connector on the TCU. So I unplugged the blue lead from the TCU and plugged the female and male in. Still didnt work. I decided this is too perfect to be a dead end. So I went to the sharkfin and then made sure the connectors were back to normal in order as I found them....Maroon, Grey, Blue. Luckily i labelled the wires prior to taking off the Fakra connectors and swapping them around.

I waited and still nothing. I remember from my wife's Pioneer I installed that it takes some time to pick up satellites and sitting in one location will do nothing. So i went for a drive. Sure enough 3 miles down the road and my map updated and I have real-time GPS! So it really was pre-wired and all plug and play! I just didn't unplug the the lead going from the CCC to the TCU and then connect it to the Aerial antennae lead.

FANTASTICO.........wtf too it's about time...I'm losing my analytical skills!

AchtungE60

Forgot to mention....if your car wasn't pre-wired then chances are the under the sharkfin you do not have to GPS Aerial antennae. I'd just use that antennae that you got and forget about your sharkfin. I got mine for about $12. It's definately your antennae. It's not syncing up with the maps. Good luck and give updates please.

vegadonovan

Sigh.... So when its prewired means that you have the blue cable hanging behind the dash. I checked last time, there was nothing behind the dash except the black one for the radio. I got my OEM antenna today... But it came without the blue cable. And thus I have CCC, antenna and nothing in between =)grrr.

I have since placed the order and expedited the order. It will arrive earliest next week. In the mean time I am trying to figure out if there's anything I can use to connec up the 2 together to check if it works.... It looks like a coaxial copper in the plug... Any idea how to test it ? can i just use a copper wire and establish a connection in the meantime....

I am happy for you =) enjoy the lady speaking haha

545felix

in the US, a GPS antenna is STANDARD on the E60s with the BMW Assist. My car was not prewired and I did not need to install a new antenna on my car, I just had to run a wire from the sharkfin to the CCC.

if you do not have BMW Assist or satellite radio, and your car is built before 09/05, you *may* not have a GPS antenna back there and all you have to do is slap one on the dash somewhere.