Factory prewiring for possible future retrofits

TerminatorX5 · #1 03-21-2013, 10:39 PM

This is a request for information:

i have come across information that E53s that are wired from the factory for specific option codes are also wired for other codes in the same group, even if the options are not installed.

since I can not verify this information myself, I would like to ask the e53 community at large a favor, to check to see if the specific plugs are present in their vehicles, thus allowing for an easier retrofit installs.

My request would be, during regular course of your maintenance/retrofitting activities, it would be nice if you will look to see if the specific wires/plugs are installed in your car in accordance with the table below.

Level 1 is the vehicle's main harness. if the car has any option from the Level 2, ALL options from the level 2 should be prewired. If the car has any option from Level 3, all options from Level 3 and Level 2 should be prewired...

that theory means that if the car has Navigation, the PDC or SRA are prewired (no relays or modules, just the plugs in the harness). Interestingly enough, it also implies, that if you have PDC, the car should have wires already ran for the Nav retrofit, which I find hard to believe...

according to the same theory, if you have the xenon lights, you would have everything prewired....

It seems that we have options S461 and S496 already confirmed - the plugs are there, the system would need the fuses, relays and the actual heating elements/seats in order to function.

the next relatively easy harness to identify would be the S508 - the PDC wiring next to the battery in the electronics box in the trunk - if we could verify that the PDC wiring is present, that would simplify the reverse camera installs for the folks...

Level 2
S235 - trailer hitch
S502 - SRA (headlight washer)
S508 - PDC
S609 - Nav
S624 through S629 - telephone/radio

Level 3
S248 - steering wheel heater
S261 - rear airbags (interesting, I wonder if this is retrofittable)
S265 - RDC, tire pressure
S461 - backrest heating system in the rear
S496 - seat heating system in the rear
S533 - rear air conditioner
S536 - auxialliary heating system
Level 4
S220 - single axle level control
Level 5
S522 - xenon lights

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upallnight · #2 03-22-2013, 08:06 AM

My X is sort of a puzzle to me. I have a sport package X, 18" rims, clear taillights, xenon headlights, but no headlight washers, the driver seat is powered the passenger seat is manual, manual climate controls instead of automatic, piano black trims instead of wood trim,DSP radio but no Nav.

Because I'm a Porsche owners I liken my X to the RS America 911 that Porsche developed. It was on the high end of Porsche 911 line, but a lot of the luxury items was removed to save weight to make the car perform and handle better. So Porsche charge people money to remove options whereas most car manufacturers charge people money to add options.

Should have looked for a manual, but the wife doesn't know how to drive a manual so ended up with an automatic. Well at least there's the Porsche and the 2 Lotus with manual.

Ricky Bobby · #3 03-22-2013, 08:49 AM

So because I have PDC and Xenon lights I should check to see if my car is pre-wired for navigation harness?

I was fairly certain when researching that we needed to run the wiring harness for Nav, the bimmernav.com retrofit kit for $2800 includes a plug and play wiring harness for their nav, would this be unneeded?

Oh and you can add according to my previous post that the rear footwell light plugs are under the carpet and pre-wired even if your car did not come equipped with them

I wonder if that means we can retrofit the lighted door handles then (would there be a connector under the door panel?)

TerminatorX5 · #4 03-22-2013, 09:32 AM

looking at the list of the options, I highly suspect that my list of the pre-wired options is valid for pre-facelifted E53 - you can see the single-axle air ride and the RDC tire pressure monitor - on the facelifted ones there was dual axle airride and TPC (ABS based tire pressure monitoring) as opposed to actual sensors inside the tires approach...

I also doubt that the Nav was prewired, but who knows, maybe it has the connectors taped away somewhere in the dash...

And Ricky, since you have the xenons, supposedly you have the Level 5 harness, that should encompass everything else... You got the rear footwell lights, which are the part of the light package, you might have the lighted door handles too... might be worth checking out, next time you pull the door panel...

How are the rear fogs coming along?

