[taibanl]

still NO ONE in this thread wants to sell thier OEM HU?

[Alpine328i]

PM'ed you

[HellsBells]

I want to let everyone know my experience with this unit if you are thinking of purchasing. First of all, you should check out the thread here http://forum.E46Fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=793437 because they really have covered everything in depth and have some REALLY knowledgable folks there.
OK, I just want to preface that I will be objective as possible...
I purchased a DVN-E9X unit from BimmerNav and I had problems from the start. My opinion is they really are not very informed about the product that they sell and do not have a customer support function. They did try to help me if you call, pointing me to these forums as support. My first issue was the motherboard was toast on arrival. They did send me another unit, but only after much wrangling with them. Most of the help and free support I received was from Jeff at Dynavin Solutions. It is my opinion that he has the best support out there and helped me diagnose a fried motherboard even though I did not purchase the unit from him. OK, I received the second unit but the firmware was a weird mix of English and Chinese. I sent this problem to BimmerNav and once again they point me to e46 fanatics forum to a post about changing to English on the nav side - nothing to do with my problem. Once again, Jeff helps me out by sending the problem FOR ME to Dynavin and getting a software flash to fix the problem. So, I just wanted to share my experience with you on this and to let you know if you are going to buy one of these units, you should seriously consider buying from Jeff.
I will tell you, I do love is unit and paired with the JBL MS-8 it sounds incredible. BUT, these units are not perfect, I know much more about this unit then I ever really wanted to, you will need to play around with it to get it working perfectly, and lastly you will need good support.
So, the good thing is that Jeff has summarized 99% of the issues on the other boardnand he is on there to help out with the other 1%.
I know it looks like a shameless plug for Jeff, but without his help I would be sitting with a very expensive brick... Thanks!

[Alpine328i]

Originally Posted by HellsBells

I want to let everyone know my experience with this unit if you are thinking of purchasing. First of all, you should check out the thread here http://forum.E46Fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=793437 because they really have covered everything in depth and have some REALLY knowledgable folks there.
OK, I just want to preface that I will be objective as possible...
I purchased a DVN-E9X unit from BimmerNav and I had problems from the start. My opinion is they really are not very informed about the product that they sell and do not have a customer support function. They did try to help me if you call, pointing me to these forums as support. My first issue was the motherboard was toast on arrival. They did send me another unit, but only after much wrangling with them. Most of the help and free support I received was from Jeff at Dynavin Solutions. It is my opinion that he has the best support out there and helped me diagnose a fried motherboard even though I did not purchase the unit from him. OK, I received the second unit but the firmware was a weird mix of English and Chinese. I sent this problem to BimmerNav and once again they point me to e46 fanatics forum to a post about changing to English on the nav side - nothing to do with my problem. Once again, Jeff helps me out by sending the problem FOR ME to Dynavin and getting a software flash to fix the problem. So, I just wanted to share my experience with you on this and to let you know if you are going to buy one of these units, you should seriously consider buying from Jeff.
I will tell you, I do love is unit and paired with the JBL MS-8 it sounds incredible. BUT, these units are not perfect, I know much more about this unit then I ever really wanted to, you will need to play around with it to get it working perfectly, and lastly you will need good support.
So, the good thing is that Jeff has summarized 99% of the issues on the other boardnand he is on there to help out with the other 1%.
I know it looks like a shameless plug for Jeff, but without his help I would be sitting with a very expensive brick... Thanks!

Yeah sounds like a poor seller. I know i have heard good things about Jeff and the guy at CarAudioCraze where i got my unit from were really helpful. I had some questions as the instructions are not too clear and he was able to help me. He even sent in suggestions and questions to Dynavin for me.

I guess the moral to the story is to do research on who you buy from!

These two companies seem good to do business with, CarAudioCraze, Jeff @ Dynavin Solutions.

[dukeandtheland]

1). Since I do have logic 7 (and will be doing JBL MS-8 new amp etc.), what's really the difference on mounting the GPS to the center speaker location? Can I still do that?

Is there anything exposed (need to be exposed) on top of the dash? or it will be hidden underneath the speaker grill? I thought the antenna will have to be exposed in order to receive sate signal.

BTW, the picture you attached earlier is gone. can you re-attach?

