[anmol397]

Evening guys, newbie here ✌🏽
Had an E93 in the house for about 2 years, finally decided to try & do a CCC to CIC retrofit, because let’s face it, the minimal a car should have is Bluetooth music streaming - I managed to get all parts pretty cheap, including the combox itself

Doing the hardware install seems relatively easy, however, my only concern is coding

My questions are:

1. As the screen has been bought separately from the unit from another car, would this be a problem? Or will the screen light up when the car is powered on as it would normally?

2. When carrying out coding, do I need anything else other than NCSexpert? I know I have to code the unit itself to the VIN & the combox will also need coding to the VIN & car, however I’m not very experienced, the max I’ve done is code injectors 😂
I have BMW standard tools installed already but I’ve been reading about FSC codes that need installing for the navigation & other things, hence the question - is the software & codes for this readily available to download ?

3. Before coding is done, I know the software/ firmware on the idrive needs to be at C1a, is this possible to do with just a USB with the file rooted to the stick? Or will I need to use NCSexpert?

4. The Combox of course needs to fitted with the removal of the TCU & MULF, I’ve seen the adapter you can buy, however Ive also seen the plugs you can pin yourself, is there a guidance page/ file I can follow to pin everything myself ? Or is it just not worth the hassle?

I have had a look about for coding to be done externally, but I don’t really want to fork out £300+ for coding & activation if I can do it myself with a little guidance, plus I prefer learning stuff myself lol

Sorry for the hefty post on a Thursday night lol, kinda sad the kit is just sitting here in a box waiting for it to be installed

Any help or guidance is greatly appreciated

[TiAgAu]

Everything you need to know is in this thread https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1649066

[BRG_N54]

Wow, there is quite a lot to unpack there. Let me begin by saying this is not a trivial retrofit. To get the CIC 100% functional, requires some very in depth hardware and software re-engineering. Read through the thread provided by TiAgAu and be honest with yourself if it is something you feel capable of.

If so, gathering the required software is likely the biggest hurdle. These conversions were all the rage 5 or 6 years ago, but now have become a kind of black art, that's why there is such a premium for remote coding.

Originally Posted by anmol397

1. As the screen has been bought separately from the unit from another car, would this be a problem? Or will the screen light up when the car is powered on as it would normally?

The CID screens are all interchangeable, the one's from E60 are little more desirable, as they have a plastic cover that shields the screen from damage and fingerprints. However, you will have to re-pin the power/CANBUS plug from the old CCC screen.

Originally Posted by anmol397

2. When carrying out coding, do I need anything else other than NCSexpert? I know I have to code the unit itself to the VIN & the combox will also need coding to the VIN & car, however I’m not very experienced, the max I’ve done is code injectors 😂
I have BMW standard tools installed already but I’ve been reading about FSC codes that need installing for the navigation & other things, hence the question - is the software & codes for this readily available to download ?

Again, read the thread from FaxData, it's what I used sucessfully on two cars. It outlines all that is needed, and that is MUCH, much more than just NCSExpert. I have posted some threads where I included some of the tougher bits (FSTool2, I'm looking at you!) but it is also important you understand the proper order of operations, as some things cannot be done until other steps are completed successfully. You are changing many fundamental details of the code that resides in the car, like when it was manufactured, in order for this to work. There are many places where things could get derailed and leave you worse off than before.

Originally Posted by anmol397

3. Before coding is done, I know the software/ firmware on the idrive needs to be at C1a, is this possible to do with just a USB with the file rooted to the stick? Or will I need to use NCSexpert?

The FSC patcher, the piece that really opens up the CIC to manipulation, only works with C1A software on the unit. Some of the other options may work, but you will never get NAV functional unless it has C1A. There are two options; 1) purchase a CIC from 2010 or later and the chances it has C1A are almost guaranteed. 2) Attempt to upgrade the firmware of an older unit to C1A, which requires an ICOM interface and keeping the car on a dedicated power supply for the hour or so it writes to the CIC, it cannot be done with just D-CAN cable reliably, and there is no provision for a USB stick, not that kind of firmware update. #1 is much more realistic for us casual hobbyists.

Originally Posted by anmol397

4. The Combox of course needs to fitted with the removal of the TCU & MULF, I’ve seen the adapter you can buy, however Ive also seen the plugs you can pin yourself, is there a guidance page/ file I can follow to pin everything myself ? Or is it just not worth the hassle?

