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What a change from their marketing of only a few years back!

BEFORE YOU READ ON: After doing the initial installation of the retrofit the kit I was faced with PDC sound and steering wheel track select issues. No amount of coding would fix it, and Bimmer Retrofit suggested a firmware update to the FeNBT box to address it. The problem may have arisen from the fact that my car has a ZGW2-High from factory, and the FeNBT is not 100% compatible with it. Another strange issue was that the NBT would not save my unit settings, so every time the car booted up it would reset to default, which in my car's case is UK MPG etc. So I did install version two today: * Removed the FeNBT retrofit adapter * Updated SWFL (both) and BTLD of the ZGW2-High with 8SK software. For my ZGW2-High they were btld_000010f5-003_004_090, SWFL_0000092b-005_018_00, SWFL000010f6-003_004_160. The ZGW now shows up as ZGW2 in esys, where before it was just ZGW (despite being a ZGW2-High) * Tapped the CAN2 high and low at the CAS * ZBE3 and Touch ECU are also tapped into CAN2 * Restored original PDC button wiring The retrofit works 100%. Initially the NBT would not display my top view or PDC, but the sounds worked. I resolved this by doing a fresh FA code with my original FA but with the Zeitkriterium updated to 0712. The retrofit is 100% feature complete and I did not have to do any module swaps or modifications other than flashing the ZGW2 with 8SK software. Also, the car's original wiring is 100% intact, except for 2 splice connectors ? FeNBT adapter removed PDC TSRVC original button wiring restored and working PDC TSRVC working 100% Steering wheel list wheel functionality restored The information above is still relevant as a guide if the ZGW2 route is not viable in your case. Steps like the removal of the COMBOX and USB cable routing as well as the disassembly steps are also still required, even with the 8SK method. Also, the standard disclaimer applies. The information below is based on my experience and I give no guarantee that the information is applicable or relevant to any other car configuration. Here we are folks. It's been a wee wait while the kit was assembled but it arrived and was installed in an afternoon (no jokes). It is a challenging retrofit if you have no experience with these things. At the very least you need to be able to read wiring diagrams and also have either the knowledge required to disassemble the interior of your car or know how to sear and read the info on TIS. Others have covered more technical details of the install. My writeup will be step-by-step of what I did. Before starting removed the footwell side carpets, centre console side plastic trim, and trim roof in driver's footwell. Info on how to do this can be found on TIS. This is the kit. It includes MOST cable, USB cable, Adapter, Touch Module, 2x wiring sets for touch and controller, harness, touch controller, APIX cable, Bluetooth Antenna, HU_NBT. Roof down and rear head rests out. These are a royal PITA to remove. I find that grabbing on to them and moving side to side is the easiest way to get them out. Front seats forward as far as they will go. Rear bench out. Again, PITA to get out. Grabbing the outer edges and pulling up is the easiest way to get it out. It takes some effort, but eventually it will budge. Rear backrest is held in place by two bolts, and once removed can be tilted forward. No need to remove the seatbelts. You have more than enough access to the COMBOX. Note the brace. This has to be removed. Said brace removed. Little bolt is example of one of the 4 bolts securing the COMBOX to its frame. COMBOX removed. COMBOX wiring and MOST disconnected. The little blue tab needs to be pushed out in order for the most cables to be removed. COMBOX MOST terminated. At this stage we move to the front. Recline the front seats as far as they can, and move them all they way back. Locate the ZGW underneath the driver's side dashboard. Remove the MOST connecter, and disassemble it in the same manner as the COMBOX MOST. ZGW MOST terminated. Old CID removed. Next remove the backing plate. Basic disassembly done. This is what a 6-series console looks like when it's stripped out like a nuclear winter ? Bind up the old CID Apix and power connectors and secure behind the dashboard. Connect MOST cable supplied with the retrofit kit to the ZGW. Feed MOST through sidewall into cavity behind the HU. Connect MOST to the FeNBT adapter. Remove beige connecter from USB port in armrest storage. Feed new USB cable underneath the console carrier from HU to armrest storage. New USB cable connected. New bluetooth antenna in a neat little wedge between the HU and air vents. NBT hooked up and ready to be tested for the first time. At this stage the old idrive controller (ZBE2) is still connected. It works! USB connection in armrest works. Touch controller (ZBE3) and Touch ECU connected. This was a more technical step as it requires you to wire the ZBE3 and ECU to the CAN-H, CAN-L, Battery and Ground cables. Not that big a deal. I used splice connectors for a super clean install. Touch works. I'm still not convinced about the usefulness of touch input since we drive on the right side of the road, and writing with the left hand is average at best. The trim surround of the ZBE3 has to be removed since the surround from the ZBE2 stays in the centre console, and fits perfectly around the ZBE3. This can be done without destroying the surround. All you need is a small flat head screw driver and some patience. ZBE3 in place and fits perfectly. The instructions call for the PDC Camera buttons to be connected to the FeNBT adapter. Three wires in a 4-pin connector is all it takes. I actually replaced this blue one with a new one which I purchased from BMW, along with new crimp connectors. First drive outside with the roof down. The screen is excellent (remember that this is one I ordered from China...not one that came with the kit). And there you have it. I took the photo of the complete kit on 23 April 2019 at 2:58 PM and the install was done by 5:30pm. As smoothly as the install went, it is not without challenges. Currently my PDC sounds and steering wheel track buttons do not work. Bimmer Retrofit are working with me to resolve the problem. I also cannot connect to the NBT though OBD despite having ZGH High installed. I will update the ZGW tomorrow to see if that solves the problem, or else connect directly to the NBT using an RJ45 cable. Once I can connect to it I can complete the coding and get my cameras back ? To help troubleshoot any potential wiring issues I removed all the unused wires from the harness (more than half of them, in fact). I also initially cut the connector from the 4-pin connected to the PDC button, but have since re-pinned it to a new connector, just in case it ever needs to be reconnected. Overall I am very happy with the kit and the support from Bimmer Retrofit. Beyond the headlights there is no way to tell that my car is Pre-LCI, and even then very few of the LCI models (even those with EVO) have the glass screens. Happy to answer any questions ?

