locomotiveBart

I want to add nav to my 05 525i, I have searched and read nearly everything I can find yet the answers are sometimes quite conflicting as to whether my car is prewired for it or if a complete new harness would be required. Has anyone done it? If so, what all is involved and what kind of price did you have to pay? I have found complete kits on ebay with largely ranging prices but the best deals are in the UK. Would a UK system work fine in the USA as long as I have the correct map discs? Any help, advice, or even links pointing me toward real world answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

DavidF

I think the car is more than less pre-wired as everything related to the Nav sits in the space behind the CD slot and little cubby your car probably currently has. The basics of what you need are:

1. Larger screen
2. New I-drive controller
3. CCC (Nav computer/radio/etc.)
4. Facia panel
5. Bracket to hold CCC.
6. CCC cooling fan
7. Wiring harness for fan and misc wiring cables.

I am sure I missed something. Also, I think there were two types of Nav available in Euroupe/UK: Business and Professional. You would want Professional. A year or so ago, I was going to install Nav in a friends car, but he backed out due to cost. I estimated $2500. Everything mentioned above is from memory from about a year ago.

locomotiveBart

From what I have been told, my car does not have the 6ua option (prewired for ccc). Does that mean that this retrofit is impossible?

DavidF

No, nothing is impossible. Just not quite as easy.

545felix

it's possible, just more $$$. I did it without the pre-wire. it just means running an additional wire to the sharkfin if you want to use the factory GPS antenna, replacing the idrive controller in the center console, and running a wire up to the headliner if you want the voice recognition. (I'm assuming your car has the premium package with bluetooth and assist, otherwise that would mean even more parts.)

I'm not sure that I'd do it again. However, these days Patryk will do the coding for you remotely, which honestly was a significant amount of the cost and the complexity of the retrofit. I had to take three trips to the dealer for coding to get it all correct. And that was with the old coding computer, according to my tech the new ones are a PITA and the chance of failure is far higher.

locomotiveBart

I already have voice activation for the phone only, would I still need to run a wire up there for nav voice control? Planning on doing the install this weekend and car is scheduled in the dealer monday. They claim they have done it before and it should be no problem.

545felix

yes, you need the second microphone. the microphone you have now is connected to the bluetooth module in the trunk; the one you'll be adding will be connected to the back of the CCC. they finally figured it out after 09/05 production and you would only need the one you already have, but seeing as how you have an 05 you'll need the second one.

take your old M-ASK and monitor with you to the dealer and good luck!

Nocrapplease

unless you buy the correct retrofit from bmw as part of the trade in deal, dont waste your time, 2nd had units have the old vins, some can reprogram this, but one thing is sure, you will have to get it programmed using a 3rd party software, and once installed, your car will not be able to be programed by the dealer again, unless you put your old kit back in each time, my opinion dont waste your time or money, or trust the programing to a 3rd party, as you could end up messing more control units up. stick to a plug in nav until you get the correct kit, thats what I am doing

Sublime

If you are doing a CCC retrofit (I have done several) you are not going to need to spend as much as the CIC's would cost. SInce the introduction of CIC kits to the market, CCC's have plummeted in price - you could get the whole set-up for 900 to 1200 dollars if you are patient and don't mind used parts.

The used CCC, 9 times out of 10 will come with the fan - the wiring is a bit difficult to source these days, but it is only 3 pins (V+,V-, Diagnostics) and with the right amount of research you can find the wiring diagram and build the harness yourself with parts from Fry's electronics.

The LVDS cable on your existing M-ASK system will work, but you need to shave off the plastic 'nub' on the ECU side. As far as GPS signals - if you are anal you could run a wire to the shark-fin, but since you do not have nav-prep you probably only have 2 connector inputs on the module anyway so don't bother. A lot of people, myself included, just run an aftermarket GPS antenna under the dash. I have mounted them in the center speaker hole on non-Logic7 cars, over the speedo or monitor (inside the dash) in others and there has never been an issue acquiring satellites.

Sometimes people get lucky and the CCC's they buy have similar coding to the cars they are going in, but things like logic7, PDC, CDC, IPOD, heated seats, voice command, and TPM need to be coded and/or updated to function properly. You won't know this until you plug the unit in...

My advice, take some time to learn to code with NCSExpert. You can do the entire retrofit yourself using this software that can be acquired on the web for free - not only will you learn a lot about your car, but you will save time and money.

If you buy a UK unit you may have issues until you code because there are provisions in the CAPPL ECU that refer to being left or right hand drive - so just be aware of that.

Go to eBay, type in 'e60 navigation' or 'e60 CCC' and check it out. If you can only get the monitor and CCC off eBay, the iDrive High controller is 300 to 500 at most dealers - not so bad considering you absolutely need it.

Just take it slow and do your research and you will be running nav in no time

PS: Nocrapplease is right, to do any BMW dealership coding in the future you WILL need to put your stock equipment back in, even the iDrive controller or the update will fail. If your vehicle order did not come with nav-prep - most of the time this cannot be updated (my dealership called Germany and got shot down). So keep the old stuff. but this will be a once every few years situation at the most...unless you have a lemon.

locomotiveBart

Well the dealer called today and said that they are afraid to code it........