I chose to re-pin both of mine, simply because I have years of experience with electronics and repair, so this was a fun exercise for me. However, looking back I almost wish I would have just used an adapter cable. The main reason is this; If I even need to take my car in to a BMW service center, I could put it all back to stock fairly easily and they would not be the wiser. For instance, say they extend the warranty on fuel injectors or there is some other safety recall, they would likely refuse service in it's current state of modification.

Functionally, it really makes no difference, cable cost some cash, and is reversible, re-pin is free, but permanent.

I hope that answers your main questions and gives you a better sense of how daunting this can be for the casual person. Another reason why the drop in Android solutions are so popular lately.

[anmol397]

Originally Posted by BRG_N54

Wow, there is quite a lot to unpack there. Let me begin by saying this is not a trivial retrofit. To get the CIC 100% functional, requires some very in depth hardware and software re-engineering. Read through the thread provided by TiAgAu and be honest with yourself if it is something you feel capable of.

If so, gathering the required software is likely the biggest hurdle. These conversions were all the rage 5 or 6 years ago, but now have become a kind of black art, that's why there is such a premium for remote coding.



I chose to re-pin both of mine, simply because I have years of experience with electronics and repair, so this was a fun exercise for me. However, looking back I almost wish I would have just used an adapter cable. The main reason is this; If I even need to take my car in to a BMW service center, I could put it all back to stock fairly easily and they would not be the wiser. For instance, say they extend the warranty on fuel injectors or there is some other safety recall, they would likely refuse service in it's current state of modification.

Functionally, it really makes no difference, cable cost some cash, and is reversible, re-pin is free, but permanent.

I hope that answers your main questions and gives you a better sense of how daunting this can be for the casual person. Another reason why the drop in Android solutions are so popular lately.

Thank you so much for this

So I did go ahead & do the hardware install of the CIC unit & screen itself which to me was familiar as I had previously had to play with the CCC when fitting the MMI box from before

The only difficulty I had was when I was coding - installing the hardware was not an issue, including the glovebox USB - luckily this car had the exact cut out of a small singular USB device in the glovebox so I was able to just slot it in & feed the wire back behind the CIC unit

Coding was a little tricky, however, after doing some much needed digging & reading the thread from TiAgAu - I managed to do it - I initially did it & forgot to put it in FA Write so no code was sticking 😂
Initially when I plugged everything in (except the climate control) i had maps working! & the previous owner even had back to the future stored on the drive 😂 but once I did the coding first time it wouldn’t work & I couldn’t work out why, Turns out it’s because to enable the DVD I needed to put the area code into the production FA list - $698 I think? & magically it started working!

Tool32 was weird at first but after watching YouTube vids & particularly ‘BMW DIY’ & ‘alexqts’ it was a lot easier to understand what was going on & how to make sure the CIC was coded to the vin

All in all, as long as you know how to do this job, including coding, it’s not difficult at all - just very particular as I found out painfully but now I can do this without a struggle!

Combox I’m yet to do, I ordered the cable adapter & MOST terminator as well, just waiting on them to come before installing

One thing that stumped me - the unit is dated 07.05.2011 - yet when originally scanning the unit it was on C08 - then when I registered it to the car with the new VIN build date, the software changed to C16 - which I was a little surprised because I did also thing after 2010 most units would be C1A - but I guess no guarantee

I have enquired about a software upgrade, luckily as I’m based in the midlands there is a guy in Derby who can do it including the coding for a fair price so hopefully after fitting the combox I can get the flash done from him, as buying an iCom would be pretty much the same price

But once again thank you for the reply!

I’ll update once the new combox is in & hopefully software flash is done!

Stay Tuned 👀🌚

[Andy198712]

Mines 2010 car and not C1A, mines C10….. so be careful on which you buy. Also I guess you can’t tell till you fit it?

Can you send it away for an update? I’m sure Ive seen that offered on U.K. eBay?

[anmol397]

Originally Posted by Andy198712

Mines 2010 car and not C1A, mines C10….. so be careful on which you buy. Also I guess you can’t tell till you fit it?

Can you send it away for an update? I’m sure Ive seen that offered on U.K. eBay?

Yeah 100% you don’t know until it’s fitted!

Yes I can, however as it’s already all installed I’d rather just take the car there, the guy I’ve contacted said he’s confident he can get it done in a few hours (he’s an established Coding company) so I don’t see the point in just sending off the unit + he said he’s happy to code the new combox in as well in the same price so win win I guess!

[Andy198712]

Amazing! Can I ask how much? I’m trying to find someone local but doesn’t seem to be much in cornwall !