At the same time as doing the heater core, I thought I might as well do an electric sunroof conversion. I ended up cocking this up quite substantially. I drilled through the holes in not quite the right places, so the motor would only be held in with 2 bolts. I'll be doing this properly later on, but for now you can review my cock ups. So you need the electric motor mount. These are riveted into the copper bracket that houses the wires. I just drilled out the rivet heads. Electric on left, manual on right. I found pretty quickly that the electric motor needs a bit more space, so cut a section out of the copper to match. Now in theory, you are supposed to be able to just bolt the black mount back onto the copper plate, and then just screw in the motor. For whatever reason, this didn't quite work for me. But I thought I had done rather well considering I had the front of the touring headlining hanging down so far during all the work. Ended up just dropping the headlining and removing it. It now lives on my back wall I continued to struggle with this. Ended up rounding out the electric motor gears as I didn't disengage them properly when manually winding it to test the sunroof opened and closed. This is the unit mostly apart And of course some classic sunroof rust. After this I just left the sunroof in place, and there is nothing connected to move it currently. Will come back to this hopefully later this year.

Gosh, it's been 2 years since I last updated this, so there will be a few updates coming in. Since no one ever chimed in to my previous post, I ended up doing a lot of my own guesswork and have made some assumptions since, which will come through in updates over the rest of the year.I finished swapping in the 2nd engine, and vanos was definitely not kicking in properly, as I felt I had lost low down torque, and when holding the accelerator steady, I could feel the car surging just while cruising at 50km/hTo celebrate the car being back together, I put some weaves on and took some photos.

