Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by AchtungE60

So you didn't need any coding? You got very lucky. Just build one, very easy and if you have an old PC for pin connectors, solder gun, solder and some shrink loom you're good to go. It's been a while but I believe there's 2 or 3 wires and they need to be wired into the little socket. You'll find some info on here, its been a while so i dont remember.

Originally Posted by locomotiveBart

Thank you. Is that the harness with a plug on both ends?