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Thank you both. I'll contact Ray.

thanks Glen for the quick reply.the existing cat rattles. so my only option is to replace it with a factory cat? i 'm thinking a 2nd hand as i can't afford a new one at the moment. is it bolted on? or do i need to cut it out? cheers

Does anyone know if the cat on these cars are bolted on or welded on? The cat on my car is on its way out and just wonder if it can be fitted easily. I know some cars have cat as part of the exhaust which needs to be cut out and new one welded back. Just wonder if this is the car in the E46 318ti. Also, would you fit a 2nd hand cat or remove it altogether? Just getting some ideas as to what people prefer. Cheers guys

Thanks M-Spec, I'll give them a ring. Any advice on removal of the aribag? or is it something not for DIY? It seems quite straight forward but I'm not sure if there is any catch with doing this. P.S. GROOM's great!

Thought I'd update this. I found a used stalk with BC button on ebay. Hopefully it will arrive in the next few days. At the meantime I've been doing some research on the retrofit, it seems doable. A lot of US guys have done this but ECU needs to be enabled for this to work. I'm going to install this and wonder if there is anything I need to be aware of when removing the steering wheel/airbag. Also does anyone know if the dealer (or anyone else) uses MODIC software coz it seems some guys had some problems with newer version of the software when trying to reflast the ECU. I'm a newbie on this but thought it may be worth giving a go. cheers guys

Yes Glenn, it's a Jap import and i think it's pretty basic. It doesn't have a MF steering wheel, just a basic car which I really like. I did a bit of research and it seems like if I get a indicator stalk with a BC button, and get the dealer (or whoever has the gear) to reset a function in the car's computer I will be able to enable the OBC. This doesn't sound that complicated. I might give it a go but I wouldn't even dare to ask how much it cost from the dealer. Does anyone know how much roughly a 2nd hand stalk cost?

No, it doesn't. Does this mean that I can't get the functions?

Hi, does anyone know if there is a way to display OBC information on the dashboard? I played a little with the hidden functions on the dashboard and thought it would be nice to have functions such as average fuel consumption, temperature etc than just to have a clock. Is it possible at all? Or is there a way to add a separate display which taps into the computer?

Thought I'd update on my GROM unit. GROM sent me another cable with a inline supressor that looks like a transformer and a capacitor. I don't understand why they didn't sent me this cable in the first place. Now it costed them 2 cables and free shipping. But it's great! No more whinning nosie. I even think the sound quality is slightly improved. Just like to thank all you guys for the information on this, especially M-Spec for sorting me out with this great little unit.

ok....i search online and apperently a lot of people had similar problems. GROM just sent them another cable which I think it's the same as yours. I contacted GROM and for the last 2 days, they've been asking single question per email which takes a day to get reply due to the time difference. I wish they can just ask all the qestions at once and get it over and done with. I hope they send me another cable. Also I didn't get a USB stick included in the package either which I mentioned to the tech support as well......I'll wait and see....

yup self-fixed. lol I tried the config file as well so not sure if it was the restart or the config file that made the difference. The only thing I'm not 100% happy about this is that when you want to change the sound setting like bass, fade ect, it keeps fliking back to song names. It's a bit annoying, its like a lousy PC game that test on your reaction time and movement of fingers! lol M-Spec, does yours have a background nosie or whinning nosie? Mine does, seems like some kind of interference. I sent an email to Grom and haven't heard back yet. When i switch to radio or MD it dispears so it must be grom that's creating the noise.

Dont worry about it M-Spec. It's working now! I think this is that happened. I connected the unit to the stereo and turned the stereo on while the key was out of ignition. It started playing ok but without song name display. Just now, I turned the stereo on, turned the key to ACC then off, then to ACC again and it started displaying song info. Wonderful. Maybe it's like a PC running MS, that you have to re-start everytime when you want it to do do something.

hey thanks guys......I used a combination of all your methods and managed to get the carpet out and found the cables. Pluged it in, copied the songs according to the instruction. Worked! It was sooooooooo easy. I'm really impressed with it. It sounds great. I finally have something other than the radio and 1 minidisc to listen to! M-Sepc: I watched your Youtube video. I saw that you have the song name displayed on the radio. How did you do that? Mine doesn't seem to display anything apart from the CD and song number like CD1-08. Have I done something wrong?

