moonbeam

Hey Guys,

I just picked up a new 2007M5 last weekend, however it was in a showroom... by looking up the VIN and the date in the door, i think it was produced 09/06.

What I want to do is somehow have this "6FL/USB Audio" option installed into my car. I know there are other random threads about this, and I know BMW says retrofit is not possible, but the reason I feel there is some glimpse of hope is that the system seems to have no problem playing mp3 cd's on the indah CD or DVD drives, so that indicates to me there is some existing functionality for cataloging and playing mp3s.

I have experience with the previous generation cars and their systems, I am the previous owner of a 2000 e46(323), 2003 e39(540) and 2003 e39(m5), I think i was one of the first people to interface the i-bus, I built the signal level converter and reverse engineered the protocol to tightly integrate an industrial pc into my car, maybe some of you saw some pics/info of that gold 2000 323i back in 2000, anyway point being I do have some expierence and I am not scared to pull things apart so please no simple "its not possible" , i'm not going to stop until i've got it working!

JSpira

The points of interdependency are likely to be
the new iDrive hardware (you may need new hardware, i.e. as of March 2007 production)
MOST bus (not sure if you can add a port to the old bus so you may have to replace the entire bus)
new CCC (again, new hardware, not software upgradeable)

These are the three that come to mind since they were changed in hardware, not software.

The greatest obstacle to overcome is to install a new port on the MOST bus. Since everything is driven by a bus controller and ports can?t be added (the reason the iPod Interface uses the CD changer port is because a new MOST bus port couldn?t be added to the car), this is likely a swap out.

The CCC was redesigned (as of March 2007 production) and has firmware that recognizes the 6FL functionality.

The iDrive unit MAY need to be replaced also.

moonbeam

Hello,

Thanks for the info.

The CD changer interface that BMW has offered, is this the type where basically you pick CD1 for playlists, CD2 for artists, etc that type of nonsense, and no information displayed on the screen? When they told me they could install an ipod interface it voids the cd changer, i automatically assumed its that crap like the old days, I would rather hold the ipod with an auxillary cable on it.


I have no problem to replace any components, such as CCC computer, but I guess I must first find out what all the components of the system are (i have no documentation yet) , and I will likely need the support of the dealer if this needs some software reprogramming.... does anybody have any information on the actual differences between the new and old computers that allow this 6FL option? I am going to try and pull the indash cdrom out see what the story is in there,

JSpira

The CD changer interface uses CD1 for playlists etc. but shows complete info on the Onbord Monitor. I had the first of these - hmmm, can?t believe it?s almost a year since I got it. It went on sale to the general public in August of 2006 btw. So it?s a fairly new offering even thoug hit doesn?t have USB capability and it doesn?t show the word PLAYLIST etc. Until I get my 2008 550i with the 6FL option, I can live with this. It?s really a very good product despite a few places where there is room for imporvement.

moonbeam

I'm looking for the full integration that 6FL provides, anything else its easy enough just to use the ipod itself...

Does anybody know what components the 6FL option itself consists of? You mentioned BUS ports, and I assume the only bus utilized in the multimedia of the e60 is the MOST bus, which I assume is the connector with the two optic strands, I found one spare connector in the trunk, however I assume it is bypassed for the glove compartment cd changer. So if I understand correctly, the cd changer is using the MOST Bus which is why i am confused how the existing ipod integration option is lacking the features of the 6FL option...

UUronL

I found this on a search. Looks pretty interesting.

http://www.x3world.com/x5-e70-forum/29709-...nnection-3.html

JSpira

Because it uses the feature set of the CD changer because it plugs into the CD changer port and emulates (to some extent) certain CD changer behavior.

moonbeam

This is the point I am making though. Somebody suggested that the 6FL requires another MOST Port, but that is what the cd changer is using already, so having access to the MOST port I would assume full functionality should be possible if they so choose.... ?

JSpira

I believe I made that point (no one posting here with actual info other than me, come to think of it) but ports are not reconfigurable. The CD changer port will always look like the CD changer, hence the emulation was required.

moonbeam

this logic is invalid to me though, based on any other bus I have dealt with before. using the ibus as an example, I could hook a CD changer up anywhere in the car where ibus was available without a problem.... of course there would be no audio because its carried seperately but that is besides the point.

the computer in the car likely has a single transceiver for its bus, and some built in switching technology providing a few ports, meaning the ports are not predefined. I could prove this by swapping the cables for the amplifer in the trunk with the cd changer and I would bet it will work no problem.