OEM dual USB-C port retrofit

[TriggerFish]

Hi all,

Thought this would be of interest to people... My E86 came with the panel above the ashtray with the aux port cut out. I have Bluetooth audio, so don't need an aux port. I do need somewhere to charge phones etc though, and thought that panel would be ideal...

After some googling, I took a chance on a second hand BMW dual USB-C charge only (no data) panel/socket. It turned up, and fits perfectly into the aux cutout!

I haven't wired it up yet, but it'll be easy - one wire for earth, one for power, and the other for illumination. I can't be bothered to tap into the cars wiring for a dimmable illumination feed, so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel. I'll use a fuse piggy back for this, so no modification needed to the car at all!

Wiring colours:

Brown for earth
Red/purple for 12v in
Grey/red for illumination

Part numbers:

Aux panel - 51459128397 (or cut your existing non-aux) - £15 from BMW brand new.
Usb panel - 8711938 - I paid £21 on eBay including the plug/length of wiring

Aux panel https://www.sytnerstevenagebmwparts.co.uk/p/132172537/51459128397.html
Usb panel https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partsearch?id=DU52-EUR---E86-BMW-Z4+3.0si&mg=51&q=8711938

Fitting is as simple as plugging it into the aux panel and connecting the three wires.

I'm shocked it fits so perfectly, given the age difference in the cars!

Hope this is helpful to someone

The other advantage - this is a BMW part, so should have better longevity that a random Amazon charger if unknown quality.

 

[bigwinn]

That is proper

Great job

 

[addliteness]

What did you end up powering this off? You mentioned 'so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel'. Do you mean you piggy backed off the fuse panel behind the glove box?

Hi all,

Thought this would be of interest to people... My E86 came with the panel above the ashtray with the aux port cut out. I have Bluetooth audio, so don't need an aux port. I do need somewhere to charge phones etc though, and thought that panel would be ideal...

After some googling, I took a chance on a second hand BMW dual USB-C charge only (no data) panel/socket. It turned up, and fits perfectly into the aux cutout!

I haven't wired it up yet, but it'll be easy - one wire for earth, one for power, and the other for illumination. I can't be bothered to tap into the cars wiring for a dimmable illumination feed, so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel. I'll use a fuse piggy back for this, so no modification needed to the car at all!

Wiring colours:

Brown for earth
Red/purple for 12v in
Grey/red for illumination

Part numbers:

Aux panel - 51459128397 (or cut your existing non-aux) - £15 from BMW brand new.
Usb panel - 8711938 - I paid £21 on eBay including the plug/length of wiring

Aux panel https://www.sytnerstevenagebmwparts.co.uk/p/132172537/51459128397.html
Usb panel https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partsearch?id=DU52-EUR---E86-BMW-Z4+3.0si&mg=51&q=8711938

Fitting is as simple as plugging it into the aux panel and connecting the three wires.

I'm shocked it fits so perfectly, given the age difference in the cars!

Hope this is helpful to someone

The other advantage - this is a BMW part, so should have better longevity that a random Amazon charger if unknown quality.

View attachment 184018

View attachment 184019

View attachment 184020

 

[TriggerFish]

What did you end up powering this off? You mentioned 'so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel'. Do you mean you piggy backed off the fuse panel behind the glove box?

I powered it using piggy back fuses from the main glovebox fuse board, yes. I don't remember which fuse I used, but it would be an ignition switched one so it didn't drain the battery. (I suspect, but haven't tested, that it'll draw slight power even when idle if it's stepping voltage down.)

I connected the ground/earth to a bolt by the fuse box, and then joined the other two wires (one for power, one for illumination) together, and connected them to a fuse piggy back.

This bit 'so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel' was referring to terminating the wire for the illumination together with the wire for the power, rather than trying to control the illumination brightness inline with the rest of the dashboard.

So:
- Brown for earth - connected to a bolt somewhere by the fuse box
- Red/purple for 12v in - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back
- Grey/red for illumination - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back (the same one as the 12v input - I just pushed both wires into the same bullet connection)
This kinda connector, corresponding with my piggy back connector:

 

[addliteness]

I powered it using piggy back fuses from the main glovebox fuse board, yes. I don't remember which fuse I used, but it would be an ignition switched one so it didn't drain the battery. (I suspect, but haven't tested, that it'll draw slight power even when idle if it's stepping voltage down.)

I connected the ground/earth to a bolt by the fuse box, and then joined the other two wires (one for power, one for illumination) together, and connected them to a fuse piggy back.

