Retro-fits - What have you done?

[AnubisZed]

Morning all,

Thought I'd start this off to see who else has undertaken retro-fits on their e89.
I'm not talking of changing the antenna to a stubby or changing the wheels etc but full-on proper retrofits either OEM boxed options like the HUD (not that it's actually listed for the e89) or fitting better spec seats with memory etc

Here's mine....
Better OEM Professional head unit with built-in USB control and Bluetooth (along with microphone and steering column housing).
Addition of door tweeters.
All electric memory seats.
Cruise control.

Upcoming mods...
Interior auto-dipping mirror.
Auto-wipers / Auto lights.
Full electric folding / auto-dipping exterior door mirrors.


So what have you got or would like to have???...

 

[kish_t]

Morning all,

Thought I'd start this off to see who else has undertaken retro-fits on their e89.
I'm not talking of changing the antenna to a stubby or changing the wheels etc but full-on proper retrofits either OEM boxed options like the HUD (not that it's actually listed for the e89) or fitting better spec seats with memory etc

Here's mine....
Better OEM Professional head unit with built-in USB control and Bluetooth (along with microphone and steering column housing).
Addition of door tweeters.
All electric memory seats.
Cruise control.

Upcoming mods...
Interior auto-dipping mirror.
Auto-wipers / Auto lights.
Full electric folding / auto-dipping exterior door mirrors.


So what have you got or would like to have???...

Wow! You went to town with the retrofits! Impressive. Was this all done yourself or by others (or a combination of both)!

 

[jabber]

Yes quite an impressive list you have completed

 

[AnubisZed]

Morning all,

Thought I'd start this off to see who else has undertaken retro-fits on their e89.
I'm not talking of changing the antenna to a stubby or changing the wheels etc but full-on proper retrofits either OEM boxed options like the HUD (not that it's actually listed for the e89) or fitting better spec seats with memory etc

Here's mine....
Better OEM Professional head unit with built-in USB control and Bluetooth (along with microphone and steering column housing).
Addition of door tweeters.
All electric memory seats.
Cruise control.

Upcoming mods...
Interior auto-dipping mirror.
Auto-wipers / Auto lights.
Full electric folding / auto-dipping exterior door mirrors.


So what have you got or would like to have???...

Wow! You went to town with the retrofits! Impressive. Was this all done yourself or by others (or a combination of both)!

Thank you, yes all done by myself, some are easier than others with the seats being the most complex due to fitting and running of wires etc.
And to be fair the most difficult part of any of it is the coding or at least it is when you are learning how to do it.

 

[kish_t]

Morning all,

Thought I'd start this off to see who else has undertaken retro-fits on their e89.
I'm not talking of changing the antenna to a stubby or changing the wheels etc but full-on proper retrofits either OEM boxed options like the HUD (not that it's actually listed for the e89) or fitting better spec seats with memory etc

Here's mine....
Better OEM Professional head unit with built-in USB control and Bluetooth (along with microphone and steering column housing).
Addition of door tweeters.
All electric memory seats.
Cruise control.

Upcoming mods...
Interior auto-dipping mirror.
Auto-wipers / Auto lights.
Full electric folding / auto-dipping exterior door mirrors.


So what have you got or would like to have???...

Wow! You went to town with the retrofits! Impressive. Was this all done yourself or by others (or a combination of both)!

Thank you, yes all done by myself, some are easier than others with the seats being the most complex due to fitting and running of wires etc.
And to be fair the most difficult part of any of it is the coding or at least it is when you are learning how to do it.

Even more impressive!!! I wish I was that handy and skilful!

The only thing I would like to retro fit on my car is the I-drive system, and electric seats!

 

[AnubisZed]

Even more impressive!!! I wish I was that handy and skilful!

The only thing I would like to retro fit on my car is the I-drive system, and electric seats!

The seats aren't really all that bad, finding all the correct info in one spot is though, I was researching this for a good few months before I decided to give it a go. The installation was relatively straight forward once I sorted a problem out (as in don't take short cuts!! )

As for iDrive, it is doable just quite complex and very expensive once you've bought all the parts required (you're looking at £2k+). The coding side is where it becomes complex as you'd need an ICOM unit and they are not cheap at all (I don't have one and won't be buying one either!) to code the MULF2 unit which you need for Bluetooth and USB control on the iDrive system.
Instead of a retro-fit iDrive I'm awaiting the launch of the Z4 version of this unit (attached photo). It's a bolt-on to the standard Professional head unit (as in the e90 in the photo, same head unit as the e89) and does all the same things without any coding!! hopefully available next month.

