nav ratrofit problems

2810 Views 35 Replies 6 Participants Last post by cambie, Oct 2, 2005

cambie

Discussion Starter · Apr 23, 2005

I got all my parts in this week to do the nav retrofit in my 325i 2005. anyway, i'm sitting in the garage now, i got all the parts installed and connected, but the screen doesn't come on when i turn the car on. everything else works. the screen even folds down when i press the arrow button, but it doesn't seem to function any other way. What could i have done wrong? I've checked cables, they seem to be all snug in their places. This is going to drive me crazy. Can anyone recommend anything? is it likely i got a bad screen? I got it from that tim fellow in germany.

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Technic

· #4 · Apr 24, 2005

cambie said:
update: when i click the button that looks like a clock on my nav screen, it shows a bmw logo...but i cannot get it to show a screen saying Load Firmware, like i was expecting

Remove whatever DVD/CD is in your Nav computer, wait until the computer's LED light computer is off and then disconnect your battery. Reconnect and try again.

You should at least hear the radio or the housing's CD Player... :dunno:

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Technic

· #7 · Apr 24, 2005 (Edited)

cambie said:
and just to add some more info here, i came back to my car after dinner (i've basically got it all put back together now) and unlocked it with the remote, and i noticed the display was showing the bmw logo again....it stayed on for about 30 seconds to a minute, then went to black. i'm worried i did connect one of those wires wrong.

//edit.....i've got more info. apparetly the the display coming on didn' have to do with being locked or not, it just comes on when i open the drivers side door. no other doors though. I must have connected that wire somewhere wrong....i hope it's something that simple.

//edit....one more time....
I got in the car for a drive in noticed....oops, nothing on the dash is working. no lights, no gear indicator, no, clicking noise when i signaled for a turn. so i knew the wire in the instrument panel harness could not be correct. i just unclipped it, and turned the key to test the dash functionality, and it was all back to normal, and low and behold, the nav screen came on like it was suppose to...although i dont know what it said...it's in german. it doesn't look like a "update firmware now" message, it looks like the thing is operational and ready to go. only thing is i need to know where this wire is suppose to be clipped to. for now i'm going to see if i can figure out where to go from here. any suggestions would be great.

The wire in the intrument cluster is the speed sensor and it is brown/red in the Nav Retrofit harness, going to a black/white wire in slot #8 in the instrument panel connector...

... there is another wire that connects to the dash, the Reverse light wire. It is the blue/yellow wire in the harness and connects to the blue/yellow wire in the junction box behind the fuse box in the glove box:

About the German screen prompts, try again to load the firmware using the firmware CD. You still will need to take it to the dealer if you want the USA firmware loaded, though.

You are a very lucky man... you could have damaged permanently an electrical component -and some big bucks in repairs- in the car by connecting this wire in the wrong connector slot.

Good luck and double check again the installation manual this time...

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Technic

· #11 · Apr 24, 2005

ObD said:
Make sure the radio is not set for European mode but set for North America.

Yep, that's the cause of not recognizing the Sirius... :thumbup:

To change the AREA to USA:

1. Turn the Nav on and make sure that is in radio mode.
2. Press and hold the SEL button until the screen changes to "Software Version XXXXXXX"
3. Using the ">" button go thru the menus until you find "AREA"
4. Use the "1" and "2" preset buttons to change the country to "USA"
5. Turn Nav off and on and you should be set.

If the country does not change unfortunately your tuner is a Professional Becker BM54 that is fixed to the European area. You need to replace that tuner with a Business tuner BM53, US version, to get you Sirius recognized.

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Technic

· #13 · Apr 24, 2005 (Edited)

cambie said:
hmm, it seems maybe i don't have the appropriate tuner installed. How long do you have to hold down select> I held it down until my finger started to hurt, and never got a response. I got my tuner from Veheh, at Crevier BMW. I know the label on it said it was a Business Radio, but perhaps it's not the US version? One interesting thing i saw on it was that there was a handwritten letter "R" on the side of it. Small, but it made me think maybe it was refurbed. I ordered a new one. The part number on my receipt is 65-12-6-964-398. I haven't felt like going to the car to check it out physically. I think I'll give ol Veheh a call on Monday and see what the story is. I definately want my sirius back. Without it, I've only got CD's.

