These days, 3 grand buys an e90 330i ...

[Sir_Dave]

If i ever buy an E90 I'll just bring it round for you to do, then ?
Oh and how many screws never went back in?

Feel free! Tbh, before i got into it, it seemed "a bit much" but honestly, with the guides available, its fairly easy.
Being the person that does the initial investigation to write the guides? Nah, im good thanks ?
Re: screws, im a bit OCD, so tape them to whatever part/hole they come out of, makes it a billion times easier to put things back together that way!

Nice upgrade! Same as I have in my LCI now.
Do you need the newer iDrive controller to match? I'd imagine so.

Yes, i had it in my LCI e92, so going back in time to non-idrive felt like a massive leap backwards. Much happier now, just need the better iPhone integration.
Do you have a combox on yours out of interest?
Re: controller, i think you can use the previous silver metal one if you are retrofitting from CCC, or if you're doing it in stages (saves buying new trim as well), but most tend to swop everything out - the short cuts that come with the CIC version are very useful i find.

 

[Christopher]

Yes, i had it in my LCI e92, so going back in time to non-idrive felt like a massive leap backwards. Much happier now, just need the better iPhone integration.
Do you have a combox on yours out of interest?
Re: controller, i think you can use the previous silver metal one if you are retrofitting from CCC, or if you're doing it in stages (saves buying new trim as well), but most tend to swop everything out - the short cuts that come with the CIC version are very useful i find.

That's what I thought, although I've seen people using a Dremel to adapt their CCC trim panels to CIC controllers. Saves a bit of cash I guess!

Yeah mine's Combox & Logic 7 HK too, most of the late model LCIs tend to have them from what I've seen.

 

[Craig]

Lol just a little job then. Look alot better though.

 

[terryc101]

Decent amount of work that!
I didn’t realise there were e9*s without Bluetooth telephone ability tbh.

 

[Scrooge]

That’s some effort, Dave!

 

[Sir_Dave]

Lol just a little job then. Look alot better though.

Decent amount of work that!
I didn’t realise there were e9*s without Bluetooth telephone ability tbh.

That’s some effort, Dave!

Cheers to all! Has been a decent amount of work, but the final piece of the jigsaw came today ...

Some before & afters:

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Completed look.

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Its quite difficult to pick up the pattern on the trim, but its the stuff that came in the 320si ?

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Untitled by Sir_Dave, on Flickr

Also finally got rid of the last piece of Birmingham from the car, that ruddy awful "carbon" wrapped trim!!

 

[JB21]

Those B12's will rattle all that hard work loose in no time, lol.

 

[Jack!]

I don't get the fake carbon look at all.

 

[_Tom]

Muuuuuch better.

 

[Cookie]

I prefer the fake carbon, mainly because it's black and I don't like silver trim

 

[Craig]

That's lots better. ?. For sale now lol

 

[Christopher]

So much nicer. It doesn't look like an old car inside now.

 

[Cookson]

You need the LCI cup holders now

 

[Christopher]

You need the LCI cup holders now

They only have a tiny silver sliver on them. Lol. No difference other than that?

 

[Cookson]

They only have a tiny silver sliver on them. Lol. No difference other than that?

Nope, thats it IIRC, lol

 

[Sir_Dave]

You need the LCI cup holders now

Well, one of my cup holders is slightly broken, so when they do eventually get replaced it would be rude not to upgrade ... ?

Am really pleased with the changes though, as @Christopher says, the iDrive etc really makes the interior feel more modern!

 

[Christopher]

Well, one of my cup holders is slightly broken, so when they do eventually get replaced it would be rude not to upgrade ... ?

Am really pleased with the changes though, as @Christopher says, the iDrive etc really makes the interior feel more modern!

Yup, it looks much nicer now. If you serviced it at BMW it'd probably confuse the techs no end now, although I guess it's a common retrofit.

The car looks SO much better now than when you bought it.

 

[Rob]

Really impressive work Dave, I'm more amazed that the service indicators etc all work. Skills.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Latest Update.
Combox time ?

