New toy...
 

Hey guys, awesome site you have here. Just recently bought a 4.6 in Florida, and drove it home to Ohio. I absolutely love it! Has some minor issues, the usual stuff that needs to be taken care of. Hope you guys have some advice for me. I'm wanting to upgrade my nav system, maybe the head unit itself. How do I know if I have MKIII or MKIV? What would you recommend for an upgraded interface. Any help appreciated....

Welcome! :)

Welcome to the forum...

nice truck indeed, congratulations on the buy... tell us some details, how many miles, what options (the llist of available options is tiny, as most things are standard)...

if your nav computer says DVD on the front of it, it is MK4... Also, when you press SETTINGS from the main menu of the screen, in the top right corner, the numbers wil ltell you what you have... 3-1/56, 4-1/40, whatever... 3- MK3, 4-MK4... you have a color screen, so m iddle number will be 1. the last two digits are the firmware... the latest firmware for the MK4 is "00", that includes the perspective view... not available in the MK3... look up those numbers...

upgrading the audio iS is harder than a regular system, since you got the DSP and the subwoofer which need to be accounted for... the interface - i realize that the nav system is very dated on these cars but the level of integration is so deep that when you remove a vital component (and the monitor is a vital component) you lose some functions... you have to weigh the drawbacks and the benefits of the replacements system before diving into a replacement...

again, welcome to the forum!!

I love the way the car looks. Don't change a thing to the exterior. Just give it a wax. Love the wheels too. :thumbup:

Nice ride.. Did it have more than 90K miles, Blk leather/cloth? There was a very similar one in Atl, that very recently sold and understand the mileage increased about 1000 miles..

My doppelgänger ;)

Gosh where do all these clean 4.6 Estorils keep popping up from?

:xoutpost:

RB: I'm unloading my secret stash :bustingup

Congratulations! Great color!

2002 4.6 does not have Mark 4 navigation. I found one on eBay offered by a 5 star seller with 98% satisfaction. Easiest way to tell is go to map on nav screen and if perspective is there it is Mark 4.

A plug and play speakers, amp and subwoofer is offered by BSW.

Easy way to upgrade features to have USB, Sirius, Aux and bluetooth is to add add a Dice media bridge that works with existing controls and display info on Nav screen.

Congrats! :D

that blue is a really nice color , was going to be my 2nd choice if i dodnt go with black

thumbs up +1

Thanks for the compliments, i was undecided between a gray one and a blue one, but the color sold me out when i saw it.
The options are pretty standard, Black cloth interior, 16:9 nav, other than that u guys pretty much know. Previous owner updated all interior lights to LEDs, but didn't do a very good instalation, so will take a bit of work.
Its a 2003, has 130000 miles on it, a bit more than I wanted, but a very clean truck, no rust, 2 owner, always serviced at dealership. One place on the front fender paint is starting to peel, but that can be taken care of.
It definitely needs a good wash and wax, but if anyones been watching the weather, its been raining here every day for the last week. I hope to get some more pics up after its detailed.
Thanks for the info on the nav, I saw quite a few write-ups in DIY on it, so i'll spend some time there. I'm sure I'll have more questions on it.
I've been looking at the front end of the truck, cant decide if I want black grills, or leave the chrome. It kinda sticks out to me, with all the black trim everywhere else. What do you guys think. Also not sure if I want to upgrade headlights to clear or not. Opinions???

The Xs I have seen with black grills look more aggressive. If you want to see what it looks like you can get a can of plasticote in black and spray it. If you don't like it you can peep it off. Not sure what you mean by clear headlights but many upgrade to Depot lights.

First of all congratulations on the X5, beautiful color!:thumbup:

About those grills, I agree the black would look much better since you have all black trim etc everywhere else. I just plastidipped my grill black and I love the look! If you don't want it later, then just peel if off simple as that!

I had a 2002 4.6iS with an MK4 that I had upgraded myself - many owners had done so... And the MK4 will do perspective mode when the firmware is at v.32, the revision "100", and then it needs to be activated in the hidden menu, and then activated in the open menu... So, if you have a perspective view, it is for sure an MK4 with one of the latest firmwares... if you do not have the perspective view, not all is lost - you still need to take a look at the MENU ---> SETTINGS screen, and see what numbers you have at the top right corner of the screen... if the numbers start with "4", you got an MK4... if the numbers finish with "00", you got the latest firmware available for the MK4... then, you still can activate the perspective view, if that matters much...

if you have anything else, just post it here, we will tell you what you got...

Great truck.Congrats:thumbup:
Just wondering ,since you mentioned the peeling on the front fender,whether the fact the bonnet(hood) is misaligned to the fenders,is related to some previous bodywork damage?

Be sure to ask the seller if the Mark IV is a US or European model. I purchased a European model. The difference is the European model offers verbal directions in English, French and German. The english is a Great Britain accent and she says thing like-- enter the motorway and other GB names for US 'symbols'. I like it but you may not. It is good way to be able to give directions in a foreign language.

Regarding the paint. The following thread may be helpful:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-parasite.html

Ok, regarding my nav, here is the numbers that show when I go to settings: SW 4-1/12... So taken that it starts with 4, its MK-IV, but not the latest firmware. Where do I start if I want to update, and where do I get some more info on Dice media bridge. This sounds like an option for me, since i want to keep my steering wheel controls. Also, i'm a bit puzzled on the perspective option. :dunno: What is this??

And my headlights, I was referring to no orange corners when I said "clear". I did check Depot, and definitely want the "angels", But how do the projectors compare with OEM. Can I just bolt my OEM projectors onto Depot housing, along with OEM self-leveling and ballasts? I don't want to lose eith of those. Does anybodt have any info on Headlight assemblies with LED turn signals? Similar to these-

New Depo LED Angel Eye LED Signal Halo Projector Headlights BMW x5 E53 D2S 00 03 | eBay

or are these the ones you are referring to? How is the quality of the LEDs. I really like the look of them.

And my paint... I also wondered about misalignment, but carfax showed nothing, and I looked high and low for any misalignment around headlights, but every thing is perfect there. I will get some pics of the peeling, and post em up, see wat you guys think. It doesn't look like the paint parasite in the link you provided, BCREDLINER, but rather paint is peeling, and exposed primer is visible underneath, which looks perfect.

Any other mod suggestions are greatly appreciated......

Here is the link to Dice mediabridge Audiovox - Driven by DICE Electronics LLC - MediaBridge.

Perspective--tips the screen so you can see what is ahead of you to the horizon of the nav screen.

What year is your X?

The truck is a 2003...

about the Nav - you got the hardware to support the perspective view but you still need the firmware. the original disk with firmware is about $10 from a dealer but i think all of them are gone from the inventory... so, you need to download the firmware - check the nav forum stickies, there is a lot of info there...

I have all my nav discs. I could try and make copies if you guys think they would work.

MGMARSH39, I would love to give it a try, and would be more than glad to pay shipping, and also for the discs if they work! Can I PM you with further details? Does anybody else know if this will work alright?

When I get home I will list what all I have. I believe I have 2 sets. One set is old from about 2001, blue discs and the other is from 2011, white discs.

Discovered that my one hood stop was turned down to far, so i just cranked it back up, and presto, hood is now aligned... There was never any body work done to it...



Did you ever get a chance to check so what discs you have?