need help with RDC retrofit
 

Hello.

I have had a project on my plate for a few years but unfortunately, with moves from country to country, I was not able to concentrate my efforts on the actual installation. I managed, however, to get the parts needed for the install.

The retrofit I am talking about is the one that is using the RF senders from each rim and receiving antennae in the wheel wells.

I would like to ask any member on this board, who has the system already fitted (from factory, or retrofitted to factory specs), if they could either take photos or describe in detail the mounting locations for the antennae inside the wheel wells. I have taken the wheels off, removed the plastic shrouds, and still was not able to see if there were any locations where I could install the antenna holders. It could be that I need to drill holes for the holders but for some reason I suspect that the sheet metal or the other metal parts would have either actual mounting holes or pre-punched locations identified, even if the car never had the option installed.

None of the searches that I have done show those locations - I even ended up with my own parts lists (from my old posts) quoted on some Greek beemer page... lol..

If the project is a go, i will post the DIY along with the parts list.

Thank you folks!!!

RDC retrofit
 

Saw your (older) post and wondered if you did this, as I'm considering this on my 2002 X5 3.0 d (I live in Switzerland).

From what I can see, it's fairly easy - assuming you have the RDC button near your shifter.

Install module in the fusebox area.
Install antenna's in the wheel housings (TIS shop manual shows removal for front & rear, I think the front one goes on the left front housing).
Install the sensors / valves in your tires.
Initialize (there is a small video on Youtube from a fellow in AUS).

Did you finish your install?

I've added front & rear mud flaps (easy), PDC (not too complicated) and the front seat first aid kit & fire extinguisher.

So what's the point or rdc anyway. Is this like TPMS.

i did not go forward with it, as i could not find the factory mounting points in the wheel wells - i pulled the covers, and for the sake of my life i could not figure where the factory brackets would go... meanwhile the life got in the way, and i left the project behind, even though, it is absolutely doable:

the RDC module goes into the glove compartment area, the bracket to hold it is already there, then you would need the appropriate A169 module, the one that has the Hill Descent, the seat heaters, and the RDC button - that one is fully occupied, the RDC button is the last one on the right (the last one is the right seat heater, but there is a single slot space between the RDC and the seat heater).

I have connected the A85 module and the A169 module, wired them up and the iBus has recognised the presence of the new module... I just did not run the antennae wires...

The principal difference between the TPMS and the RDC is tha fact that he RDC is measuring the absolute value of the internalpressure and reports it through the system, while the TPMS is measuring the rotational speed of individual wheels and compares them to the other ones - and reports the 10% in the difference... As a result, the RDC will report gradual loss of pressure in all 4 tires as a reference point is a fixed value (during the reset process), and the TPMS will not report the even loss of pressure in all 4 tires as the reference point is within thse 4 tires... Other than that - the RDC is more complex as it adds more hardware, and the TPMS is simpler, as it is using the TPMS module in addition to ABS system

36-14-6-751-371 the RDC module A85 - 1
36-11-8-378-753 the receiving antennas - 4
36-11-6-751-503 the front antenna holders - 2
36-11-6-751-504 the rear antenna holders - 2
36-23-6-779-490 the tire monitors with valves - 4
61-31-8-373-740 the module A169 with RDC button - 1
61-13-8-373-650 32-pin connector for the RDC module
61-13-8-373-648 cover cap for the connector for RDC module
61-13-8-365-340 2-pin connector for antennas - 4
61-13-0-006-665 bushing contact, same as Digi-key A28327-ND
61-13-8-366-245 rubber grommets
61-13-1-387-144 ground connector
61-12-1-387-146 ground connector

here is the pinout for module A85

1 pin 12 on X332 for A1 - general module glove compartment
2
3 pin 18 on A169 - the button central console
4
5 pin 1 on B43 - fr/left antenna front left
6 shielding front left
7 pin 1 on B47 - fr/right antenna front right
8 pin 1 on B45 - rear/left antenna rear left
9 shielding rear left
10 pin 1 on B44 - rear/right antenna rear right
11
12
13
14 pin 4 on A169 - the button central console
15 pin 24 on X10460 glove compartment
16 to ground on X596 glove compartment
17 pin 4 on X253 for A1 - general module glove compartment
18
19
20
21 pin 2 on B43 - fr/left antenna front left
22 shielding front right
23 pin 2 on B47 - fr/right antenna front right
24 pin 2 on B45 - rear left antenna rear left
25 shieldingrear right
26 pin 2 on B44 - rear/right antenna rear right
27
28
29
30
31 pin 15 on X10461 glove compartment
32

Wow. Yea no that looks intense to retrofit. TPMS and the fact that I check my pressure once a week is just fine. Lol.

RDC / TPM retrofit - E53
 

For the other fellow asking what & why,

RDC = ReifenDruck Control in German (in English - Tire Pressure Monitor, i.e. TPM). BMW used this system on the early E53 which uses valve sensors (inside the rim) which send a signal to antennae (one in front wheel well, one in a rear wheel well) which then talks to the brain (in the glove box). It's a direct monitoring system of the tire pressure.

