F80 M3 Base audio system upgrade

[Neal 543]

I think a bloke has to have hobbies and do things that we enjoy. Had a health scare a couple of years back which changed my outlook to an extent. Make a point of doing enjoyable things. This hobby was has been a good one where I’ve been able to chunk down the work in smaller lots as I’ve gone through recovery. I enjoy the learning process that goes into doing this as I did with the e46 stereo system. Hopefully I haven’t become OCD on this one 😀

 Cost wise it has been accumulating but probably only 10% of the purchase price of the car. I’ve got the stereo mentioned with a value of $6k for the equipment in my insurance policy, but time wise if the worst happens I’d probably enjoy building another one ( eyeing up the wife’s SUV as this project comes to a finish 🤣)

With this car I’m not at that point of constant worry that I see mates get into with custom cars that they have 1000s of hours of time and are of a high value and never let the vehicle out of their sight. I do daily it and lease carpark which has plenty of parking room and good neighbours, but can break out a sweat if parking in a busy supermarket carpark as many of us BMW drivers do 😀.

 

 

[Cement 871]

2 hours ago, Neal said:

probably only 10% of the purchase price of the car

I totally get it, back of the napkin says I'm at about 2100% of purchase price 🤣

We're very fortunate that we can mess with such things in the pursuit of enjoyment and satisfaction for sure. I think too many people are obsessed with the 'and then' mentality where you're always chasing that next then that's going to unlock some magical level of happiness ... waiting to retire to take that holiday and then we'll be happy ... slaving for that promotion and then i'll be satisfied ... etc.

Full disclosure: Not saying I'm any different and I probably say this to justify my own spending habits hah

[kwhelan 241]

as long as you enjoy doing it and your not living on bread and sausages who cares, its healthier than spending it on P

[Neal 543]

9 hours ago, Cement said:

I totally get it, back of the napkin says I'm at about 2100% of purchase price 🤣

We're very fortunate that we can mess with such things in the pursuit of enjoyment and satisfaction for sure. I think too many people are obsessed with the 'and then' mentality where you're always chasing that next then that's going to unlock some magical level of happiness ... waiting to retire to take that holiday and then we'll be happy ... slaving for that promotion and then i'll be satisfied ... etc.

Full disclosure: Not saying I'm any different and I probably say this to justify my own spending habits hah

 

I do consider myself fortunate, been a combo of good luck and hard work with long work hours. Wife included. I think you’re right in enjoying the present. Father’s life got cut short before he got to retire, but he still had an  excellent life and pursued interesting stuff. But he was certainly looking forward to retirement and was planning travel etc.

Almost joined him but got a second chance due to the skill of the medical profession and determination to recover. Life 2.0 I call it. Make a point of living in the present and doing stuff that I enjoy.

Also trying to justify spending habits 😀. 

 

 

[Neal 543]

On the commute today the car is definitely quieter, less low frequency transfer from what I’m assuming is rear tyre and exhaust noise. Great for audio system , but downside is less “M3” noise. Stereo off and window down required when fanging it ( on a closed road / race track of course )

F80s are too quiet unless in sports plus where exhaust flaps are opened.

Edited February 20 by Neal

[kwhelan 241]

[Neal 543]

On 12/27/2023 at 9:11 PM, Dogballs said:

Good to hear you have that working..

for your snapin, have a look at this thread: https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1228584 it may give you some clues... 

OR If you VO code the HU it should sort the coding for the snapin, and then afterwards adjust HK coding...  (assuming the vehicle has the snapin adaptor factory /FA coded already)

there is a number of USB settings/combos available, so that's where VO coding it is the easy option - but FA must be correct first!

(when using bummer utility to modify the FA - after completing FA coding, it will then ask if you want to VO code affected modules. (yes / no option) - very handy feature. but of course will reset any custom codings on the said modules.)

good luck...

Ended up being too easy, Cradle / USB2 working now. Just took heaps of time to find. Come to think of it , I think id4 had the usb codes like this.

 

 

 

 

[Neal 543]

Finally got the Mybmw app working with my imported car. Fortunately the car came with the 4g version of the ATM module. BMW have registered all the SIM cards in a private APN network of some kind.

Looks like BMW have giving exported cars from country of Origin a life line for using the app. My car was brought in Uk.

What worked for me

In the app there is an option for pre delivery. I put in my vin number and the app was able to do a look up . But the app would post an error if I connected phone to car via usb to complete registration.

