ConviktColby

I'm trying to add navigation to a 2008 528i.
the car didn't have the option, but I am trying to find the easiest way to get navigation through the idrive.
I have looked through the forums but found nothing helpful.
If anyone knows of any way to add navigation to the idrive please let me know

thank you.

pukka

IMO I wouldn't attempt a retrofit. You would have to get all of the parts, do the installation, and then pay for the coding. Even after all this you still may not get full functionality.

You could get a quote from a dealer but it would probably cost more than a factory install.

Garmin has an awesome disk based NAV unit that may interface with iDrive for under 1k. I wanted to get this for my wife's MB but couldn't find an authorized installer near where I live. Good luck.

pjinca

^^^ +1000 a retrofit will be very expensive considering you need to run the GPS antenna and a lot more cabling. Let me put it this way, I paid $1100 to have my NAV system replaced and that was 20 mins labor for install and 3 hrs of programming. For a car that never had NAV? It would mean removing the headliner to run the wires for the antenna at minimum, not to mention all the other wires you will need run to make everything work. Way too much hassle and expense for my tastes.

nelson29

Thats completly wrong info. You dont have to get into the headliner to run the gps cable, you can install the gps under the dash.

The CIC retrofit takes about 1-2hrs to install and about 1hr to code. My car is an 05 that didnt not have navigation and when it comes to retrofits, it doesnt get any easier than this.

Im actually in the middle of doing the COMBOX retrofit for the CIC. Its available in the 11.5 model cars. With the COMBOX retrofit i will have :

- Office Menu - text messages, calendar, tasks, contact, reminders, etc. synced with your mobile phone over Bluetooth
- Bluetooth Audio
- Album Art Cover
- 6FL option - USB port in your armrest if you do not have it now
- Map SAT View
- Internet Access - through the GPRS/3G mobile phone connection
- and more

Here's some pics of the Combox retrofit

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=460684

And more info on the CIC navigation retrofit

https://5series.net/forums/topic/996...ofit-and-more/

pjinca

Maybe so, but your retrofit costs $3500 for parts alone. Still too expensive to make sense to me, just IMHO

nelson29

Wrong info again.Thats with parts and all coding involve, parts alone is about 2k. Not everybody is selling their car in the immediate future. Im keeping my car for at least another 2 years.

pukka

So you pay $3,500 for something that if ordered from the factory would only cost $1,700 and on resale is probably worth $500 - $600???

It's your money, but if it were mine I'd put it toward another car with factory NAV already installed.

The Garmin I was referring to is here:. Can't say if it would work with iDrive though, I was researching it for my wife's MB.

nelson29

When i bought my car i specifically did not want the CCC navigation because i felt it was outdated with what was outhere at the time and because of logic7, im a big car audio junkie, was not worth it to me. In the other hand the CIC is in another league, different platform, it more than just having NAV. Its like win95 to win7, plus with the CIC i get full range signal for my dsp.

Why would i put my money into another car just because i want NAV? Reminds me of some of the E90 guys that couldnt make sense of why would somebody want to do this upgrade. You do know that a car loses more than $3500 in value a year? You think this is major, check out some e90 guys retrofitting idrive in their cars. When and if i decide to sell the car the CIC is coming out and im putting my M-ASK back.

Where did you get the 500-600 resale, you cant even get the CCC retrofit for under $1k. You're right about the Garmin nav, it wont work. Need to do more research buddy.

Masterspy

This might be a good alternative. I wonder if it will work with the idrive. It would need a switch to switch from regular idrive menu to navigation.

nelson29

For the switch you will need a modmynav multimedia interface($400) plus if you look at the spec sheet on the signal output:

Output simultaneous RGB and NTSC composite video (requires custom harness for RG.

Pretty sure you also gonna need to do the Aux in refrofit for audio.