Also, if this fixes my Sirius, should I even worry about that last cable? I took the instrument panel off again, and am nearly certain I had it on the correct wire. I just don't see anywhere else it could be. It's the only black/white wire in the area. And I tried to check to make sure it was going to the right pin, but couldn't quite figure out how to get the wires out of that harness enough to see where each wire was going.

And finally, what should I do about the dealership? I want to take it in to clear those codes from the computer, but I also want them to do whatever needs to be done to make my nav system like it came from the factory. or as close as possible.

Try again:

1. Turn Nav on.
2. Press the right knob to confirm the "Accept" screen.
3. Press FM
4. Press and hold SEL
5. Around 8-10 seconds later the "SERVICE" screen will show up with the 'Serial Number XXXXX' - sorry, the 'Software Version XXXXXXXX" is the second screen, not the first one as I stated before.
6. Press several times the ">" button until you see the "AREA" menu.
7. Use the "1" and "2" buttons to change the count to the USA.
8. Turn the Nav off and then on... you should be set.

My radio P/N is 65 12 6 927 916, BM53 and the one pictured at www.bmwnav.com is a P/N 65 12 6 927 910, oth are Sirius capable. As long as your tuner is from MY 2003-on it should support Sirius once you change the Area country to the USA.

Your dealer should not have any problem coding the Nav into your car, my local dealer did that to mine without any fuss... one hour of labor was charged, though.

:thumbup:

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Technic

· #15 · Apr 24, 2005

cambie said:
hmmm, well that brings up another thing then. I never get that accept screen you are talking about...now i'm kind of worried. Is my nav never actually turning off, or do I not have things loaded correctly. maybe I should reload that cd I got with the nav computer taht says "V25 Load 1st" on it.

I'm going to go out and try what you suggest one more time.

//edit - just back inside. I was still unsuccessful at bringing up the Software version screen. i did notice the channel changing is in .1 steppings. if i remember correctly, that tells me it's in european mode.

I forgot that your tuner is in Euro mode thus no Accept screen.

Regardless, you should be able to get into the Service Mode if you follow the steps above without step #2...

Go to any FM radio station, turn the Nav off and then on and inmediately press and hold the SEL button... the Service Mode should come on.

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Technic

· #17 · Apr 25, 2005

cambie said:
well, I FINALLY got it! I turned the unit on, tuned to an fm station, and turned it off. turned it back on and immediately hit SEL and held....nothing. But i used the Menu to turn the monitor off, and when i turned it back on, it was showing the Software Version screen. I clicked the arrow and made it over to the area section. Now my sirius works!!!!

Thank you so much for your guide and your thorough assistance with my post install troubles.

And I hate to carry this thread on, but I never was able to get the rear deck removed in my 2005 325i sedan. The rear seat in mine seemed different than the one in your instructions, and that kind of stopped me there. Basically, your instructions seemed to indicate a small piece of the seat that provided padding along the left side. My rear seat was all one piece. While i was able to unclip the left and right sides of the seat, it seemed to be screwed in in the center along the top. I couldn't figure out how to get that out.

So, as a result, I've got my nav antenna just sitting up on my rear deck right now. How can i figure out how to get it in it's proper place? Or, I saw in another thread someone say that if you've got assist, you've already got a GPS antenna. I've got assist, is it possible for me to tap into this other antenna?

I'm going to call and get an appointment with the dealership tomorrow to code the nav to sync with the car, and check the codes I guess since I had that service engine light on for a little while.

But all seems well now. It feels so good for it to be working now!

Wow... congratulations!

