BMW In Dash GPS

Spipov

Hi all

a friend of mine is getting this unit and is seriously tempting me as well for an 01 e46.

http://cgi.ebay.ie/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190508345617&ssPageName=ADME:B:EF:IE:1123

what do people think of it? i know its of chinese manufacture, but it looks handy all right.


would appreciate comments, and maybe recommendation who can fit this in once bought.

i would have to move the dual climate control down one notch definitely and i already have a parrot ck6100 that ill need to get taken out.

Anan1

I once went to a good bit of trouble and expense upgrading the factory nav on an Audi A8. It looked well, but when I actually needed to find an address I still ended up using my Garmin.

Eric Cartman

its a serious saving over the bmw factory unit, prepare for the radio tuner not to be great , ipod control should work though. these run windows CE so changing the satnav application to garmin XT is a must , decent nav that way

scoobymunster

Is it legal to have a DVD playing on one of them things as your driving? I always assumed there is a law against a video playing within the drivers line of sight when the cars moving If not I'd definitely be tempted to get one aswell.

Eric Cartman

scoobymunster wrote: »

Is it legal to have a DVD playing on one of them things as your driving? I always assumed there is a law against a video playing within the drivers line of sight when the cars moving If not I'd definitely be tempted to get one aswell.

im fairly sure there is a law, if not its still a very very stupid idea, people cant even cope with talking on the phone, let alone watching a movie

nogoodnamesleft

scoobymunster wrote: »

Is it legal to have a DVD playing on one of them things as your driving? I always assumed there is a law against a video playing within the drivers line of sight when the cars moving If not I'd definitely be tempted to get one aswell.

AFAIK most factory fit in dash DVD players have a switch on the handbrake so the handbrake must be engaged before the DVD function can operate. I doubt that aftermarket one has it thou!

Spipov

wouldnt think so. but i certainly im not one to watch stuff while in a car.

itll mostly be just for the gps (which you need to buy separately, until i can figure out which versions of tomtom/garmin/igo work properly with this.

also will be used for radio (fm) and mp3 playing from sd cards again.

wouldnt be playing tv either. dont spend that much time in traffic jams anyway.

sounds positive though?

shogunpower

the after market ones have it too, but its very easy to get around.

scoobymunster

Sorry OP I wasn't accusing you of anything. It's just I've always wondered about the legalities of having a DVD function in the dash. I've toyed with the idea of getting a DVD player for passengers/kids and having it/radio in the one unit seemed like a neater option. Thanks for clarifying folks.

Owen

Moving the climate down one notch isn't as easy as it sounds, the two different areas are completely different sizes. The one down below is about 2/3rds the size of the current climate control location and panel/button sizes. You'll probably have to buy the bits from BMW to do that.

[EDIT] Looking at the auction photos, I might be wrong - but I could have sworn they were smaller. The unit looks cheap and nasty though, I give it 6 months before the text has worn off the buttons and something's packed in.

Spipov

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Moving the climate down one notch isn't as easy as it sounds, the two different areas are completely different sizes. The one down below is about 2/3rds the size of the current climate control location and panel/button sizes. You'll probably have to buy the bits from BMW to do that.

[EDIT] Looking at the auction photos, I might be wrong - but I could have sworn they were smaller. The unit looks cheap and nasty though, I give it 6 months before the text has worn off the buttons and something's packed in.

yes, thats one aspect of the thing i am worried about. when my friend told me about it, i was very very interested. but then i realised after seeing the picture and auction that it is a chinese aftermarket thing, and to be honest, i know what the quality is like.

this downgraded me to just interested. anyway, ill let him bite the bullet first and see how he gets on. apparently these are not being shipped until april, and i wont be in the country around the time anyway.

Owen

For that kind of money anyway, you'd nearly have a brand name double-din head unit from CarAudioDirect.co.uk ...

Spipov

PaintDoctor wrote: »

For that kind of money anyway, you'd nearly have a brand name double-din head unit from CarAudioDirect.co.uk ...

cheapest would be £599 there, but again, would need adapting to the bmw...


ahh the price and dilemma of man's gadgets...

kdevitt

PaintDoctor wrote: »

Moving the climate down one notch isn't as easy as it sounds, the two different areas are completely different sizes. The one down below is about 2/3rds the size of the current climate control location and panel/button sizes. You'll probably have to buy the bits from BMW to do that.

[EDIT] Looking at the auction photos, I might be wrong - but I could have sworn they were smaller. The unit looks cheap and nasty though, I give it 6 months before the text has worn off the buttons and something's packed in.

You just need to buy a relocation panel - they're almost the exact same size, but the climate unit is more rounded at the corners than the sunglass holder, so it won't clip in unless you do buy the new panel. Its cheap enough.

