[jezzy]

Hey guys,

Logging my experiences here for any future retrofitters. You've all helped me get here, so my turn to share. Just in case there's new information. I will try to make this as complete and self explanatory as possible. Photos' of the retrofit will be taken.

CAR:
2006 E91 with CCC (Navi + voice control)
Aux in armrest
No USB ($6FL)
No BT
No TCU, no MULF/2/HI

Upgrading to
2009 USA CIC HD Radio
Combox Media (Voice control, BT, media)
Adding bluetooth
Adding $6FL USB Arm rest + Glovebox
Adding $6NF (phone integration / snap-in cradle)
2009 idrive controller

Here's what I've purchased so far (holy shit)

CID (HD display) ($450)
CIC Emulator (180$)
61136954526 CID power plug qty 1 (ECS tuning) $26.70 (Qty 10, min order)
61119185171 CID to CIC display cable (ECS tuning) ($36.99)
CIC (2009 HD Radio US) $550
2009 CIC burl console trim (entire car $200)
2009 idrive controller ($150)
51169169999 idrive console trim $31.49
51169155970 idrive support bracket $8.00
65126958411 CIC trim w/seat heater button slot (ECS Tuning) $27.04
61119129360 USB/USB straight connectors white plug w/purple button $40.57
61129255716 USB/USB 90deg connectors. CIC to glovebox? ($48.93)
84109237656 USB glove box plug ($25.51)
51169143599 USB + Flash light mounting bracket ($19)
$6FL Arm rest AUX/USB (one with 4pin + USB) - my car is 4 pin AUX ($20 USED)
84109237653 $6FL Arm rest AUX/USB (one with 6 pin + USB) $39.26 (NEW)
Combox Media (Ebay) (280$)
Combox retrofit harness (Bimmerretrofit) $80
65159135687 Combox TCU MULF bracket E90 15$
61119202749 Combox USB cable (blue ends) $47
$6NF snap-in cradle ($120)
iPhone 4 snap in MEDIA ($60)
65126945064 Sirius Tuner (trunk) $150
Bluetooth OEM antenna (30$)
So far... $2650 (eekk!)

It looks like my car has phone (snap-in) pre-wiring (I'll look up my VIN and modify this thread) with the info.

Step one : $6NF

I pulled out my hand brake boot, found a harness inside. Removed my armrest rubber tray, slipped in the $6NF cradle into the arm rest. Connected the white USB to the cradle. Connected the black plug to the cradle. Success, it fits ! Without MULF/TCU, no power

Step 2 : $6FL

Pull out my AUX port, see what kind of wiring exists.
4 pin black wire, no USB wire to be found
Will run the USB from the COMBOX to the arm rest from researching and NOT from the CIC to arm rest ? - Please someone clarify

Step 3 :

CIC retrofit to begin in 1 week (vacation's coming!).. will update.

[jezzy]

7/20/14

Lots of trim removal threads, I won't go into the full details.

Start from the passenger side. NO NEED TO REMOVE IT, just loosen it. No need to remove start/top button, or hazard buttons either.







Now pull the HVAC panel towards the rear of the car, it'll come easily come out, 3 plugs in behind. This is the only reason to loosen your trim is to get this HVAC panel out.





Now pull your CCC trim out, easy to do also : Careful of the flat ribbon cable on the left side :



Unclip your panel for the seat heater, or sunshades, or whatever options you have :



Radio removal :

2 torx screws (simply loosen, perhaps not required to remove? but I did loosen them)



4 philips screws (2 per side) to remove:



Remove your shift knob to allow clearance. Pull UP hard, it'll pop out. (mine's an auto btw)



Slide out your radio, remove the plugs! =)

[jezzy]

reserved

[jezzy]

7/18/14: Satellite Sirius tuner addition.

So, finished work early today before my vacation! Had 3 hours to kill, so wanted to start working on my trunk components before my CIC next week.

First step : remove my trunk flooring, rear cover that covers where the TCU and Sirius tuner goes, and removed my rear left compartment that's for a CD Changer. Also removed my left rear seat bolster to expose the MOST junction box.



Left rear E91 (wagon) panel. Pull off the seat belt cover, there will be a black push-in clip there. Remove it.



