wzup people...thanks for looking at my car pc installation. I tried to take as many pics as I could during this process. Please note that this is only informative, and not a write up. I take absolutely no responsibility should any damage occur to your vehicle if you attempt to reproduce this. I am only sharing this for informational purposes with the e46 and mp3car community.
I owned a 93 prelude for 7 years or so...and did quite a lot of simple stuff to it...if you are interested...
http://www.thegzone.net//content/view/34/31/
I did some research on some forums, but I was not satisfied with some of the stuff I found...particularly the fact that I most people lost their head units, used all sorts of kits, and had random bugs here and there...bottom line, I figured I would do some homework before anything...
I m not sure if my way has ever been done before, but to me is came to the simplest, cheapest bug free setup I came up with...only 1 factory wire had to be cut and extended (the cd changer wire that plugs behind the radio in order for the OEM going back to stock would take approx 1.5 hours to 2 hours to take everything out and put everything back to normal.
Being that I had already done this before in the prelude, I just had to get familar with the bmw's electrical wiring, dashboard (to route wires and so on)...Spent 40 or 50 hours to complete...I worked on it for about 10 days...at about 4 hours a day...from about 8pm until midnight when getting home from work...Having the prelude still was handy since I still had work most day with the zhp being a wreck! the radio relocation took the most time since it I was going with the flow.
I already had the computer, docking station and everything else with it since it came from the prelude...I spent maybe 600$ on the project (350 for the transreflective screen and the rest on misc parts listed below)...I already owned the laptop and docking station.
Anyway, here are the 164 pictures...it was quicker for me to make an album and make comments on it directly so feel free to ask questions if you have any...I will respond if time allows it.
http://www.thegzone.net/330carpc/
Here is a list of parts used:
-e46 Bezel from Rich @ mybimmer.net (Thanks for the good service)
- Lilliput EBY-701 Transreflective screen
-1 OEM reverse replacement factory harness
-2 Metra Harnesses 70-8590
-radio shack project boxes (as needed)
-ground loops isolator
-18 gauge wire (I used red and black)
-bunch of male and femal electrical connectors
-bunch of butt connectors
-3 Add a Circuit Kits from autozone - 2 used, 1 spare
-USB extension cables, AUX audio cables
-Dell D400 Laptop 1.4 GHZ intel centrino, 765 MB of RAM, 80 gb HD
-Dell D400 Docking station
-Duracell 90Watts Auto Air adapter
-Rikaline 6010 USB GSP - with Copilot GPS for laptop - Version 8 - I ve had this for years...still works well!
-Antenna Extension kits for BMW
-BMW NAV trim kit to move AC controls down
Thats as far as I can remember on the parts...the pics should tell.
Known bugs: ABSOLTELY NONE!
-flawless going to and from hibernation
-GPS lock on 2 to 5 mins...10 mins to 15 when cloudy
-Audio quality and levels is perfect. Same as stock...nothing has changed...the HK system sounds very good when tuned properly
-Steering controls work flawlessly
-radio in the glove box is immaculate...access to AM, FM, RDS, IPOD, and CD when needed
-no freezing issues
-internet reception is great with verizon
-no battery drainage
-LCD screen is set to Auto on when VGA power is detected...so the computer is Off, the screen shuts off after 10 seconds...powers automatically once the switch to power up the computer is pressed.
I owned a 93 prelude for 7 years or so...and did quite a lot of simple stuff to it...if you are interested...
http://www.thegzone.net//content/view/34/31/
I did some research on some forums, but I was not satisfied with some of the stuff I found...particularly the fact that I most people lost their head units, used all sorts of kits, and had random bugs here and there...bottom line, I figured I would do some homework before anything...
I m not sure if my way has ever been done before, but to me is came to the simplest, cheapest bug free setup I came up with...only 1 factory wire had to be cut and extended (the cd changer wire that plugs behind the radio in order for the OEM going back to stock would take approx 1.5 hours to 2 hours to take everything out and put everything back to normal.
Being that I had already done this before in the prelude, I just had to get familar with the bmw's electrical wiring, dashboard (to route wires and so on)...Spent 40 or 50 hours to complete...I worked on it for about 10 days...at about 4 hours a day...from about 8pm until midnight when getting home from work...Having the prelude still was handy since I still had work most day with the zhp being a wreck! the radio relocation took the most time since it I was going with the flow.
I already had the computer, docking station and everything else with it since it came from the prelude...I spent maybe 600$ on the project (350 for the transreflective screen and the rest on misc parts listed below)...I already owned the laptop and docking station.
Anyway, here are the 164 pictures...it was quicker for me to make an album and make comments on it directly so feel free to ask questions if you have any...I will respond if time allows it.
http://www.thegzone.net/330carpc/
Here is a list of parts used:
-e46 Bezel from Rich @ mybimmer.net (Thanks for the good service)
- Lilliput EBY-701 Transreflective screen
-1 OEM reverse replacement factory harness
-2 Metra Harnesses 70-8590
-radio shack project boxes (as needed)
-ground loops isolator
-18 gauge wire (I used red and black)
-bunch of male and femal electrical connectors
-bunch of butt connectors
-3 Add a Circuit Kits from autozone - 2 used, 1 spare
-USB extension cables, AUX audio cables
-Dell D400 Laptop 1.4 GHZ intel centrino, 765 MB of RAM, 80 gb HD
-Dell D400 Docking station
-Duracell 90Watts Auto Air adapter
-Rikaline 6010 USB GSP - with Copilot GPS for laptop - Version 8 - I ve had this for years...still works well!
-Antenna Extension kits for BMW
-BMW NAV trim kit to move AC controls down
Thats as far as I can remember on the parts...the pics should tell.
Known bugs: ABSOLTELY NONE!
-flawless going to and from hibernation
-GPS lock on 2 to 5 mins...10 mins to 15 when cloudy
-Audio quality and levels is perfect. Same as stock...nothing has changed...the HK system sounds very good when tuned properly
-Steering controls work flawlessly
-radio in the glove box is immaculate...access to AM, FM, RDS, IPOD, and CD when needed
-no freezing issues
-internet reception is great with verizon
-no battery drainage
-LCD screen is set to Auto on when VGA power is detected...so the computer is Off, the screen shuts off after 10 seconds...powers automatically once the switch to power up the computer is pressed.