I can't believe it! It arrived!!! That was fast! I ordered on Friday and it's here now. It looks great. I'm going to try installing it tonight. M-Spec, can you shed some light on where I should start when pulling the carpet out of the boot to get access to the CD changer cables? I dont really want to get too carried away dismentling half of the car since I need to drive to tomorrow. Thanks...

I was told the genuine BMW ones are the best. I've got aftermarket ones on my from the last onwer. The brake clunks everytime I put my foot on the padel. The dealer said it's becuase the pads are slightly smaller than genuine, so it moves a bit under braking. It's works ok but just very very very annoying! I'm thinking to get it change and thought i'd better wait for them to wear down so i can make the most out of them.......6months on.......still waiting........

Thanks. I had a look and it's too much for me. I've got yhe 4 spike wheel. I will just have to extend my arm to the radio i guess.....

Can you retrofit a multifunctional steering wheel in a E46?? This sounds great! Do you mind sharing some info please? I've got a E46 318ti with 4 spike steering wheel. Would this work? How much did you pay? Thanks heaps.

Thanks heaps for this great info! I'm getting one. NOW! Hopefully it doesn't take long to get here. I'm currently replacing the factory speakers got some JBL power series and thought it might be a overkill if the only thing I can listen is the radio. lol Cheers guys

Thanks M-Spec, I asked my local deal and got a build sheet, 692 CD CHANGER i-BUS PREPARATION is in the list so I should be all set to go with GROM. The factory ipod kit is around $500 plus a cost an ipod. I looked at your thread and the GROM kit looks wonderful, I like the idea of just using a USB key. One question though, is the trunk mounting option easier? Well, it looks easier that i dont have to find somewhere to mount it in dash and I dont think I'll ever be using an ipod, a AUX jack is quite useful though considering I have a Sony MP3 player which I can use as well. So are there any other difference between dash and trunk mouning options? When you ordered it. Did you just entered somethig like BMW/318ti/2002? Are all BMW kits the same from GROM? Cheers

hotwire and M-spec: i'm not sure if it's pre-wired, well I hope it is! I'll try to pull the carpet out to see over the weekend. So would you recommend DICE? I just checked out GROM, it looks promising too. At least it's cheaper.

Thanks jochen, yes this does have a dual display, it also has the world-wide radio thing (if you know what i mean) that I can change from Japan to NZ freq. So does this mean that the factory ipod kit will work? Is it better than DICE?

Hi guys, Can someone please help me out with this MD to see if this is a NG or an OG? This is out of my 2002 318ti. I've been thinking to add an ipod interface but not sure if this can be done with this. I have looked into both the BMW factory ipod retro kit and DICE. Is the factory kit compatible with my radio? If so, should I go with the factory kit or DICE? What option works better, feature and cost wise? I dont have a CD changer either so the only thing I can listen to is either the radio or 1 MD that I have from years back. Your advice is much appreciated. Cheers

Hi guys, I've got this rediculous problem this my rear middle seatbelt. After putting the back seats down (so i could put a long shelf in the car) I realised that it wouldn't come up as the middle seatbelt was fully retracted when it was put down but it wouldn't release enough for the seat to go back up. Has anyone heard of this problem before? How do I remove the back lining of the rear seat so I can get access to the seatbelt mechanism? I can (with difficulty though) get access to the bolt between the seat and the back. I wonder, if i removed the bolt and feed a bit more seatbelt into the mechanism when the back is in upright position, would this help? Any advice would be appreciated guys....... Cheers

hey jochen, thanks for that. it is indeed a ex-jap. i went on realoem and it told me that my car has a production date of 01-2002. does that mean it's an aux-in capatible? is there a serial # on the radio i can get by magically pushing a combination of bottoms while doing a dance? just want to be sure before i go to buy a FM transmitter for my ipod which i don't really like becuase i'v heard they produce crapy sound. also dont really want to cough up the $ for the cable if it doesn't work.

i've got a business md in my 2002 318ti but how would i tell if the cable will work? is there a number i can get from on the stereo to check against a database? i'd really like that cable put in so i can run my ipod. also not sure why md dropped off in popularity becuase it gives a really good quality sound. cheers