i-Bus interface cable connection

[webpain]

Hi all! I'm a new Z4 owner (got it in January).

After I did some searching in the last couple of days, I could not find any information on where/how to connect the i-bus interface I got (to run NavCoder).

I didn't get the interface from Reslers, but on ebay and it looks like this:



Now I would really appreciate if someone would provide some info:

-Where is the best/easiest place to connect the i-bus interface (i.e. glovebox, trunk?)
-What are the cable colors in the Z4 (model specific?) for:

• i-Bus
• 12V
• Ground

-Once the cables are located, should I cut of a piece of the plastic wrapping and then just twist in the interface cable? Should I solder it?
-Any pictures/illustrations would be much appreciated as well as I would like to be sure what I'm cutting into so that I don't mess anything up.

I have already connected an AVBMW cable (for AV input) in the trunk and got it working, so pointing to the cables near that area would also be helpful!

Thanks in advance!

 

[sk93]

i-Bus is white/grey/yellow
ground is brown
12v is red/green, but i think there's a few different types (batt/ignition) etc. certainly the ones I've played around with are battery and are red/green and do NOT turn off after 30 minutes

you can find the iBus cable running around behind the carpet on the firewall.

If you have a CD changer, or CD changer prep (if that exists?) then you'll find one plug back there that has one of each wire that you need (switch +12v, ground and iBus) in one handy plug, which is red, brown and white

hope that helps

 

[webpain]

Man that was a fast response! Thanks!

Unfortunately I do not have a CD changer. Now I don't know if there is a CD changer prep, but from the looks of it there should be. I had a look in this document on page 12 step 30, is that what you mean?

BTW, is there an easy way to access those cables from the trunk? In addition, what would be the easiest way to pass a cable through the trunk into the main cabin (I want to do that with the AV input cable)?

 

[sk93]

yes.. those plugs in step 30 are the ones i'm talking about.

Access to that area is pretty easy - just remove the two lower carpet mounting screws in each bottom corner of the firewall carpet and then lift the carpet up from the bottom... no need to take the whole thing out.
You can run the cables down through the central console, but taking it out can be real PITA.
I ran a 35mm audio cable down through it without having to take anything major out, but a set of AV leads are going to be a bit bigger, and as such a bit harder. The audio boys on here are probably the best bet on this.

 

[srhutch]

CD changer prep was standard on all UK cars, I dont think it was in the US where they had bluetooth prep as standard.

As SK93 says just access through the boot and see if the prep is there for your greek Z4.

 

[webpain]

Thanks a lot guys, will try it out.

By firewall do you mean the wall between the seats and the trunk space? Is what you described for access from the trunk? I'm asking because I remember when I installed the AV cable, there where only some main units behind the main carpet where the screen/tv/video and navi connectors and cables where present. I might need to fiddle around a bit deeper to find that then

I know taking the whole thing out can be a big pain, I found out the hard way when I needed to retrofit the hard-top prep (finally didn't need to though).

@srhutch did you retrofit the "OEM Carbon Leather Dash" or did you get the car like that?

BTW the car was bought in Germany.

 

[srhutch]

Yes the firewall is the section between the seats and the trunk, pull the carpet back in the trunk and you should hopefully see the cable, from memory it's taped down if it exists. (Not sure on German spec cars)

Regarding the OEM Carbon Leather Dash, yes I retrofitted at the same time I fitted the SatNav, it was a ebay bargin

 

[webpain]

Hi again! Thanks for all the info. I was away last week thus could not try it out.
Yesterday I did though, and here I am with some photos as I could not find the CD-changer prep (red, brown and white cables) anywhere in the firewall section. Following are the photos from left to right. Any pointers?

Overview:


Trunk firewall from left to right.

Left, Middle (with the AV input connected), Right:


Middle (zoomed without AV):


I also found 2 holes in the lower section under the carpet:



Sorry to bother u all again but any pointers in the right direction would be appreciated!

 

[webpain]

Bump?

