nelson29

Yes it is.

Georgieb

Well I spent the majority of the afternoon modifying my iDrive controller to the LCI counterpart. Even though this is mostly in the name of aesthetics and adds little extra function; I've gotta say that it was one of the most gratifying mods I've done recently.

Thanks to Patryk for sending me the correct bezel for the controller and thanks to Peter for the great posts on how to take the center console apart. His pics saved me a ton of time. (My images are not that great as I had some issues with the memory card for my camera and ended up using my iPhone instead).

Georgieb

Once I removed the shifter trim the first thing I did was to mask the entire piece with blue painters tape. The last thing I needed was to scratch the panel or otherwise damage it. To replace this in Dark Poplar wood is over USD $400.00 alone.

I then cut the tape in the areas where the old controller and buttons were then I traced an outline using the iDrive controller bezel as a template.

Georgieb

Using the correct tools for the job is critical as it would be very easy to damage the shifter panel. I used a high-speed Dremel tool and a carbide cutting wheel to make the initial cuts around the perimeter of the template. In my case although the surface if this panel is wood covered by a high-gloss laminate, the substrate below the wood is aluminum. All in all, the Dremel cut through everything very easily but you need a steady hand as the tool tends to "pull" away from you once the cutting bit touches the surface.

After the cavity was cut out, the next step is to change the bit to a round sanding bit. I used this to smooth the endges and slowly open the cavity more and more whiles test fitting the iDrive controller bezel. I wanted to ensure it fit as snugly as possible to prevent the controller from moving around once I clipped it into place. This portion took almost 2 hours to complete. I ended up even sanding the walls of the bezel to hone-in on the tiny finishing touches.

nelson29

Great job on the controller Nigel

Georgieb

The end result was a perfect match. Once I was satisfied with the way the bezel fit I removed the tape and started to take the center console in the car apart. For an excellent read on how to do this simply roll back a few pages in this thread to Peter's pictures and info.

Georgieb

As you may also be aware, we need to change the wiring up a bit from the pre LCI harness in order for the new iDrive controller to work. The old harness has two connectors for the old iDrive controller however the new LCI controller only requires four wires in one 4 position connector. Fortunately one of the two connectors in the old harness works perfectly for the new controller. We just have to remove the existing wiring in the 4 position connector and replace it with 4 wires from the 8 position connector.

Old - New - Function
1 ---- 1 ---- 12V
2 ---- 2 ---- GND
4 ---- 3 ---- CAN_H
5 ---- 4 ---- CAN_L

Georgieb

The last step is removing the old iDrive controller altogether and then opening up the support trim under shifter bezel so that the new controller will fit. I used the shifter panel with the new cutout as my template and carefully cut the support trim with a pair of side cutters and a sharp exacto knife. I put a towel under the hole to catch any "shrapnel" that could fall into the area bellow.

Georgieb

And there you have it, some hours later and lots of patience, and the new LCI iDrive controller is in place and working beautifully. No re-programming was needed for my CIC and everything functioned as it should. I enjoy having all the menu buttons surrounding the control knob and it makes manipulating the iDrive menu screens a little bit easier. Not to mention, it looks Hella Cool!!!

Georgieb

Thanks Nelson. This mod took some patience as I was very careful not to screw anything up. Any mistakes would be very costly. I know you are also in the process of getting the correct bezel from Patryk and I'll be glad to offer any more advise or info that I may have omitted above. You'll be happy with the new controller once you install it.The look alone kicks ass!