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Avin Avant 2 Install E53 w/Nav - Very Long and Detailed
If you would like to view this offline and with everything in Word, here is a link to download the DIY in its entirety: Avin E53 Install Word Doc.
First, I accept no liability for any damage or injury caused by attempting this installation. I tried to document as well as possible while still making decent progress on my installation. I may have missed something here or there so use this as a guide as I'm sure it's not perfect. And now that that's out of the way. What I am hopefully going to help you do here is install your new Avin Avant 2 head unit into a factory nav equipped E53 X5. The one in the install is a 2005 4.4i, but this should apply to all flavors of the E53 w/ factory navigation. I also installed the backup camera sold by AvinUSA. I only recommend this for seasoned and skilled installers. It requires a lot of work as the camera is in no way a direct fit for an E53. It took me 8 hours of work to modify and install to a point I was happy with it. I also installed a few other accessories... external mic, external video and USB. Good luck, this is a VERY detailed guide so anyone should be able to pull it off so long as you take your time. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/01.jpg Tools/Things You Might Need/Want 1. Panel removal tools are handy around BMW's. Pick some up... they are cheap and save a lot of time AvinUSA sells good ones. 2. Soldering iron w/ solder or crimps of your preference. I solder almost everything but it's not everyone's thing I understand. 3. Zip ties... lots and lots of zip ties 4. Sockets: 8mm, 10mm, 12mm, 13mm, and 16mm 5. Torx bits: T10, T20, T25, and T30 6. Phillips and slotted drivers 7. Allen Keys: 4mm 8. Razor blades/exacto knife 9. Electric tape - one roll should suffice... use quality 3M stuff or equivalent 10. Heat shrink - this is really only if you are soldering, and could be subbed for the above electric tape 11. Replacement BMW clips/rivets of different sorts: 51717002953, 51411973500, 51438225567, and others... 12. Flashlight - your battery will be disconnected most of the time, you will need a light 13. Drill with multibits - might not need it depending on your installation 14. Heat gun - for the heat shrink, not a necessity if you aren't soldering/heat shrinking 15. At least a full weekend's worth of time. I took ~40 hours but am extremely OCD when it comes to wiring paths/neatness. I also installed extra accessories which added considerable time (especially the backup cam). 16. Patience - you will definitely need a bunch of it. Take your time and it will be done right the first time. Mine powered up beautifully first try and yours should too. 17. Having some zip-lock baggies to hold/label nuts, bolts, clips, etc wouldn't hurt either 18. A dremel or similar tool is REQUIRED. You will see why when the head unit is actually going into the dash. 19. Hot glue gun and silicon gasket maker. I use permaseal black, but others will work. 20. Long "grasp" tool helps a lot for running wires. It has a claw that is retractable and is ~2 feet long. Removing Interior for Wiring 1. Roll down all 4 windows (provided all your regulators are good). As an experienced installer, it's just a precaution. I have seen far too many installers locked out vehicles. It also gives you better ventilation which is nice. 2. Raise and retract steering wheel in as far as it will go. It gives more clearance to remove the front seats. You can do the install without removing the seats, but you will have to follow your own wiring path as mine requires at least the passenger to come out. 3. Move seat backwards in its tracks to access (2) 16mm nuts in the front tracks. They are covered by plastic domes which pop off. Then move seat forwards all the way to access (2) 16mm bolts in the rear seat tracks. Another (1) 16mm bolt secures the front seat belts to the seats. Now lower and center the seats. Also tilt the seat back forward as much as possible. This makes the seats as compact as possible and much easier to remove. DO NOT UNPLUG SEATS YET. You will trip the SRS warning. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/02.jpg 4. Remove the rear cargo cover and remove the spare tire. 5. Now undo (4) 10mm bolts, (2) 13mm nuts, and (2) 13mm bolts securing air pump (if equipped) and cross braces. Lift air pump housing out of the way... no need to disconnect any air lines or harnesses. Now remove the cross braces. 6. Loosen (1) 10mm nut securing negative battery terminal and remove terminal. Tape terminal with electric tape to prevent accidental contact with loose negative cable. 7. Tilt the front seats back, unplug, and remove. Be careful, they weigh at least 75lbs each. A helper at this point is nice, though I was able to man-handle them out. I have long arms though (I'm 6'8") so YMMV. 8. Remove (1) phillips screw from the front of each side of the center console. Then pull out the front carpeted trim panel of each side of the center console working towards the back. There are (3) plastic clips holding it in place. Now remove the rear carpeted section of each side in similar fashion. It is also held in with (3) plastic clips. 9. Open arm rest and pull out plastic cubby insert. Remove the (2) phillips screws from bottom. Also remove (1) lowest phillips screws from the bottom rear of the console on each side. Only the bottom most on each side must be removed. 11. Now remove the shifter handle with the shift boot and pull up the center shift console. Sometimes it is very difficult to pull off the shift knob. Be careful, I've read about people breaking their nose or windshields while doing this. Disconnect the 3 harnesses on the console. 12. Reach through the shifter area and pop out the hazard/lock switch from behind. Disconnect the harness. Remove (1) phillips screw from directly underneath the switch. There are 2 there, only the one directly under the switch need be removed. 13. Disconnect air duct inside storage cubby and remove (2) phillips screws that hold the rear air vents in place. Disconnect 2 harnesses for rear cig lighter/LED and pull out rear vents. 14. Remove parking brake handle after lifting it ALL the way up. The boot pulls out and the handle slides off after that. You need it all the way up in order to clear the console during removal. 