otagomed

2003 530i must be E39 right? if it has TV unit already installed the GPS change is reasonably simple.(half a day job) I have 1999 E46 328i and Jochen converted it for me and I love it! As far as I know Jochen is in Europe and not coming back to NZ at this stage. However 'Hotwire' at this forum knows how to convert it as well.(not sure whether he still does the job or not though) you should contact him. I have my one converted to MK3 unit but the most updated one is MK4 unit. Main differences are that MK4 uses DVD while MK3 uses CD and MK4 is alot faster and allow bit more customization of the navigation program. In North America and Europe, DVD unit is really good as whole map can be stored in one DVD rather than 3-4 CDs, but here in NZ, our map data is only about 100mb in size so there is no difference between CD and DVD. The cost of conversion used to be around $900-1000 for MK3 and somewhere between $1400-$2000 for MK4 last year but of course you need to check it with Jochen or Hotwire. I think these costs are very cheap as the MK unit itself costs almost equal to that if you search E-bay. I think we are very lucky to have someonelike Jochen and Hotwire in NZ as it would cost, as you mentioned, well over $6000 to have a nav unit from BMW dealers. (that's if they know how to do it.)

I saw a guy who converted RHD to LHD in Korea on his E39 on one of Korean BMW forum. However it seems that it's a difficult and somewhat expensive job to complete. Probably it will be better just to drive RHD vehicle in Korea. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on driving RHD vehicle in Korea. You will just find it difficult when it comes to the picking up the ticket at toll gates(most of motorways are toll road in Korea) and parking lot. And I'm sure the insurance premium will be more expensive if you drive RHD BMWs.

Whatever you buy, I strongly recommend you to get one with touch-screen function. It's really easy and safe as well. we know that we should not touch the machine while we are driving a car but we also know that most of us will do that anyway and the one with touch-screen function is alot safer and easier than the one that doesn't have it. I personally use BMW navsystem installed by Jochen and very happy with it. But I always wish I have touch screen function on my navsystem.

Hi, Thanks for the answers. One other thing that I wanted to ask was what sort of engine oil should I use for my car?(1999 E46 328i) Any particular brand? They use some cheap oil and it only costs me $6/litre or something. I don't mind spending more money.

Hi, I got E46 328i. It has car service reminder feature which tells me that I'm due for the servicing after certain kilometres. Anyway, last time when it was re-set the car was telling me that I need to get a service after 25000km, however I need to have my car serviced every 15000km as it is the minimum requirement for my car warranty and I plan to have it serviced every 10000km anyway. Can anyone tell me why the car says that I need it every 25000km and what's the point of having that function if I need to have it done every 10000-15000km anyway. My garage charges me $30 for resetting the switch and I don't see any reason why I should do that. Is it alright not to reset the switch? or is there any way that I can set the switch so it gives me more realistic servicing period? Cheers,

may be because our market is small. I hope new BMWs are as cheap as it is in USA. but we can't compare us to Americans. They are HUGE and it's the market where all sorts of car manufactures are competing each other. It's a country of abundance. I am originally from Korea and I know that new BMW sales volume there is about 10 times greater than NZ but their new BMW prices are not any cheaper than what we pay here. However recently BMW Korea dropped down their price by around 20% and their sales volume is alot higher than Lexus and Mercedes now.(these are 3 most popular luxury brands in Korea) Maybe one day, BMW NZ may realize that too and drop the price. I think it's one of those things that we have to suffer by living in a small country. But hey... we got the freshest and cleanest air and water in the world. And of course we got the best and the most beautiful roads to enjoy driving BMWs!

It will be easier to get something like DICE or Icelink. I have 99 E46 and currently using DICE which has connection for my IPOD and AUX input. Some other DICE models also allow you to use CD changer in addition to IPOD and AUX. I know some people who made AUX input themselves but as I remember it was not possible on earlier models of E46s. (Not 100% sure about this though).

It's my old TV tuner. I found out that it's just how it is with my old TV tuner. I need to buy a newer one to solve the problem. Thanks for your help hotwire. Cheers,

Yes. No matter how long I wait it doesn't show the picture from the camera. Even when car is running with screen on nav it doesn't show anything(i mean it switches to blank screen). However as soon as I go into TV mode everything works fine no matter which screen I am on. I've tried everything that I can think of but no luck. I think TV should be switched on to enable 'RV camera video in' to work as well. When TV is not switched on, only the activation switch 17 works without showing the 'RV camera video in' to the screen. may be because my TV tuner unit is old one that doesn't support automatic start of the TV tuner when the system boots up?

I must be wrong about the fuse. Anyway I managed to make it all work again but there is a strange thing. When I start the car and change to reverse gear I only get black screen. However if I switch on TV then change to reverse I get a picture from camera. It seems that it's not switching to video in 2 when I'm not on TV screen at the very beginning. However once it starts to show the picture from camera, it works fine whether I'm on TV or nav or menu. It's always when I start the car that the screen doesn't show the camera picture. Anyone knows why?

While I was connecing the 12V power and ground to my camera, I accidentally connected to the wrong spot and blew up the fuse for the audio/nav unit. I found the fuse and replaced it and it's working alright but I decided to get a power source from reverse light power rather than from nav unit. Anyway, I connected everything and it was working perfect last night. This morning, it didn't work again and after checking few things I managed to find the poor connection for camera's power. While I was reconnecting it I made a stupid mistake again and saw the electrical spark and it was the reverse light fuse that was blown up. However the reverse light was still working. I don't understand why reverse light is still working while the fese was blown up and the camera wasn't working. After changing the fuse for the reverse light everything working alright again. But can anyone give me an explanation on why the reverse light is working while the fuse was blown up and the camera wasn't working? All this car electrical staff are so fun!

Is it the one that goes to the red connector of nav unit? And can i connect the camera to any ground wire? It seems that they work even when I connect the ground wire to the matal body of the car itself. So the ground must be just any place in the car where the electricity can flow.

Search trademe. I remember seeing auction there few month ago. However I ended up ordering it directly from USA as it was alot cheaper doing it that way. I know that the currency rate is not as good right now but i'm sure that it will be still cheaper. I installed DICE on my E46 and love it!

some people were saying that it takes few seconds for the camera to start so i'm thinking of putting a camera on stand by all the time so i can get a picture as soon as i change to reverse gear.

Hi, I'm installing back up camera for my 99 E46 328 sedan. The camera will need 12V 300mA. Where is the best place to connect this for the power supply? I want the camera to be on when the key position is in 1 or above. Thanks.