 

[PaulRUK3]

I don’t suppose you did a ‘how to’ when you did your seats by any chance? I would deeeearly love to do this, but still on the look out for the right seats (must be Koral Red). I also want to retro-fit a heated steering wheel, I don’t half miss it on these cold mornings (I had one in my.... sorry.... SLK).

 

[clarker63]

I've posted the results of my work here when I upgraded from cloth, nothing electric, to heated/electric MSports seats...

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=92671

If you have some electric to your seats you're in a better position than I was - having to manufacture a harness to fit to the Junction Box, and to the battery is timeconsuming, but is not that hard.

Finding MSports seats at a good price is hard too.. and the switch panel doesn't come up that often in good condition.. I was lucky in both cases spending £400 on the seats and £80 on the switch (which I thought were a good deal)

the most frustrating part was getting the Junction Box coded.. because no one else had said this needed to happen, and after about 9 months thinking it was a wiring problem, I worked it out!

I've also done cruise, tweeters and the LCI indicators (which I think are much nicer than the originals). I did contemplate adding the through the bulkhead ski-bag/luggage thing, but its a bit of a faff for not much use (for me at least)

People are starting to modify these cars now that they are not so expensive or risk voiding their warranty.

 

[Pyranha]

Even more impressive!!! I wish I was that handy and skilful!

The only thing I would like to retro fit on my car is the I-drive system, and electric seats!

The seats aren't really all that bad, finding all the correct info in one spot is though, I was researching this for a good few months before I decided to give it a go. The installation was relatively straight forward once I sorted a problem out (as in don't take short cuts!! )

As for iDrive, it is doable just quite complex and very expensive once you've bought all the parts required (you're looking at £2k+). The coding side is where it becomes complex as you'd need an ICOM unit and they are not cheap at all (I don't have one and won't be buying one either!) to code the MULF2 unit which you need for Bluetooth and USB control on the iDrive system.
Instead of a retro-fit iDrive I'm awaiting the launch of the Z4 version of this unit (attached photo). It's a bolt-on to the standard Professional head unit (as in the e90 in the photo, same head unit as the e89) and does all the same things without any coding!! hopefully available next month.

Who is making this aftermarket bolt on style unit?

Could prove popular with e89 owners if it fits in the same space as the standard nav screen and can be hidden away. I have been looking for something like this for a while, any details would be appreciated. Might be worth of its own thread if you have some more info, I think a lot of us with non-nav cars would be interested.

 

[AnubisZed]

Who is making this aftermarket bolt on style unit?

Could prove popular with e89 owners if it fits in the same space as the standard nav screen and can be hidden away. I have been looking for something like this for a while, any details would be appreciated. Might be worth of its own thread if you have some more info, I think a lot of us with non-nav cars would be interested.

There are 2 companies that claim to have this on the market within the next month, one is www.a-carnavi.com in China and the other is AVIN USA over in the states. I think AVIN are selling the same units that are built in China by a-carnavi.com (but that's only an educated guess11 :roll: )
I can't give any more details as there aren't any as of yet, there is nothing on their websites yet either. I've been talking to the guys over at www.a-carnavi.com over the past few months but no real info from them, I'm not sure if it's a language problem or they just don't want to say anything until it's actually advertised.
As soon as it' is advertised I'll post s thread up about it.

 

[AnubisZed]

Oh yeah one detail I do know, they intend to make one version for cars with iDrive and one for the rest of us that don't have it, like me

 

[Nictrix]

Someone has done this on the Xdrivers forum with an X5
https://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18174
It does look like a good bit of kit although I would imagine its a bit easier fitting it to something that had a screen to start with.

 

[IRD]

Even more impressive!!! I wish I was that handy and skilful!

The only thing I would like to retro fit on my car is the I-drive system, and electric seats!

The seats aren't really all that bad, finding all the correct info in one spot is though, I was researching this for a good few months before I decided to give it a go. The installation was relatively straight forward once I sorted a problem out (as in don't take short cuts!! )

As for iDrive, it is doable just quite complex and very expensive once you've bought all the parts required (you're looking at £2k+). The coding side is where it becomes complex as you'd need an ICOM unit and they are not cheap at all (I don't have one and won't be buying one either!) to code the MULF2 unit which you need for Bluetooth and USB control on the iDrive system.
Instead of a retro-fit iDrive I'm awaiting the launch of the Z4 version of this unit (attached photo). It's a bolt-on to the standard Professional head unit (as in the e90 in the photo, same head unit as the e89) and does all the same things without any coding!! hopefully available next month.