15. Step on brake, turn key to position 2, and place the shifter in D or lower. This is also necessary for clearance when lifting the console out. 16. The console is now ready for removal with the exception of the harness for control panel (DSC, PDC, HDC, Seat warmers, etc.) above the ashtray. It is a single harness and can be removed by sliding the console towards the rear slightly and reaching behind to pop out the control panel. 17. If you have someone to help you it couldn't hurt as the center console is a bit unwieldy. Lift the console back while rotating it up to an almost vertical position. Once clear of the E-brake handle and the shifter you can start maneuvering it to one side or the other. Be careful not to mar any of the trim or other surfaces during removal. Cover anything you are worried about with towels or the like. 18. Now we can focus on the rear seats. Pull up on the front of each side of the bottom seat cushion. Remove (1) 16mm bolt holding in a seat belt receptacle and remove the bottom cushion. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/06.jpg 19. Remove (1) 16mm nut on each side holding rear seat belt anchor in. Remove the rear side cushion bolsters by pulling firmly at the top and then lifting up. It is only held on by a big plastic clip on top and a notch that slides into a metal hoop on bottom. Note: when folding the rear seats flat, put a thick towel over the locking tabs that secured the lower seat portion to avoid marring or tearing the leather. They will dig into the upper seat portion when folded down. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/07.jpg 20. Remove (2) T30 torx bolts from the center of the upper back seat and remove the metal bracket. Remove (1) T30 torx bolt from each outer side of the rear seat. There are (2) more bolts (one per side) but they are inaccessible at this point, we will come back to them. Note: I did this on an X5 with power reclining rear seats, your seats may be secured slightly differently. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/08.jpg 21. Now move to the cargo area of the vehicle. Remove the storage doors for the cubby and for the factory nav/amp/etc. Remove (3) 4mm allen key bolts from the top of each rear vent panel. 22. Now remove the (2) plastic phillips screws at the back of the upper rear grey vent panels. I don't believe these are reusable and I had to drill mine out. The heads just snapped off when trying to unscrew them. The rear air vent panel is now loose but cannot be removed until the C pillar is popped out. The rear vent panel has a section that slides under the C pillar. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/09.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/10.jpg 23. The C pillar is only held on by (2) plastic push pin style clips and (1) push pin at the bottom. Remove the one visible push pin, then remove the door weather stripping that covers the C pillar, and start prying at the bottom. You should be able to see where the clips are through the slit where you removed the weather stripping. Once you have the C pillars hanging by the rear seat belt you can remove the rear grey air vent panels. 24. To remove the forward cargo cover panels. Remove the (2) phillips bolts holding the tie down anchors in the front of the lower panel shown below. These bolts need to be removed simultaneously or they will get stuck on the anchor. To access them you have to use a pick or small slotted screwdriver to pop out the plastic insert. Now remove (4) plastic rivets from the top of the panels pictured above. These are not reusable. 25. Now you can remove your lower cargo cover floor that has been your comfortable place to sit. Take it out and you can access the last of (3) plastic push pins holding in the lower panels, 2 on the front and 1 in rear. Unplug the (2) power outlets on the passenger side and remove the panels. 26. You should now be able to see the final (2) T30 torx bolts holding on the rear seat backs. Remove them and the brackets that secure the seats. You can now lift the seats out of their tracks after folding them flat. The seats split into 2 sections to become more manageable at the middle bracket section. 27. Now remove the (4) plastic trays on each side of the cargo area. They are held on with (2) plastic screw clip and (2) 10mm plastic nuts on each side of the vehicle. You can also remove the wheel chock bracket at this time by removing another (2) 10mm plastic nuts. This section is only for the brave (foolish) who ordered the e46/e53 rear backup camera at the same time they bought their Avin. If you are installing a different backup camera portions of this will apply to you and others will not. The rear backup camera sold by AvinUSA in no way shape or form fits the e53. Not even close. I hope you are handy with a dremel. This alone took me a day to get a result I was happy with. If you are not installing a rear camera you can skip ahead to the next section (LUCKY). It starts at step 48. 28. Before doing any of the following... test your camera somehow. I used a 9V battery to supply power to both the LED lights and the camera itself. I used the video cable supplied and hooked it up to my A/V receiver in the living room to test for full functionality and quality. Bench testing is always a good idea if you have the capability. Eliminating bad parts now is easy compared to later. 29. Remove the portions of the hatch rubber weather seal that cover the D pillars. 30. Remove the bottom trim panel (the one with the spring loaded folding plastic door). There are (8) phillips screws total to accomplish this. (4) on the exposed section, and (4) on the inner underneath the door. Then remove the cargo tie downs in the same fashion as the ones removed on the front lower carpeted side trims. (2) phillips bolts after popping out the plastic cover. 31. Remove plastic trim pieces from around the lower hatch metal latches shown above. IMPORTANT: before removing your latches, mark their location/orientation somehow. I'm not sure how much fun it would be to align everything again if you were to skip this. You remove the latches by undoing (2) 12mm bolts on each side. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam04.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam05.jpg |
32. Remove D pillars by undoing (2) phillips screws shown above and then popping it out using a panel removal tool. You can then pop out the rear seat recline switch (if equipped) and unplug it by using a slotted screwdriver to slide up the plug carrier.