You have a warning button in the little panel that also includes the buttons for heated seats, hill descent control, PDC, etc.

They then went to the RPA (Reifen Panne Anziege in German) or FTM (English for Flat Tire Monitor as of 03 or 04/2004 which used the ABS system to check relative wheel rotation to determine a low tire (incorrect diameter relative to others).

They THEN returned to the orignal style system later (2010 to presen).

My questions are for early E53 (mine is a Euro 2002 3.0 d) that didn't have them due to trim / option level or where (US cars) this wasn't yet legally required (2008 model year cars in the US, Europe is Nov 2012 build date with Nov 2014 sale date).

Bottom line - if you retrofit, you need to install the system for the year of your car. It's not vital, and frequent use of a tire pressure gauge is cost effective and works BUT if I hear of someone who's done it on an early E53 - I'd learn and perhaps do the same.

Sensor valves are easy, adding the control module in the glovebox is simple, no coding required on the early cars - the trick is to figure out where to install the signal antennae and find the wiring harness to plug into the antennae.

Gregory, slight correction - they used 4 antennae and 4 transmitters for each wheel, and also one for the spare tire, which was monitored by the rear right antenna, so the stem valve on the spare tire had to be turned to the right of the car. the system was used on the E38, some E39 models...
retrofit consisted of running individual shielded cables to the glove compartment, which could be labor intensive...

not long ago i have learned that if the car was equipped with certain set of options, the other options that were not fitted at the factory were pre-wied, like heated rear seats were not installed but were pre-wired...

if the car had factory xenons, supposedly the RDC was prewired too... my car has the factory Xenons, but i never had a chance to check for the prewiring of the RDC...

i have an exact list of those options that let you retrofit things, as they are prewired - somewhere on this forum i have answered a guy who was going to retrofit the rear heatedseats, and his car was pre-wired indeed...

Thanks for the clarification, this makes more sense as you'd want to monitor all four wheels. The BMW ETK (electronic parts catalog) specifies four antennae per vehicle - hence confirmation.

I agree, if the car is pre-wired, then it's not as much hassle. Case in point, PDC (park distance control). My car is an Aug 2002 production 3.0 d (Euro X5) with Xenon. The car was pre-wired for PDC (some early X5's are not), the harness for the front sensors was under the hood. With the factory retrofit kit, an easy projet. Plug and play for the sensors (front), string the rear harness and run through the new grommet and into the car harness. Add rear sensors, plug in the control module then add the beeper and the new control panel and BINGO, you have PDC.

I need to poke around my car in warmer weather to see if I have the harness / connectors for the antennae. Then I can see if I "need" this as a project :)

Greg, here is the info on the car's main harnesses - all E53 are prewired with Level 1, it is a "plain Jane" model. then, once you have one option from Level 2, all options in Level 2 are pre-wired...
If you have one option from Level 3 - all options in Level 3 AND Level 2 are pre-wired...

So, if you have the Level 5 - youare prewired for all the lower level options, even if they are not installed...

this is only confirmed so far with heated seats and with your own statement about the PDC.

Level 2
S235 - trailer hitch
S502 - SRA (whatever it is)
S508 - PDC
S609 - Nav
S624 through S629 - telephone/radio

Level 3
S248 - steering wheel heater
S261 - rear airbags (interesting, I wonder if this is retrofittable)
S265 - RDC, tire pressure
S461 - backrest heating system in the rear
S496 - seat heating system in the rear
S533 - rear air conditioner
S536 - auxialliary heating system

Level 4
S220 - single axle level control

Level 5
S522 - xenon lights

Interesting, I'll have to check under my seat to see if there is wiring for rear seat heating (not a project) vs. my installed Xenon headlights & headlamp washing.

In Europe, if you have Xenon lights the car MUST also have headlamp washing (SRA in BMW speak, i.e Scheinwerferreiningungsanlage) and either headlamp height adjustment OR rear suspension leveling (to keep them aimed).

SRA is headlamp washing.

I'll put the tire monitor on my "list" but it's lower down the list after I add the sport rear bar & Bilsteins (in my garage now), as well as the multifunction steering wheel (to have cruise and other functiosn) - I'll get this tomorrow.

keep us posted... :)

I found an exception to the list. My 2002 X5 3.0 d (European model) does have Xenon lights (level 5) but has what BMW calls the basic sound system (S675, i.e. 6 speakers: front & rear doors, dash tweeters)

A North American E53 would have the next level up: HiFi (S676, i.e. 10 speaker: adds rear door tweeters and front door corner tweeters and amp in the left trunk storage area) as standard.

The DSP version is a level beyond the HiFi.

As such, no wiring in the back to add a CD changer, NAV or similar or to add a Silver Line / DICE / Audiovox iPod interface. A shame but retrofit isn't work the time and expense (and I do like retrofit projects).

So my Garmin GPS on a suction cup is quite fine. One CD in the dash at a time is OK too.

interesting...

the option level list that i have is from a european source... but i know for a fact that since mid-90s the US-spec BMWs are pre-wired from the factory for the CD changer and alarm, there were little plastic "labels" in the trunk that said so.