2).When you say" it also comes with a new, longer cable for attaching the button strip to the main HVAC control unit, but I didn't bother installing."

What is that strip really for? I though the climate control buttons are reolcated below the Dynavin and we are now dealing with the heated seats buttons. What do you mean by the "main HVAC control unit"?

Originally Posted by scubasteve2365

I did some changes to my Dynavin install that others might find useful.

1) I mounted the GPS antenna under the center speaker location. With it mounted where the factory and caraudiocraze instructions were listed it sometimes took to long to lock on a signal. With it under the center speaker location it locks on much quicker. It's quite easy to place the antenna here. Simply pop the center grill piece from the dash. Then fish the connecter end of the cable down the center speaker hole and towards the passenger side. The connecter will make it's way into the radio compartment area in the upper passenger side and then pull the rest of the cable through. There's a metal bar a few inches below where the center speaker would mount (if you had one, I'm assuming everyone with a Dynavin at this point does not have logic7) that the GPS antenna's magnet back will attach to.



2) I ordered the Metra seat-heater control switch mounting plate. I did not like the glossy look of the Dynavin piece. I believe this Metra piece looks 10x better, it's flat/matte, and has a far more OEM look. The part number is 98-9306 and can be seen here: http://www.metraonline.com/part/98-9306

I ended up ordering it on Amazon because not a lot of places showed stock. I'm sure you go special order it with any shop that deals with metra products, but it seemed easier to just Amazon it. Cost was about $40, seems steep for a piece of plastic, but worth it. It also comes with a new, longer cable for attaching the button strip to the main HVAC control unit, but I didn't bother installing.

[Alpine328i]

Originally Posted by dukeandtheland

1). Since I do have logic 7 (and will be doing JBL MS-8 new amp etc.), what's really the difference on mounting the GPS to the center speaker location? Can I still do that?

Is there anything exposed (need to be exposed) on top of the dash? or it will be hidden underneath the speaker grill? I thought the antenna will have to be exposed in order to receive sate signal.

BTW, the picture you attached earlier is gone. can you re-attach?

2).When you say" it also comes with a new, longer cable for attaching the button strip to the main HVAC control unit, but I didn't bother installing."

What is that strip really for? I though the climate control buttons are reolcated below the Dynavin and we are now dealing with the heated seats buttons. What do you mean by the "main HVAC control unit"?

You really can mount the GPS antenna anywhere under the dash up front, it does NOT need to be exposed, just needs to have a "clear view" of the sky. So that means nothing metal in between it and the top of the dash/window out to the sky. I have mine buried under my dash and am getting fine signal.

I think he means he used the stock cable which barely makes it long enough.

Hopefully that helps!

[dukeandtheland]

Thanks. That does answer the question!

[dukeandtheland]

What is your solution when installing the Dynavin? What did you do with the existing ports in the armrest? Did you do some wiring to use them? or you dump them totally?

[Alpine328i]

Originally Posted by dukeandtheland

What is your solution when installing the Dynavin? What did you do with the existing ports in the armrest? Did you do some wiring to use them? or you dump them totally?

I dumped them as i never really used them anyway. But you can use a USB Extension and run another and put it in place of the OEM one. I think just a couple pages back in this thread someone put pics and information of it.

[dukeandtheland]

and will use that same spot to do a flush mount.

Originally Posted by Alpine328i

I dumped them as i never really used them anyway. But you can use a USB Extension and run another and put it in place of the OEM one. I think just a couple pages back in this thread someone put pics and information of it.

[mech888]

So has the fix for the assist error solved the problem?

[dukeandtheland]

I believe someone has asked this before but really never got a clear answer:
For people like me with L7,no BMW assist, and adding dynavin,jbl ms8,another amp, what is the key reason to retain and relocate the factory hu?

What is the risk of not keeping it? I have heard fuel pump issue, freezing temp, well, scary... Any truth to that? Odds of those happening?

I do know I will lose the chimes, lights on when ignition off,which worth nothing to me

Last thing to confirm, since I have no BMW assist, does that mean I won't get the famous SOS / assist error?

Also anyone has a link to any thread on keeping the hu (not for speakers, but just for those risks mentioned above)?