33. Now you can remove all the rear lift gate plastic trims. The sides are first and then the rear/bottom. You will most likely break 1 push pin style piece on the side trims. I found this to be unavoidable no matter how careful I was with my prying. YMMV though and hopefully yours comes out with no damage. You will need to remove and disconnect the lift gate lights before removing the rear section. Then undo (4) phillips screws and the bottom trim panel will pop off with a series of (8) push pins. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam07.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam06.jpg 34. Remove the rear license plate light housing by unscrewing (4) T20 torx screws and unplugging the 4 pin connector shown below in step 35. This connector is where you will tap in your new LED light wires on the inside of the lift gate after mounting the camera to the license plate light housing. 35. Break out your dremel as both the factory housing and the new camera need to be modified in order to work together. First, disassemble your factory housing by releasing the 4 plastic clips holding the 2 halves together. This can be challenging but is definitely possible using two or three slotted screwdrivers with a plastic panel pry tool. Remove the passenger side lens. 36. Now cut the passenger side rear of the black plastic section as shown. Try to be as clean as possible as this will make it easier to reassemble and seal later. There are seam lines to follow to aid in ensuring a mostly straight cut. I used a dremel with a cutoff wheel to do mine. Cut is shown in step 37 picture. 37. With that section opened up you can see the circuit board that goes through there to hold the light bulbs. This needs to be removed for clearance of the new unit (cut shown above). Cut the circuit board as close to your housing cut as possible as you will not need access to it going forward. Don't worry about polarity, I tested all that prior to disassembly and will provide where to tap your new LED leads into later in the guide. 38. Now you have to trim your new camera/lens to fit the factory opening. I cannot tell you exactly how to do this as it involves many test fits, trims, and more test fitting. I will tell you it is a considerable amount of trimming. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the finished trimmed camera housing but you will see what needs to be done when you test fit it. 39. Once you have it fitting to your satisfaction use hot glue in a couple of areas to hold it in place. This is NOT a permanent mounting solution. Go around your unit with the silicon of your choice (Permaseal in my case) and once it cures will be a permanent mount and sealing solution. Now this does mean it would not be easy to replace the camera should it go bad, so bear that in mind. I ordered it thinking it would be a direct fit... boy was that wrong. I will be imploring AvinUSA to change their item description for this particular camera to reflect that it does not fit the e53. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam10.jpg 40. Now drill a hole in the black plastic piece you cut out in step 36 large enough to pass the wires through (shown in step 35 picture). Once that is done you can hot glue (to hold in place) the piece back in place. Just spot glue it in a few places and then go around the whole thing with your silicon to create a permanent bond and seal. Go ahead and also pump the hole where the wires pass through with hot glue to hold and seal those. This is not crucial which is why I only used the hot glue and not the silicon too. 41. Go ahead and extend all the wires coming off the camera now (power, ground, etc) by soldering or crimping additional lengths of wire to them. I chose to trigger my camera (yellow wire on RCA) with the same wire as the power so they were soldered together. Now comes the hardest pill to swallow of the whole camera installation... drilling a hole into your lift gate. You need to pass the wires through into the lift gate just like the factory does it on the driver's side with a square hole. I went over and over this to see if there was a way to run wires through the license plate light holder in order to utilize the factory hole... short answer, there is no easy way to do this. It's easier to just drill the hole. Make it just big enough for the wires to pass (video wire is the largest to accommodate, insert it first). Put some paint (touch up paint works great), silicon, or grease on the metal to prevent any corrosion. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam11.jpg 42. Plug all your wires into the camera and run them to the passenger side, there are 2 holes there for the wires to pass out of the rear compartment. You will notice that I use heat shrink over all my RCA connections and any connection really that can be pulled apart. This ensures no accidental disconnection is going to happen during install, or further down the road. Sorry, I don't have a picture of the drilled hole but can get one and revise this if requested. 43. Go ahead and reinstall the rear license plate housing now (4) T20 torx screws while pulling the excess wire slack through at the same time. Run only the 2 wires you extended for the license plate lights over to the 4 pin harness (X1739) that supplies the OEM license plate lights. The wires you want to tap are: brown (ground) and Green/Orange (+12v to passenger side plate light). Secure all your wires to the OEM harnesses. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam12.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam13.jpg 44. Now you have power/ground for the camera and the video signal wire to pass along the passenger side harness to the rubber "snake" grommet that goes from the lift gate to the body of the vehicle. You will most likely have to cut the video signal RCA (I re-soldered/insulated it later) in order to fit it through the grommet. I accomplished this task by using a combination of a long zip tie that I could tape my wires to and pull through the grommet and a long "grasp" tool that can be inserted in one direction and then pulled back out with the grasper on the new wires. The wiring path is shown in image from previous step. 45. Once you have the wires through the factory grommet and into the vehicle you can run it down along the D pillar area until you get to the fuse box area. At this point you will see a factory ground point (pictured in step 53 image) in front of the fuse box area. Run your wires along the factory harness behind the fuse box and secure with zip ties. Go ahead and separate the positive wire for the camera (we'll come back to it later) from the negative wire at this point. Cut the negative wire to reach the factory ground point with 3-4 inches of extra length. Don't terminate it yet. I grounded the parking wire (for video in motion) to this location as well, just in case it was necessary. I have read you don't need to use the parking wire, but I used it anyway and soldered both wires to a ring terminal and installed them along with the factory grounds. Your yellow RCA will join your main cable run to the front here (shown in red below). http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam14.jpg 46. Go ahead and reinstall all of your lift gate trims. We are done back there. Install rear section first (4) phillips screws and pops into place. Then install the 2 sides using a series of push clips. Reinstall the lift gate courtesy lights and emergency hatch release plastic pull. 47. This step will have sub-steps and involve the creation of a control "circuit" for the backup camera. There are easier ways to do this using a standard bosch 5 pin style relay and triggering it with the backup lights. This is not your average DIY though so I am going to show you a cooler way which I cannot take credit for. Thanks to TerminatorX5 for the legwork/info and Smokey53 (both from Xoutpost) for the nudge in this direction. What we are doing is making a simple control circuit so that the factory Park Distance Control system controls the rear camera like a factory setup would. Manual control is possible as well utilizing the factory PDC switch. a) From Radio Shack you will need model #275-241 micro relay. You will also need project box model #270-1801 to house the circuit. You can also buy the bread board from radio shack as well but will have to trim it to fit the box. You won't need much. Solder/soldering iron are also a must for this mod. If you don't have extra wire lying around, buy some 18 gauge speaker wire as well. Get some in different colors as you will have 4 wires coming out of the box you need to distinguish. b) First thing you will need to do is trim up your bread board to fit inside the project box. I used a dremel to cut some and get it to fit in there. You can use the 4 mounting locations to secure it to the box, but unfortunately these screws are not included so you will have to pick some up or use some from a stash you have like I did. c) Now, plan out where you are going to mount all of your components. You can use my picture as a guide if you want. This is probably not the best layout for the circuit but works fine. I put a diagnosis LED on there with a resistor but you can skip this. I had a bunch of red LEDs lying around and thought it would be nice if the circuit would tell me if it is in use. Omit the connections from the LED if not using one. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...all/Rcam15.jpg d)The diagram for this circuit is below, and a pinout for the relay to make things easier to understand. Solder up your board accordingly. As I said you can skip the LED/resistor combo if you like. It is not necessary to the circuit. After you are done, you can test the circuit using a 9v battery and multimeter just to make sure you have everything good to go before putting it in the vehicle. e) You should be left with 4 wires coming out of the project box. The NC pin (normally closed) will not be used for anything. The 2 coil wires (represented by coiled lines on the package diagram the relay came in) are for PDC reference source (pin 7 Brown/White or Brown/Yellow wire) and for ground (pin 6 ) coming off the PDC module's second (Black X300 plug) harness. It doesn't matter which side of the coil is for which... it doesn't care about polarity so solder it whichever way makes building the rest of the circuit easier. 12v (battery) constant can be pulled from the Fakra yellow wire (silver wire coming out of box shown below). The final wire coming out of the project box is the NO (normally open pin) and goes to the Fakra reverse input wire. This is the wire that gets switched to 12v when the PDC is turned on... either by the car or by you with the button. You also need to tie your camera positive wire (that was left from step 45) AND your yellow RCA trigger wire to this wire. If you are using the same setup as me it means you have to run an additional small gauge wire along with your yellow RCA wire all the way to the front of the car. If you are using a trigger wire separate from your RCA video wire you can skip running the extra wire. Your new control box can easily be tucked with the rest of the modules in the tray as shown below. The module on the left with the 3 plugs is the PDC module. I realize that all of that might be hard to understand and sound daunting, but if you follow the diagram and instructions it's not too bad. It took me 20 times longer to write it than to do it. Wiring the Avin and Accessories 48. To access the factory radio unit (the actual radio, not the screen) we need to remove the plastic cover around the battery: (1) 13mm nut and (3) phillips screws. Now remove (4) phillips screws to remove the module/electronics bracket. Loosen (1) 8mm nut and you can remove the factory radio from the bracket. Go ahead and connect your Avin Fakra cable to the radio harness. 49. There are 3 wires coming off the Fakra that need to be addressed: parking, reverse, and amp continuous. If you are not planning on installing aftermarket amplifiers in the future you can disregard the amp cont. I have READ that you can disregard the parking wire as well. I went ahead and grounded it just to be on the safe side. The reverse wire was addressed in step 47 and comes from the control circuit. All of these connect using wires soldered to appropriately sized bullet style connectors. 50. Now is the time to decide if you are running any additional accessories in the future. I ran 3 pairs of RCA's and a remote wire for future audio upgrades (the copper colored wires shown after step 53). These RCAs have to go from the factory amp location (in my case) all the way to the front of the truck and I didn't want to have to pull it apart again in the future. BTW, I chose the run the wiring down the passenger side of the vehicle to avoid any interference from the main +12v cables that run along the driver's side in my wiring. Also you can remove your factory nav drive/computer and anything else at this time. I removed the Mark IV, CD changer, Bluetooth, and Sirius modules. In the future I'll remove the factory amp and brackets as well. Removal of these is fairly self-explanatory using mostly 10mm bolts. 51. Vacuum everything now before wiring starts and any trims go back in. It's nice to remove a decade (or more) of dust and debris now while everything is accessible. Wipe everything down with a damp towel as well for a nice factory fresh look. Go ahead and re-secure the electronics/module bracket (4) phillips screws. 52. Connect your Fakra extension cable and antenna extension wire. Now run all your added wires out of module area following the factory harness. Secure your wiring along the factory harness every 6 inches or so as necessary. I ran my parking wire up the factory wiring to the fuse box area and soldered it with the camera ground to a ring terminal and installed on the ground post (10mm nut) in the fuse box area shown by the blue line after step 53. 53. Keep following the factory wiring up and over the wheel well area, behind the rear cushion bolster area, and down to where it disappears under the carpet. Keep all you wiring zip tied and neat so you won't have any problems reinstalling any trims or risk crimping/shorting a wire. Now you can go ahead and reinstall the rear trimming up to the rear seat backs in the reverse order they were removed. Don't install the battery cover bars or air pump yet. DO NOT connect negative battery terminal yet. 54. Remove the front and rear door sill trims. (3) Push pins for rear and (5) push pins for front door sills. Now remove the B pillar by pulling out door weather seals and prying from bottom first (4) push pins. You can now pull the carpet to expose factory wiring trays and covers. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/18.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/19.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/20.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/21.jpg 55. Remove the plastic wire cover: (2) T20 plastic screws, (1) slotted plastic nut, and (1) 10mm plastic nut shown above. Route your wiring along the factory paths up until it splits and heads towards the center console. Follow the wiring towards the center console, not the front of the vehicle. There are wiring slits (shown below right) in the carpet you can utilize to pass the wires from under the carpet to around the center console. You can now reinstall the wire cover, B pillar, and door sills. You can also now install all of the interior up to the bottom seat cushion. Still, DO NOT connect the battery. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/22.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/23.jpg 56. Remove the factory head unit now by prying the trim that goes around it with a panel tool. Then remove (4) T10 torx screws. Unplug/remove nav screen and push out the climate control console from behind. Unplug/remove climate controls to give you easy access to run wires up and into the radio area. You should have the Fakra cable, antenna cable, and backup cam video signal cable + trigger wire. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/24.