Before -



After -



Those units are fine by the way - personally think they look a bit cheap though.

Spipov

kdevitt thanks for that, do you know where i could buy that panel?thanks

kdevitt

Spipov wrote: »

kdevitt thanks for that, do you know where i could buy that panel?thanks

Your best bet is from BMW themselves - there are slightly different variations of it depending on the options your car has, some take the full button strip, and others have individual holes for the buttons. Give them your VIN and you'll get the right piece.

Spipov

i know this is an old thread that im dragging up, but i never pursued the gps thing until recently.

i was toying between the idea of getting a new car or pimping up my e46 a little bit, just for a change.

ive now come across this unit:

http://www.dynavin.com/products/product_dnv_e46.php

review

http://www.e46fanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?t=830928


the newer version, v5 is actually not too bad, and should cost me around £600 including shipping. add in 50 ish euros for the HVAC relocation panel and maybe 50-100 for someone to install it, id say that wouldnt be too bad of a deal to be honest.

Anybody has tried the dynavin units here in ireland?are there any distributors?

also, anybody recommend anyone to install these, on the not too expensive side?id take this on as a DIY project, but i simply do not have the time at the moment.


Thanks

Vertakill

Would love something like this myself coz I wanted to upgrade from the 2001 screen/satnav/cd player combo but I dunno if I could stomach £700ish ...

It looks nice but for me, I wouldn't have the money to get someone else to install it so I'd be probably looking at a DIY job with help from the more electrically-minded family members.

I already have sat nav which, according to some reviews, makes things more complicated.

I'm sick of my own ones lack of DVD/DVD Player and the fact it only reads audio CD's and the sun glare makes the screen unusable sometimes in the daylight.

subway

recommend this guy for fitting it, hes done work on my M5.
http://www.adverts.ie/myadverts/430799/feedback/page-1

theres a couple of lads on http://www.bmw-driver.net/ that have them, try asking over there

Spipov

subway wrote: »

recommend this guy for fitting it, hes done work on my M5.
http://www.adverts.ie/myadverts/430799/feedback/page-1

theres a couple of lads on http://www.bmw-driver.net/ that have them, try asking over there

if i remember correctly, he installed my parrot ck6100. yeah, if he comes around in a big SUV/4x4, thats him.

ill give him a shout see how much he'd quote me for the install.

bmstuff

Dynavin, Hualingan etc... all the same crap.
Dynavin is more proactive support wise, they release updates regularly etc, but still the hardware is poor performance wise.

The quality is not the greatest, but they improve things along the way.
At the end of the day, the product still is millions years technologically speaking ahead than even an OEM MK4 satnav in terms of sound quality and features.

One thing to be aware of, is that your OBC is no longer available, unless you relocate it in the glove box for example.

Dynavin has recently released a version that runs on Android. This is brilliant, but still, lag in terms of performance. Any Galaxy S i9000 will smoke the radio, but hey, still good.

Here are some pics of my Hualingan in my e39.

Now seriously, you do not need a professional installer for this...This is very easy to install. If you need some help, feel free to let me know.

Spipov

thanks for that. i am aware of relocating the climate control unit to the slot undearneath it.

what i am worried about is putting the microphone and gps antenna wires in the trimmings, hence my wishing to get someone to do it...


i know they are not the best looking / hardware wise, but they provide a ton of features that i want to experience as i rekindle the love with the bmw, as nothing else tickles my fancy, and an e90 is still way out of my budget.

bmstuff

Spipov wrote: »

thanks for that. i am aware of relocating the climate control unit to the slot undearneath it.

what i am worried about is putting the microphone and gps antenna wires in the trimmings, hence my wishing to get someone to do it...


i know they are not the best looking / hardware wise, but they provide a ton of features that i want to experience as i rekindle the love with the bmw, as nothing else tickles my fancy, and an e90 is still way out of my budget.

Everything clips out, very easy to do. It might be hard to pull some of the trim on the e46, it is tight usually on this model, but other than that, it is very easy to do.
If you know how to change a bulb in your car, you know how to install a radio and remove a few pieces of trim.
Many people did the install themselves, and they never did such thing before, and everything went fine.

Here is a handy DIY
http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=754606

Or if you have the OEMMK system:
http://lemalife.wordpress.com/2010/10/09/howto-install-dynavin-e46-v5-head-unit-in-an-e46-2005-m3-w-oem-navigation/

listermint

Hi Spipov, If you are getting the Dynavin it is cheaper to ship from the US than UK. So I would order from there, Jeff over on E46 Fanatics would be best choice. In terms of look and quality feel I think the Dynavin beats the Hualingan hands down.

Spipov

How about import duty?