 

[sk93]

its hard to say what i'm looking at here i'm afriad.
I'd have said it should be behind that big aluminium box in the middle - but I don't know what that is to begin with :|


sorry - but I don't think I can be much help, as if you don't have the cd changer prep - I wouldn't know where else to find the iBus (apart from behind the stereo)

 

[Andy]

Might be wrong, but it looks like you have the TV Module, and no DSP ?

If so, that covers up the hole you're looking for, through to the rear of the Navigation computer.

Remove your TV Module, you'll see the hole, then fish about in the low end of the hole for the CD Prep cables

 

[webpain]

@sk93: no worries you helped a lot anyway!

@Andy: Yeah! Thats true, I don't have the DSP module and I DO have a TV module! I will try removing the TV module and looking behind it (I hope that doesn't mean that I have to take the whole thing apart).

Thanks a lot guys!

 

[webpain]

Hi again, so I did remove the TV module and reached inside the hole (below):



where the CD changer mounting bracket is but after a lot of searching was not able to find the CD changer prep (not even taped anywhere). I assume that mine doesn't have one... :x

Now... I found that the TV module connector has at least the red/green 12V cable and the brown ground cable (as it can be seen bellow) so I will probably go with that.



The question is I did not find an only white/ only gray / only yellow as sk93 mentioned that the iBus cable is so would anyone care to highlight if any of the rest of the cables on the connector is an iBus one.

Also, I would like to know if it is advised to just cut off a bit of the plastic wrapping of the cables and connect the interface cables there or if there is another better way.

Bellow are the photos of the 2 TV module connectors cables. Any pointers to photo # and cable color would be great.

1. 2. 3.
4. 5. 6.
7.

Finally, would it perhaps be a good idea to store these photos somewhere for future reference i.e. if another user wants to install an iBus interface? Just an idea...

 

[webpain]

Just for the reference, after looking through some helpful wiring diagrams I found that even the TV module connector has all the necessary cables to get the ibus interface working!



I took off the masking tape that went around the cables, and about 10cm up from the connector I scratched off a bit of the wire's plastic wrapping and connected the ones from the ibus interface. It was all working once I connected the laptop to the interface and thus I closed everything up with some high quality masking tape, tidied everything else up and happily coded the car using NavCoder.

Good luck if anyone wants to do the same and let me know if you need any help.

Last but not least, many thanks for the help and support of the other forum members, really appreciated!

 

[Hotride]

Great Post, after reading, thought i'd have a go. I just installed the serial port version (rs232) as i had an old usb-RS232 converter laying around. I think the main bit of info i have to add is the I-bus wire in the Z4 is White and Red with Yellow Bands on it, and you can find it everywhere behind the boot carpet!!

I removed the lower carpet clips and installed the adapter cables with scotch locks, to the corresponding cables coming out of the nav system (same colours as pic above) and put all the carpet back, with a cable for my laptop protruding into the boot. this took 15 mins and is pretty straight forward.

Now for the difficult part - connecting to the laptop. (i run windows 7 OS) Before navcoder will connect to the I-BUS system you need to make your RS232 connection visible to the computer. if you are not tech savvy i have some advice for you - you will require a RS232 Driver (get it here http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm) and once installed go to your device manager and check that the serial port is COM3 (navcoder only looks for devices in COM3, so if you device is plugged into a different COM port you will need to rename it to 3). Otherwise you will spend 1/2 a day banging head on desk, wondering why nothing will work.

Once this little issue was sorted, navcoder is very user friendly, and could save you multiple trips to the dealers!!.

 

[sk93]

I think the main bit of info i have to add is the I-bus wire in the Z4 is White and Red with Yellow Bands on it.

Sadly this doesn't seem to hold true for every zed... for mine and two others I know of are definately not white and red with yellow banding, but are infact white and grey with yellow banding. :/



But I'm glad you got it all working in the end

 

[Hotride]

haha yes well I read that somewhere and i spent a long time looking for the mysterious white/grey/yellow wire, even tho i could see this white/red/yellow wire running everywhere, eventually i just guessed and joined it to the only tri-colour wire i could find.

maybe the secret is, the Ibus wire is the 3 colour wire?

PS: off topic, but when i use nav coder i can change a few things, but as soon as i unplug my laptop the changes disappear again. do i have to save my settings/ coding at all or is this a sign of a bigger issue?