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/25.jpg 57. Now you can install the peripherals: USB/Ipod cable, Aux video/audio/USB cable (if installing), external mic (if installing), and GPS antenna. You may choose to put these things in different places than I, but this guide will show my locations. Drop the glove box (6) phillips screws. Two of these are "hidden" and can only be accessed after removing the pin holding the shock to the glove box and pulling the right side in to clear the stop. Looking from below you can now see the final two screws. You will probably have to remove the light inside the glove box as well before it will drop. Installing the aux video/USB cable in the rear lighter location simply involves removing the lighter and opening the hole up a bit to fit the new accessory. 58. I installed my USB/Ipod combo cable in the glove box which requires nothing special. Just route it out of the glove box and around the back to the radio area. Installing the GPS antenna and external mic requires pulling the A pillar. There is (1) T25 screw behind the SRS trim and (3) clips holding it in. Pull the door weather stripping and it will come out. Running the plugs down can be tricky but with patience can be accomplished. after getting the plugs down, routing them behind the glove box, and up into the stereo area. Now you can run the rest along the factory wires up the pillar. Important: Do this to keep them out of the way of the air bag. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/27.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/28.jpg 59. Go ahead and reinstall the glove box now as we won't need access back there again. You can also reinstall the center console now. If you chose this as an area for accessories, run the wires for them while installing the console. I installed an aux USB/video plug in the rear lighter location as pictured in step 57. Go ahead and install the front seats after the center console is fully installed. Almost looks like a complete vehicle again. 60. Remove the overhead vanity light console by popping the courtesy lights out with a plastic panel popper. Sometime the metal clips for these are bent in the front and get stuck. Just pull harder and it will come down so you can re-bend the clips to their proper shape. Pop out the homelink panel and then reach behind to remove the front console (mine is the ultrasonic alarm, yours may differ). Now drop the console itself after removing (4) T10 screws. Remove the factory microphone (if equipped) or grille so you can modify to fit the external mic. 61. Remove the passenger vanity mirror. (4) T20 screws are hidden under panels at the visor clip and at the swivel. Just pry those out to expose the screws. Disconnect the harness. Dropping these pieces allows the head liner to flex down enough to run wires and fit the mic and antenna in. Run the wires behind the head liner. I installed the nav antenna to the roof itself (upside down) and the mic to the factory mic location. Modify the factory mic grille to accept the new mic. I chose to drill a hole and super glue the mic mount to the factory unit in the back. Makes for a fairly clean install. Would have preferred something that sat behind the factory grille, but did not want to sacrifice performance. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/31.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/32.jpg 62. Reinstall the vanity mirror, upper console, pillar trim, and climate controls. Install is almost complete. In the blue plug that was attached to the factory nav there should be a Grey/Red wire that controls illumination. I cannot confirm this as I used the cig lighter Green/Red wire shown below. I learned about the Grey/Red wire after my installation was complete. It's certainly easier to get to than my solution which is why I am mentioning it here. Tap into one of those wires of your choosing for illumination control. Also notice my heat shrink on RCA connectors. I do this to prevent them from pulling out but is not necessary. Connect all of your other wires to the unit and slide it in as far as it will go... it won't fit, the bottom is square and not round like it needs to be. Don't get pissed and break something (like I was tempted to do)... we'll get back to that in a moment. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/33.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/34.jpg 63. Finally, go to the cargo area, connect the battery, and reinstall all the associated pieces. Go ahead and put the cargo floor back in as well. We should be done back here. Now put your key in the ignition and test your unit on key pos 1. Note: upon starting the car the 4x4 warning light will illuminate. It will go out after driving a short distance. Your Avin unit should boot up. If you switch the lights on you should have illumination. Test that everything sounds good, radio, USB, etc. If all is good move on to the final step. 64. Now that we know everything works, grab your dremel or tool of choice for grinding. I used a small cone shaped grinding stone on my dremel for this. You have to reshape the Avin's lower corners to match the old trim that used to surround your nav unit. Go slow and remember you can always take more off, you can't add any back on. Just take your time and do a bunch of test fits. With a little work (took me 10 mins) you will have a nice radius on both sides and the unit should slide in nicely. It will be a snug fit... which is good in my book. You only need to secure it with the top (2) T10 screws from the original head unit. Before securing it permanently do a little wire management behind the radio with zip ties just to clean things up. http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/36.jpg http://i370.photobucket.com/albums/o...Install/37.jpg 65. Crack open a beer, or 12 and start playing with your new head unit. If you made it this far congratulations, the picture below no longer scares you and you know your vehicle more intimately. If you are a non-factory navigation reader your life will be much simpler unless you are installing a reverse camera. Hopefully portions of this guide will still help you out as well. Feel free to drop me a line on www.xoutpost.com to user crystalworks if you have any questions. So far my wife and I absolutely love this unit. We have not had time to play with it fully yet though so I am reserving a full review until we've lived with it for at least a few months. Look for that in the future. This is a huge leap forward in terms of sheer technology (and enjoyment) for our X5 which we are hoping will last us a very long time. If I have to swap another motor into it I will... as I really enjoy driving it. Is the unit "Plug and Play?" Maybe in the strictest sense of the phrase it is... but having to modify the front bezel to fit doesn't fit that definition to me. Also the reverse camera AvinUSA markets as for the E53 does not fit in any way shape or form. It is definitely NOT for this chassis. Other than those two gripes, which are very minor to me (I was a professional installer) the unit installed without much problem. It took a lot of time, but I went into it expecting that just because of the way I do installations. You could probably throw this thing in on a weekend if you install it like normal people. Would I do it again? Absolutely. The quality of the unit seems good so far and the OEM looks are absolutely key to my wife and I. The screen looks beautiful and boasts a pretty impressive resolution. The external mic picked up conversations well and no one reports having a hard time hearing me. The UI and Android ecosystem are going to take some getting used to as a head unit. Not in a bad way, it's just very different than working with something on a traditional mobile electronics platform. The dual core processor seems to handle Kit Kat just fine with no real lag. I have not tried running a bunch of android apps at the same time though. Lastly, and possibly most importantly with a unit like this, Tommy seems to be VERY good with customer service and support. He has already sent me a software upgrade and answered tons of questions I had before purchasing. Support is key in my book and so far am very pleased. As I said, if you have any questions drop me a line on www.xoutpost.com as user crystalworks. |
Reserved #3... Will place review of the unit here after living with it for a few months or so.