So, first thing is to try to fit my Sirius tuner into it's spot : LEFT floor corner. Yes, it fits. But.. no connection for Sirius. The only wires there are for a TCU/MULF (which will be a combox next week).

Reference this link for more info. Helped me get a few ideas. But, I want to use the fin antenna.

http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10536

I noticed the cd changer is the exact same plug as the Sirius tuner. The cables are interchangeable.





So.. I cut the tape off the CD changer MOST + 2 wires, and brought it back to behind the seat, down to the floor and into the left compartment. Ya, wasn't fun but done. Better work! Photo if it all plugged up and screwed in place.

Do I run one of the 3 wires from the TCU/MULF over to the Sirius tuner for antenna hook up to one of the 2 ports shown in this ebay photo? =)











Now for the MOST connection. The LEFT seat bolster removes very easy. Lower your left rear seat and pull towards the front of the car, the bolster will pop out, exposing the MOST Junction box (well,. it's under another component that is easily removed with 2 screws).

This is where things got confusing. I found no diagrams that match the MOST wires in my 2006 E91. Assuming because the 2006 didn't come with Sirius pre-wiring. I had the following wiring :

Bottom block had 2 wires, and the top block had 4 wires (2 in + 2 out).



Now, I did a guestimate and tried following the Sirius tuner retrofit instructions from BMW, moving the bottom block PIN 1 to PIN 2



and installing Pin 1 (in + out) from the top block into the Pin 1 on the bottom block (input) and Pin 2 (output).



I added to my CAS and FRM $655 and coded it, but No Sirius appears on my CCC radio. I also removed the CD changer $694 from my VO.
I tried a few times to "code car" but it failed. Do I need to have a power cart charging my car for using the "coding car"?

COMBOX:

Luckily, all the COMBOX adaptor harness and wires plug in.. great !
Sadly, my bracket I bought "new" for the combox isn't good. Its the wrong one. Argh! After reading carefully, the right bracket I need is p/n : 65159135687




And this is what we need :

[jezzy]

saving for BT/phone/glovebox USB, etc..
will do a coding reference guide also.

[terminator2k2]

"Step 2 :

Pull out my AUX port, see what kind of wiring exists.
4 pin black wire, no USB wire to be found
Will run the USB from the COMBOX to the arm rest from researching and NOT from the CIC to arm rest ? - Please someone clarify "



usb from cic to glove box - for map updates and music track uploads to cic

usb from arm rest to combox - 6fl

usb from snap in to combox - 6nf ( you should do 6nr aswell )

have you run the white usb to cradle youself.? only reason why I ask is I don't think there should be a white usb cable in their if you didn't have 6fl before.

[jezzy]

I had a black connector and a white fakra wire in my armrest near the hand brake. Both of which plugged into my snap on. The snap in has an extra black fakra with a blue end which runs to my combox.

So looks like I already have a wire from ccc to my plugin and would have run to a mulf or tcu if I had one.

Thanks terminator. Your threads and responses are great!

[terminator2k2]

Ah got ya , so looks like you had phone prep already in your car, which makes it a bit easier.

Are you planning on running fbas cable to the cic aswell? Worth it if your using a iPhone 4 in the snap in .

Look forward to seeing some pics when you start installing and good luck with the install.

[jezzy]

Please tell me what the fbas cable is! I want to make sure I haven't forgotten anything. Is that the video one one? Thanks and looking forward to starting!

[terminator2k2]

Yes fbas is the video cable from the snap in to the cic. Should be 3 cables video , video ground and shield.

I also see you have listed 2 usb sockets for 6fl? you should only need 1 anyway depending on how your going to route the aux cable.

the 6 pin aux is a switchable one which will switch between the 6fl or the snapin audio depending on which you use at the time.

This new aux cable has to be routed to the combox.

I didn't use the snapin and saved a bit of money by buying a single usb socket and plugging a iphone video cable into the single usb.

[jezzy]

Thanks. Found the forum and diagrams for the fbas cable. I'll be ordering the parts tonight. Ugh another 50$ so if I'm not mistaken it's only for the audio out ? Know what pins and wiring gauge I need? I'll dig a bit more on the threads also

As to why I have 2 aux/USB ports. I bought the switchable one and thought I got the wrong one so I ended up also getting a used one with the 6 pin and fakra connector.

