Pioneer AVIC Z1...installed

[NextGen]

I finally got around to installing this headunit. I have only had it installed for a week now and am still getting use to it. This was by far one of the most detailed (not complicated) installs I have ever done. Besides the headunit I also installed the iPod connector and XM radio with nav traffic. I plan on adding a backup camera also. I actually purchased the pioneer camera, ND-BC1, but decided not to install it because it looks to bulky for me.

For those of you interested in installing a unit like this I would suggest to you that this will require a lot of work. You need to be comfortable with car electronics and you need to be comfortable with disassembling parts of the X5.

Okay, enough talk, how about some pictures!

Here is the AVIC-Z1. It has a 30GB hard drive (20GB used by navigation though), 7 inch screen, plays DVD movies but not DVD mp3, includes microphone for voice recognition and is iPod and XM-Sirius ready.


Here is the iPod, iPod connector, and XM unit. I decided not to use the camera.


Okay this player has a ton of features. I am not going to even try to cover them here. You are better off going to Pioneer's website and check it out there. What I do want to focus on is the X5 specific issues I ran into when installing.

My factory system is the Business CD with the MID and DSP. For those that don't know the DSP amp will not turn on unless both the CD and MID are connected. The best solution is to bypass the whole system. The first step is removing the CD and MID.






To get the double din unit installed you will have to make a permanent modification to your dash. I used a hack saw to cut the radio bracket as it cut smoothly and left very few plastic chips.




The Z1 is a perfect fit vertically and has a little bit of space horizontally.


All I need now is a bezel!


Here is the iPod unit. It was small enough to fit into the dash.


I removed the glove box and put the XM unit behind the glove box. This may turn out to be a bad placement as the XM unit has a reset button. I'll have to remove the glove box if the XM requires a reset. I also routed the ipod cable (white wire in this picture) into the glove box. That is where the ipod will be.


I decided to run speaker wire for all 4 channels from the head unit to the rear. I used wiretaps to tap into the speaker wires. I wired up the midranges on the dash with the tweeters in the door. The X5 speakers are 8 ohm. I wired them in parallel style to drop the ohm to 4. The Z1 can handle 4 to 8 ohms. I then decided to wire the front woofers and rear woofers together. Why? Because I wanted more bass response and I never use the fader. The result is...um... acceptable. The factory speakers are just plain awful when connected to an aftermarket headunit however I would say the quality is about the same as the factory (minus the subwoofer as that is not connected).

This is all a temporary setup as I plan on getting an amp to power the speakers and a subwoofer to give me back the lows. I will also upgrade the speakers. My budget won't allow me to do this until next year. If you are in a situation like myself where you can't do everything at once then I highly recommend direct connect to the factory speakers. Just turn the highs down as the tweeters are terrible!

I installed the XM antenna and the navigation antenna in the rear brake light cover. I haven't had any reception issues.