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The new Dynavin N6 is plug and play and now it's DSP compatible, great write up.
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Great write up. It's not easy doing it right but you went all out! Extra impressed that you took the time to put the guide together. I had to work through a lot of these issues also, and this would have been a huge help.
P.s. I have asked Jeff to remove the 'E53' camera from his website. Hopefully your source does the same. The camera is for an e39/e46 - such a shame not for ours. Also. Aside from it not fitting - why wouldn't these use a 4 pin micro connector?! Those huge RCA's are a PITA to get through the tail gate as you know!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Thank you for doing the write up. That is a bit disheartening about it not fitting perfectly. Did you bring it up with them? I wouldn't want to have to take a dremel to my brand new $700 unit.
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Great write up!
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I also mentioned it to Tommy about the camera and will ask him again about it just as a follow up. I wish I had taken pics of just how much modification was necessary to get it to work right... Quote:
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Subscribed - awesome write up!
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Solid - Welcome to the "Updated" club. So much nicer it makes you wonder why you didn't do it sooner huh. HA.
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Great job! Props!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Wow, great job. Thats an impressive feat for a backup camera.
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This is a great write up. Thank you.
Two questions for you. Why did you end up choosing Avin over the Dynavin and have you found an actual direct fit reverse cam for the e53 or is our only option customizing one? Thanks again man - I'm always grateful for the forums when someone takes the time to document stuff like this. |
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I chose the Avin because of the processor speed, UI, higher resolution on Avin, dedicated sub preout on Avin (Dynavin may have also but I couldn't find any info on it), and my trucks lack of DSP. The Dynavin has the same sort of long install time (for factory nav vehicles) involved also so that was not a factor. Those were my thoughts... after looking at the Eonon I might have to try it (if I ever become displeased with the Avin) since it uses a newer android, has more RAM, faster processor, and is cheaper. I doubt it, but I am pretty picky with head units so I won't rule out swapping this in the future... I am really happy with the Avin so far, but we'll see after having some real "living with it" time. As for the camera... no idea. I went with what I had here. I tested it, liked the clarity and guide lines, so I made it fit. I think Terminator found one that fit a bit better, maybe he can chime in. I think there are some other ones on ebay that are designed for the E53 as well. But I know the ones sold with the Dynavin and the Avin are NOT for the E53 by design. |
Again, beautiful job crystal. And no worries on Multi-Quote, its nice to see it being used to consolidate replies.
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Awesome. Thanks again for the writeup. I'm luckily non-nav but I plan on doing all of my components along with a different sub and amp so my car will likely look the same.
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Many thanks for the write up. I hope you got a well deserved discount on avant 2.
03/2003 E53 X5 4.4i M62 FB 33 |
Hi Crystalworks
I sent you a private message. Please confirm if you received it? Thanks |
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Great post & thanks for all the details!!!
Below is the link which says wireless backup camera. Like to have your opinion on using this. Wireless CCD Car Rear View Camera for BMW 1 3 5 7 Series x3 x5 x6 Z4 E39 E53 E46 | eBay If i use the above can i pass the cables through the existing square hole? by replacing the left side reverse light? I have attached 3 photos showing plastic weld. Please confirm i have to cut them. Many thanks |
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I believe Terminator used that exact camera/wireless setup in an installation and had reception problems. You might want to check with him. That one is better suited for our trucks though because you can use the driver's side light which means you should be able to use the square hole provided by the factory to pass wires through. Those pics are hard to tell because it is zoomed in so close... but it looks like it should come off with just the 4 clips. I think all the plastic weld is on one half and not holding the 2 together. That's what it looks like anyway. :dunno: |
Very nice!
Thanks! |
thanks for this man..
i got the detail i needed to remove my center console :) thanks !! |
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Which reverse camera did you end up using for your install?
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Let me know if you have any other questions. |
Hey, is it possible you were mistakenly shipped the E38 unit instead of the E39/E53 unit? It looks like the E38 unit is supposed to have squared off lower corners.
E53/E39 https://avinusa.com/media/catalog/pr...avant2_025.jpg E38 https://avinusa.com/media/catalog/pr...sa.com_2_1.jpg https://avinusa.com/media/catalog/pr...in_avant-2.jpg |
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At least that's what I think happened. If you look at the videos it still shows the squared bottom corners, and all of the description pictures on the site also shows it. Other than the face I'm not sure there is any difference between the e38 ones and the e39/e53 units. Maybe Tommy will chime in with what exactly happened... Quote:
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Good DIY, will be using this to hunt down my interior rattles.
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I spoke with one of the contacts a last week. They did update the corners of the new units for the e53.
