I have a 2007 E92 n54 and like most you I've wanted to do the CIC retrofit however couldn't budget and justify the cost. Popular vendors like Beemerretrofit want $1300+ for their kit, which was just too steep in my opinion, until I came across
Nickco43
https://cicretrofit.com/
Nick sells used CIC units pre-coded with complete technical support at a bargain from $675-700. Nick will even send you pics of the unit before he ships them so you are assured a good unit before pulling the trigger. Mine was virtually in new condition.
I ordered my CIC unit from Nick and it came neatly boxed with the CIC unit, CIC screen, connectors, cables, and even a K+Dcan cable that are required. I followed the step by step in the youtube link below with Nick available for additional support and must say if you are somewhat technically savvy, this retrofit is not too difficult to do!
I had issues with a blown fuse and the CIC omitting sound due to me being an idiot and reattaching the battery prematurely. However, with Nick's guidance and expertise he was able to walk me through step-by-step to troubleshoot the issue all the way to the TCU, Mulf and MOST connectors in the trunk to finding the blown fuse behind the glove box and I got to learn something along the way
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Not only does the CIC breath new life into your older car but here are noticeable reasons to do this upgrade:
- The quickness of the CIC compared to the CCC is drastic. I would hate the load times of the CCC to navigate around the interface. For example when receiving or dialing a bluetooth call on the CCC it was literally a second and a half delay between my phone ringing and the unit acknowledging the call
- Music selection and track info from connected phone is so much better.
- Being able to actually turn off the display screen long late night drives instead of that blacked out LCD that's on at all times and still annoying.
- Logic7, if you have a Logic7 the CIC units L7 settings boosts your stereo output noticeably compared to the CCC. My stereo system is so much more dynamic and louder compared to before! It used to be that with the CCC I would max volume until the dial kept spinning and spinning to the right, now with the CIC it sounds like a brand new stereo system! So much so that I'm not considering getting an aftermarket amp any longer.
- Speed limiter. Never found this setting or don't believe it's there on the CCC, but on the CIC I'm now warned and gonged when I'm driving over 85mph.
- Uploading music via thumb-drive to the hard-drive of the unit.
- DVD in motion! It's nice being able to insert a DVD into my unit and watch a movie or music videos on a drive! (For your passengers of course)
- Updated navigation system.
I am so extremely happy with this retrofit upgrade
Car feels new and modern again! I would like to thank Nick for his support and expertise; I never felt stuck somewhere or clueless on what to do.