This bit 'so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel' was referring to terminating the wire for the illumination together with the wire for the power, rather than trying to control the illumination brightness inline with the rest of the dashboard.

So:
- Brown for earth - connected to a bolt somewhere by the fuse box
- Red/purple for 12v in - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back
- Grey/red for illumination - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back (the same one as the 12v input - I just pushed both wires into the same bullet connection)
This kinda connector, corresponding with my piggy back connector:
View attachment 297243 View attachment 297244

That's great. I'll do this. I already have the Proclip mount installed with a MagSafe charger and this will be way cleaner than the cig adapter.

 

[addliteness]

I powered it using piggy back fuses from the main glovebox fuse board, yes. I don't remember which fuse I used, but it would be an ignition switched one so it didn't drain the battery. (I suspect, but haven't tested, that it'll draw slight power even when idle if it's stepping voltage down.)

I connected the ground/earth to a bolt by the fuse box, and then joined the other two wires (one for power, one for illumination) together, and connected them to a fuse piggy back.

This bit 'so I'll probably just hook it to the same ignition live as the main power feed to the panel' was referring to terminating the wire for the illumination together with the wire for the power, rather than trying to control the illumination brightness inline with the rest of the dashboard.

So:
- Brown for earth - connected to a bolt somewhere by the fuse box
- Red/purple for 12v in - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back
- Grey/red for illumination - connected to an ignition live fuse piggy back (the same one as the 12v input - I just pushed both wires into the same bullet connection)
This kinda connector, corresponding with my piggy back connector:
View attachment 297243 View attachment 297244

I'm pulling all the bits and pieces together for this. Question on the fuse tap. Do you remember what amp fuse you used to the USB panel? Wondering if the 5A fuse is enough to give the panel the power it needs or should I use 10A?

 

[TriggerFish]

5amp fuse will give you some head room. I think I actually put a 10amp in mine (as it's what I had to hand), so I need to revise that down.

Both ports are 3amps (at 5v), so I'd go with a 5amp fuse, as it'll be pulling 30watts (5v x 3amps x2 ports) with both charging at once.

30watts/12volts (12volts being from the battery) = 2.5amps.

 

[Micke]

Finally installed this mod/retrofit. I bought the port already during the winter. Now that I have Bluebus, the aux port is not needed anymore.

I made a ”wiring harness” with the plug provided with the USB port and the fuse thingy

Next was to find where to connect the positive and ground, both marked in picture. Positive is live with ignition on.

Wires connected

Pulled the wires under the dash and checked that everything works as it should

I put some tape over the AUX wiring and tucked it away

Panel back where it belongs, glovebox reinstalled afterwards.


Really nice mod, now I can ditch the phone charger that connects to the lighter.

Thanks @TriggerFish for the idea and instructions on how to get it done.

 

[addliteness]

@TriggerFish fish and @Micke You guys killed it with this one.

TriggerFish, followed your tips. Bought the USB-C ports off eBay. Finding one where the wires had just been clipped like yours is key. Makes wiring dead easy. It would have been such a hassle to find the adaptor, pins, etc.

Micke, built a 'harness' just like yours and used the same fuse slot as you recommended.

One difference I noticed is that I don't have those bolts exposed under the fuse box that you used for ground. I have a 2007 Z4M and I'm in Canada. I think I read somewhere we have a knee airbag, but the euro cars do not. I wonder if that's the difference in what I'm seeing?

I ended up doing the ol' spark test to see where I could find a ground. The visible screw under the fuse box in my image just went into another piece of plastic, so that did not work.

Looking up above the fuse box, I found a couple that worked for ground. I ended up moving it from the one where it's attached to in this image as I rubbed on the end of the box as it opened/closed. On the other one bolt, it kind of rubs when you remove the glovebox, but as I don't plan to do that regularly, I'm living with it.

I used a 5V fuse in my tap.

I was a little worried that the USB-C wouldn't have enough output to charge via my ProClip Mount/Apple MagSafe, but it's working great. Near full speed as far as I can tell.

Anyway, thanks for chiming in on my other post TriggerFish. I never would have thought of this.

 

[Zulu4]

Cool.
I've had the car for years yet I've never noticed that Aux socket under there !

 

[TriggerFish]

Cool.
I've had the car for years yet I've never noticed that Aux socket under there !

Seems like it's time to swap it out for something more useful for

 

[addliteness]

Some shots of my final install. Nice and tidy.

 

[knsaber]

Nice work! OMG You don't want to see MY fuse box, two tap-a-fuse with a handful of accessories attached to them all. I'm tempted to get a bus bar next for the amount of accessories I have.