I then followed the instructions here https://faq.bmw.ee/s/article/My-BMW-App-Settings-Einstellung-Sprache-kA9kU?language=et#

So key was to change language from nz English to GB English.

I also changed my profile address from my nz home to the postcode I lived in London in 2005

I connected the phone again and the app was able to complete ownership of car and use the app. I changed my profile back to nz so no issues but the only downside is I can’t select my NZ BMW dealer in the app.

But remote phone services such as lock / unlock car, turn on ventilation and get fuel status all work as does locate car 😀.

[m325i 709]

I got mine going too. How does it work with connectivity? They are effectively paying for the SIM connection?

Have to remember to use it. Almost went back to the car to check I locked it the other day.

 

also, does that mean you can pre-heat/cool when the engine isn't on?

[Neal 543]

On the sim front BMW registers all the Telematics and ATM modules to the country where the model has been built for. So mine will be on a UK mobile provider and the cars module is effectively “roaming” with it being in NZ. No doubt there would be some costs for roaming but it might be built into BMWs plan with the local provider.

With the app there is some lag as a result of roaming, but locking car , turning on headlights ( handy for  night parking ) and turning on ventilation fan all seems to work.

The 4g connection is also used for updating service history from BMW . When I retrofitted Idrive 6 it had the doner vehicles service history. I had the local BMW dealer update the service history and initially only the new entry was visible. But within a few hours the doner history was removed and all the previous entries for my M3 appeared.

The only thing with the roaming is that the emergency SOS feature will go to the UK for triage should it get used. 

The nice thing with the changes to BMWapp is that no phone VPN is required for country of origin that I’ve seen in other posts.

[balancerider 757]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:30 PM, Neal said:

Finally got the Mybmw app working with my imported car. Fortunately the car came with the 4g version of the ATM module. BMW have registered all the SIM cards in a private APN network of some kind.

Looks like BMW have giving exported cars from country of Origin a life line for using the app. My car was brought in Uk.

What worked for me

In the app there is an option for pre delivery. I put in my vin number and the app was able to do a look up . But the app would post an error if I connected phone to car via usb to complete registration.

I then followed the instructions here https://faq.bmw.ee/s/article/My-BMW-App-Settings-Einstellung-Sprache-kA9kU?language=et#

So key was to change language from nz English to GB English.

I also changed my profile address from my nz home to the postcode I lived in London in 2005

I connected the phone again and the app was able to complete ownership of car and use the app. I changed my profile back to nz so no issues but the only downside is I can’t select my NZ BMW dealer in the app.

But remote phone services such as lock / unlock car, turn on ventilation and get fuel status all work as does locate car 😀.

I’m super impressed with this - I managed to get my car brought over to NZ connected drive while BMW NZ we’re still doing it officially, I’ve found the app to be pretty buggy though, it still displays fuel remaining in gallons and the usb connection to the car works <50% of the time

[Neal 543]

I was looking at my profile and car settings. I couldn’t find any settling for metric verse imperial in the app.  In idrive I have litres specificed for fuel consumption.

I do find the app does have lag though which isn’t really an issue, but it’s been quite solid.

The headlights on is funny though, press the app icon , wait a minute and get a few seconds before they are off again.
 

Also the lock icon will lock car , but doesn’t put windows up. Guessing thats done for safety reasons.

[m325i 709]

On 3/9/2024 at 8:09 AM, Neal said:

Also the lock icon will lock car , but doesn’t put windows up. Guessing thats done for safety reasons.

I notice it doesn't fold my mirrors from the app when locking.

[Dogballs 115]

I have mine working again too. ex UK also. 
after doing a NBTevo retrofit, and subsequent ATM retrofit- both coded to original vin. ( previously had a business nav with tcb).
took a bit of trickery with a eSIM swap from the tcb to the new atm, but it’s all fully functional. I could even had Rtti, weather, internet apps etc etc via the CD store. 
if anyone wants tips on the atm retrofit, just ask..

[Neal 543]

Good work on sim swap ! 
435d gets good diesel mileage 😀

Edited April 8 by Neal

[Dogballs 115]

Yes, probably a bit of luck involved in the sim swap for a 1st DIY PCB chip replacement attempt. ! 
this vehicle came with a bunch of “unlimited” calendar time connected services, so worth the effort.. 
pics for reference if anyone wants to have a go!

it gets down to 5.0/100kms easily on a open road trip.. and with 630nm when you need it..😁
 

[Neal 543]

Must have a steady hand . Not a lot of room for heat near those neighbouring surface mounted components 

[Neal 543]

Was on a thread with on a forum discussing the Mobridge Amplifier. Currently with Harman Kardon coding HK has two dsp sound profiles toggled on idrive. The Mobridge has four dsp profiles. 

