BMW Navigation Install

[TW]Fox;21407750 said:
Where the BMW system is better is where it... 'just works' and no allowances need to be made for quirky stuff.
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This is where i had some concerns, that the quirky issues would outweigh it's functionality. How well is it integrated into the car? You mentioned that you're able to change music tracks via the controls on the wheel, can you use the other functions like answering calls?

Can you give me a link to both products you were considering.
 
I like it.

I looked at a similar sort of system when I had the VXR. The Stereo followed the lines of the centre console in such a way that anything aftermarket would look ridiculous beyond belief, so an aftermarket solution that was designed to look OEM seemed like an awesome idea.

At the time though, the Windows CE based system looked terrible for everything but the nav (which, like yours, you had a choice of any CE based nav system).

Had there been an Android version, I probably would have bought one - at least you can literally do anything you like with that! (I assume things like the music and radio interfaces were all Android as well?)
 
The Android versions are Android on the nav side - so you can use Android for music if you want, but you've also got the same radio side as I have as well.

I never see Windows CE. I can if I want - you can get a patch to enable internet access, etc etc - but I've got it set up so that it simply autoboots into Nav. All that I ever see on the Windows side is my navigation software. It begins loading once the unit gets power and takes 15 seconds. By default the unit boots into Radio mode and takes about 3 seconds to do this. About 10-13 seconds later I tap Nav and Nav instantly appears having finished loading :)

The loading times are about the same as they were in my 335i (Which also had to load nav from cold before you could use it).
 
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You can use just the android side if you want, so you can get that. After thinking that would be the coolest thing in the world I had a good think about it and thought that actually its just a gimmick. I wanted a car stereo and integrated navigation system. If I want to screw with Android I can take out my hugely more powerful Android phone and use that instead :)
 
Awesome write up. Love the way they made it look identical to the OEM tv/nav screen. So do you still have that intravee thing, or does this essentially replace it? Hopefully the quirks will be ironed out. The front pdc thing seems a bit annoying - could it not just use the pdc button or something? Did you get the reverse camera optional extra or is that something you had already? Not OEM is it?
 
It replaces the intravee, so I won't need it anymore.

I guess the front PDC thing is because 99% of these are bought for the E46 which doesnt have it which is why they use the reverse signal to trigger it, under the assumption you only want PDC when rervesing.

Rerverse camera was extra, cost a whole £15. I've had it test-wired up but I've not fitted it properly yet as it's another big job as I need to route cables to the front.
 
[TW]Fox;21407276 said:
This is the iPod interface. It looks good and works well. Sadly though the album art you can see is.... a picture of some albums. It is entirely static and doesnt change. How irritatingly crap - it would have been very easy just to have a generic background that didnt look like fake album art. Grrr. Not a huge deal though as I only see this screen when changing music etc.
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Have you tried browsing all the directories on the device, with it hooked upto a laptop.

You may find the offending image.
 
[TW]Fox;21409364 said:
Rerverse camera was extra, cost a whole £15. I've had it test-wired up but I've not fitted it properly yet as it's another big job as I need to route cables to the front.
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Should be a fairly simple case of routing the wires under the trim in the boot and the rear seats, then along the underside of the kick panels along the outer edge of the floor? :)


How does the OBC / PDC stuff work? Does it have the same connector that the OEM unit had, and it has the ability to talk to the car with all the necessary CANBUS protocols and whatnot? Or a different method?
 
Steedie said:
That looks awesome, blends in really well!

Sorry if I missed the price, but how much was the unit? And to have it fitted?
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I paid 600 and fitted it myself.

Howard said:
Should be a fairly simple case of routing the wires under the trim in the boot and the rear seats, then along the underside of the kick panels along the outer edge of the floor? :)


How does the OBC / PDC stuff work? Does it have the same connector that the OEM unit had, and it has the ability to talk to the car with all the necessary CANBUS protocols and whatnot? Or a different method?
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It reads from the canbus yes.
 
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