I have found the cold source to power the DVD system.
 

I have been using the old plug in cig lighter option for years and finaly today I sorted the feed to power the DVD system .Thanks as always to Law at Invision for the guidelines.It took me about an hour going nice and steady.I have included photos to explain but basically it is the wire that is used by BMW for the OEM installation and can be found under the left hand console panel. Just need to take out the one screw at the front then gently pull the panel away. The connector is just behind the rear part of the console lower and you need to pull that away a couple of poppers. Twist the black conector to release it from the carrier and then you can easily find the Purple/white wire, to check, it is the one that goes to pin #6. I just used the wire tap that came with the invision kit to tap off the wire.The earth I used was the console fixing just forward of the connectors, see grey wire in picture. I used the invision taps again and a short peice of my own wire and a round spade terminal.It works a treat and powers on and off as designed,no more plugging in the cig lighter adaptor.I tucked the power wire under the console rear lower edge and then under the seat to connect it. Job done.:D:D:D:D

Nice! :thumbup::thumbup:

I wish I saw this a couple of days ago. I just went with an ignition tap to power my Invision setup. So far no issues with it!!

Thanks for the kudos Steve! I really appreciate them. I am glad the E53 mystery has finally been solved! Another satisfied customer!

-LAW :thumbup:

PS: And I would have gotten away with it, if it wasn't for all you meddling kids!

Attachment 33192

Not working for me.....I found the wire fairly easily and the ground is self explanatory but im not getting any power... is there a fuse that gives this power or do i need dealer coding to activate?

THe fuse coming off of the INViSiON Power cord might be blown, you should check that one first.

Thanks....the fuse is fine and the dvds power up when i use cigarette lighter source...... just no power when i ground black wire and red to purple/white.

any ideas?

Sorry for the delay! Cal lme today I'll let you talk to my master installer. He will have more information for you! Thanks!

-LAW

I've heard that before......



And he delivered!

Of course I delivered... Mr. Death Dealer!

lol...ok...will call you in the afternoon today. thanks

Sorry to sound a bit obvious, but have you checked the purple/white wire with a multimeter to see if it powers up when the ignition is turned on and off.The wire should be fine because it is the one that BMW use for the OEM installation.The other thing i made sure was the ground was good by doing a continuity test with the main earth under the hood using my multimeter.
Hope I am not teaching you to suck eggs !!!!!!.
:thumbup::thumbup:

I went to one of the major car audio dealerships. Told them I wanted a T-tap to the ignition and just leave the wire dangling and I will run it myself. 20 minutes and $20 later I was on my way home to finalized my Invision set up.

What Avonside is overlooking (great write-up by the way) is that the BMW installation wiring instructions differ for X5's built to 1/2005 versus X5's built from 2/2005. The violet/white wire (pin #6) from the 18 pin black connector wire is used as a power source in models up to 1/2005, but from 2/2005 you instead use the 3-pin cigarette lighter connector (X01104) (which is located just forward of the 18 pin black connector) and also run an extension wire to the switching center connector (X1869).

BTW, in general the instructions BMW provides stink. Not only do they have a number of errors, but BMW made the monumentally stupid mistake of not including a wiring schematic which is relatively common with their other retrofit installation instructions (except of course the ones for the floor mats).

Thank....
 

I'll give that a shot this weekend... :thumbup:

[QUOTE=X5 Meister;650828]What Avonside is overlooking (great write-up by the way) is that the BMW installation wiring instructions differ for X5's built to 1/2005 versus X5's built from 2/2005. The violet/white wire (pin #6) from the 18 pin black connector wire is used as a power source in models up to 1/2005, but from 2/2005 you instead use the 3-pin cigarette lighter connector (X01104) (which is located just forward of the 18 pin black connector) and also run an extension wire to the switching center connector (X1869).

Hi there, could you please elaborate on this as the purple/white wire didn't work for me either...what color should I connect to when using the 3-pin cigarette lighter connector and where exactly is the switching center connector? should the ground be connected to this (X1869) I'm not very technically savvy...

If you are not technical savvy, and can't find a power source on the purple/gray wire, you should probably leave it for someone that is. You need to be careful when adding these extra loads to switched power sources and not knowing what they run to, depending on what circuit you are connecting it to you could be robbing vital power from one of your electronic components and cause yourself unnecessary issues. The best bet would be to use a relay, connect #30 to power source from cigeratte lighter and send the signal from your switched source to #86, ground #85 and the power source to the DVD player to #87. That way your power drain for the DVD player will be on the cigarette circuit and not something else.

:thumbup: Avonside, thanks for this great info. I installed my headrest dvd's with great ease thanks to you. I, and my little boy thank you very much!!

The way avonside explained the procedure, even a non technical person like me was able to do it, but did not worked due to my X5 production year...now the way you said it, #86, ground #85 ground etc. etc., now you're really confusing me. unless I have a background in electrical engineering, I don't think an average person would know what a #86 or what a ground #85 is...plus the cigarette circuit is hot, the one avonside wrote about is cold, which is perfect for a DVD power source...:yikes:

My bad, the #85, #86, #87 and #30 refer to connection points on a relay. What a relay does is take the signal from one source drawing only a small fraction of power from that circuit, and opens the connection to power your item from a seperate source, such as directly from the battery or other power source.

Okay, I think its time for me to take it to the audioshop to have it professionally done!!!:D:D:D