Gentlemen,

This board is great!! I need some help as I encountered a problem even before starting this project! Before I disassemble the car I have a few questions, I would be very grateful for your help. In return I can write up a nice how-to with pictures while doing the conversion as I am not in any great hurry to complete it. My car has the usual MID with DSP.

To give you an idea of aptitude, in the past I modified my M-class with a Euro style Nav and swapped in a CD changer with a fiber connection (I used it in Europe for a while and there was no map software for the US version). Slightly easier than this but had its challenges and in the process had to work out all the wire assignments and obtain and add pins to a couple of plugs. I swapped my own CV boots succesfully 2 years ago now but that is another story altogether.

So, back to the X5, I read the retrofit instructions and the JPuma how-to guide as well as retrofits on a few other models. Also been researching the electronic modules I need and I feel I am ready for step 1, installing the harness in the car. From the JPuma article I took the harness number 61-12-6-910-148 X5 harness w/DSP and obtained it from the dealer.

Last night I laid out the harness and tried to match the diagram in the retrofit instructions with the harness itself......... after about 20 minutes of bewilderment I decided the harness and the instructions are NOT a match. I am fortunate to have an '03 with Nav and peering in the back of it and in the back of the 4.8 (incl. a look in compartment under the spare tire but not yet removed the LH/RH cover in the trunk) I concluded that the harness is meant to replace the original harness, it is not an addition to the existing one. That fact is leaving me with some vast question marks.

Will this harness functions as-is on the 4.8? Any one done this conversion on this board?

It looks like I will have to verify all the wiring codes to make sure this is a match. I did identify the connections for the amp (if that is what is at the bottom of the trunk rack), the cd and the blue plug for the nav as well as the antenna connection. Up front there seems to be only the white and blue plug for the on-board monitor and the thin wires (see below).

There is no red plug on the harness for the nav module, however on the 03 this is simply a short cable with only two wires that plugs in just ahead of module rack in the trunk. This cable has a part number on it and I suppose it is easy to get from dealer. Is this cable what brings the ABS and reverse signals to the Nav??

What are all the spidery long wires for on the harness? The plugs are 3/4 inch square with 2 flat and 2 round pins. Are they speaker wires as one retro claims? Do I need them or can I keep original ones working?

There is a 12 pin plug about 12 inches back from the radio plug in the trunk for the BM53, I am thus far stumped where that plug is meant to go? There does not seem to be any obvious place for it, there are two plugs like that in the back but they are in use and have different color wires and pin configuration. Is that plug meant to go to the sub-woofer? (I did not remove the RH cover so could not quite see the connections to the SW.)

What other cables might I need? One person with an 06 4.4 on here said he needed a second mute wire? Also, how does one create the Aux In? I don't have a radio module yet and I am wondering where the Aux plugs in? (On the Benz I needed a short cable that attached to one of the plugs to the head unit and had a 3.5 mm Aux that was fitted under the glove compartment. How is it achieved on the X5?

I am not all that interested in TV/Video but if it is not a big job to add I might pre-wire for it. Any thoughts on that?

There are still a few other plugs I am not totally sure of, but my next step would be to disassemble the LH and RH covers in the trunk to get a better idea of what else is back there. (It was getting too late and to cold last night to do that)

Hope somebody has some idea on this as I am a bit stumped and would prefer to know a few of these things before disassembling a lot of stuff.

Thanks in advance!