New guy w/ upgrades to share including Nexus 7 tablet Install!

[StrayS2K]

A big hello to my new home!

I picked up my X5 a few months ago and didn't feel it was mine until I sold my daily driven S2000. (Emotional subject so I will just skip right on after pic...)




New X5 is a 2004 with 3.0i, manual transmission and only 44K miles! No good pics yet, sorry!...




It was not long after I sold my S2k, I needed to perform some upgrades to the X5. I started with installing AFE intake kit hoping to add growl (not so much) as well as angel eye LEDs and for a slight face-lift. Here is a shot depicting AFE intake as well as before/after LED angel eye install. I used 6W 7L color temperature LEDs from Amazon....




Being the mod happy geek I am, I quickly moved on to my interior. I was not a fan of the wood trim. The dash was alittle outdated and needed a new headunit. I started my search and could not find a quality navigation unit for less than $600. The Dynavins are outdated out of the box and the newer "dynavin clones" are just as expensive and very buggy. Something had to be done.

After about 5 hours of research and testing with my Android cellphone, it was time to pull the trigger on Nexus 7. Five more hours playing with the Nexus, it was time to install. Yet another 30 hours but only $300 later, I had my Nexus 7 fully integrated, OEM radio relocated w/ hacked media buttons and trim wrapped....




I am going to embed my youtube video below (and link for failsafe.) It offers a concise outline of what was involved and what the system is capable of. While I will be tentative to youtube questions, I am most attentive to my new family. You! So if there are any questions or comments, we can use this thread to build our knowledge base. So, check out my install and drop any feedback here or at video....



Link: Nexus 7 car install 2004 E53 BMW X5 - YouTube

I look forward to "plugging in" to the wealth of knowledge on here. I actually hope to share, in a few weeks, some REALLY big news for anyone with an E53 X5 3.0 6 Speed SO, if you have one- chime in!

Happy viewing and talk to you all soon


BTW- May I cross-thread part of this to our audio/video forum for search-ability?

[haigha]

Awesome N7 mod! Thanks for sharing

[X5SND]

Welcome aboard.....Outstanding work!

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the N7....or android in general, but do appreciate the time and effort you put into this!

I can't wait to see what else you cook up!!

[tmv]

I like how you mod and put the MID there.

[Cchandler]

the interior looks great!

[bugbyte]

I like your mod a lot and the location of the MID. I had the idea of Nexus 7 in the X 4 months ago but haven't find the time to lay out the plan. As for the MID location do you have to cut any of the plastic to fit in that location? Or just pop it in? How's the Nexus screen on the sunny day? Take some pictures of the console.

[TerminatorX5]

welcome aboard!!!

i guess you don't smoke... lol...

nice, very nice mod... i am not fan of aftermarket but when you do not lose factory function and add aftermarket ones, i am all for it.. well.. you lost the ashtray... lol....

[StrayS2K]

Thanks everyone!

bugbyte- I am loving the location, especially since it is much more natural to drop my hand by shifter for controlling music instead of up. (Almost as convenient as steering wheel which could be achieved as well with bluetooth to CANBUS adapters.) The X5 also looks like a spaceship at night which is very tasteful to a geek like me! To answer your questions.....

Location- The relocation took me about 5 hours. You have to remove center console then remove trim. The trim frame is very strong steel considering its role and you have to dremel into the $80 trim piece....



After you are done fitting, you will have to fabricate sides so the MID matches the contour of its new home. I used thin plastic which was easy to trim, only 10 min/side....



You will have to vinyl wrap to cover your trim modification then you will have to cut away a small piece of plastic in center console so it fits and voila! You can get away with doing this without extending or cutting wires. That was a nice break


Brightness: The screen is 1280x800 @ 400 nit brightness. This surpasses many aftermarket stereos at 300 nit and I find it brilliant in any light but direct hit from sun. Even then, as evident below, it still is legible. Voice navigation and my buttons may have helped but I have not had to shroud the display once.

Picture of screen with direct hit from sun, exacerbated from fingerprints ....



TerminatorX5- no more real cigarettes since I started smoking e-ciggs back @ New Years. I'm not really bragging about it though, nicotine is a terrible drug!

Thanks again for the support everyone

[bcredliner]

Welcome aboard! Looks great!!

[starbiker99]

Wow! Very nice write up! It looks like you put a great deal of time and effort on that install!! Looks Great! I would like to do the vinyl wrap over my wood as well. Is that hard to do and where did you get the vinyl from? Thanks!!