jochen

Don't forget that the LEDs are powered by 5V, using PWM to control the brightness. If you power the LEDs of 12V, they will burn very bright for a very short period of time....

search for german text eg: "radiomodul" instead of "radio module"

You can do anything with the right amount of effort. To replace what he has with the lower-spec base radio, he would have to strip the seats, carpet, dash and door panels out to the bare metal to expose the wiring looms. You then have to replace the entire audio system wiring loom from what he has to the old radio type. The loom is hugely different! Honestly, he would be better just either replacing the LCD part of the screen 8common for them to fail) or replacing the 4:3 screen with a 16:9 screen He can also replace the jap nav with a Euro Mk4 nav and have fully functional nav in NZ if he wants.

Yes, depending on version and coding index of the fitted LCM

Why? Cabling is the same.

Easy to resolve in 2 steps: 1. Remove MID 2. RetroFit Nav PS: there's a few substeps in point 2

The video module AV-IN is identical on the Japanese version of the BMW OEM nav system and on the Rest-Of-World version (ie: Euro) Just set the nav system to TELEVISION, select AV-IN and voila: picture and sound from the AV source. Tip: There is no point keeping the Japanese nav computer in NZ, because you cannot get maps for it. You can just unplug the Jap nav computer and then the system reverts to the graphics generated by the TV tuner (at next cold boot). You can also swap the Japanese nav computer with a Mk4 nav computer and have a resultant full Euro nav system, if you wish

You'd be a lot better off going for RGsB video output from the AppleTV, the picture quality will be hugely better than composite video. I do not know if the AppleTV supports RGsB at the right rates for the BMW system, some google research is required. The necessary sync-on-green may be tricky, may require extra hardware. But the improvement in picture quality is HUGE. Tips for storing movies: a) there's no point putting a movie on the AppleTV harddrive in higher resolution than what the display can render. So rip the movies at the native size of the BMWs screen, it reduces the movie filesize down to around 100MB to 120MB per movie the native TV AV-IN is mono audio only, with no tone controls. Depending on what radio module you have, you can mod the radio module to make stereo AV IN. Requires a change in cabling of course, but worth it for the stereo effect I used my iPod to the AV-IN, using just composite video (all an iPod can output) and was very happy with the result. I never had time to mod my radio though.

PROVIDED the E39 was made between January and September 2001. From September 2001, the BM24 is NOT plug and play

Production change is always sept of each year, so 09/01 was the key date

Can't have looked hard, there's a quite few on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.de/Original-BMW-Radiomodul...a#ht_500wt_1099 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-e38-e39-Radiomodul-...e#ht_572wt_1088 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-Prof-Bordmonitorrad...0#ht_829wt_1088 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-sound-radio-block-b...5#ht_2161wt_856 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-sound-radio-block-b...7#ht_2161wt_856 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-3er-E46-Radio-BM24-...cf#ht_500wt_868 http://cgi.ebay.de/Radio-BM24-TMC-E38-E39-...3d#ht_755wt_856 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-BM24-TMC-Bordmonito...b#ht_500wt_1099 http://cgi.ebay.de/BMW-3er-E46-Radio-BM24-...#ht_3125wt_1107 http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-E39-E38...5fAudioQ5fVideo Golden rule: Buy the newest you can find with the newest firmware (the manufacture date is written on the label eg KW 08/99 = week 08, 1999)

The answer is written in the first entry of this thread.

Swap 2 pins over on the connector? Yep, easy. get a new panel from bmw www.realoem.com

You would loose a whole lot of functionality in a E38 740i if you did that. Eg: you loose OBC, ability to set date/time, aux ventilation control, navigation, TV, integrated phone handsfree system, and totally integrated stereo system. Not worth it. Nothing beats the OEM system in terms of integrated functionality

Its a programmable function in the GM Can be enabled using the BMW diagnostic software

Jaycar

You mean item #7 Vent Pipe? http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?mo...hg=11&fg=40 Cruise the disassembly and parts diagrams on RealOEM to learn about your engine

Dedicated DVB-T receivers use hardware decoder, instead of software decoders, because it is much cheaper. Less processor power and less memory required.

They won't be able to do anything If someone sells you an AM radio, and the government turns off the AM radio transmitters, what can the seller do about it? BMW have no influence over the analogue TV switch off, it is totally outside their control, so they will not be able to help you at all. All they can do is send feedback to BMW Germany about what TV systems are available in this market and hope that BMW incorporate MPEG4 into their future designs.

Changing radio from Japan mode to Europe mode (which is what NZ uses) is a software change that requires the right BMW tools and experience. No band expander required. Once in Euro mode, RDS is automatically enabled. Changing the nav is a hardware change that requires also the right hardware, tools and experience, and is not easy or cheap. Budget around NZD 6k for the nav upgrade. (would include radio reprogramming) If you are serious about doing this, drive to Auckland and see the guy that knows how - because experience and knowhow is an absolute MUST.

BMW designers never made an MPEG4 compatible tuner.

BMW do not have any TV tuners that support MPEG-4 This applies to all BMWs, all models, all markets, the entire world Maybe they may bring it out in the future (I don't know). If so, it would mean a hardware swap (replacement of the tuner) IF they every make a model for your car.

Yes it's worth it. It improves the underbody aerodynamics and also keeps the engine clean

Check for chaffing on the wires on the rear parcel tray, just where they go to the speakers. I've seen an E39 where this happened, put the amp output stage into protection mode, stopped sound

The TV tuner provides multiple functions: 1. Analog TV reception 2. AV in eg for iPod movies 3. AV out eg for rear seat monitors 4. Reverse Camera In When they turn off Analog TV, you only loose function 1. But remember - some local TV stations may continue on analog for a while after TV1 and TV2 turn off