Wifey's car

Most of it is accurate, but you know what they say about believing what you read on the internet.. Not really related to cabin and boot space, but emissions reductions and manufacturing costs. Latest industry predictions are that a number of major manufacturers will either fold or have to merge due to the level of costs and resources required to meet the next round of emissions targets. The industry is increasingly being driven by government legislation rather than customer demands unfortunately. Take one for a drive, and without any prejudice, see if you can tell which end is providing the grunt.

It's also not really for sale anymore unless someone wants to pay the full asking price. The E36 video made my winkie tingle. And then I went out and revved mine to 7k and all was right in the world.

Since I had the car back together, there was no better time to take it apart pretty much the following weekend. I figured coming into winter (2017), I should probably have a heater again. I pulled the dash, and swapped the HVAC system for an AC one in preparation for an AC retrofit, and replaced the heater core with a new unit. I had a PFL and a FL AC HVAC cores. The PFL had a different connector loom, but I was able to use it for spares. Old system looking pretty grotty Took everything apart and gave it a clean Found a few of the flaps had had their tabs broken off. Apparently this is rather common. But fortunately I had some spares Used some draft stopper stuff to replace the old foam. This has actually held up very poorly, so if anyone has some recommendations that would be awesome. Looking nice and clean And back in the car with a new seal

Leaving a client meeting today the iDrive was dead, and I had a drivetrain and adaptive headlight warning on the KOMBI. Luckily I knew exactly what was causing this. When I initially removed the Bimmer Retrofit adapter one of the CAN2 pins popped out of the quadlock, causing the exact same set of errors. I stopped at an electronics store on the way home to buy a couple of things, and as soon as I got home I checked my CAN2 wiring. The pins were secure, so I checked the splices on the CAN2 lines at the CAS. Bingo! Turns out the wire I used to connect the NBT to the CAN2 network was not thick enough, so the scotch locks did not cut clear through the sheathing, meaning very little splicing was taking place Removed the wire and taped up the CAN2 lines at the CAS and re-spliced at the ZGW using 18AGW wires. Also took the opportunity to do some cable tidying behind the headunit. All in all took around 45 minutes, and a test drive after confirmed everything is working as it should.The journey continues...

So basically everything in a newer BMW then?

Look forward to the next local catch to drool over the M cars ? These are awesome videos as well! I would like to see the same done with the M5's. Heres hoping!

The reason I've started to use Auto38 is simply the level of experience, care and passion that Jon brings to working on Bimmers. Difference between a craftsman and people doing a job ...

Sucks as it sounds like a situation where some missed damaged rack boots\neglected them for too long, now you are paying for that down the line. At the same time knowing BMW im sure active steering is good at actively breaking also.

I got mine from FCPEuro in the states. Super fast shipping with reasonable rates (them sending to me directly was cheaper than using NZPost Youshop). Parts arrived in 3 days. If you're doing the work yourself I strongly recommend that you get the magnetic spark plug socket from BMS. I did it with one I got off FCP Euro with my plugs and regret it - the rubber ring that the cheaper ones use to grip the plug is far too snug and the socket ends up stuck to the plug, meaning you can't pull it off via the extension. Ended up having to carefully pull the socket off each plug with a pair of really long pliers. I've just ordered the magnetic one myself (for the next time I need it) - having it sent to Youshop to forward to me as their rates are ridiculous. Every part (including wear items like plugs and coils) from them also comes with a lifetime warranty. @Tij I got a quote for a walnut blast too, but given my car is fairly low mileage they suggested that I just wait until I have 60-70,000km on it beforehand. If you're above that, from everything I've read on other forums it sounds like it would definitely be worthwhile. I'll let you know how I get on ?

whilst the purple 1996 one is nice, its also not 20k nice. i'll probably be eating my words once these things go up even more in a year's time but as it is, i dont see it selling for that kind of price.

Most of you have probably seen my BMBBQ. Thats not me in the pic, usually my mates that come round don't want food poisoning so leave it up to them.