In the thread the discussion was on B&O coding of the idrive system which appeared to have three sound profiles . I mentioned that later on BMW introduced the B&W high end system which had 5 sound map slots available and suggested a feature request to map all 4 Mobridge profiles to B&W coding.

It turns out that some earlier BMWs had 3 profiles and Mobridge had mapped those.

So , I coded in the B&W menu onto my idrive and found it mapped to three Mobridge profiles started working and the possibility of a fourth one at a future date.

So maps so far

Profile 1 Passengers tune 

Profile 2 Audiophile drivers seat tune

Profile 3 Slam tune so more bass / sub bass

coding & B&W sound profile menus

 

 

[Neal 543]

Also coded the F80 for the following as my version of ISTEP ( car software )is circa 2017 .It had the GTS coding option in current software on three of the modules. Simple coding and no flashing required.

BMW F82 GTS Steering

BMW F82 GTS diff 

BMW F82 GTS MDM 

Really like the steering change and has closed the gap between the superb old E46 M3 and F80 running lightest steering option.Its nicely weighted. The deadness has gone on straight ahead its is really nice on twisty roads

Sport mode is heaver still and reminds me of of my old e21 323i which I always enjoyed. Sports plus is heavy to fast steering movements but seems like it would be good at ultra high speed like if your on the autobahn.

Diff coding change has made the front and rear more in sync and turn in seems better.

Still running standard DTC software and Engine software , but like the rawness of the current engine software.

Edited June 7 by Neal

[balancerider 757]

On 3/21/2024 at 9:15 PM, Dogballs said:

I have mine working again too. ex UK also. 
after doing a NBTevo retrofit, and subsequent ATM retrofit- both coded to original vin. ( previously had a business nav with tcb).
took a bit of trickery with a eSIM swap from the tcb to the new atm, but it’s all fully functional. I could even had Rtti, weather, internet apps etc etc via the CD store. 
if anyone wants tips on the atm retrofit, just ask..

@Neal and @Dogballs - is your retrofitted connected drive setup functioning properly currently? My car has been registered via bmw nz for connected drive services ( UK import as well, brought in while BMW were still bringing them across to the NZ service) but the app is getting worse and worse - vehicle mileage functionality no longer works, I can’t change fuel remaining  units from gallons to litres and remote services work less than half the time.

Edited June 10 by balancerider

[Dogballs 115]

3 hours ago, balancerider said:

@Neal and @Dogballs - is your retrofitted connected drive setup functioning properly currently? My car has been registered via bmw nz for connected drive services ( UK import as well, brought in while BMW were still bringing them across to the NZ service) but the app is getting worse and worse - vehicle mileage functionality no longer works, I can’t change fuel remaining  units from gallons to litres and remote services work less than half the time.

Still working for me, but the last app update has caused the mileage not to show. Maybe a bug with the app?

my vehicle still has the original istep, so I plan to do a full update at some stage..

[Neal 543]

Since version 4.5.3 which installed a couple of weeks back also had a slow down with the app and it’s not consistently working. A few minutes to do basic lock and unlock functions and also won’t display mileage and fuel update is laggy and hasn’t updated post drive home quite a few hours ago.

Would say some of the bug fixes and improvements to the app have been a backward step.

Running a 2017 Istep.
 

 

Edited June 10 by Neal

[balancerider 757]

22 hours ago, Neal said:

Since version 4.5.3 which installed a couple of weeks back also had a slow down with the app and it’s not consistently working. A few minutes to do basic lock and unlock functions and also won’t display mileage and fuel update is laggy and hasn’t updated post drive home quite a few hours ago.

Would say some of the bug fixes and improvements to the app have been a backward step.

Running a 2017 Istep.
 

 

Interesting - thought I was possibly imagining but 4.5.3 is definitely worse

[Neal 543]

I think the other area is that BMW have enabled connected services for all F series platforms so it could also be a capicity thing for the BMW platform. Seeing a number of posts with people realising they now have access through the app that used to be subscription only.

[Dogballs 115]

App version 4.5.4 released !

still no mileage updating for me🙁