BMW Navigation Install

naefeart · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:35

Looks good overall. Perhaps with some updates the niggles will be ironed out.

Howard said:
How does the OBC / PDC stuff work?

Some of the issues with previous versions of the Chinese units, were that they didn't maintain full/any OBC functions. This one seems to have some, but perhaps not all? (trip computer, clock, etc). Not a huge issue, but something that would still stop me considering a change. Doesn't matter as my DSP means it's not compatible anyway.

If you press the PDC button on the dash, won't this engage the front sensors without reverse being selected?

Fox - are you planning on posting a thread on BMW5? I'm sure there are quite a few chaps that would be very interested.

mrk · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:40

What is the sound quality like? That's the most important part. As a % compared to stock?

I'm interested in the Android version as you already know because of many or the more unique features that are possible (primary of which is vehicle tracking over Cerberus and visual voice comms and being able to transfer music to the car over wifi while parked on the driveway using ES File Explorer etc).

But if sound quality is only a bit better than stock then there's no point buying this for me.

Rex-Kramer · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:40

£600 isnt bad at all for what you've got. The beauty of no labour costs!

Six6siX · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:42

Now that looks nice and very OEM, it appears to have evolved into a very credible solution, finally!

What is your audio setup like Fox? Are you running amp(s) / aftermarket speakers or anything? I'm interested in what the audio quality is like compared to the stock setup.

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:43

I don't have high OBC on my car so I don't lose anything, infact I gain a bit more. The situation is more complex for high OBC cars which also display obc data on the MID or Nav screen.

As for the PDC, the operation of the factory PDC is totally unaffected and works as normal. The unit adds additional functionality above the oem system, but only when reversing.

mrk · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:44

Six6siX said:
Now that looks nice and very OEM, it appears to have evolved into a very credible solution, finally!

What is your audio setup like Fox? Are you running amp(s) / aftermarket speakers or anything? I'm interested in what the audio quality is like compared to the stock setup.

The stock speakers/amp are very good on e39/e46, it's the stock head units that are crap. I have just an aftermarket HU in my car and the sound quality is better in orders of magnitude compared to stock.

pepsilol · 6 Mar 2012 at 09:44

The PDC display needs to be spliced to the PDC button ideally.

CaPtBlaCk · 6 Mar 2012 at 11:12

[TW]Fox;21407454 said:
I changed the console to a leather one in about November last year

Did you find an OE one or have it retrimmed - if retrimmed then can you let me know who it was and would you recommend them?

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 11:29

I found an OE one.

Conanius · 6 Mar 2012 at 11:48

Fox

Looks great, glad you found one you like.

As we said the other day, it sounds like the quirks can be ignored, so it doesn't matter they exist !

I'm reassured by the fact you've found a headunit that isnt OEM fit that works with all your existing car wiring (For parking sensors etc). At some point I might upgrade the headunit in the Fabia, and its got factory bluetooth + phone which I would be annoyed if I lost the functionality of.

paradigm · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:09

Fox, have you connected up both the Reverse sensor wire (green) and the parking sensor wire (pink) to the back of the unit?

Seems to me that if the pink one is spliced into the PDC button, you should get PDC view when driving forward.

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:16

You don't plug specific wires into the back - it just plugs into the Quadrablock same as the original stereo did. Wondering if I can mod it in order to do what you say?

Liampope · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:37

Even if you could trick the system into staying in PDC mode until you're done parking and press the pdc button, is the 'software module' in the unit for the graphical PDC display even written to display front sensor data at all? Maybe this needs an official update from Dynavin to implement it properly for front sensors reading the PDC button on the bus (assuming the PDC button talks on the bus)?

paradigm · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:41

[TW]Fox;21411481 said:
You don't plug specific wires into the back - it just plugs into the Quadrablock same as the original stereo did. Wondering if I can mod it in order to do what you say?

Shouldn't be too difficult.

Liampope said:
Even if you could trick the system into staying in PDC mode until you're done parking and press the pdc button, is the 'software module' in the unit for the graphical PDC display even written to display front sensor data at all?

Yes, it is.

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 12:43

Yes. It does display front sensor readings just like the rear ones but it swaps out of that mode when you disengage reverse.

CaPtBlaCk · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:03

[TW]Fox;21411162 said:
I found an OE one.

Nice one - do you mind divulging how much one should pay for such an item?

Did you not get your steering wheel retrimmed as well or again the OE replacement route?

Gaygle · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:03

My Dynavin was packed full of features, and was, for the most part, very good. However, some things annoyed me massively with it (the USB/MP3 CD menu for one!).

My biggest annoyance were that there was numerous software bugs with it and instead of Dynavin just spending a bit of time going over what they had already done and fixing bugs which would have improved it MASSIVELY, they just kept adding more and more crappy useless features that all had bugs.

Nothing to do with that product was ever finished - they completed everything to 95% then forgot about it and moved on to the next useless feature. The Dynavin was feature packed enough, what it needed was polishing and the fact that they couldn't be bothered to do this is what annoyed me more than anything.

EDIT: Oh, and the sound quality was as rubbish as the standard headunit in the E46 - maybe slightly better.

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:08

They do polish things but then stick them in an all new model you have to buy again, which is totally annoying. But such is life.

Guessing you had the previous model with the orange radio interface?

[TW]Fox · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:09

CaPtBlaCk said:
Nice one - do you mind divulging how much one should pay for such an item?

Did you not get your steering wheel retrimmed as well or again the OE replacement route?

They usually go for about 150 to 200 quid but I picked up a bargain at 50. I had the wheel retrimmed a few years ago.

Gaijin · 6 Mar 2012 at 13:11

I don't personally think your choice is the route I would have gone. I think the functionality it provides is good, and no doubt it is far more flexible and expandable than a solution from a major ICE manufacturer.

The Sony, seems to be a much more well rounded solution in the way that appears to be a polished proprietary solution and has a Tom Tom, which would be a massive USP for me.

I do, however understand that importance of the OEM look for you.

However, the dealbreaker for me is the pricepoint. I don't think I could drop that much on a chinese unit. It's a ridiculous amount of money for it.

One of the main reasons people go for the Chinese units - I.e. you pay significantly less for a massively more functional albeit more rough around the edges solution and potentially less QA'd.