Really interested in the unit in your photo. Do you have any more details? Price, where it can be purchased etc.

 

[eff1guy]

AnubisZed, I take my hat off to you sir, amazing patience and ingenuity. I have the patience but unfortunately don't have the time or more sadly, the necessary skill

About the only things I'm missing are the Heated Steering Wheel and the Pro Speaker set up. Not fussed about the speakers (who buys a 35is to listen to music? ) but would love to retro-fit the heated wheel, looks expensive though from what I've read and that's if I'd even have a clue how to fit and code it :dizzy:

I did contemplate adding the through the bulkhead ski-bag/luggage thing, but its a bit of a faff for not much use (for me at least)

It's worth it for the added storage shelf alone, you can hide away loads of little nik naks in there

 

[clarker63]

True. Storage isn't the z4's forte!

 

[AnubisZed]

I don’t suppose you did a ‘how to’ when you did your seats by any chance? I would deeeearly love to do this, but still on the look out for the right seats (must be Koral Red). I also want to retro-fit a heated steering wheel, I don’t half miss it on these cold mornings (I had one in my.... sorry.... SLK).

Sorry I missed this post earlier
Take a look at the link in clarker63#s post below yours, that is the very informative thread I read cover to cover (so to speak) prior to doing mine. The work by woodpecka and dasammy is invaluable in doing this mod.

 

[AnubisZed]

I've posted the results of my work here when I upgraded from cloth, nothing electric, to heated/electric MSports seats...

https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=92671

If you have some electric to your seats you're in a better position than I was - having to manufacture a harness to fit to the Junction Box, and to the battery is timeconsuming, but is not that hard.

Finding MSports seats at a good price is hard too.. and the switch panel doesn't come up that often in good condition.. I was lucky in both cases spending £400 on the seats and £80 on the switch (which I thought were a good deal)

the most frustrating part was getting the Junction Box coded.. because no one else had said this needed to happen, and after about 9 months thinking it was a wiring problem, I worked it out!

I've also done cruise, tweeters and the LCI indicators (which I think are much nicer than the originals). I did contemplate adding the through the bulkhead ski-bag/luggage thing, but its a bit of a faff for not much use (for me at least)

People are starting to modify these cars now that they are not so expensive or risk voiding their warranty.

Again, sorry I missed this post earlier as well.
Yes nice write up there, and (as above) I also followed that thread, very informative

 

[AnubisZed]

Someone has done this on the Xdrivers forum with an X5
https://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=18174
It does look like a good bit of kit although I would imagine its a bit easier fitting it to something that had a screen to start with.

Yeah that's the one, both companies (as in my post above) sell units for almost all of the BMW range both for iDrive and non-iDrive cars (except the Z4)
I started talking to them just after they released the e90 non-iDrive version as it is exactly the same set up as our Professional head units.
It's a plug-n-play Y cable that connects to the newly mounted touch screen. Audio is supplied to the head unit via the AUX input at the back of the plug coupler and then is amplified by either the head unit or your boot amplifier if you have the high spec set-up. The features in the new unit are just like any current Android driven head unit but just with the BMW style theme.

 

[AnubisZed]

AnubisZed, I take my hat off to you sir, amazing patience and ingenuity. I have the patience but unfortunately don't have the time or more sadly, the necessary skill

About the only things I'm missing are the Heated Steering Wheel and the Pro Speaker set up. Not fussed about the speakers (who buys a 35is to listen to music? ) but would love to retro-fit the heated wheel, looks expensive though from what I've read and that's if I'd even have a clue how to fit and code it :dizzy:

I did contemplate adding the through the bulkhead ski-bag/luggage thing, but its a bit of a faff for not much use (for me at least)

It's worth it for the added storage shelf alone, you can hide away loads of little nik naks in there

The heated steering wheel is a doable job, parts will set you back around £300 - £350 give or take. I did consider it but not at that price, I'll put some gloves on until the heat is up then have the vents pointing to my hands

As for the through storage, I looked into this one as well.... Front bulkhead carpet section with hole, rear bulkhead carpet section with hole and then all of the parts for the actual storage unit or ski bag, priced it at well over £250 (at the time for used parts from eBay) and decided for three little shelves that I'd probably never use and all the hassle in fitting it I wouldn't bother!! :?

 

[Bmac]

Would like to have cruise control and parking sensors but told by local bmw dealer that not possible