So if I understand correctly this fbas cable runs 3 wires from my console to my combox AND 3 wires to my cic plug?

Do I need that composite yellow/red/white RCA input ? Is that used for anything outside the snap in for video input (Xbox or ps3 etc... ?)
Thanks!

[jezzy]

I do have a question. Do I need that USB splitter under the driver seat for my set up? I don't believe I have one.

[jezzy]

Originally Posted by terminator2k2

Yes fbas is the video cable from the snap in to the cic. Should be 3 cables video , video ground and shield.

I also see you have listed 2 usb sockets for 6fl? you should only need 1 anyway depending on how your going to route the aux cable.

the 6 pin aux is a switchable one which will switch between the 6fl or the snapin audio depending on which you use at the time.

This new aux cable has to be routed to the combox.

I didn't use the snapin and saved a bit of money by buying a single usb socket and plugging a iphone video cable into the single usb.

okay, looked around, think I found the 2 FBAS harnesses and 6 pin connector:

http://www.ecstuning.com/ES2599457/ BMW # 61119200890



http://www.ecstuning.com/ES165299/ BMW # 61136954554


So now, I'm assuming I can run 1 FBAS (3 pin) from the AUX/USB console to the CIC headunit. And 1 FBAS to from the AUX/USB to the combox.

This is the clearest drawing I've found so far.




Do I need to use the composite input for iphone video out ? I'd only ever use an ipod touch or iphone for video out. This can be done via USB only with this above wiring mod?

[terminator2k2]

The fbas is the video signal from snap in to the cic plug on the back of the head unit.

The aux is a seperate connection from the snapin/USB to the combox.

The diagram you posted would actually save you a bit of cash as you wouldn't have had to buy the snap in and media baseplate.

I actually used a single USB with a iPhone av cable which gives you the same results but without the snap in and media cradle. I still used the 6 pin switchable aux socket and made my own cables to run to the combox. Aswell as the fbas cable I ran from the iPhone to the cic.

I'll make a diagram to try and show you later , it will help but not where it comes to the snap in as I didn't use it.

Also you don't need a USB splitter , or USB hub, everything is direct to the combox.

[jezzy]

What if I already have my snap in and media cradle? All this is still necessary ?

[terminator2k2]

you still have options open .

1.you need to know if you want video/album art from iphone via media snapin? if so you will need the fbas video cable from the snap in to the cic.

then for the audio from the snap in , you have 2 options.

1. code the combox to digital ( I will show you the coding options once its installed so you don't get confused), this allows audio from snap in via usb cable connected to the baseplate, but you may get problems where the audio and video are out of sync.

2.run a aux cable to the combox from the snapin , code the combox to analog , this will give you the same as above but the no lip sync problems.

for the usb in the armrest, if you just intend on using usb sticks or ipod you can code the combox to digital, this way . no aux cable is required as the audio will be streamed via usb.

do you need the aux on the usb socket? if you want it intact this where the 6 pin switchable aux/usb socket comes into use.

ill draw you a diagram its easier to understand than me waffling on....lol

[jezzy]

Great got it. I'll order those cables then. Album art is important to me and so is lip sync!

[terminator2k2]

have a browse at this...

[jezzy]

Hmm very good reference material. Agreed, it says plugin video out 3 wires and shows an audio output 3 wires but associated with the aux / USB port?

It's just so odd having digital USB lines and having to tap in analog wires !

[jezzy]

Good reference of pins outs for combox here :

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e63...pic-heavy.html

[jezzy]

Can anyone make me a FBAS cable for this retrofit? I can't justify spending 100$ shipped for 3 friggin' cables p/n : 61119200890 (Qty3)

Help me out! =)

[terminator2k2]

Ok when I did mine , because the old aux cable was going to become redundant and it ran to the cic unit any way, I unpinned it from the aux socket and and connected it to my iPhone video cable. I then located the wires at the cic connector and re-pinned them to the video input on the cic connector.

Easy if you know what your doing and saves a bit of money , but because your using the baseplate it's still doable but you may need some pins or some old cable with the already on.

I couldn't believe the cost of the pins here in the uk , something like £1 each and when you start to calculate how many pins you need for the combox connector etc it starts to get silly for a few pins.


Also where you get $100 from ? I've looked around and you only need 1 cable @ $25