idrive retrofit and conversion

[song80 0]

Good news for those of you who want to install idrive on E90,E92 or convert JAP idrive to NZ.

I have successfully installed Idrive on my year 2007 E92 (320I COUPE)

All parts will be BMW OEM.

The cost will be very similar to the original option from BMW for new cars

Let me know if you want to do this, I can point you to the right direction and place to do it.

[Apex 693]

Cool, thanks for the info.

So you order the parts though BMW and get them fitted??

I-Drive is a must have for me, wouldn’t buy a new BMW without it! Such a awesome system.

[hybrid 1039]

Good news for those of you who want to install idrive on E90,E92 or convert JAP idrive to NZ.

I have successfully installed Idrive on my year 2007 E92 (320I COUPE)

All parts will be BMW OEM.

The cost will be very similar to the original option from BMW for new cars

Let me know if you want to do this, I can point you to the right direction and place to do it.

Any chance of a write up ? Will see if a few of us have the retrofit instructions.

[318Touring 40]

Why would you want iDrive? BTW, is this the new or old iDrive?

New one is good, old one is annoying.

[song80 0]

Any chance of a write up ? Will see if a few of us have the retrofit instructions.

I have agreeded not to share these technical info on net, sorry, but I can point out the parts you need and where to get them. also I can give you the contact of local workshop who can do all that for you.

The parts you need:

CCC

CID

CON

Double scoop dash

centre console trim

air con trim

cooling hose

power cable for CID

LVDS cable

CCC fan cable

make your own controller cable

Coding- this is very important part and I only know one workshop can do this in NZ, and this is very complicate process and time will be very on each car.

if any one of you who want to know more then you can send me the email song80@xtra.co.nz, then I can tell you how to get it done on your car

Edited December 17, 2008 by Renming

[hybrid 1039]

I have agreeded not to share these technical info on net, sorry, but I can point out the parts you need and where to get them. also I can give you the contact of local workshop who can do all that for you.

The parts you need:

CCC

CID

CON

Double scoop dash

centre console trim

air con trim

cooling hose

power cable for CID

LVDS cable

CCC fan cable

make your own controller cable

Coding- this is very important part and I only know one workshop can do this in NZ, and this is very complicate process and time will be very on each car.

if any one of you who want to know more then you can send me the email song80@xtra.co.nz, then I can tell you how to get it done on your car

It will be found out eventually ... weather posted by yourself or another person in another country.

like this: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131416

But understand workshops want to protect their IP.

Here are two examples I posted when doing my conversion on the e46, I attempted this with a bit of research on the net and a few chats with Jochen. Coded it and the car with Navcoder on a laptop through a serial interface.

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=13797

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=13689

Edit: Actually it looks like you have already posted in that thread,. hehe I understand now why you dont want the details on the net some bodys doing you favours with dealer equipment fair enough chap

[song80 0]

It will be found out eventually ... weather posted by yourself or another person in another country.

like this: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131416

But understand workshops want to protect their IP.

Here are two examples I posted when doing my conversion on the e46, I attempted this with a bit of research on the net and a few chats with Jochen. Coded it and the car with Navcoder on a laptop through a serial interface.

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=13797

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....showtopic=13689

Edit: Actually it looks like you have already posted in that thread,. hehe I understand now why you dont want the details on the net some bodys doing you favours with dealer equipment fair enough chap

Yes, it was long project, and took me few months to do the research, and finally got it done, the key of this project is the coding and with special equipment as none of the dealer ops can allow you to do this.

The file need to be regnerated from your car and get modified for retrofiting and then uploaded on to your car again.

as the E90 and E60 are now use MOST bus instead of ibus in E46. so, the wiring part is very each, but coding is hardest part to do.

[jochen 4]

Yes, it was long project, and took me few months to do the research, and finally got it done, the key of this project is the coding and with special equipment as none of the dealer ops can allow you to do this.

The file need to be regnerated from your car and get modified for retrofiting and then uploaded on to your car again.

as the E90 and E60 are now use MOST bus instead of ibus in E46. so, the wiring part is very each, but coding is hardest part to do.

Well done. I , for one, can appreciate the time and effort it took to do the research, and the gamble that has to be done to get the first car converted.

(speaking from experience from working with the ibus vehicles)

Good on you!

