E39 Nav Upgrade Jap 2 NZ

[camera doctor 25]

Ok, as promised, I am starting the thread of whats been going on in my E39 530i Touring over the last couple of Weekends - I'll post this in sections as I have the time!

Happy to answer any questions to the best of my ability to those looking at doing similar

OK, Here is the 'Before' Photos of the Jap Nav :

First Job as always DISCONNECT BATTERY !

Starting at the lefthand side panel in the wagon area, we find the Jap Nav Drive :

Luckily the previous owner ( in Japan ) had left the removal tools in the glovebox - but you can bend wire to suit or use four small screwdrivers :

Japanese Nav Unit, Ready for iits new home -- the rubbish bin :lol:

To be continued ..........

[hybrid 1039]

Good to see .. will be doing this soon (retrofit not conversion like yours)

[camera doctor 25]

Part Two .....

Ok, some wiring modification needed to convert Jap to Rest of World! These are the plugs from the back of the Jap Nav unit :

I will not go into specifics of the wiring - if you want to do this mod, please contact Grant ( Hotwire ) on this forum, as he and Jochen were the ones who figured all this out, he quite rightly reserves the rights to distribute

But here is a pic of the mods in progress

Also the Nav unit needs a signal from the reverse lights, so it can work out when you are going backwards, if you are out of sight of the GPS satellites. This is easy in a sedan, but in the Touring, the reverse lights are in the hatch door, but luckily the loom can be picked up at the drivers C pillar. White/Yellow or Blue/Yellow is what you need.

Be careful - there are more then one wire of that colour, so I did a continuity check to the blulb holder to be sure

With the Touring, the Jap GPS aerial comes to a box next to the Video Module, under the floor behind the seats, so Grant supplied an extension lead. This plugged into the lead once disconnected from the box under the floor ( this box no longer needed ) and I ran it to the New MKIV unit.

[camera doctor 25]

Part Three......

Ok, so all wired up, battery reconnected, Disc inserted, all working !!

Modes include:

Fullscreen Map 3D

Split Screen, Map and street names and directions :

Notice bottom of screen shows distance to destination and ETA

Split Screen Showing Latitude / Longitude :

Fullscreen of Street Name Etc :

Split Screen with OBC and Nav together :

So far I have found this to be a great system - I already had a standard portable GPS unit, but I found it did not give you the street names until you were almost upon it, whereas the BMW system gives you the name as soon as you turn off the previous direction change, plus it works in parking buildings etc, where a portable unit does not, as it looses the GPS signal.

The voice directions automatically turn down the stereo, which is also a great feature - the next step is to install the Bluetooth ULF phone system, which will allow voice control of some Nav commands too!

[diablo23 1]

wow very nice upgrade, if i had the coin i'd certainly think about doing this lol

[Tristan 338]

1) Approx. how much would this mod cost me?

2) I notice you have the same stereo as me, do you know if it has a world tuner and if it does how to access it?

[camera doctor 25]

1) Approx. how much would this mod cost me?

2) I notice you have the same stereo as me, do you know if it has a world tuner and if it does how to access it?

1 - Price depends on exchange rates as Nav Computer is ex overseas, also would depend on how competant you are with the wiring, that is, are you doing it yourself or not ? I suggest you PM Grant ( Hotwire ) on this forum, as he is the best source of knowledge and Nav Computers / necessary extras.

2 - Yes, mine was world tuner and was able to be programmed to receive NZ stations, including RDS

Copied from another thread :

1. Switch on radio

2. Within 10 seconds, press and hold down the 'mode' button until the serial number appears (takes around 10secs) to enter the radio's service menu.

3. Use the + or - buttons to cycle through the menu settings until you see AREA JAPAN or just JAPAN (varies a bit depending on radio)

4. Use the 1...6 buttons to select either OCEANIA (or OCE) or EUROPE - both are valid settings for New Zealand - see below for differences.

5. Switch radio off to store the change

Voila! Your radio has now bee reprogrammed to receive NZ FM frequencies!

Also, the cool RDS features will now be available.

Differences between OCEANIA and EUROPE modes on an E46 Business RDS radio (other radios may vary slightly):

a) EUROPE has LW, MW and FM. OCEANIA has AM and FM only.

b ) OCEANIA shows ST for a FM stereo station; EUROPE doesn't show anything for stereo or mono FM stations.

c) EUROPE has the softkeys set to RDS and TP; OCEANIA has RDS and PTY

Which ever one you choose - OCEANIA or EUROPE - is up to you, they both work.

Edited September 7, 2010 by camera doctor

[Tristan 338]

Odd that tuning option doesn't work for me

[lidistick 70]

The changeover for the world tuner was late 2001. When was your car built?

[camera doctor 25]

Been a Bit slack keeping up this thread sorry ...

Part Four .......

I added a rear power plug ( cig lighter plug )

Useful for camping trips, to plug in the cooler etc.

Genuine part, purchased from www.ebay.co.uk

Used drill and handsaw to cut hole in side panel, made a cardboard template first, and made sure there was enough backspace before cutting !!

Fitted an inline fuse holder and wired power direct to the nut on the battery terminal, and earth to earthblock on rear arch.

All done !!! I also use this for power source for Jochens Navcoder -- more on this later

Tidy unit I thought, the cover is spring loaded just lift it up to plug in accessories.

Edited September 28, 2010 by camera doctor

[camera doctor 25]

Part Five

Small Upgrade - changed all interior bulbs from incandescent to LED, much cleaner whiter light than the yellow factory bulbs !

LED bulbs avaiable on Trademe, or for a lot cheaper on Deal Extreme or Ebay

[teamplayer2003 1]

Looks great, I just bought the same car today and so this is very helpful.

In regards to the Radio tuner i used the same timings as above but I had to hold the "Select button", then press the arrow buttons until it said JPN, then press the number 6 and it changed to OCE. Now I can listen to NZ stations.

My car is a 2003 model.

[hotwire 352]

Been a Bit slack keeping up this thread sorry ...

Part Four .......

I added a rear power plug ( cig lighter plug )

Useful for camping trips, to plug in the cooler etc.

Genuine part, purchased from www.ebay.co.uk

Used drill and handsaw to cut hole in side panel, made a cardboard template first, and made sure there was enough backspace before cutting !!

Fitted an inline fuse holder and wired power direct to the nut on the battery terminal, and earth to earthblock on rear arch.

All done !!! I also use this for power source for Jochens Navcoder -- more on this later

Tidy unit I thought, the cover is spring loaded just lift it up to plug in accessories.

Fitted one of these myself, but a flat bezel version (rather than curved) to suit the flat surface trim in the sedan.

Very professional looking unit - great for my OEM acc fridge