Ricky Bobby · #5 03-22-2013, 10:24 AM

going to tackle them tomorrow T, will you be on the forums during the day? I will update if I run into snags but should be very straightforward. We have to take our dog to the vet for a checkup in the AM but I should be back by 11 AM, going out to the garage shortly after.

And I'm getting some options coded tonight by a local, should I have him check anything on the rear fogs? They should be active already since other members have gotten them to work without coding right?

And I'm due to replace my regulator clips as preventative maintenance in the spring so I will look for a connector for the lighted door handles when I have the panels off.

TerminatorX5 · #6 03-22-2013, 11:50 AM

Ricky,
i should be around... probably will try to sleep in, though...

whenever you dig into your rear door panels, if you don't already have the rear door airbags, take a look to see if there are any wires with orange or yellow terminals at the end - not that i am going to do the retrofit myself, but the info might be handy for someone else who is considering it...

All Night,

you might have the Nav wiring - you have the xenon... and the headlight washers might be easily retrofittable, should you wish to have them... not sure about the passenger electric chai...er... i mean, automatic seat...

Ricky Bobby · #7 03-22-2013, 02:43 PM

I have headlight washers from the factory on mine. Passenger seat is a power seat as well.

I don't know about rear door airbags, let me check those out later on, I'm guessing the door panel will say "airbag" somewhere?

Bayerische E53 · #8 03-22-2013, 08:08 PM

I'm not sure about the harness "Levels" posted in the OP. OP, where did you find that information?

My prefacelift car is a complete stripper (no automatic climate control, no xenon lights, no heated anything, no power seats, no nav. etc.). It's the most basic model you can have (except for the fact that it has an auto trans.). However, the car has the wiring harness for the hitch (the purported Level 2). Why would my vehicle have Level 2 but not be equipped with anything at all ... and yet have the wiring for the hitch, nav., etc.? If the list posted in the OP were true, "Level 2" would be what I have in my car because I have the hitch wiring and, because my car is a stripper, it follows that "Level 2" would have to be the most basic harness (which doesn't make sense because my car isn't wired for nav. yet has the hitch harness) or that the hitch wiring is part of the basic "Level 1" harness. I reckon the latter is more than likely correct.

Of course, BMW could have equipped my vehicle with the Level 2 harness, but why would they do that on a car that is so ill-equipped? That sounds like a big waste of resources to me.

My guess is that the hitch harness is part of the essential, Level 1 harness.

Thoughts?

As an aside, my facelift car should be here in a few weeks. It has Xenon, power front and rear seats, etc. ... but no Nav. I'll have to take a look and see what's going on with its harness.

The Germans are always trying to reinvent the wheel. What a head ache.

TerminatorX5 · #9 03-22-2013, 08:44 PM

i found the info while going through a bunch of factory retrofit instructions, and in one of them, in the memo to the dealer mechanic, was this list of wiring harnesses that are already in the car, and the mechanic was supposed to use them.

Since there are gazillion variations on car equipment, I thought that the factory came up 5 main harnesses, to save on the cost and they probably groupped the most common options that go together in one harness... this way, they would have llimited the variations on the assembly line and kind of keep the cost down as well, as it is easier logistically to deal with 5 variations than with 2000 versions of main harness, and just eat the cost of the plugs and meters of wires that are not utilized...

I will try to dig up that retrofit instruction and see if i can post the actual page from the PDF file...

I thought the basic harness is the Level 1, and the most complex one is the level 5 - could it be the other way around - the simplest harness is the xenon lights, level 5 and the most complex is level 1, which was not even listed in the PDF file at all?..

Bayerische E53 · #10 03-22-2013, 09:22 PM

Interesting. I'm willing to bet Level 1 is the simplest. Level 5 can't be the simplest because, as a car with halogens, I know for a fact I'm not wired in for Xenon. I was mostly thrown off by the hitch harness listed in Level 2 because I have the hitch harness but not the Nav harness.

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