Help With Eonon GA5166F Install w/Factory NAV no DSP

[we350z]

Hello - I have a 2000 BMW X5 (e53) w/Factory NAV and no DSP.

I recently purchased a Eonon GA5166F on eBay for about $350 as my 16:9 Boardmonitor LCD screen is starting to crap out and not meeting technology expectations otherwise. I read some reviews here and thought the Eonon units were pretty much plug and play as long as you don't have DSP.

Apparently this is NOT the case with Factory NAV and is only really plug and play with the "business" radio that has the 40 pin connector behind the dash.

Neither of the supplied harnesses appear to fit the two twelve (12) pin connectors behind the dash (one blue, one white) I removed from the rear of my Boardmonitor.

As I understand from researching on this and other sites the radio module is actually the same for most BMW models of this era (including E46, etc...). I have seen this stuff under the spare tire below the trunk area.

I have sent a support request to Eonon but I think I pretty much only have two options here:

1) Purchase the 5 meter (16.5 foot) A0573 17 pin + 40 pin Extended Installation Wiring Harness and run it from behind the dash to the BM54 radio module under the trunk area as described here.

2) Since the Metra 71-9003 harness cannot be connected to any speaker line level inputs from the X18801 (blue 12 pin connector behind dash) it can only be connected to +12V and ground. I can then connect the RCA preamps from the Eonon to my GromAudio AUX input for which I already have a long cable run up through the center console.

It would be necessary to keep the Boardmonitor because if the vehicle battery is disconnected input will default to FM and will require old radio be plugged in to switch it back to AUX). Was thinking for this I could make a simple short cable that would tap the remaining pins to the relocated Boardmonitor original harness and just connect 12V/G from elsewhere. I found this idea here.

Only other question is if anyone has used factory NAV antenna with any success by running an extension coax to the rear.

[crystalworks]

Yep, you need to buy the 5m extension cable. Or you can make one yourself, but easier to just buy one. It was the same story for my Nav removal when I installed the Avin in our previous X5.

[we350z]

I'm debating just relocating the Boardmonitor if it will fit nicely above the NAV DVD drive. I have to see where the plugs terminate (I think at NAV) but would be pretty easy to splice up the existing harness...

[we350z]

Does anyone know if this is the plug that that the two 12-pin Boarmonitor/NAV (Blue and White) connectors behind the dash that terminates at the BM53 radio module? Is it a total of 40-pins? I see what I think is the other end of the white plug (NAV) but not the blue (Radio) unless the 12-pin black plug shown here is the other end of that.

[we350z]

So just a little update. I determined that my radio tuner actually uses the old style connector:

Which radio / tuner harness is this?

And have been able to identify the pinouts and determine where they terminate to the blue 12 pin X18801 connector behind the dash:

Boardmonitor pinouts to BM54 Radio Module

This PDF document, specifically the circuit diagram on page 18 that contains wire color codes has proven to be especially helpful.

You can use this in conjunction with the wiring harness labels and the wiring diagram sticker on top of the HU:



I now have the unit powering on/off with ACC. I have to say it is really snappy and boots up super fast! The BMW splash / graphics / them is awesome!! So far I have just used a couple wire taps to connect 12V power, ground, and 12V ACC. I have RCAs connected to my AUX input (GROM IBUS CD Emulator).



It looks like the amp turns off after a couple minutes and won't turn back on unless I plug the original Boardmonitor back in. I think this is because I have not tapped the IBUS wire yet (pin 6 X18801 - White/Grey/Yellow) to the output of the CAN BUS decoder provided with the head unit wiring harness (pin 7 on 17 pin old style harness). I think once I do this it should control my non-DSP Alpine amp properly. I don't think it should be necessary to connect the tape line level outputs (left +, left -, right +, right -).

I still need to connect the 58g illumination wire but then I think I should be all good.

Going to run the supplied GPS sat nav antenna behind the dash under the windshield. Also here is my solution for the AM/FM antenna:

Antenna X Hidden Antenna

Will run the USB and iPhone connections to the center console and/or glove box.

My subwoofer amp is already wired to the 12V and ACC from the alpine amp and tapped line level signal from the rear left speaker.

[Rush]

Did I catch that it doesn't end up fitting like a factory finish?

I looked at them on the website, the product name said E53, but in the specs it only mentioned a 3-series I think.

[we350z]

fits perfect...

Originally Posted by Rush

Did I catch that it doesn't end up fitting like a factory finish?

I looked at them on the website, the product name said E53, but in the specs it only mentioned a 3-series I think.

[we350z]

58g Illumnation - working
IBUS - working: confirmed steering wheel controls control volume on the GA5166F Android tablet, up and down change tracks in DVD mode/presets in tuner mode, talk button maps to bluetooth, the other button switches modes. When I remove the IBUS CAN decoder module the steering wheel controls stop working.
TAPE Line Level outs - TBD

To solve my amp turn-on issue I believe I need to run a 18 gauge wire for remote/ACC from the GA5166F AMP-CON (blue wire w/white stripe) to either pin 5, 10 or 16 of my Radio Control Unit AND/OR pin 2 of my amp connector:

Radio Control Unit and Non-DSP Amp ACC

[Lowblock]

Did you look on their website? They have pretty comprehensive install procedures. It looks like they include that harness with the purchase of the unit, as well as a back up camera, maybe they forgot to ship yours?

[we350z]

If you are talking about the support section of the Eonon website I will say it's not particularly helpful. They have many manuals listed there but not for this particular model (GA5166F) or the older versions of this model. Interestingly enough there is a PDF manual on the device itself but it also doesn't contain any wiring information at all. There is a wiring diagram on top of the head unit I have posted here already, which is helpful but still doesn't tell me the vehicle specific information I need to know regarding the remote switch pin on the non-DSP E53 amp / RCU.

It appears I may be blazing somewhat of a trail here where with regards to installing this unit on a pre-2002 E53 with stock nav and non-DSP amp. I found one other post on this forum where someone is in the same situation and I have already reached out to them but looks like their install is also in progress. You can see in my other post the connections behind my dash (dual 12-pin) look nothing like either harness they provided.

I have reached out to Eonon they are trying to help but there is a little bit of a language barrier and I don't think they understand how this particular vehicle was setup so this is somewhat of a custom job. I hope that once I figure this out that it will help anyone else out in the same situation. They suggested I try plugging the unit directly into the RCU in the back and see if it works and if so I should buy the $70 5M extension cable I linked to in the first post in this thread. I would rather avoid removing my entire interior including seats to run a new cable. If I can get away with running a single 12V remote wire down the driver side I'd rather opt for that.

They also kindly stated that if it doesn't work out they will allow me to return the unit for a full refund...

I'm very close I think connecting 12V AMP-CON to the correct location. Please see the last post in my other thread detailing this. Unfortunately I won't have time to mess with this until next weekend but I have my mutlimeter ready to investigate and a spool of 22AWG wire. I'm fairly confident this solution will work...

Originally Posted by Lowblock

Did you look on their website? They have pretty comprehensive install procedures. It looks like they include that harness with the purchase of the unit, as well as a back up camera, maybe they forgot to ship yours?