Mono Business nav upgrade

[gad-westy]

Hi all, your forum was linked by a member on E46 Zone and it seems to me that you have an awful lot of combined knowledge on BMW nav systems.

I'll run through my quandary and see what you think. At the weekend I bought a 2000 330i Touring. Car is great other than that it has the old style business navigation unit. Since then I have been researching what my options are for changing it. My original plan was just to swap it for BMW Business CD player that I could feed an aux-in into and also add bluetooth. It seems that is a non-starter as the wiring is completely different. somebody on E46 zone has suggested that I may have the same wiring in place for a straight swap to a 16:9 screen. This would be good as it would open up a few new options and bring the interior up to date. I have a million questions on this subject but I'll try and keep it simple to start with...

Firstly the kit I currently have in the rear of the car is a BMW tuner and a MK3 Nav computer.

Will my current head unit have the same connectors behind it as the 16:9 screen?

If not, is an adaptor available?

I'm assuming that the nav computer will need to be reconfigured to mono? This is where I really get confused. It sounds a very technical process and I'm not 100% sure what is involved. I'm wondering if I would be better simply buying a nav computer that is already colour and sell the old one? If it's any use, the part no of my current unit ends with 908-529 and was manufactured in July 2000.

And lastly (for now!), if this all looks viable, what should I be looking for regarding 16:9 screens? I understand not all of them have facility for aux in? Otherwise, should they all work in the same manner?

Thanks in advance.

[gad-westy]

Anybody? Really struggling with this.

[ccfj1]

Originally Posted by gad-westy

Hi all, your forum was linked by a member on E46 Zone and it seems to me that you have an awful lot of combined knowledge on BMW nav systems.

I'll run through my quandary and see what you think. At the weekend I bought a 2000 330i Touring. Car is great other than that it has the old style business navigation unit. Since then I have been researching what my options are for changing it. My original plan was just to swap it for BMW Business CD player that I could feed an aux-in into and also add bluetooth. It seems that is a non-starter as the wiring is completely different. somebody on E46 zone has suggested that I may have the same wiring in place for a straight swap to a 16:9 screen. This would be good as it would open up a few new options and bring the interior up to date. I have a million questions on this subject but I'll try and keep it simple to start with...

Firstly the kit I currently have in the rear of the car is a BMW tuner and a MK3 Nav computer.

OK.

Will my current head unit have the same connectors behind it as the 16:9 screen?

I doubt it. If you have the radio tuner in the boot then you will just have the blue connector, this means that you will have a picture but no sound, you would need to jerry rig the white plug.

If not, is an adaptor available?

Not that I'm aware of.

I'm assuming that the nav computer will need to be reconfigured to mono?

Correct.

This is where I really get confused. It sounds a very technical process and I'm not 100% sure what is involved.

Not really, it's childs play.

1: download navcoder and install on a laptop
2: buy or make an i-bus interface
3: connect i-bus interface to car and laptop
4: run navcoder and then recode the nav comp from mono to colour.

I'm wondering if I would be better simply buying a nav computer that is already colour and sell the old one?

You could do that, the mono is not worth anything as a mono, and all you would be doing is selling it cheap for someone else to convert and them triple their money.

If it's any use, the part no of my current unit ends with 908-529 and was manufactured in July 2000.

And lastly (for now!), if this all looks viable, what should I be looking for regarding 16:9 screens? I understand not all of them have facility for aux in? Otherwise, should they all work in the same manner?

AUX in is a function of the radio module, not the screen, the screen is just that a dumb colour lcd panel with i-bus connected buttons, thats it.

AUX is available on bm54 radio module from sept 2002/3 (I think).

Thanks in advance.

NP.

[gad-westy]

Originally Posted by ccfj1

OK.

I doubt it. If you have the radio tuner in the boot then you will just have the blue connector, this means that you will have a picture but no sound, you would need to jerry rig the white plug.

Not that I'm aware of.

Correct.

Not really, it's childs play.

1: download navcoder and install on a laptop
2: buy or make an i-bus interface
3: connect i-bus interface to car and laptop
4: run navcoder and then recode the nav comp from mono to colour.

You could do that, the mono is not worth anything as a mono, and all you would be doing is selling it cheap for someone else to convert and them triple their money.

AUX in is a function of the radio module, not the screen, the screen is just that a dumb colour lcd panel with i-bus connected buttons, thats it.

AUX is available on bm54 radio module from sept 2002/3 (I think).
NP.

ccgj1, you're a star. It's extremely difficult to get info on this. It seems like it was quite an unusual option that wasn't offered for long.

I do indeed have a single blue connector going to my current unit.

It does sound feasible that I could convert to 16:9 with a bit of leg work and head scratching but I'm starting to have second thoughts. Mainly I'm concerned about how much this could end up costing.

Just to revisit my original idea that started all this.

How feasible would it be to 'downgrade' to an OEM Business CD player?