Parts required:
Combox: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Genuine-...-Becker-Bluetooth-Module-9257161/153243508005
Changeover Plug: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Changeov...E84-X6-E71-X5-E70-Z4-E89-E90-E6X/322969679445
USB Plug: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-AUX-...r-BMW-5-Series-E90-E91-E92-X5-X6/173334701483
OEM BMW Bluetooth retrofit: https://www.leebmann24.de/basis-freisprecheinrichtung-bluetooth-3er-5er-x1-84640441949.html
Official BMW Retrofit Guide (for the above): https://www.e90post.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=531996&d=1306635841

Some tinkering later & we have it mostly working, just need to mess about with a VIN change (or similar) for BMW LIve.

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Connection Options - Aux currently not working as i need to do some further wiring, but as Bluetooth music /USB Audio works, not sure i can be bothered.

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Text Messages pull through to CIC, plus can be read out by the car:

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More coding required for these to work - Nav is now running (using Emulator) with latest 2018 maps. Still sh1t mind.

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Music:

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Then with Album Art pulled through from phone:

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All in all, very pleased!!! Makes such a HUUUUUUGE difference to the inside of the car. Much more modern feeling now.

Shame my laptops battery died so i cant finish off the rest of the coding ... will have to rig up an extension lead out to the carpark somehow ?

 

[Jack!]

Isn't using a dial to do everything annoying? I had to get rid of the RNSE in the Audi for that reason; entering postcodes one char at a time with a dial was painful.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Isn't using a dial to do everything annoying? I had to get rid of the RNSE in the Audi for that reason; entering postcodes one char at a time with a dial was painful.

I dont use the Nav ever!! Waze is my preference.
On that basis, the iDrive dial (& Audis latest controller as per my old RS3) is far better than touch sceen, i find it actually quite difficult to choose things in the Porsche as you drove down the road; either your finger misses the right button, or you're looking at the screen not the road!

 

[Jack!]

My TTS is DSG, so I just balance my wrist on the would be gear knob, it's quite convenient.

I also use Waze, do you use it on your phone?

 

[Sir_Dave]

My TTS is DSG, so I just balance my wrist on the would be gear knob, it's quite convenient.

I also use Waze, do you use it on your phone?

I do at the moment yeah, but there is apparently some funky chinese adapter that will allow me to mirror it to the screen - might be a future upgrade perhaps ?

What about you, through the phone, or via Cartplay of some sort?

 

[Jack!]

I bought an Android unit, so I run Waze and Spotify on the unit itself.

I used Macrdroid on my phone for automation, so that when my phone connects to the units bluetooth it automatically turns HotSpot on so the unit can connect to 4G.

The whole thing for me, lazy as it sounds, is I didn't want to have to take my phone out my pocket, because I found on short trips of 15 minutes or so, I'd never bother connecting up my phone and putting music on. Now I just get in, sit, and press play.

 

[Sir_Dave]

Haha, i can understand that completely, if i leave mine in my pocket, the Combox/CIC will just pull through a random playlist through from my iPhone & stream it via bluetooth. Doesnt need to be plugged in for music, text messages or phone calls ? Before i had to bugger about turning on aftermarket bluetooth streaming thingies, make sure the radio was on aux, select a song on my phone etc etc. Such a faff. But that was £12, not hundreds lol.

 

[Simon_16v]

I wouldn't worry too much about the BMW live services, my F30 has it and I'm pretty sure it's a 2G service (mines a pre-lci).

 

[Greeny.]

Love this project Dave, you going leather with it at somepoint?

 

[Christopher]

Awesome retrofit work.

Can you not access the BMW app integration at all? I've got an official Spotify app for mine that pulls artwork/playlists/search features all from your phone.

 

[Sir_Dave]

I wouldn't worry too much about the BMW live services, my F30 has it and I'm pretty sure it's a 2G service (mines a pre-lci).

Awesome retrofit work.
Can you not access the BMW app integration at all? I've got an official Spotify app for mine that pulls artwork/playlists/search features all from your phone.

