Questions about installing navigation on an X5 without it.

KiwiJochen · #1 04-15-2009, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rastaFarai

hey do you have examples of the retrofit loom? why is the retrofit loom that much better than taking the wire loom from a car? I have everthing - but now i'm curious why the retrofit is so much better??

are there instructions on both? can it be easily identified the difference?

To fit the retrofit loom, you only need to remove seats and a few panels and lift the carpet a bit.

To fit the original loom, probably all seats, remove carpet or lift a lot more, and also remove a lot more of the dash. Maybe all of the dash. And possibly unravel existing loom. I've never done it so I'm not sure exactly.

Remember, the original factory loom - which is for nav and many other things - is fitted to an empty metal shell of a car, and then everything added on top of it.

The retrofit loom is designed to be added to the car as an optional extra after the car is assembled, and is thus much much much easier to fit.

BMW issue retrofit instructions for their retrofit kits.
The do not publish instructions on how to replace factory loom other than their normal vehicle service instructions.

Refer to the WDS for loom layout and you'll see how the original loom is wired. Note location of connectors - and you'll get the idea as to where each wire goes, and what a job it would be to fit the factory loom. Personally - I wouldn't do it!

RPX5 · #2 04-15-2009, 01:24 PM

Hmm.. thanks for the directy reply, but I think I'll stick with the Garmin. I'm not sure it it is all worth at this point. It would be great if my car came with it, but I'm not sure if it's worth the time/aggravation/money spent/potential to break something else.

Thank you though!

X5 Meister · #3 04-22-2009, 01:40 AM

I agree, even BMW prefers to repair the existing wiring harnesses rather than replace them, simply due to the complexity of their original installation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KiwiJochen

To fit the retrofit loom, you only need to remove seats and a few panels and lift the carpet a bit.

To fit the original loom, probably all seats, remove carpet or lift a lot more, and also remove a lot more of the dash. Maybe all of the dash. And possibly unravel existing loom. I've never done it so I'm not sure exactly.

Remember, the original factory loom - which is for nav and many other things - is fitted to an empty metal shell of a car, and then everything added on top of it.

The retrofit loom is designed to be added to the car as an optional extra after the car is assembled, and is thus much much much easier to fit.

BMW issue retrofit instructions for their retrofit kits.
The do not publish instructions on how to replace factory loom other than their normal vehicle service instructions.

Refer to the WDS for loom layout and you'll see how the original loom is wired. Note location of connectors - and you'll get the idea as to where each wire goes, and what a job it would be to fit the factory loom. Personally - I wouldn't do it!