Hi Jochen, is there any way you can make this wonderful invetion program the autofold mirrors to fold on lock and open on unlock.

OK, I'm no stranger to new technologies but I had a play with NavCoder for the first time last night, and as Kylie would say - "WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!"

The fact that I can plug a laptop into my car and probe around and change things without even getting my hands dirty is awesome. TV on the move - √ check, which begs the question why people pay over £50 buying those ugly interface leads (which look like a snake digesting a rat) when all you need is NavCoder (and Rolf's interface unit) and a tick in a box - brilliant!

There are a couple of things I'd like experienced NavCoder users to advise me on :

On the Code Navigation screen there are certain functions that require the OS disc for changes to take effect, the pop-up states - "The OS will be upgraded if the disc is newer than the version in the nav." Can someone please expand on this a little please; is the nav unit's boot mode changed or the OS disc? I have v30 on disc which I installed a few weeks ago. My MKIV unit came from a German X3 so I just wanted to switch the language coding order from DE, GB & FR to GB, FR & GB on the screen's "Set" menu, and also sample some of the different voice options.

Secondly, on the Code Telephone screen there is a "Read BT" option, when I clicked on this the following came up adjacent the Identification title: "Part Number 6 919 779 HW13 SW1 Mfd December 1999." There were no details in the "Name" and "Passkey" boxes. I'm not aware that I have Bluetooth so I visited the online parts catalogue to check the above part number and it's actually the interface unit. Am I therefore right in assuming that I don't have Bluetooth?. Moving further down the Code Telephone screen I clicked on "Enable voice recognition" to see what happened and it accepted it when I clicked on "Code SES", even though I haven't got a voice input unit fitted, why is this?

On the whole, a fantastic bit of kit, so thanks to Jochen and Rolf for giving me the ability to delve into my car's inner workings.

Thank you, my friend (from Jochen, NavCoder author)


When you send some requests - like load a new language - the nav system is instructed to perform a 'compulsory' software update (re-flash).
The nav then looks at the OS disc, and checks if the OS disc SW is different (newer or older) than the currently installed software.
If different, the nav will load the new OS (re-flash).
If the same version, there is no need to reload the OS. But you must have the disc none the less.

Also, when loading new voices, the nav will do the same thing: load the 3 voice files (or 2 on a Mk3) if they have changed.
Eg: if you have GB, DE and IT, and you want to change to ES, DE and GB, the nav will only load the new ES language, and will change the order of the other 2 languages.

The languages and the OS are all on the OS disc, therefore you need to have the OS disc to load a new language and new OS version.

This is easy. Select the desired languages in the order of your preference using NavCoder. Insert the V30 disc when instructed. No new OS will be loaded, as the OS version has not changed. The language files will be loaded (if required) and ordered according to your choice.

To sample some languages, I recommend loading Russian. It is very KGB :-)
The menu stays in English but the car speaks to you in Russian like this:
В 100 м повернуть направо

<grin> <оскал>

The interface is the ULF (universal charging and handsfree interface)

I don't have a list of what units have Bluetooth built in and what don't.
There are loads of different options....
If you do have original BT, you will have a BT pairing button on the phone cradle.
If the BT was retro-fitted, and no pairing button was fitted, then you need to check the actual unit - maybe it has BT written on it.

However, if you cannot read a module name or a passkey number, then it is safe to assume that the ULF is NOT a bluetooth unit.

NavCoder does not change the available options based on what version unit you have. The reason is really simple: I don't have a list of part numbers of what telephone adapter does what.
World-wide there are probably about 100 different part numbers that resppond to the TEL device address, the task is simply too hard to adapt the NavCoder dialog according to part number of the ULF....

You should change the setting back to the standard setting, because otherwise you have changed a bit in the memory, and I cannot say what this will mean to the device...maybe nothing, maybe something....

Thanks mate :-)

Connect NavCoder and watch your car talking, you will be amazed at what it says to itself... its fun!

Thanks Jochen, all points noted and understood. The telephone is the old Motorola V50 and there is no pairing button on the cradle, so I obviously don't have BT. I'll change the SES settings back to standard to avoid a possible problems.

I noted the point in the readme file (and has been mentioned many times on here) about the X5's "Show arrival time" function, and as my X5 was built before 09/03 I checked the box, but when I did so the nav unit no longer fed distance and arrival time info to the on-board computer when I entered a new destination, so I went back and removed the check mark from the box and all was OK again. The blindingly obvious fact I'd missed here is that, although my car was built before 09/03, I've upgraded the original MKIII nav unit to a July 2004 MKIV version which came from a German X3, so the X5 "Show arrival time" characteristic wasn't applicable.

Jochen - a small point about the log file, if I open the log file from the "Tools" dropdown menu it gives me the log file from only the very first time I used the program. If I wish to view a complete log of everything from the first to the last use then I have to manually navigate to the NavCoder folder and open the NavCoder.log file. Am I doing something wrong here?

Another point about the "Code navigation" screen, when I use the "Query VIN" button it always returns the following : "Error when requesting VIN from the LKM: No response from device (timeout)" Am I trying something that isn't possible due to my system's configuration or age?

