Cool!
Well, here's some pics of what the setup looks like...
When you use the 12V switched power wire, the Nuvi will turn on and off by itself. It's internal battery will charge while the car is switched on. And of course, you won't run the risk of forgetting to turn off the Nuvi and drain your car's battery.
If you feel the urge, you can detach the Nuvi, and leave the cradle in place.
Hehe.. or you could take the cradle too.
BTW, all you need to buy from BMW is this dash piece. You can see where I dremeled it, to bring the power cord through. Then closed the whole using rubber grommets from the auto parts store.
The Nuvi, cradle and power cord/traffic receiver come as one package from Garmin. Note, the speaker built into the cradle. The Nuvi itself also has a small speaker built into it the is enabled when the unit is not in it's cradle.
Turn on the ignition and up comes the Nuvi...
Hope you like...
I'll need to go back in there to add a proper USB / ipod connection. Thinking about using that BSW one, and mounting a USB and Cigarette lighter plate inside the arm console. That'll be this summer's project
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BTW, Bavauto sells a set of upholstery removal tools so that you don't end up scratching stuff. I highly recommend them.