PAC SWI-X Steering Wheel Controls Info/DIY

[mozaic]

Finished my DIY on the steering wheel controls - some info for all of you interested.

I contacted PAC tech support and you can indeed extend the infrared 'eye' wire (there are 3 wires, but you only need to to extend the red and black wires for a BMW as the white is not used) - with this information I added about 4 feet of wire and ran it up to the header and mounted it in the plastic microphone holder.

Pretty easy to do - just drilled a small hole in the plastic and inserted the IR 'eye'.

I also reversed the sunroof switch and microphone holder with a small amount of dremel work to enlarge the microphone mounting hole to accomodate the slightly larger sunroof switch.

This enabled me to get the infrared 'eye' a little closer to the head unit.

Works perfectly and is less subject to problems from sunlight, etc.

I also programmed the 2 cell phone steering wheel buttons allowing me control over the audio source (tuner/cd changer/cd) and mute functions as well.

I now have more steering wheel control functionality than the original steering wheel controls with an aftermarket Alpine 9835 HU.

Folks, this is the way to go!

[CynicalWry]

looks good! I plan on doing thesame thing, but don't think I'll move the buttons. Do you really think it makes that much of a difference?

[mozaic]

All I can say is try it first and see how it works. It was so easy to move the sunroof switch that I decided to move the IR eye closer to the HU.

looks good! I plan on doing thesame thing, but don't think I'll move the buttons. Do you really think it makes that much of a difference?

[bryangleeson]

I have a 2004 E46. Where did you make the connections for the SWIX. I am having trouble getting the SWIX to work in the car. I have read many posts around the net about people not being able to get their SWIX to program. Can you tell me how you did yours?

Thanks

[mozaic]

If you look under the steering wheel column, where the steering wheel adjuster bar is you can see a bundle of wires - you want to get the white/red wire with the yellow dots (some newer 3-series have wire colored white-gray with yellow dots).

Cut this wire and connect the yellow wire from the PAC-SWI-X to the end
that goes to the steering wheel controls.

The rest is simple - red to 12v switched power and black to ground.
You will not need any of the other wires on the PAC-SWI-X - just insulate them to protect against shorts.

Once this is done you can program following the instructions.

Here is a handy URL with exactly the same install info direct from PAC.

http://www.pac-audio.com/swixprogramming/showvehicleinfo.asp?mmSearch=BMW&Submit2=Search+Vehicles&RadioGroupPioneer=0&ID=190

I have a 2004 E46. Where did you make the connections for the SWIX. I am having trouble getting the SWIX to work in the car. I have read many posts around the net about people not being able to get their SWIX to program. Can you tell me how you did yours?

Thanks

[mperfct]

thread revival!!! :omg:

I just finished installing my swi-x with my 9855 HU. In short, here is what you have to do.

I gutted the center console from the top vents to the shifter. My SWI-X unit sits on the side of the center console near the ashtray. I ran the red and black wires to the HU harness, and then ran the yellow wire to the steering column. From there you have to remove the plastic housing on the bottom of the steering column by pushing the two small rivets through their larger rivet companions. It takes a little wiggling, but eventually the housing should fall away.

You should see a bundle of about 6 wires, one of which is the one you to cut. Tie the yellow cable from the SWI to the wire going into the steering wheel. This is where I messed up because PAC's instructions said the wire towards the key. That would be the function keys, not the ignition key. *duh*

Once you got that, do like mozaic said and run the black IR emitter cable up to your microphone "vent". I didn't swap the position of mine and it works fine. If you have any trouble programming your remote (read the instructions at least 3 times first), then you have a wiring issue. When your wiring is correct, the programming is very quick, maybe takes 20 seconds. Also don't forget to wait about 15-20 seconds after turning the key before trying to program the functionalities!

I'll try and take a picture of underneath the steering console as soon as I can find my camera. I think that is the part most people mess up. Good luck!

[Hark]

Do you have to cut the wire underneath the steering column? I assume if you do this, none of the signals that get sent through the ibus when you press a sw button will get sent anymore, and that's not good since I still use the track fwd/back for my carpc with ibus interface. If this is the case, can't I just splice into it if I also wanted to use the PAC interface with the ibus interface I already have?

[Hark]

I'd also be interested in seeing the 9855 installed pics, as well as pics of where you located the swi-x.

[Prelude528]

I'd also be interested in seeing the 9855 installed pics, as well as pics of where you located the swi-x.
I would like to see a pic of yoru eye too :thumbup:

[lthsa]

Please someone post some more specific instructions with pics.:bow:
I'm about to istall the PAC SWI-X for my AVN-5495.
How did you guys route the IR eye's wire all the way up to the header?

[abefroman]

With the 9855 you can cut off the ir eye and attach a headphone plug to plug into the back of the 9855. No sun problems

[djmatty]

With the 9855 you can cut off the ir eye and attach a headphone plug to plug into the back of the 9855. No sun problems
Does the HU need an adapter for that?

I was thinking of adding this adapter, but the whole IR eye thing seems ghetto to me.

[dirsh]

Does the HU need an adapter for that?

I was thinking of adding this adapter, but the whole IR eye thing seems ghetto to me.

bump

[djmatty]

bump
Check this thread:
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=335070

[dirsh]

thanks!

[noluck]

I just took my car to an audio shop and let them install the PAX SWIX and the pioneer z1. The steering wheel control sometime work and sometime don't. The guy at the shop says it doesn't work because of the IR sensitivity? The IR is placed right between the cigarette lighter and the shift gear. A small hole is drilled next to the cigarette lighter for the IR. Does any of you have the same problem? Is there a way to fix this?

TIA

[jyeh74]

I wanted to keep some of the steering wheel controls like volume adjustment and track change and was wondering if this is a hard thing to do? Any local stereo shop, when they install the bezel and hvac controls can do this right?

I dont know if the stereo has the functionality to skip from radio to mp3 to dvd (dont remember) I have a 02 325i sedan with an Eclipse AVN 2454 navi/dvd.

thanks!