I want to relocate my Business CD

[NextGen]

I have a 2004 4.4 with MID and Business CD. I do not have a CD changer but I do have Sirius (I bought the car used and it was already working, someone must have paid several years upfront). I have decided to install an aftermarket double din radio and keep the original factory computer. That means the MID and CD can't be removed but they must be relocated. I have removed them from the dash to get a look around back there. I have concluded that the wiring can reach the glove box if I want to move them there. The problem with this idea is that I will need to cut a hole in the side of the glove box to get the wire harness connectors through.

Another idea is to put them under the driver's seat. The problem here is that there is not much room under there for both. Also, all the motors and wiring under the seat move when the seat moves. Another issue is that the CD can get very warm when it is running (would like to avoid a hot seat!). There is plenty of room under the seat for the MID and that location makes it easy to access it when I need it.

So I was thinking of moving the CD to the trunk area and putting it in the same compartment as the dsp amp. If I move the CD to the trunk, then I would need to move the radio harness as well. Before I go through the hassle of trying to move the harness I was wondering if anyone had a diagram on the wire routing? I am not sure if all the wires stay together or if they go off on different paths. If they all stay together and terminate into another connector then maybe I could find this connector and order another harness to route to the trunk instead of moving the current one.

If anyone has another idea on where to move these two I am all ears!

[Brian-bmw]

Unless you do some creative wiring, you will also have to install an aftermarket amp to the double din radio. The reason is that only a BMW radio that is DSP aware is compatible with a DSP amp.

So, that being the case, there is no reason to try to keep the business CD/Radio module, Sirius module, and the DSP amp in the car. It does make a lot of sense to keep the MID controller, since that interfaces with your on-board computer stuff. I hope that this makes the relocation project a little easier.

[NextGen]

Thanks for the fast reply Brian. To give you a little more insight into the setup I am going to pipe the output from the aftermarket radio into the aux input of the Business CD. I have already tested this and it sounds pretty good. So, for now, I do need to keep the CD.

Anyone know of a document that diagrams the wiring? Why is that BMW does not offer a Service Manual like other auto makers?

[Brian-bmw]

OK, wiring it into the aux is actually exactly what I was thinking when I said "some creative wiring." Anyway, check out the Online WDS link way above. This has most of the wiring stuff that you would need to do the project.

If you do not have it already, you will want to install the BMW aux input adapter cable. It has a couple small capacitors (or something), in the audio cable that tells the radio to activate the Aux option.

[NextGen]

Yep I have been looking at the online WDS. It doesn't seem to show all the wires. For example I don't see the radio hot wire. It seems to show wires for all the speaker connections. I'll double check it to be sure.

I'll probably have to bite the bullet and start taking that center console apart so that I can follow the wires. Oh what fun. You wouldn't happen to know the part number for the radio wire harness would you [if there is one]?

I do have the aux cable. It is working fine. I was able to play the aftermarket system through it. I couldn't detect any issues with the sound quality.

[Brian-bmw]

Sure enough. The online WDS is missing the main radio plug on the X5 diagram. Here is another post on X5World that shows the radio pinouts.

http://www.xoutpost.com/articles/x5/s...formation.html