[Alpine328i]

Originally Posted by dukeandtheland

I believe someone has asked this before but really never got a clear answer:
For people like me with L7,no BMW assist, and adding dynavin,jbl ms8,another amp, what is the key reason to retain and relocate the factory hu?

What is the risk of not keeping it? I have heard fuel pump issue, freezing temp, well, scary... Any truth to that? Odds of those happening?

I do know I will lose the chimes, lights on when ignition off,which worth nothing to me

Last thing to confirm, since I have no BMW assist, does that mean I won't get the famous SOS / assist error?

Also anyone has a link to any thread on keeping the hu (not for speakers, but just for those risks mentioned above)?

You will lose the chimes and that like you noted. I have never heard of anything linked to the other stuff you said like fuel pumps and stuff. If you dont have BMW assist in your car then you shouldnt have the light. If you have it in your car, you just dont have the service activated you will still get the error.

Hope that helps.

[HellsBells]

Alpine, did you relocate the HU?

[dukeandtheland]

I read this tread about relocating the HU:

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...hlight=dynavin

Other than

Metra 70-9003
Metra 71-9003
MOST optical cable
two of 61120142318
two of socket contact 61136901846

Do I need other parts? (I won't need the chimes so no connection to speaker)

to correct - not the fuel pump issue but the potential need for the dealer to fix the issue of fule pump - in that case, the HU is needed for code reading, etc.

BTW, how do I know, 100%, that I don't have BMW assist in the car?

Originally Posted by Alpine328i

You will lose the chimes and that like you noted. I have never heard of anything linked to the other stuff you said like fuel pumps and stuff. If you dont have BMW assist in your car then you shouldnt have the light. If you have it in your car, you just dont have the service activated you will still get the error.

Hope that helps.

[Alpine328i]

Originally Posted by HellsBells

Alpine, did you relocate the HU?

I did not, i am not too worried about the chimes and the SOS error.

And i think you can check for BMW Assist but looking near your sunroof controls, there should be a button there if you have it. Im not an expert though so that may not always be the case.

[dt_328xi]

Hey Guys,


So I got my dynavin this week and I tried to install it today. I followed the setup but the dynavin does not turn on

when I start the car the heater button and climate control turns on and works correctly, but the dynavin unit does not turn on.

When I plug the yellow wire into the fuse box the dynavin unit lights up by the disk drive and it sounds like the drive spins for a second then everything turns off.

After that nothing

Does anyone have any suggestions to diagnose the problem?

Thanks

[pkirk]

Originally Posted by dt_328xi

Hey Guys,


So I got my dynavin this week and I tried to install it today. I followed the setup but the dynavin does not turn on

when I start the car the heater button and climate control turns on and works correctly, but the dynavin unit does not turn on.

When I plug the yellow wire into the fuse box the dynavin unit lights up by the disk drive and it sounds like the drive spins for a second then everything turns off.

After that nothing

Does anyone have any suggestions to diagnose the problem?

Thanks

Sorry, but I have to ask if you pushed the left knob to turn on the power.

[dt_328xi]

Originally Posted by pkirk

Sorry, but I have to ask if you pushed the left knob to turn on the power.

Yes I pushed the knob! But that's a good question!!!

I really hope I didn't get a defective unit

[pkirk]

Originally Posted by dt_328xi

Yes I pushed the knob! But that's a good question!!!

I really hope I didn't get a defective unit

I just realized that you are in Manchester. If you are interested then I would be willing to take a look at your setup. I've assembled and reassembled mine a few times.

[dt_328xi]

Originally Posted by pkirk

I just realized that you are in Manchester. If you are interested then I would be willing to take a look at your setup. I've assembled and reassembled mine a few times.

Hey that would be great! I sent you a PM with my info. Let me know when you can take a look at it. I am available all day today if you have the time.

Thanks!

[dt_328xi]

ok, so I got the Dynavin working. It was a bad fuse connection. The fuse slot in the directions did not work, so I kept trying different ones until I got one to work.

Now I have a few problems:

1. When I go to the gps it shows up in what looks like chinese. I remember someone else had a problem with that but I don't remember the solution.

2. My Steering wheel buttons do not work, which sucks!

3. My headphone jack in the center console does not work. I have my sirius radio plugged into it, which I need to fix! Is this only my setup or does this no longer work?

Any help will be appreciated!

Thanks