[ancient]

Hey all

I hope someone can assist...
I have had the cic retrofitted...the gps antenna is behind the speedo/instrument cluster.

I placed the antenna in numerous positions behind the speedo but it never locks on, therefore the current position is incorrect making the sat nav unusable.

The only way I have managed to get it working for a temporary period is to place the antenna on top of the Dash...it then reports the correct position after around 5-10 mins of driving.
Once it's got a lock I put it behind the speedo...it stays ok for a week or two...but issue re-occurs.

I have also got the lock (when on top of the dash ) then tried putting it behind the speedo.
If I then do a hard reset of the cic ( hold dows power for 20 secs) upon a reboot it shows the wrong position again!

Very frustrating....is there somewhere in specific the antenna will work in the dash...?
Is there a stronger antenna I could try...?
Is my Antenna faulty...even though it locks on when above the dash/ wire hanging out of the speedo/not very sightly or convenient.

Help please....appreciated.

[anees]

I remember reading a similar problem someone else was having with a retrofit. Turns out the front of the car has too much of electrical interference for the GPS to properly lock onto a satellite. The solution was to move the antenna to the rear of the car.

There must be a reason why BMW has all the antennas on the rear of the car.

[ancient]

That's a last resort...but useful info...thanks anees.
I thought it was the thickness of the dash...as it works when it's on top of it.

[Sensible_]

What antenna do you have?

Make sure you get a magnetic one. I have found on previous retrofits for people the best place is on the metal A pillar under the trim. Completely invisible and It's easily routed down side of dash then above the footwell and into the CIC / CCC / NBT enclosure.

Either that or run it to the OEM location on the roof and glue on a shark fin. Means cutting the roof of the car though

[mad1stgen]

E93 has the OEM GPS antenna mounted behind (or just above) the FZD module. Try that location maybe ?

[ptpending]

your car can have climate comfort windscreen and it is filtering some signals
you can check if it if outside windscreen have light violet reflection in the sun

[GXCars]

I have a retrofitted CIC in my E92, I've mounted the GPS antenna at the top of the screen next to the rain sensor, its right at the top and there are no wires showing, unless you went looking for it you wouldnt know it was there the signal is spot on

[ancient]

Thank for the info guys...I've moved it behind the trim on the A pillar.
When it was on the metal, there was still no signal...so I have moved it to the bottom of the A pillar ( where the lugs go in for the trim ) and has locked on, but is hit and miss....so close.

For anyone that has installed it behind the A pillar trim, is there a particular location where it works the best, consistently...?

Many Thanks

[ArcticRik]

Originally Posted by ancient

Thank for the info guys...I've moved it behind the trim on the A pillar.
When it was on the metal, there was still no signal...so I have moved it to the bottom of the A pillar ( where the lugs go in for the trim ) and has locked on, but is hit and miss....so close.

For anyone that has installed it behind the A pillar trim, is there a particular location where it works the best, consistently...?

Many Thanks

Why not get the extension cable and run the extension from the trunk to the front of the car. The shark fin has a built in gps antenna. The blue cable in the trunk is for gps

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by ArcticRik

Why not get the extension cable and run the extension from the trunk to the front of the car. The shark fin has a built in gps antenna. The blue cable in the trunk is for gps

i did this in my retrofit and it worked perfectly. however, after re-installing my rear seats, i must of pinched it somewhere (the extension cable) and had to buy a new extension cable and do it again. All is good again.

One thing I did notice though, the aftermarket generic fakra connection, magnetic base gps antennas, worked quicker and seemed more accurate/quicker refresh. When i had the antenna magnetically attached, onto the center speaker grill, on-top of dashboard/speaker grill. As opposed to the extension cable ran to the stock antenna lead in the trunk of my E92.

I had the aftermarket ebay magnetic base fakra gps antenna on-top of the dash during testing for quick access/removal.

I also ran the extension cable, temporarily from the idrive headunit to the trunk by just running it thru the interior and to the trunk with a seat folded down. So i was able to test both back to back.


The extension cable (6ft or so) can be found on Ebay for around $10 shipped...

The generic, universal magnetic GPS antenna, can also be found on Ebay for $10-15 shipped.

Just make sure they are FAKRA connectors (not SMB), and make sure the extension cable has the correct ends (male-female or male-male), i forget.

The Fakra cable should be blue just like the oem connector color codes...
GPS - Blue

FM/AM - Black
Black/pink - GSM/Cell
Red?(maybe purplish?) - Screen Video Cable
Pink - XM radio i believe... You get the idea!


Example of Extension Cable needed to run from the CCC/CIC/NBT Head Unit to the Blue Fakra Connection in the trunk of Car....
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GPS-antenna-...AAAOSwEzxYa1XZ
BUT like i said VERIFY FOR SURE, what style ends (male/female) you need at the HU and the Trunk...

Example of a Stand-Alone Fakra-Style Connectors, GPS Antenna..
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jensen-Adven...IAAOSwMtxXq6YY

[ancient]

Thanks for all the help fellas...now resolved...had no shark fin....so ended up getting the extension cable and routing it behind rear headrest..locked on in 30 secs...yay

[AWDBooSTIn90]

Originally Posted by ancient

Thanks for all the help fellas...now resolved...had no shark fin....so ended up getting the extension cable and routing it behind rear headrest..locked on in 30 secs...yay

So where exactly did you end up mounting the antenna? Is it visible from inside the car or visible from outside the car thru the rear window?

Just wondering bc im thinking of moving my gps antenna to try and get a better signal and quicker gps-lock..

Thanks