Now I've enabled TV in motion I think my next task will be to fit a hybrid digital/analogue TV module, there should then be less distortion as one drives along. I'll also be looking to fit a voice recognition unit as they look fairly useful.

With regard to watching the car talking to itself, it is absolutely amazing to watch how much data is moving around the system.

I think I'll have to try and source one of the 3-pin connectors that the I-Bus/Gnd/12v cables use and graft in a flylead as it's a bit annoying having to remove the CD player everytime.

Yep, thoses Motorola phones were made in the dark ages before BT existed :-)

You did the right thing. One or the other makes it work.

Ah, the blindingly obvious is always hard to see

Nope. That's Windows for you. NavCoder is writing to the file all the time, but Windows caches the file writes, and dumps them to the drive occasionally.
So the only time you can guarrantee to view the entire contents is when you stop NavCoder, then open the log file.
It's a Windows thing, I cannot change it.

Hmmm... I do have a small coms bug that I am trying to find that occassionally results in the inability to interpret the replies to a query.
To improve the ability to read the data, turn the radio off. This reduces the ibus traffic enormously, and makes it easier for NavCoder to read the data.

The hybrid is good - as long as you live in a country where DVB-T MPEG2 is broadcast. That means the hybrid tuner does not work in NZ or the USA/Canada.

Also, I recommend fitting a reverse camera (easy) and then a DVD player, or hard-drive video player.
I used my Video iPod to play DVDs in the car, and the picture quality was stunning. I compressed a movie down to only 500MB, by optimizing it for the size of the BMW screen. It was really cool.

Yeah, fun isn't it :-)

Tip: these plugs use the same pin size and spacing as computer main board plugs, so they are really easy and cheap to find in computer shops.

Enjoy!

Or you could get the pukka jobs from BMW, I've just ordered the connector plugs and pins, I'll make up a Y peice so the cd can be plugged in all the time and have an I-bus feed all the time too, the whole thing will less than a tener.

BMW 3pin plugs and sockets.
BMW p/n 61.13.8.377.072 Male Plug, (Same as CD ibus plug - I'll need two of these) approx £0.56
BMW p/n 61.13.0.006.663 Female Term, (3 of these go into each of the plugs above - I got 6 of these) approx £0.64 each

BMW p/n 61.13.6.931.929 Female plug, (connector to accept CD ibus plug from CD loom) approx £0.70 each
BMW p/n 61.13.0.006.664 Male Term, (3 of these go into each of the plugs above - I got 3 of these) approx £0.64

I not sure if I need all the pin connectors as I'm pretty sure the pins have the wire connected and have a pin at each end (the audi ones did), so that should half the amount needed.

HTH

__________________
Sept 03, M3, Silver Grey. Retro-fits: Modded Mk4 DVD Drive, OEM Bluetooth, VR Control, Rainbow Speaker Upgrade, Sony SOT Amp, HK Sub, CCFL, Intravee II, NightMode.

Thanks Jochen, I'll do that.

ccfj1 - That looks like a good option, I've drawn it out on paper so let me see if I have it correct :

Parts -

1) 61.13.8.377.072 - Male Plug x2 - same as CD I-bus plug.
2) 61.13.0.006.663 - Female termination x6 - 3 in each of item 1.
3) 61.13.6.931.929 - Female plug x1 - to accept CD I-bus plug from CD loom.
4) 61.13.0.006.664 - Male termination x3 - fit into item 3.

Procedure -

A) The existing I-bus loom (male plug & female terminations) will be disconnected from the CD player and connected to the item created by parts 3 & 4 above.
B) A loom of 3 wires will then go from 3 & 4 to one of the plugs (male plug & female terminations) created by parts 1 & 2.
C) A 'flylead' will be created by having a second loom of 3 wires going into the same male plug (1 & 2) as in B above. This plug (with 6 wires coming from it) will then plug into the CD player.
D) The flylead created in C above will be terminated in the remaining plug (1 & 2) which will then be used to plug into the I-bus interface.

Please let me know how the parts arrive, i.e. with wires attached to the terminations or not, and how the set up looks. I've found a large white connector in the area around the CD player and Nav unit from which the I-bus looms to those 2 units originate, so I can always tap into that as an alternative.

Sounds correct, D will need to be soldered to the lead made by B/C.


---------------|-------New "Y" flylead---------|------OEM Lead
CD Changer-F-][-M-==================-F-][-M-CD (i-bus) lead===> car
----------------------------||
----------------------------||
----------------------------||
----------------------------||
----------------------------//
---------------------------//
------------=I-Bus-M-][==::

Something like this

I should get them sat morning, I'll post up an update and some pics, I'll also confirm if I need all the pins etc.

__________________
Sept 03, M3, Silver Grey. Retro-fits: Modded Mk4 DVD Drive, OEM Bluetooth, VR Control, Rainbow Speaker Upgrade, Sony SOT Amp, HK Sub, CCFL, Intravee II, NightMode.

This is how i connected mine, I posted part details on the intravee forum, I'm not sure if you are using the same parts. The pins & sockets come with the wires connected, you just put them in to the plastic housing and snap it shut. I soldered the bare ends of the wires together, and then taped them.