Yet another (I'm sure) audio unit advice request

[exbonneville]

Okay. Had my 2006 E53 BluePerformance Le Mans Blue Sport for a week now. Waiting for the registration transfer paperwork, not that is in any way relevant to this request.

The dealer was up front and told me the audio unit screen occasionally goes blank, which it has a couple of times, and there is no SatNav DVD disc in the unit. He said he would get one for me. We have since had a conversation about the audio unit which does look very dated and he is up for replacing it with one of the more digital multi function jobs if we share the cost. So here are the questions:

For my model X5 are there units best suitable, or best avoided? Will I still need a satnav DVD disc for the boot mounted unit, over the 6 disc CD changer for the new unit DVD to function or will it have a different setup?

I have seen article on the interweb referring to an additional extension loom kit, but I don't understand what they are for.

Or should I just hand it over to a specialist car audio business and let them do it, and give them most of my pension??

Thank you

Brian

[Greydog]

Welcome
I had a Dynavin unit fitted in my 4.4 which was streets ahead of the OEM kit Nav Bluetooth all built in radio reception was flaky but I traced that to a failing diversity unit in the cars built in antenna system.
Your current system has the radio (BM54) Nav TV CD Bluetooth all located in the boot left cubby and under the floor beside the battery. The extension runs from there to the front and connects to your replacement head unit.
I fitted my own took about half a day cost then was about £400 from memory, the new units are around £600 plus the extension lead. When I fitted mine I added a GPS and antenna extension for the radio so all connections were in the boot.
My current 4.6 is still OEM I have toyed several times with changing but haven't as yet

[dark_stranger]

I am currently toying with the idea with upgrade my OEM Double Din Sat Nav/Tape unit with an EONON unit.  Bit more expensive than the cheap Asian ones, but a lot cheaper than the Dynavin.  The Eonon come with the 5m extension cable included. 

[Reusch]

Make him put and pay for a original unit then at a later time change if you wish

[Horizon]

It's probably the ribbon cable that isn't seated properly, if the screen is going off at times.
Use the search button and read about the symptoms and how to fix it.

[exbonneville]

Today is Sunday, tomorrow I shall be talking to CarVision and ordering the Dynavin N6 E53 with extension kit and plan to install it myself.

Thank you for replies. Being a bit of a photography fan (click the globe under my avatar to explore more) I will hopefully document it (for better or worse) for the blog. Watch this space........

[exbonneville]

[quote="exbonneville"]
Today is Sunday, tomorrow I shall be talking to CarVision and ordering the Dynavin N6 E53 with extension kit and plan to install it myself.
[/quote]

Change of plan after talking to Joe at CarVision. I'm still going for it but now have a booking to have them fit it all at their workshop. The reason? It seems the X5 E53 is prone to interference if the extension cable from the spare wheel well to the dash mounted unit isn't routed properly and, more importantly, screened (with foil I understand). For the sake of a couple of hours drive (and a small installation fee) I want peace of mind that it will work well and look good. I'm also going for the DAB additional unit at the same time.

https://www.car-vision.co.uk/262-bmw-x5-e53

When it is all done I then take the photos and show it off 

[centurion]

Would you mind sharing how did you do your speakers (assuming you had bmw amp in the boot)?


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[exbonneville]

[quote="centurion"]
Would you mind sharing how did you do your speakers (assuming you had bmw amp in the boot)?
[/quote]

I'm not sure what you are asking. Perhaps the answer is within this update:

So yesterday (Tue 20/06/17) I drove from Rutland to Droitwich. As I had a 9am appoinment it meant getting mixed up with rush hour commuters and my journey involved the M1, M69, M6, M42, M40 and M5! I arrived 10 minutes early and John, owner and fitter of CarVision was waiting for me with the doors of the workshop open. Four hours later I was driving away with the most brilliant digital system I could wish for. I had the N6-E53 unit with DAB and rear camera as added extras.

Now I'm not sure of all the technical stuff but what I am left with is a touch screen unit with Nav, FM/DAB radio, iPod fully controlable from the unit, SD card, CD/DVD player and full iPhone (5S) intergration. All the original speakers play (with a comprehensive equalizer built in to the settings) and all my steering wheel buttons work with the unit. It even shows elements of the cars OBC.

I still have the original BMW OBC menu items in the instrument binnacle as before. So all in all I'm over the moon. (Especially as I had my local independant [Rutland Prestige] give the car their 112 point inspection amd it came away with a completely clean bill of health, the only comments being front pads will need changing at the next service and the front brake pipes show slight corrosion)

It wasn't cheap but I believe you get what you pay for and this is excellent vfm as far as I am concerned. John pulled out all the stops for me and barely took a break in soaring temperatures. When I saw most of my car's interior panels from the boot to the dashboard outside the car I took a stroll to the local cafe for breakfast.

Finally, i am now left with fully working BMW DVD sat nav, 6 CD changer in the boot that are redundant as well as the dashboard monitor/cassette unit that did have a problem of the screen going blank but after giving the ribbon cable a wiggle it seemed fine during the run-up to it becoming redundant. (If anyone is interested in these items let me know).

So there it is, the Dynavin unit is a class act. Certainly not the cheapest but I have no complaints.

I hope your answer is in there somewhere centurian!

[centurion]

Ta... i know most if not all Android based systems don't support pre amp or amp hence the question. It would be good to know how he did Dynavin system (eg connect to the unit while bypassing the amps). Thx


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[exbonneville]

[quote="centurion"]
Ta... i know most if not all Android based systems don't support pre amp or amp hence the question. It would be good to know how he did Dynavin system (eg connect to the unit while bypassing the amps). Thx
[/quote]

Give Joe a call, the number is on their CarVision website. You can only ask.

[henrym3]

I fitted my own Dynavin system with DAB/TV, it uses the original DSP amp and has a tick box on the Dynavin to use it. Apart from the equalizer on the Dynavin you can access the DSP equalizer and all other OBC functions by plugging in your old unit. ie reset your MPG, change from F to C, KPH to MPH, change date and time etc etc. I originally thought the FM reception was excellent until I fitted DAB, which is so much better.  The only problem I've had is if the battery gets to low it will drop the preset stations and on the very odd occasion after starting there is no sound and you have to turn it up on the steering wheel button. Expensive, but on a different planet to the original unit.   

[exbonneville]

Resurrecting this post to give a quick shout out to John at Car-Vision who fitted my Dynavin system in June last year. This week the rear view camera that I also had as an extra at the same time failed with a reversed, discoloured and corrupted image. My guess is it was a dozy member of the drive through car cleaning brigade I sometimes use locally who slammed the upper tailgate down something heavy a week or so ago.
Anyway I sent Car-Vision an email and they sent me a replacement camera by return through a courier service as part of the warranty. I fitted it this morning (in the bitter cold wind on my driveway) and after removing all the inner panelling in the upper tailgate, to get to the plugs, it was a simple swap. Works fine again.
So thank you John, just couldn't get a better response. I'm obviously not connected to the company but do recommend them if you are thinking of an upgrade. Pricey, but well worth it IMHO. https://www.car-vision.co.uk

Brian