tawa 150 Report post Posted December 23, 2021 (edited) I purchased a reasonably nicely spec'd X5 jap import a few months back, LCI xDrive35i with pano sunroof, side cameras for top-down reversing view, sports suspension, leather seats, fandangled rims which tbh I don't really like. Queue a few other upgrades and improvements: Region fixes Radio - VO Coding Maps - ongoing, fairly tricky Have changed all region settings Have put a cloned drive image on - an ECE (europe) image I got off the web Remove TV from CIC, NCSexpert to disable this one Remove legal disclaimer from iDrive, NCSexpert option to remove this too Added tow bar Got the mechanical parts from NZ Got an OEM spec wiring kit from US, had to change a few wires around to go from US spec trailers to NZ, and add it to the spec via VO coding Replace HDD with a larger SSD for increased music storage - complete it's picky about the PATA to m.2 adapter apparently, second try got it - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017VQT5YW/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 Ableconn IIDE-MSAT mSATA SSD to 2.5-Inch IDE, note, you must select the IDE and Msata to IDE options Added spare key, got a bloke to do it as it required special gear to read data of the CAS3 system Should have disabled all other keys before he did this as from what I've read this would have given the new key comfort access feature, which it doesn't have now as it is in slot 8 Future Put in high beam assist, likely needs a new mirror unit which has that feature, plus coding it in - wiring should be there since I have the auto-darkening mirrors Put in adaptive cruise, likely needs a new cruise stalk and radar unit - other parts should be there as it has active cruise (cruise with braking) Generally just chipping away at one or two of these at a time, might be a length process which may end up being too hard but it's an interesting task to try my hand at anyway! Happy to provide guidance at a fairly mid-high level to help others do similar. I've tried to keep some documentation and files of how I've done things... Edited January 21, 2022 by tawa 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1906 Report post Posted December 23, 2021 All I can see in this post now is NC Sexpert! Sorry! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3317 Report post Posted December 23, 2021 that HDD-SSD trick sounds very interesting to me. I wonder if that'll work in my 2011 F25? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tawa 150 Report post Posted December 24, 2021 (edited) On 12/24/2021 at 8:21 AM, Olaf said: that HDD-SSD trick sounds very interesting to me. I wonder if that'll work in my 2011 F25? I'd expect so long as it uses the same version CIC it would work. I've just installed it, yet to go on a trip long enough (to import the music) to see if there is more space; it still shows as 12.5gig free but I've heard that doesn't update to reflect the new sizing, but does make use of it. It's a pretty easy process, and the good thing is if you are upgrading and it doesn't work you can always put the old drive back in (which I did when I got the wrong drive tray). Parts are $80 bucks for the drive sled, $35 for a m.2 128gig drive, and $10 for the adapter. Update: Imported the music, all works sweet, still shows 12.5gig (100%) free so it must just check how much free space is on the drive. Edited January 1, 2022 by tawa Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
