Pulled the Trigger on Xtron 10.25 unit

[PropellerHead]

Originally Posted by Fifty150hs

Gave his wife the E53 if I recall correctly.

Didn't he have like 3 of 'em? Lort.

I mean.. ya have 3 or 4 of these and you cant just drop em! I think I'm on #'s 3 and 4 now.

[tutone]

Hi all,

My first post here as I just returned to the BMW family with a purchase of a two-owner 2005 X5 3.0i with 165,000 miles. I have been lurking and reading as much as possible the last week or so as I hunted for my X5. Thanks for all of the great info!

So, my X5 is in awesome condition except for unreadable pixels on the Business CD sound unit. I would like to replace my non-navigation unit with an Android unit but I am struggling to process all of the various iterations out there. I am looking for ease of installation in addition to functionality.

The Avin Avant 4 and Extrons 7 inch 8.1 units are my best choices from what I gather, as I want functional steering wheel buttons, OBC functions, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay. I would also like to add a backup camera. Any suggestions as to which is easier to install? It appears that either way I need an iBus adapter and app?

Thanks in advance!

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by tutone

Hi all,

My first post here as I just returned to the BMW family with a purchase of a two-owner 2005 X5 3.0i with 165,000 miles. I have been lurking and reading as much as possible the last week or so as I hunted for my X5. Thanks for all of the great info!

So, my X5 is in awesome condition except for unreadable pixels on the Business CD sound unit. I would like to replace my non-navigation unit with an Android unit but I am struggling to process all of the various iterations out there. I am looking for ease of installation in addition to functionality.

The Avin Avant 4 and Extrons 7 inch 8.1 units are my best choices from what I gather, as I want functional steering wheel buttons, OBC functions, Bluetooth, and Apple CarPlay. I would also like to add a backup camera. Any suggestions as to which is easier to install? It appears that either way I need an iBus adapter and app?

Thanks in advance!

I recently installed the Avin Avant 4. I love it. I replaced a factory Nav unit, so the installation is a little more complicated than it will be for those replacing a business radio as the factory Nav units place the radio and Nav controller in the rear, so cabling has to be run from the front head unit to the rear.

You will need to buy the IBUS app and they will send a box for that. It plugs into the harness they supply. They will also send a Canbus box that plugs in. That maintains the steering wheel controls. I also purchased the Carplay dongle. I tried using it, but I quit as it basically over runs everything else that is running when you use it. You can't switch between it and an app on the Avin unit. Carplay will just come back on. Most all of the apps that are on my phone that I would use in the car are available from the Playstore in an Android version. My recommendation is to not waste the $100 on Carplay.

You will also need to know if you have DSP. If you do that is another part of the IBUS app you will need to purchase.

Good luck! You will definitely be happy with whichever you choose a replacement for the business radio.

[tutone]

Thanks for the feedback. I am ready to buy the Avant but a few questions remain. My X5 has the Business CD without NAV and without DSP. I am going to skip the backup camera.

Do I need to add the DSP chipset option?
Do I need the Torque Compatible BT OBD2 option or is there a better option elsewhere?
I already have TPMS monitoring so I assume I do not need to add it to Android?
Any opinions on the iGO GPS mapping?

Thanks!

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by tutone

Thanks for the feedback. I am ready to buy the Avant but a few questions remain. My X5 has the Business CD without NAV and without DSP. I am going to skip the backup camera.

Do I need to add the DSP chipset option?
Do I need the Torque Compatible BT OBD2 option or is there a better option elsewhere?
I already have TPMS monitoring so I assume I do not need to add it to Android?
Any opinions on the iGO GPS mapping?

Thanks!

No DSP? Then nope, you don't need the iBus DSP option the regular iBus app license.

Almost any BT OBD option will work - pick one. Note that this will only provide basic ODB diags - not full BMW diags.

Sounds like you can skip the TPMS. Do you have the pressure monitoring TPMS or just the FTM (Flat Tyre Monitor) that runs off the ABS wheel speed sensors?

Almost any Android Nav app will work. I use Navmii on Android devices - works well for me.

[tutone]

I actually have FTM (Flat Tire Monitor) and not TPMS. Just read the manual ;-)

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by tutone

Thanks for the feedback. I am ready to buy the Avant but a few questions remain. My X5 has the Business CD without NAV and without DSP. I am going to skip the backup camera.

Do I need to add the DSP chipset option?
Do I need the Torque Compatible BT OBD2 option or is there a better option elsewhere?
I already have TPMS monitoring so I assume I do not need to add it to Android?
Any opinions on the iGO GPS mapping?

Thanks!

No DSP, you don't need the chipset option.
The IBUS app and dongle they supply will provide you most everything you need. It even allows you to do a little coding with lights and some other things.
If you want TPMS you'll need to add that as the e53 doesn't have it.
I purchased the iGO, but so far haven't been able to get it working. Doesn't really matter though as I use Waze all the time and it ahs the advantage of being free and providing real time traffic data and directions based on that data.

[tutone]

I decided to skip iGO and TPMS but I did order CarPlay. I am an Apple guy so this whole Android Auto thing has me out in left field. When you use Waze, is that on your phone or on the Avant 4?

I'm trying to find an Android Auto tutorial on how to set this up once it arrives later this week.

[Fifty150hs]

Originally Posted by tutone

I decided to skip iGO and TPMS but I did order CarPlay. I am an Apple guy so this whole Android Auto thing has me out in left field. When you use Waze, is that on your phone or on the Avant 4?

I'm trying to find an Android Auto tutorial on how to set this up once it arrives later this week.

I have waze on my phone, but I also downloaded it onto my Avin. The Android system has access to the Google play store which is where they have all their apps for Android. I downloaded Waze and run it on my Avin. The only thing it needs is a wifi hotspot, which my phone supplies.

[Overboost]

Originally Posted by tutone

Thanks for the feedback. I am ready to buy the Avant but a few questions remain. My X5 has the Business CD without NAV and without DSP. I am going to skip the backup camera.

Do I need to add the DSP chipset option?
Do I need the Torque Compatible BT OBD2 option or is there a better option elsewhere?
I already have TPMS monitoring so I assume I do not need to add it to Android?
Any opinions on the iGO GPS mapping?

Thanks!

Your X5 didn't come with DSP so you don't need the iBus adapter to make the sound system work but you should get the adapter anyway to reset OBC values like time, date, MPG, trip, etc.

Also for the DSP chipset question, you don't need it but for another $29 it is worth it for the better sound tuning of the Avant unit. The DSP chipset they offer has nothing to do with factory DSP.