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As a long term update on how the unit is performing... almost perfectly. I say almost because I went to use the tethered wifi from my phone and the Avin's wifi is disabled and will not turn back on. Tried rebooting and then resetting... but no luck. Was on the road so didn't have time to try much else. Going to try and update to the new firmware and see if that fixes it since I am still on the original firmware. If the firmware update doesn't work I'll have to get with Tommy and see where to go from there. |
Outstanding write up. A few questions for you:
Do the steering wheel buttons work to activate the phone and control the head unit? Why did you pull so much of the interior out? I understand the console and rear area/hatch, but the rear seats and side panels I don't get. It is certainly possible to route wires rear to front, (as I did when installing a Bluetooth module), in an E53 without taking the whole interior out. I had to remove the doorsills on one side, and then unbolt, (but not remove) the drivers seat...nothing else. When I see an installer gutting an interior like that, it's usually to Dynamat everything, and also when installing heavy gauge amp wiring and upgraded speaker wiring. (Keeping amp power on the opposite side of the car as the RCA cables). I gather you were using existing speaker and amp wiring??? |
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As for gutting the interior. I try to run (on BMW's) all my wiring with the factory wire looms. The X5 has pretty good sound deadening already and unless adding a heavy duty sub setup I don't see a reason to add anything unless you are competing. This is a personal preference thing and you are right is definitely not required to get the job done. As a pro it's just the way I like to do things... From a reliability standpoint running along the factory looms keeps things from getting stepped on, crimped, or otherwise interfered with. I HATE doing jobs twice. Like infuriatingly, rage quit, blinding type of hate... LOL. ;) As an update to the above... updating the firmware did not work for me to re-engage the wi fi. Sent Tommy an email and we'll see what he says. As a side note, I like the new CarHome UI and BMW boot logo is a nice touch. :thumbup: |
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After reading this thread I decided go to the website and check it out. I reviewed the features and then opened the chat option and asked asked about the features I am most interested and how they compare to the Dynavin and the install of my particular X5. Those interested will want to know they will be introducing a new unit in the near future. We didn't discuss the differences from current offering but from the conversation I didn't get the impression it will be radically different.
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By the way, much thanks for your detailed DIY write up. I used it to install my Dynavin fakra and camera cables. I didn't take the interior apart like you did (I took a surgical approach) but your write up was a great guide! |
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Crystalworks, what would the circuit diagram and relay pin out look like if the reverse light is used instead of the PDC? Wouldn't the +12v const come from the reverse light? I'm making a project box for my E39 as well which doesn't have PDC. I want to ensure I wire up and solder the boards accordingly.
Thanks for the help! |
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Solderable Perf Board, 2-1/2 x 3-1/8" Glad the write-up helped you out. Took me 2 days to write it up and of course added time to the install for pictures and notes. I realize most will not take the entire interior out like I did, but it's how I work and if nothing else it gives people a good how-to should they need to do something else that would require getting access to the areas I did. Quote:
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I was saying that it "feels" more factory to have the factory PDC system control the camera operation. That is just personal opinion though. |
What happens when the front bumper PDC detects something during frontal maneuver, does the camera come on with the PDC display overlaid? That might be a good thing since with reverse light trigger setup only the PDC beeps would occur during frontal maneuver, right?
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Now that I re-read you question though... I think you are asking what happens if you never put it into reverse and are trying to pull up to something close. In that case you have to manually switch on the PDC (which turns on the camera) so that the sensors are active. The PDC does not automatically activate under any circumstance except putting the truck into reverse. Unless there is some kind of coding I am unaware of anyway. The reason I like this better than the reverse trigger is because you can manually turn on PDC (and thus the back-up camera) anytime without having to put the car into reverse. I have found this useful on many occasions including seeing how close someone is to me at stop lights, following in traffic <20mph, and just to see what is behind me in parking lots for situational awareness. Hope that helps... LOL keep asking if I am not answering what you are asking though. :D |
[QUOTE=crystalworks;1036483]..So you back out of your spot and put it in drive. PDC stays active until you go over 15 or 20mph I forget which... so your screen will stay active as well until you reach that speed...[/QUOTE]
Thank you for taking the time to answer my queries, yes very helpful. I'm really debating if I should just use reverse light trigger. Regarding the above, the music will stay off when screen is active, yes? |
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It stays severely muted. Not off, but pretty darn close. So, I do find myself manually turning it off after backing out regularly. Doesn't bug me, but I could see how it would bother some. As with most things in life... there are pluses and minuses to both setups (PDC vs reverse trigger). Choose whichever works best for you and go that route. :thumbup: |
So it has been a few months. What are your thoughts?
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I have gotten so used to having it now with Pandora, Gmaps, youtube, and other android apps that I don't think I could ever go back to a non-android head unit unless it was supremely executed with a very specific set of built in apps. The last few firmware updates have made the unit even more aesthetically pleasing for me with BMW boot logos and different skins/wallpapers. The home UI was also changed and looks better/smoother. I'll update post #3 in the near future with a full update/review and possibly even a video if I can find the time. Edit: In the interest of full disclosure, we did have our original unit fail on us by locking the wifi out. Don't know if it was software or hardware related but Tommy took care of it quickly and sent us a new unit. The new unit is physically different and was probably revised hardware wise and software wise. I would expect that all the units being purchased now are the new revised versions. |
Thanks for the update. I am glad you guys are loving it. I keep coming back to this unit. I have been driving a new Q7 lately with google maps and bluetooth streaming. I just get in and my phone is already hooked up and I can control the music without touching my phone. It sure beats the hell out of my dated mkiv nav and little aux cable. I would defiantly look into getting one of the 3/4g dongles and hook it up to my data plan so I didn't have to tether, but if that doesn't work out it isn't a big deal.