As I understand, my current unit has a single 40-pin connector. A regular Business CD player has a totally different 17-pin connector. Is it possible that I already have all the cabling I need running to the front of the car and would just have to terminate the unnecessary ones and splice the required ones into a 17-pin connector? I realise I would have to feed the aerial through to the front of the car as well.

Where would I find pin out information for both connectors?

Thanks again.

[big bob]

Curious. My business Nav was simply a BMW HU with 17 pin connecot and a MK3 in the boot with all nav stuff done over the 1 wire navbus.

The problem you will find is that all BMW harnesses start off with an 8 pin connector near the front fusebox. This then supplies power, GND, iBus and illum to the various boxes in the car (dependig on options fitted). This then feeds the speakers.

Your system will have the radio connector in the boot, and the speaker connections will run from there.

Your choices are
1) Rewire the car (all the way to the doors) with a factory install (not retrofit) harness (for 16:9 nav or 17 or 40 pin up front)
2) build an extension cable for a 40 pin to 17 pin cable out of some SOT adaptors (eBay) - note the female and male 10 and 12 pin plugs are impossible to get hold of.
3) Get a DICE mediabridge and use an iPod

[gad-westy]

Originally Posted by big bob

Curious. My business Nav was simply a BMW HU with 17 pin connecot and a MK3 in the boot with all nav stuff done over the 1 wire navbus.

The problem you will find is that all BMW harnesses start off with an 8 pin connector near the front fusebox. This then supplies power, GND, iBus and illum to the various boxes in the car (dependig on options fitted). This then feeds the speakers.

Your system will have the radio connector in the boot, and the speaker connections will run from there.

Your choices are
1) Rewire the car (all the way to the doors) with a factory install (not retrofit) harness (for 16:9 nav or 17 or 40 pin up front)
2) build an extension cable for a 40 pin to 17 pin cable out of some SOT adaptors (eBay) - note the female and male 10 and 12 pin plugs are impossible to get hold of.
3) Get a DICE mediabridge and use an iPod

Interesting stuff. Hadn't considered the speaker issue. I'd made the assumption the radio unit feeds an audio supply to the head unit and any amplification is done there and then fed to the speakers. Maybe I'm wrong.

Out of interest, did you change your unit or do you still have business nav?

[big bob]

I actually bought the mono gear as a set and converted it to colour.

The head unit in your case seems to be a dumb display and some buttons. The only audio system therin is the tape deck that feeds line level audio to the BM24/BM54.

Wanted the add

3a) Check for cmpatibilty with your oddball system. Should be fine as it's based on the CD text display system.

4) Get a Dynavin E46-3G (v5) with the 5M FAKRA extension cable.

BTW, check your system, if it is the DVD version of the nav player (converted to colour) and the 40 pin BM54 tuner are worth £200-250 each on eBay.

I have a full E46 factory fitted nav loom with HK audio and BT harness sitting in a box at home, going on eBay one day.

[gad-westy]

Originally Posted by big bob

I actually bought the mono gear as a set and converted it to colour.

The head unit in your case seems to be a dumb display and some buttons. The only audio system therin is the tape deck that feeds line level audio to the BM24/BM54.

Wanted the add

3a) Check for cmpatibilty with your oddball system. Should be fine as it's based on the CD text display system.

4) Get a Dynavin E46-3G (v5) with the 5M FAKRA extension cable.

BTW, check your system, if it is the DVD version of the nav player (converted to colour) and the 40 pin BM54 tuner are worth £200-250 each on eBay.

I have a full E46 factory fitted nav loom with HK audio and BT harness sitting in a box at home, going on eBay one day.

Cheers for your help. This is really useful stuff. I need to go home tonight and take a look at the connector on the back of the radio. The car was in at the garage last week and I asked them to see whether the head unit had a blue connector going into it. They said it did but I think I need to check for myself.

I'm trying to avoid any extra outlay.

I'm still hoping I can find a relatively simple way of wiring up for a standard Business CD unit.

[big bob]

Originally Posted by gad-westy

Cheers for your help. This is really useful stuff. I need to go home tonight and take a look at the connector on the back of the radio. The car was in at the garage last week and I asked them to see whether the head unit had a blue connector going into it. They said it did but I think I need to check for myself.

I'm trying to avoid any extra outlay.

I'm still hoping I can find a relatively simple way of wiring up for a standard Business CD unit.

Whip the headunit out and take some pics.

You need to gently unpop the wood/carbon trim over the glovebox, then the trim over the radio, then remove the two screws that are revealed.

[gad-westy]

Will do that tonight. Not with the car right now.

If it's 17 pin, is that good news or am I still in the same boat?

As things stand, I know I have a MK3 sat nav unit in the back and I know there is a smaller black box next to it with an aerial feed into it which I am assuming is a radio receiver.

If this unit also feeds the speakers I should be able to see that from the number of wires leaving the unit right? Or am I misunderstanding this i-bus business? It sounds like witch craft!

Thanks again for your help, I've been tearing my hair out trying to understand the current set up.