DAB Retrofit to X5 2010 E70

[damiandavis]

Looking into the costs of adding DAB to my X5 2010 plate car with Professional NAV etc. Spoke to a BMW dealership who have quoted £550 ish for supply, install and coding of a BMW DAB controller + remote (but not a remote) + DAB aerial replacement for existing FM aerial.

Had a look on Fleabay and found a few units stated as compatible - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E81-E88-E90-E91-E60-E61-E63-E64-E84-E70-E71-DIGITAL-DAB-TUNER-MODULE-9176958-/171718316271?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CPlat_Gen%3AE70&hash=item27fb3590ef:g:OwUAAOSwBahVAtmM

Question is - does anyone have experience of performing a retrofit - if so is it achievable assuming you can get the coding handled?

Does anyone know what part number the aerial replacement would be?

If its at all DIY capable then i'd be interested in doing it myself and saving the £300 in labour charges.

Cheers
Damian

[Horizon]

http://xdrivers.co.uk/forum/index.php/t ... #msg126372

[damiandavis]

Thanks. Yes i saw that, and got the same parts quoted by BMW. Confusion abound as the service dept told me that i wouldn't need to use the remote provided with the system and it would be as if installed as a factory option. Seems that this is not the case from looking at the youtube vid about the unit. really just wanted to get the factory dab module 2nd hand, connect and get coded.

Any suggestions for an independent supplier / fitter that could do this job would be appreciated.

[shadrack]

It amazes me how dab is still not a standard on all cars and it should of been for years now

[X5Sport]

Indeed.  Even Skodas get it standard now....

BMW want to charge for every little thing and because people buy them, they can.  They probably aren't alone in that though.

[damiandavis]

So scores on the doors for my DAB quotes

BMW specialist independant - £299 fitted - autodab style FM break with remote solution

BMW dealership - £560 - autodab style FM break with remote solution (although he says i don't need the remote)

Parts quoted :

• 65.12.2.336.500 = DAB retro- can bus unit
  65.12.2.337.891 = Antenna
  65.12.2.337.892 = Remote

CarTronics - £900 est for an emulated solution that is not FM based, but they haven't responded to clarify to me how it works..

Outside of that a quick search on fleabay show up allegedly compatible DAB modules for around £200 - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E81-E88-E90-E91-E60-E61-E63-E64-E84-E70-E71-DIGITAL-DAB-TUNER-MODULE-9176958-/171718316271?fits=Car+Make%3ABMW%7CPlat_Gen%3AE70&hash=item27fb3590ef:g:OwUAAOSwBahVAtmM

Which doesn't ref the additional components required - e.g. aerial modification, CAN connections, Coding etc.

Ideally my choice would be to buy a 2nd hand BMW module for the CIC and get a man with a plan to fit and code, however this seems challenging to find... Cartronics seem v.pricey so reluctant to go that way.

Again if anyone has any experience of the CIC module route and specialists to fit it would be great to hear.

DD

[jason909]

Hi,i have had a quote of £600 fitted that will give me the factory look not using the fm signal,that was from a Manchester based company,hope this is helpful.

[damiandavis]

interesting - did they give you an indication of the solution? emulated? head unit swap?

[diluxe]

i have dab in my 2012 and although the sound is great when it locks in a signal, the constant drop outs meant i switched back to FM within the 1st week of owning the car.

[damiandavis]

Ah, the beauty of DAB. I have the same with my FM tuned Pure Highway. Gives me access to RadioX and Talksport.... sometimes... ::)

[jason909]

Hi,yes it is some sort of emulator it will appear just like factory on the idrive,only downside is a little ariel on the window,i think it is the same one cartronics are selling,the company is Safe & Sound in droylsden manchester 01613704751,going to get mine done in january,you could wait and see what it looks like then before you take the plunge.

[damiandavis]

sounds good. i'll watch the thread and see what you think of it.

[jason909]

Hi,took the car in this morning to have the dab fitted,should get it back later today,but it might need coding in so will wait and see will post some pics of how it looks when i get it back.

[jason909]

Hi,got the car back today it looks just like the factory setup just got a small ariel on windscreen,havent had it drop the signal yet,it does have to be coded in but they took care of that,im very happy with it,will put a couple of pics up tomorrow.

[jason909]

Hi,here are some pics sorry for being sideways can't figure out why it uploads like that.