As for the tools: that's the hard part for most people, as the INPA & NCS-Expert software tools re not so easy to find and once you see them, not so easy to use...

And changing the Vehicle Order is never something that BMW likes people to do :-)

[diablo23 1]

found a good manual on how to do the retrofit very interesting read

E90_idrive_retrofit.pdf

[hybrid 1039]

good work sir now for jochen to get hold of a e90 and maybe write some of this functionality into navcoder

[jochen 4]

good work sir now for jochen to get hold of a e90 and maybe write some of this functionality into navcoder

This is what I'll shortly be playing with....

645Ci

E63, with V8 engine and full nav system

Electronics has same platform as E60, so all learnings will apply to 5- and 6-series.

[song80 0]

found a good manual on how to do the retrofit very interesting read

As I said, wiring the car is so easy, as long as you follow the WDS and TIS.

The problem is the coding part. I have done 2 cars now.(1 e92 and 1 e90)

I have encontered many problem during the coding part. With the car which has not equipted with Idrive, to modify VO is easy, but to be able to retrofit idrive in, you will need to generate the retrofit file and upload to your tool for updating, and each file can be only used on each specific car.

[tom2007 1]

Hi Renming,

I have a 2007 E90 325i Motorsport with iDrive fitted. (Japanese, car was imported to NZ from Japan).

Am just trying to get some sense for what is involved in:

A) Making radio function with all NZ stations.

Making nav system work in NZ.

Are you (or anyone!) able to help educate me a little on this?

Thanks in advance.

Tom

Good news for those of you who want to install idrive on E90,E92 or convert JAP idrive to NZ.

I have successfully installed Idrive on my year 2007 E92 (320I COUPE)

All parts will be BMW OEM.

The cost will be very similar to the original option from BMW for new cars

Let me know if you want to do this, I can point you to the right direction and place to do it.

[deeveus 81]

When I had my E60 it was apparentley impossible to have it converted. You say it will cost the same price as the option on the original vehicle. Out of curiosity, what will it be worth all to done & dusted?

[jochen 4]

When I had my E60 it was apparentley impossible to have it converted. You say it will cost the same price as the option on the original vehicle. Out of curiosity, what will it be worth all to done & dusted?

The conversion of ibus cars (non iDrive, eg E46, E39, E39)) was also "impossible" according to BMW NZ.

I proved them wrong. But ask them today and they will still say "impossible"

To convert the non iDrive car, the navigation computer costs (new) 2,600 USD.

Add the BMW NZ margin and that is around 5,000 NZD in New Zealand

But the nav computers are available for 1,000 to 1,500 second hand

On the E90, looking at RealOEM, you see following USD prices:

CCC = no price shown

CID = 1,800 USD

CON = ??

Double scoop dash = ??

centre console trim = 44.68 USD

air con trim

cooling hose = 14.50 USD

power cable for CID

LVDS cable

CCC fan cable

make your own controller cable

Hmmm hard to find all the prices

And remember, BMW NZ is about 2x the USD prices.

You'll be at a total of somewhere between 5,000 USD and 10,000 USD

NOE carefully:

Some parts can readily be obtained 2nd hand 8trim pieces etc

Some parts I would only get new (coolant hose!)

Some parts have to be coded, and BMW coding software only codes "new" parts, like CCC and CID

Re-virginising new 2nd hand parts cannot be done with BMW software but can be done with other tools (delete chassis number from Flash)

It is not cheap or easy, but it CAN be done!!

[song80 0]

The conversion of ibus cars (non iDrive, eg E46, E39, E39)) was also "impossible" according to BMW NZ.

I proved them wrong. But ask them today and they will still say "impossible"

To convert the non iDrive car, the navigation computer costs (new) 2,600 USD.

Add the BMW NZ margin and that is around 5,000 NZD in New Zealand

But the nav computers are available for 1,000 to 1,500 second hand

On the E90, looking at RealOEM, you see following USD prices:

CCC = no price shown

CID = 1,800 USD

CON = ??

Double scoop dash = ??

centre console trim = 44.68 USD

air con trim

cooling hose = 14.50 USD

power cable for CID

LVDS cable

CCC fan cable

make your own controller cable

Hmmm hard to find all the prices

And remember, BMW NZ is about 2x the USD prices.

