If you ever sell it the next owner will go nuts trying to figure out what is going on with lights, windows and doors and what all this extra hardware is all about.

well, he will probably be left with a lot of unknown wires with factory plugs (since i am using the factory plugs, my newfound fun - i have replaced my previous connectors with the OE connectors), because i will be removing the modules but not the wires... :)

41. Installed a home made AUX cable as I was too cheap to pay $60 for 3 wires...

parts

61136931929 - the 3-pin connector, about $1.75 from BMW of Fairfax

61130006664 - male pin, comes with about a foot of brown wire attached from a dealer, I use a Digi-Key part WM2515-ND

radio shack part 274-246, about $3, the 3.5 stereo input jack

one 300 KOhm resistor, 1/4 watt is good

two 20 nF capacitors

3 pieces of 20-24 gauge wire - i used black for ground (factory color is brown), red for right and white for left audio channels...

the resistor and the capacitors are the components that will tell the car that the AUX input should be activated -

for the sake of argument, say you want to build a 6ft long harness (you are not limited in the length, it can be longer, or shorter, depending on your particular needs). You take 6 feet of each wire and terminate one end of each wire with the 61130006664 - male pin, comes with about a foot of brown wire attached from a dealer, or a Digi-Key part WM2515-ND. this end of the three wires with terminated pins will be going to factory connector 61136931929, which will connect to the pre-wired connector behind the nav screen (if you do not have nav and/or tv options in your car, you don't need that connector and those terminals, you need different pins).

the other end of the black wire from the newly created harness needs to be terminated (crimped, soldered) onto the ground post of the 3.5mm jack.

the red and white wires need to be cut in two pieces ( the location of the cut is determined by the installer, based on the fact where he wishes to solder in the resistor and the capacitors.)

the ends of the newly cut wires are soldered onto the terminals of 300 kOhm resistor - now you will have previously terminated 3 wires (black wire is not cut, thus - the longest) with red and white wires joined with each other via a resistor.

then we take one of the capacitors and solder one end of the capacitor onto the end of the red wire, where the resistor is already soldered in. then we solder the other end of the capacitor to the remaining length of the red wire.

Then we are doing the same operation with the white wire, solder one end of the second capacitor to the other side of the resistor and solder the second leg of the capacitor to the remaining white wire.

then we solder the free end of the red wire to the right channel post of the 3.5 mm jack and the white wire - the left channel post.

This is an oversimplified explanation of the harness building for the AUX input and this explanation assumes that the installer has some hands on experience and knowledge in wire cutting, handling of electronic components, soldering and adheres to certain standards of worksmanship.

the wiring diagram is posted in the PDF file along with the factory retrofit parts and instructions. in verbal description, the resistor is used by the car's stereo system to detect the AUX input (load of 300 KOhm) and the capacitors are used to isolate that resistor from the audio equipment that will be plugged into the jack... very simple...

In my case, I run the wire to the central console, and it will be mounted in the tray that held the CDs ( i have the CD brackets removed for another project).

Here I will use a "Screw Cover Hinged", 1/4" Black, UPC code 0-08236-71424-1, to cover up the AUX jack. The cover makes it look somewhat factory, as it covers up the jack... $0.68 + tax at my local LOWE's.

You guys are killing me! Been trying to catch up with basic maintenance and I see you guys doing all sorts of cool mods that are tempting me to raid the maintenance fund!!

I know the feeling.

26. Installed the AV input for the factory TV module - the TV module itself is not good for any TV in the USA, but it has the factory rear camera input, and also it has the AV in and out...

Item 43 is in the working stage, still needs fine tuning...

http://www.xoutpost.com/electronics/...av-screen.html

Item 34 has been eliminated, as now there is no need for a full blown CarPC

Term,

This is not entirely true, LOL. TV is possible in the USA. I have it in mine. What is not possible is TV while moving.

Fariz, your precise wiring skills in making your "retrofit wiring" look exactly factory and OEM is an inspiration, with your factory switchs, clips, connectors, etc, phenomenal!

ArmyX5, I think its awesome to see TV on the factory Nav, but more awesome is the obligatory Good Morning America shot, LOL! Most people post screen shots of Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, etc haha!

Jay, thanks for the kind words... it is always fun to reverse engineer and build something that looks like it was made elsewhere - sometimes comes handy at my line of work... lol...

I looked over my pictures, and must admit - it is embarassing to have the car in such a filthy state... i need to clean it up and keep it clean... at least, before i take pics!!! lol...

Army, sure thing the Tv can be operational if you have a correct receiver - I really miss after midnight shows in Costa Rica, broadcast on channel 42 (IIRC!!!) - they were XXX shows from Spain, Italy and who knows where... lol... a female companion stumbled upon the broadcast as i was taking her home, and the soundtrack almost derailed me in my driving (I don't look at the video screen while driving, but that time i HAD to look!!!)... OMG, some things they show on open air in foreign countries!!!!

You need to get yourself TV-in-motion module, search on german ebay, there should be a few of them selling the modules... some modules are capable of channel changing from the steering wheel, but that is useless in the US where the only feasible channel is the AV input... try to find one that allows alternative audio source to play while the picture is displayed...

the work is still in progress but so far i like the results... next one will be to tackle the 8-camera DVR that I already wired up for power and video distribution but did not place cameras nor ran video cables yet...