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Sat Nav retrofit.

4K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  El Turko 
#1 ·
Well, I finally plucked up the courage and completed my Sat Nav Retrofit.

Not as difficult as some have made out, and relatively easy. Although I would not want to do it again. Took me about 6-7 hours all in. But that was with ALOT of breaks.

The retrofit loom is supposedly plug and play - but it still requires splicing & building connectors up. With an extra set of hands to help you speed through the awkward bits I think I could have done this in 4 hours.



The hardest part of this is dealing with fiddly bits & frustration!!

My heater controls & the air vents wouldn't come out despite me being forceful. Not wanting to break them, it took alot of patience to eventually set them free.
Having to splice into the fuse box was incredibly awkward as you have no room to play with.
There are cables and screws everywhere on the e46... its a lot more than the e36. (I did a dash conversion on my e36, and just removing a few of the items from the e46 dash proved to be more work).
The seats weigh a ton - I struggled as I was working alone, and electric heated leather seats were not kind to my back.
I could not put the roof down. The battery was disconnected, and I needed the extra boot space. So I still had the awkwardness of clambering in and out of the car. Not pleasant on a hot day.


Other problems encountered: I took a chance on a brand new loom on eBay (£100 vs the £180 from BMW). Turns out it was a coupe loom so its slightly different for the 'vert as the antenna amp is different. Ive had to order a seperate antenna cable - until then, no radio.

The CD changer connection on the loom is different to that of the E46. This is for all e46's. BMW even provide the correct plug so you can chop and change. Why BMW did not just put the correct connector on in the first place, i'll never know.

I bought a brand new relocation panel - as all used ones suffer from the rubber coating being fairly scratched. Downside is it looks too fresh and a different shade to the rest of the trim. Maybe after I go over everything with interior detailer it may blend in.



Anyway, a few shots taken on my blackberry:






Whilst I had everything out, I also fitted a handsfree kit.

The Parrot 3000 with its BMW connects2 harness allows for full integration with the mutifunction steering wheel. This was ideal for me, it meant the control could be hidden away leaving the dash uncluttered as well as being loads cheaper than the BMW BT module. It does not have caller display on the screen (strangely something I really wanted!) and works through the car speakers. Result.




I mounted the mic by the steering column. Being a convertible, I was not sure how it would fare being in the OEM position of by the rear view mirror. Thought it best to have it out of the way lower down. I can always change it in the future if needs be.





I'm really impressed with it all; the parrot kit & the sat nav. It may well be the placebo effect, but I reckon it sounds better and has a higher output than my old standard radio (not sure if anyone has any facts on that). I will upload the software in good time. I really want the 3D view and postcode search. So I guess that's next on the list.


Anyone thinking about it, should go for it. Its not as hard as it looks. You just need a sunny day and some patience.



I also could not have done this without the guides from Delmarco on E46fanatics/E46zone, & StakesUK on his own webpage.. :thumbup: Massive thanks!
 
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#7 ·
I bought it off a fellow e46 owner - who upgraded to a Dynavin.

It was stripped from a Coupe (I have a vert). I bought the whole lot, then sold the TV module & Autochanger to help offset the cost.


So just had to buy: relocation panel and retrofit loom, both new - although I saved a bit by finding them both brand new on ebay.

Brackets, GPS Antenna, Parrot kit and a few other cables - ebay/forums etc.


Think all in all it cost me £600 with the parrot kit (which is about $1000). Just a shade more than what the Dynavin costs over here.
 
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