Thanks for great info. unfortunately (fortunately for my X), i dont have skill or time to learn. will have to get it installed.

My understanding ( from extensive reading in this forum ) was that for a non-dsp x5, all one had to do was to remove the oem harness from the oem radio, connect that harness to a 3rd party harness and then connect the wires from this harmess to the wires from the avic. And this is all in the front ? is that correct?

i did get a antenna adapter from the bay.

my installers says he has to run wires to all the speakers and the run the wires from the antenna in the rear. obviously he doesnt know what he is talking about!

by the way , are the wiring diagram better than one can get from this site WDS BMW Wiring Diagram System - X5 E53