You'll be at a total of somewhere between 5,000 USD and 10,000 USD

NOE carefully:

Some parts can readily be obtained 2nd hand 8trim pieces etc

Some parts I would only get new (coolant hose!)

Some parts have to be coded, and BMW coding software only codes "new" parts, like CCC and CID

Re-virginising new 2nd hand parts cannot be done with BMW software but can be done with other tools (delete chassis number from Flash)

It is not cheap or easy, but it CAN be done!!

The total cost is high if your want to retrofit the idrive and need programming done and VO change.

The Voice control may not going to work if your car has not got voice control before. In order to get Voice control retrofitted, you will need to get FSC code from BMW. this will be based on your VIN. However, since this is a retrofit, the FSC code will not be able to load into your CCC. But there are some other ways to do it.

For just converting Japanese NAVI to NZ NAVI, it is not really hard and alot cheaper as well. The hardware swap is easy, but the coding has to be done in order to let new CCC to regonize your current VO.

Edited August 12, 2010 by Renming

[deeveus 81]

I take my hat off again to the chap who made up that PDF with all the info and pictures. Brilliant. Still - not something I would ever undertake on my own car, maybe someone elses?!?

By the time you replaced all the dash, parts, computers, screen e.t.c. the price would have to be over 10-12k surely? My question then would be is it really really worth it? Like you couldn't buy a car with it in the first place? Yes you'd be paying sometimes less than a car without the system but if you put that money you're going to spend towards it you'd be better off? Save all the heartache and fail that is inevitable. I'm a postive person but that seems like a massiver undertaking even for a specialist.

[song80 0]

I take my hat off again to the chap who made up that PDF with all the info and pictures. Brilliant. Still - not something I would ever undertake on my own car, maybe someone elses?!?

By the time you replaced all the dash, parts, computers, screen e.t.c. the price would have to be over 10-12k surely? My question then would be is it really really worth it? Like you couldn't buy a car with it in the first place? Yes you'd be paying sometimes less than a car without the system but if you put that money you're going to spend towards it you'd be better off? Save all the heartache and fail that is inevitable. I'm a postive person but that seems like a massiver undertaking even for a specialist.

When I did the conversion in year 2008, I own a E92 320 without idrive, and you probably can't even find a 320i E92 with idrive. Especially for NZ New BMWs, even 335i dont really have idrive with them (except Japanese import E90 330I or E90,E92 335I.)

If you do buy NZ NEW BMW, option SA609 Professional Navigation is $7,000 option. the retrofit I have done with some 2nd hand parts cost me around $4,500 + coding.

Yes, it is really hard especially for coding part. However, I have learned alot and now I can do any BMW coding by myself, and I even just upgrade the idrive system for my year 2009 M3. I am so happy with the new idrive system and it is much better than the old one.

For those people who struggle to go over 90Hz radio frequency from their IDRIVE, they don’t really need to change CCC, just need to recode it with other region. But for GPS conversion they do need to replace CCC and coding as well.

PM me if anyone want to know more about this.

[summerscheifer 0]

When I did the conversion in year 2008, I own a E92 320 without idrive, and you probably can't even find a 320i E92 with idrive. Especially for NZ New BMWs, even 335i dont really have idrive with them (except Japanese import E90 330I or E90,E92 335I.)

If you do buy NZ NEW BMW, option SA609 Professional Navigation is $7,000 option. the retrofit I have done with some 2nd hand parts cost me around $4,500 + coding.

Yes, it is really hard especially for coding part. However, I have learned alot and now I can do any BMW coding by myself, and I even just upgrade the idrive system for my year 2009 M3. I am so happy with the new idrive system and it is much better than the old one.

For those people who struggle to go over 90Hz radio frequency from their IDRIVE, they don’t really need to change CCC, just need to recode it with other region. But for GPS conversion they do need to replace CCC and coding as well.

PM me if anyone want to know more about this.

hi there! sorry for making this up but renming i own E92 320 i bought bmw oem parts at online store but just wanna ask if how was the coding? i want to have a idrive. how did you learn those? thanks in advance.

[song80 0]

hi there! sorry for making this up but renming i own E92 320 i bought bmw oem parts at online store but just wanna ask if how was the coding? i want to have a idrive. how did you learn those? thanks in advance.

The coding and programming part is not easy, you will need special tool and knowledge to do that. risk is also involved.

Let me know if you need help for coding and programming.