Chipped away at the never ending to-do list on the X5...
I cleaned up the head unit install a bit in order to squeeze it back into the dash enclosure another half inch or so. Lots and lots of wiring back there, but its looking better and more flush with the dash trim.
This gave me an opportunity to size up the cheesy plastic trim surround that came with the head-unit. I think am going to cut another, somewhat thinner piece, out of MDF perhaps, and get the upholstery guy who is working on my seats to cover it in leather, if there is enough left over from the one hide I bought. Hopefully this will look much nicer than the surround does now, but if not I'll move on to plan C.
I also replaced the ashtray with one from a member who threw the non-smoker package tray in with a foxwell I bought from him. It poped in nicely after cutting an opening in the side for the two USB connectors to the kenwood. It looks a lot nicer than the 20+ year old coin and trash collector/ashtray that it replaced.
My initial goal was also to replce the cigarette lighter that I had yanked out to tap into for the kenwood dimmer. This ended up not working due, I think, to the pulsed current the car sends out to the lights to help it determine when one has burnt out. So I undid the tap I installed and then decided that I didn't need a cigarette lighter so I ordered the plug that comes with newer cars and will pop that in when it arrives from FCP.