If the E46 rear non-folding seatback is attached like the one in the E36 then there are no bolts only two tabs at the top like the ones holding the bottom portion at the front. If you pull the seat towards you and then up you should get the seatback out.

Because you have Assist you already have a GPS antenna like the one used by the Nav computer and installed in the same place... unfortunately the cable do not have the right connector for the Nav computer, at least in my particular case. The GPS antenna cable in the Assist TCU is the one with the Blue connector. Try that connector in your Nav computer just in case that in 2005 BMW changed it and now fits; in my 2004 it did not fit.

Good luck... :thumbup:

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Technic

· #23 · Jul 28, 2005

sbhatia said:
I am trying retrofit Nav in my 2004 330i. I have taken out most of teh components needed. But I am stuck at two points.
1) I am unable to take out the climate control. Any help in how to get it out? What holds it in place? Any pictures would help as well.

2) I can not figure out how would the harness enter the console area. I can see it can from the trunk on the left side bottom, then turn right under the driver seat carpet split. But how does it get to console area? The original harness goes straight forward along the middle bottom of the floor (towards the gas pedal) - but that is not accessible based on the parts of carpet removed?

Please help!

Thanks.
-Sandeep

1) If you push out the climate control unit from the rear after removing the radio you will be able to remove it. It is cumbersome but that's the way I removed mine.

2) The retrofit harness should be installed from the console area towards the trunk, not backwards. That's the easiest way...

You will need to remove the whole center console (where the cupholders are, you do not have to remove the armrest) and then pass the harness from the dash towards the shifter and then lift the shifter dash sides until you can pass the other big black connector under the shifter middle dash support frame (the part where the center console is bolted to the dash shifter sides). Then you can hide the harness under the carpet section split.

This is a modified image from the installation document of the route that I took with my harness:

Good luck!
:thumbup:

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Technic

· #27 · Aug 3, 2005

sbhatia said:
I just retrofitted MK4 Nav in my 2004 330i (which had Assist). I discobnnected and removed the original GPS antenna and placed a new Nav antenna - that is now connected to MK4. Today - when I took it to dealer to recode - diagnostics said that ASSIST had no antenna (no surprises). But dealer could not code the car - as the computer indicated that "TCU not responding". Does any one know what does this all really mean? My delare did not have much clue?

What is TCU (is it the DVD Nav computer)? Is it Assist module - or some other central controller?
Could disconnecting ASSIST antenna cause this problem?
Can any one please shed some light?

Thanks.
-Sandeep

Seems to me that your tech is programming the wrong component: once you retrofit your Nav, the tech should just program the Nav feature into the car system and add whatever USA code is required. Because you have Assist (that's the TCU -Telephone Control Unit- that the tech is talking about) the programming should include integrating the Assist into the Nav, not the other way around.

If the Nav programming is done correctly, the Assist will automatically get its GPS signaling from the MKIV DVD computer built in GPS receiver, making the Assist GPS antenna connection redundant. The Assist calling features will show in the Nav screen if the integration was correct also.

Apparently, in your case, this programming was not done correctly.

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Technic

· #30 · Aug 4, 2005

sbhatia said:
OK here is what the technician tried. He inserted the software CD into the Nav - which the Nav did accept - but nothing else happened. The screen remained blank. Do you guys remember when you programmed the Nav with the software CD (not the map dvd) - did the display indicate anything? Does the Nav have to be programmed within the first few minutes of its powering up?

Tech did try to pull out the dvd comp and inserted another one which was already installed in some car - and Nav display started working - telling me that perhaps the car is correctly programmed and rest of the components/installation are working.

So it is either the dvd computer is bad, or it still has not been programmed/coded correctly. :dunno:

The problem of buying an used Nav computer is that if the previous owner removed it without knowing that the LED light should be off before unplugging it, it will be permanently damaged.

In my case, once I finished my retrofit I got a screen asking for the firmware CD to be inserted. However, my Nav computer was brand new.

Your tech already proved that your computer is shot, by exchanging it with another one and getting finally a LCD display shown, sorry.

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