The Next Mod - Invision Headrests

[jsears]

So, I have owned my X5 4.8is for about 3 months now and in that time I have accomplished the following mods:

Intravee, Hardware V1, Dinan CAI, TB, Strut Tower Brace, Stage 3 Software, and Pedals.

With all of the "performance" mods pretty much installed I figured it was time to focus on the interior a little bit. In steps Captain Acedeucy (Law) to the rescue. Since he is our resident expert I gave him a call to see how easy the installation would be and he told me it would be a breeze. We also discussed where I can purchase the monitors from his list of vendors. Law is up to date on what is going on through all of his re-sellers, so if you are searching for one I would give him a call and see what he knows is going on out there.

I had heard before that headrest monitors were not compatible with comfort seats, but Law soon put that worry to rest. He really knows his merchandise and when you get on the phone with him its been like you have been friends for years.

So, I ordered me up a set of Invision RevII headrest, and they were being shipping out via UPS (side note: I really hate UPS but that is another story).

Here are my impressions of the install. You need to give the stock headrest a good whack to get it to dislodge from the actuator, it my feel like you broke something but it is fine. The rear seat panels are not plastic, but they are a wood/cardboard type material. They bend really easy, I bent both of mine removing them and they are even more difficult to put back together. But all of that is BMW's fault, not Invision's. Their install is straight forward, really easy and color coded. Mine is just using the rear cigarette adapter for now, until it goes into the dealer for its next service and then I will have them wire it to a permanent install.

Here are some pictures of the finished product:






Overall Impressions:

Lawrence and his customer service are outstanding. I don't think I have ever been treated to kindly or wonderful ever buying a product. He also stands behind his product 110%.

Some things to note for potential buyers is that these are not your stock comfort seat headrests with monitors in them, they are replacement headrests and are not shaped like the stock ones. However, the product works as advertised.

I had received the security covers first and I felt that they did not match the leather of my seats. I gave Lawrence a call and he assured me that the actual headrest would be a better match, since they get their leather from BMW AG.

When I opened up the box with the headrests they looks just like the security covers to me and did not match. After the install I feel better about the headrest matching the leather of the rest of the car. But to me it is not an exact match, probably an 8.5 or 9.0 out of 10 in match quality. It bugs me knowing that it is not a perfect match. But I figured the cars leather has 38k miles on it, and the is leather from a whole different roll of leather. So you can't control everything.

Captain Acedeucy add me to the list of another satisfied customer.

[X5 Meister]

Excellent write-up and notes! Congrats on the setup, looks stock to me! Can you also post a pic or two of the bent seat panels and the cigarette lighter power setup for future readers? Sounds like Acedeucy came through, yet again, though I have to say I'm, a little disappointed he didn't fly out to Washington and install them for you personally. Maybe they cut his travel budget?

[jsears]

Thanks! Its very stock looking, especially from afar. It's just that the texture of the leather looks a little off to me. I tend to harp on the little things.

I will post some pictures of the cigarette lighter plug in, it's just plugging into the rear center console. You can't tell the panels are bent from the rear seats. If you were to remove the panels again you could see some creases where the panels bent.

But in the end, if it makes the kid happy and quiet in the back end than I am happy as pie!

[X5 Meister]

Good to note. I've seen them in person before and the leather matched in color and grain. Like you said what I think you might be seeing is the difference between used and new leather. A friend of mine who is single has a 6 month old 5 series he got new and uses as a daily driver and the passenger seat has been used maybe 2-3 times. In bright sunlight you can already see a difference between the two seats due to the wear; it sort of wears away and smooths out the grain if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the note about the backrests, what was so troublesome about their removal/installation that caused the damage to happen?

[jsears]

Originally Posted by X5 Meister

Good to note. I've seen them in person before and the leather matched in color and grain. Like you said what I think you might be seeing is the difference between used and new leather. A friend of mine who is single has a 6 month old 5 series he got new and uses as a daily driver and the passenger seat has been used maybe 2-3 times. In bright sunlight you can already see a difference between the two seats due to the wear; it sort of wears away the grain if you know what I mean.

Anyway, the note about the backrests, what was so troublesome about their removal/installation that caused the damage to happen?

Exactly, in my old e39 I replaced some wood trim and the grain didn't match up and the color looked off, and it was because the wood trim wasn't part of the same batch during the original processing. I look at it as 3 year old leather versus new leather, there is going to be a difference.

The backrests are composed of two parts. From the picture you can see parts #8 and #9. There is an upper lip on part #9 that part #8 lays above.



In my installation, I bent part #8 on the drivers side. I was able to remove the two brackets on the upper portion, but the two clips that are towards the middle, where a pain to get unhooked. I pulled on it pretty well and my hand placement wasn't right, so there was a breaking point there.

Then I also bent part #9 on the passengers side, the metal clips at the top go over a metal bar in the seat. You kind of have to pull up and out to get them off. While I was pulling up and out, again, most likely the wrong hand placement it bent.

None of the pieces broke clean threw. It was much more like how you snap balsa wood, that it splinters a little bit but meshes right back together.

In putting the seats back together, part #9 is the hardest, because you have to get those metal clips back over the metal bar. There are two clips at the bottom of the seat which you can remove, clip the top portion, then the side clips and then put the bottom clips back together.

I didn't do that portion since I still need to finalize the power source, I just popped the top panels back on instead of having to fight to remove everything again later on. You can't even tell the bottom portion isn't even properly attached.

[LightWerkz]

work looks pretty clean, just not my cup of tea.

[jsears]

Originally Posted by LightWerkz

work looks pretty clean, just not my cup of tea.

It looks very clean and slick indeed. If you have kids sitting back there than you definitely want to get one.

I am thinking about getting my old SNES out and hooking it up and going out and playing some old school games during lunch time!

[mrbmwx5]

Originally Posted by jsears

It looks very clean and slick indeed. If you have kids sitting back there than you definitely want to get one.

I am thinking about getting my old SNES out and hooking it up and going out and playing some old school games during lunch time!

Nice setup btw.

[X5 Meister]

jsears, great info. thanks again for the clarifications!

[gianvito16]

If you dont mind me asking how much does a set like that go for?