The US specs BMW (Mercedes too) have a certain minimum level of options that considered as standard for the US market, such as power windows, sunroof... while in europe you should be able to get cloth seats, crank up windows, smaller engines, in the US the factory keeps the brand name up by not offering lower trim cars... the CD changer pre-wiring could be one of those things...

Can't speak for Mercedes, I've been doing BMW's for 25+ years. I'm OK with a basic sound system, only one issue to manage - radio display pixeling, which I've fixed.

My Euro E12 had front & rear power windows, same as my E30 touring. My E53 isn't too loaded: wood trim but cloth seats. It does have front & rear power windows, as well as Xenon headlights.

Next upgrade is UUC short shifter or leather interior, depends on Rob or two different sellers in Germany (later) ;)

I have the DSP system in my SAV and I was able to install a factory (at least it said BMW on it probably from a 3 series) CD changer in the rear. You need the coaxial cable to connect the CD player to the amp in the rear. You don't use the 6 pins plug because with the DSP system there is no 6 pins plug.

Was there different tyre monitor types for different years ?? Mines 2006 will it have rdc ???

bumping... in a mid 2004, if I have xenons, should have harness options for everything including PDC?

I am very interested in adding This & PDC. Has it been conformed possible? I miss TPMS.

You can fairly easily retrofit PDC, I did it on my 2002 X5. My car has Xenon headlights and had the provision for PDC (front sensor wiring already in the car's harness). The retrofit kit (from memory) is the same whether pre or post facelift E53. Ask more, I did a write-up to have posted, but the admin hasn't yet done so.

did anyone ever get some pics of the location of the antenea for the RDC system?? how about a photo of the module installed in position??

module can be installed rather easy - there are empty slots in the module holder behind the glove compartment. you need to remove the glove compartment and you will see plastic "arms" that will snap onto the module (similar to the ones in the battery compartment for the trailer module).

the location of the antennae was much much harder - i had pictures of the locations from the WDS but i could not correlate the pictures to the actual locations on the car, even after removing the wheel well liners... there simply was not a factory location for the antenna holders, even though, i highly suspect that i just did not find the spots, which should have been there...

Terminator, did you ever decide to move forward with the install? i am possibly considering this for a winter project as this and rear heated seats are about the only options i do not have installed, either factory or retrofit. If you still have all of the components and have permanently tabled your project would you possibly consider selling?

Well, the 2002 4.6 died and the 2006 4.8 had the tire pressure monitor from the factory, so I did not go ahead with the install.

I will consider selling, I need to collect all the parts that I have for it and will let you know in a few days...

Awesome! Thanks.

Here are the parts and the best prices that I could find on internet.

36-14-6-751-371 the RDC module - 1 x new is $270, mine is used, so it is $50
36-23-6-779-490 the tire monitors with valves - 4 x new $65.33=$261.32

valves are bad and will need to be replaced, they are about $15 a piece from a dealer, part 36146792830- 4 x $14.09= $56.36 that you need to buy separately, so the tire monitors $260-$60=$200 for the tire monitors if they were new. Since they are not new, it is $100, and you still need the valves.

61-13-8-373-650 32-pin connector for the RDC module $1.70
61-13-8-373-648 cover cap for the connector for RDC module $7.04
61-13-8-365-340 2-pin connector for antennas - 4x$2.62=$10.48
61-13-8-366-245 rubber grommets 8x$0.34=$2.72
61-13-1-387-144 ground connector $0.22
36-11-8-378-753 the receiving antennas - 4x$59.81 = $239.24 new
36-11-6-751-503 the front antenna holders - 2x$11.39=$22.78 new
36-11-6-751-504 the rear antenna holders - 2x$11.39=$22.78 new

$400 for all the above and shipping in the continental US included. If shipping outside of US or to Alaska, Hawaii, APO, FPO, then it is $400 + shipping.

The items that you still need to buy are

61-31-8-373-740 the module with RDC button for the center console - 1x $472.53 new from a dealer. Maybe you can find a better deal elsewhere.
36-14-6-792-830 valves for the tire monitors - 4x$14.09= $56.36 from a dealer

and

wire connectors. You can use the 61-13-0-006-665 bushing contact with about 1 foot of brown wire already crimped from the factory for $2.26. You will need to buy at least 27 of those.
I use contacts from Digi-Key, part A28327-ND or Alternative - A104074CT-ND but they need to be crimped onto your wire.

I used BMW of Fairfax online parts ordering for the price lookups...

here is the representative picture

Terminator, I love your information... even with stuff I don't plan on doing... I just appreciate the effort and information involved. Where did you locate that option list hierarchy for pre-wiring btw?

there was a factory PDF about retrofitting something else, and the info was a sideline to main instructions... it was couple years ago on some russian BMW site... i was surprised to learn about trim levels at the time...

Thanks so much for getting back to me. I will give it some thought and let you know. Do you happen to know to what extent of the wiring is already pre-wired (level 5 options in my car)?

As i was tearing up panels for this install, i did not find prewiring for this. From info coming on this forum, it seems that the level1-5 info is good for original E53, might be questionable for facelifted ones... don't expect prewiring...