Having now done a bit more reading on the "CarTechnoloGY" forum: https://cartechnology.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=61, it would seem that up until about June, with the coding that ive done, it would give you BMW Live, BMW Internet & Apps for Spotify etc. Unfortunately, BMW appear to have someone turned it off for retrofits, so only OEM combox/CIC (like @Christopher) and NBT (@Simon_16v) systems will work for it, even if you change the VIN etc ?

Mine still works fine with Apple Music album art/playlists/search etc though so not the end of the world!

Love this project Dave, you going leather with it at somepoint?

Thanks!!
Re: the leather, unsure really, i actually really like the cloth/alcantara, its mega comfy, especially as its heated! Also, seems to be very rare to get a decent spec car without leather, so part of me enjoys the rarity of that i suppose. On the flipside, when i do eventually get bored of it, id love to retrofit the OysterLemon and Wood combo, just really classy i think ...

I really need to get round to fitting the Bilsteins as well. But its cold ?

 

[_Tom]

Whilst leather looks nicer, that's it. The cloth/Alcantara is much nicer to live with day to day.

 

[Simon_16v]

Having now done a bit more reading on the "CarTechnoloGY" forum: https://cartechnology.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=61, it would seem that up until about June, with the coding that ive done, it would give you BMW Live, BMW Internet & Apps for Spotify etc. Unfortunately, BMW appear to have someone turned it off for retrofits, so only OEM combox/CIC (like @Christopher) and NBT (@Simon_16v) systems will work for it, even if you change the VIN etc ?

Mine still works fine with Apple Music album art/playlists/search etc though so not the end of the world!



Thanks!!
Re: the leather, unsure really, i actually really like the cloth/alcantara, its mega comfy, especially as its heated! Also, seems to be very rare to get a decent spec car without leather, so part of me enjoys the rarity of that i suppose. On the flipside, when i do eventually get bored of it, id love to retrofit the OysterLemon and Wood combo, just really classy i think ...

I really need to get round to fitting the Bilsteins as well. But its cold ?

I wish mine was NBT, I have the Champ2 system (business nav) which looks to be the same version as the LCI E90.

 

[Greeny.]

I love my LCI just needs a proper engine lol, waiting until it’s paid off then will probably get a 2016 330 touring or a 340 if I can afford it.

 

[Christopher]

Having now done a bit more reading on the "CarTechnoloGY" forum: https://cartechnology.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?fid=61, it would seem that up until about June, with the coding that ive done, it would give you BMW Live, BMW Internet & Apps for Spotify etc. Unfortunately, BMW appear to have someone turned it off for retrofits, so only OEM combox/CIC (like @Christopher) and NBT (@Simon_16v) systems will work for it, even if you change the VIN etc ?

Mine still works fine with Apple Music album art/playlists/search etc though so not the end of the world!

Ah that's sh*te, I thought there must've been a reason for you not using the app.

Agreed on the leather too, I actually really like the cloth/alcantara on yours. It's different.

 

[Sir_Dave]

So between Christmas & New Year i bought a manual e91 N53 325i off ebay, with a misfire, whilst a bit drunk.
I'll post about it in here, just because hopefully it'll be an easy fix and i can get back to messing about with the 330i.

I have no imagination.

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But i do have wood.

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And a sh1t load of errors.

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I havent yet done any diagnosis, but i have removed this f*cking thing off the bonnet.

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Spec is very good and mostly why i bought it, so adaptive xenons, highbeam assist, pro nav, usb input, bluetooth, Logic 7 DSP speakers, retractable armrest, black leather electric seats with memory & lumbar. No front parking (easy to retrofit) or heated seats (utter pain to retrofit, but possible). Currently im unsure why ive bought it, or what im going to do with it, but i'll update the thread as & when ?

 

[Christopher]

Pretty solid, looks tidy too. If you can get the engine issues sorted then I might have a buyer for you.

A mate is looking at 325i E91s.

 

[MarkCup]

Ha ha ha, this is Dave through and through. Love it. Good spend.

#mbadgewank3rs

 

[Scrooge]

LOL!

 

[cat171]

I love Dave's stories!!

 

[Rob]

Solid work Dave.... engine must be fuel related right? Too many cylinders to be anything like plugs/coils etc.

 

[BigDaveRotary]

Everyone loves a drunk purchase!