I look forward to your full review |
Thanks for all of the info, crystalworks! I just picked up a 2002 X5 w/o factory nav or DSP and I have had several sessions with Tommy online over the last couple of days. The AVANT-2 is a no brainer for me after those discussions and following your excellent tutorial, but the backup camera is a decision I'm not sure about. Tommy did say it required some "filing down" to get it to fit but it was only the depth of the plastic in the recession and not the width. Is that right? If I did go with one, I much prefer the wireless solution versus running all the wires. Do you know of anyone who has used the AVIN 2.4ghz wireless option?
Again, great work and this is VERY helpful to my OCD! :) |
No problem. Glad you are finding the info useful.
As for the camera... stay away from anything that is not made SPECIFICALLY for the e53. The wired camera Tommy has is for an e46 or e39... I forget which. LOL and it requires A LOT more than "filing" down as evidenced in my tutorial. :) I don't trust anything wireless but you could give it a go. Not sure if that camera housing is any different than the wired version I bought though... so you'd be shooting in the dark as far as fitment is concerned. I know another member tried a wireless solution and could never overcome the signal interference to get a clear picture. |
Great write up and review, crystalworks!
I've been considering in upgrading my screen for a while, especially dead pixels started showing now. Do you think this is the same/similar item (minus the bottom rounded edges)? I'm totally sold with how the interface/OS looks like newer BMWs. Camera Car Radio DVD GPS Navi Stereo Sinlge 1Din for BMW 5 Series E39 E53 x5 M5 | eBay |
That fact that it is running windows would make me stay away.
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If we get another compatible car I may try that unit for S's and G's... but for our X5, which is the trip car, we wanted something more robust. Plus tech support/warranty stuff is way easier to handle stateside than having to deal with international shipping. Let me know if you have any other questions. |
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You're right... I just noticed the spec too. I'm guessing it's similar to the D99+. This one below seem to have a similar spec with closer to OEM buttons, but no idea on the UI performance. Android Car DVD GPS Navigation Headunit Radio Stereo for BMW x5 E53 2000 2007 | eBay It would be great if Avin have UI closer to BMW's... ;) |
Crystalworks, I have to revive this thread from the dead for a very important question. I have bought another E53 (2004) and this one has DSP. Did the install on your 05 X5 have DSP? I've purchased the GROM kit to try and gain bluetooth capability but am having no luck with consistent output. I'm starting to lean on the AVIN install but didn't see where yours was DSP or not. Thanks!
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AFAIK the only native solution for a DSP vehicle is the Dynavin. At least that was the case last time I looked into it. |
The Dynavin has Windows CE, though, right? If so, I don't think I'm feeling that.
I did see the workaround for the DSP on the AVIN USA site, but I was hoping there was an alternative. I really don't want the MID in the glovebox and the stock CD player in the back compartments. |
My wife and I really enjoyed the Android ecosystem on a head unit. Personally, I'm still trying to figure out how to do it with my setup if I can (I have nav & DSP now). Might have to run all new wiring and install all new drivers. :(
The only thing I didn't like about the Avin was the loss of the OBC functions. Looking at an NBT retrofit if I can figure it out and not go broke in the process. One of the other members here turned me on to it. |
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Yeah, I'd still need more info. I see too many posts referring to "niggles" and "issues." New firmware is updated all the time, which is nice from a support standpoint... but still. For $2000+ all-in I want to be able just run wiring, plug it in, and have it all working the way it's supposed to. I did find the below picture on germanik's website which shows promise.
http://cdn1.bigcommerce.com/server19...0.1280.JPG?c=2 |
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hey
hope u keeping well sorry to bother you again i am trying to get my steering wheel controls working for the same unit u installed my main prob the mid in her didnt work so i got one off ebay with telephone button on only prob old one didnt have that on it i have hooked it up and volume works but no other functions except radio no time on unit is this because wrong mid also strangely the aftermarket one always went off with ignition now on all the time have to turn off manually i did get one with the same buttons on right only 2 sadly doesnt work any thought would be grateful my friend
andy |
Hi
someone helped me to install 2 years ago, and he did not complete backup camera since he is going to drill a hole and he is not confident it seems. Well, what so ever the case, I am living without it. Support is kind of no help some extend for installation, the software provides or any other apps help are good, though! after seeing your steps, I tried to plug it rear view camera to the car and put it in reverse, I could not see anything or at least a blank screen. Do I need to make any changes to the console settings!!, please help I need to check weather camera is working or not! |
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Crystalworks can you please re-send the offline word doc of this DIY. I thought I had saved it a while back bur I cannot find it.
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Also updated the link in the first post with the download link. PS: EAD Photobucket... EAD!!! They won't be getting anymore of my money. |
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Crystalworks,
If you would like, I can host a pdf of it on my site and post the link here. Let me know. Mike PS: Very nice work on the DIY document! IMHO, it is an intimidating install but the results are definitely worth it to bring our vehicles into 21st century info-tainment systems. |
Hi,
your guide here looks really helpful. As I am thinking to order Avant 3, would be possible that you will re-upload a working version of your guide? Thanks in advance |
Here is the re-upload. I will be ordering an Avant 3 as well in the near future hopefully.
TinyUpload.com - best file hosting solution, with no limits, totaly free |
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Thanks for your reply! I ordered mine yesterday. I will let you know soon the about results. ;)
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So I am done eventually with the installation of the avant 3. The fitting it's really good and installation wasn't that hard I have to say. Was quite plug and play and I also used the factory gps antenna. The only issue which I am facing currently it's the weird behavior at the beggining that the unit is starting 2 times every time I start the car as you can see in the video bellow. I've already sent a mail to avinusa support but till now no answer. Apparently the last days even live chat is not available. I might try the phone call next week.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiVjEnx_Q2g |
Hope you get a response, that doesn't look right at all.
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Updated the install link in the first post. Used Google Drive for it so should work from now on. Will update the pictures in the thread at some point as well.
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