Out with the new and in with the old; my 130i LE

[d_a_n1979]

Court_S said:

My CarPlay gubbins should be here tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll get that fitted this weekend if the weather isn’t too crap.

More alcantara was added today in the form of the steering wheel trim



And literally the most boring way to spend £100 on my car, a set of new OE mats. The ones that came with the car were a pain in the bum with the front one moving every now andy then and getting caught under the clutch pedal. These are much better quality and shouldn’t move about.



I’ve also had to remove and refit the panel above the pedals. When I had the centre console out this weekend I must have moved it slightly when fitting everything back together because my toes were catching it when depressing the clutch.

Lovely stuff; that wheel is

[cerb4.5lee]

Sam you've got the interior looking absolutely superb. I really love what you've done to it.

[Court_S]

d_a_n1979 said:

Lovely stuff; that wheel is

cerb4.5lee said:

Sam you've got the interior looking absolutely superb. I really love what you've done to it.

Thanks both. It’s not too shabby for an old car.

Adding CarPlay will modernise it even further and give me a useful sat nav.

[Court_S]

My fuel filler flap gave up the ghost this week. It was a bit weak when I got the car but it went full floppy this week. Quick trip to Sytner to grab a new filler pot.



I used the short cut method of drilling the tabs out and basically ragging it out. I remembered from the one I did on the old 116 that I managed to snap the end off the filler flap lock so I thought I remove it. I ended up taking the boot apart to get access (luckily not that hard).

Old filler pot out.





I cleaned the gunk etc on bits you never see whilst it was out. New pot in



So much better, a filler flap that is no longer floppy and rattling. The only casualty was my eBay special filler cap tether but they’re a quid something so I’m not too bothered.

[Court_S]

This also turned up late today







This will give me CarPlay whilst retaining the OE screen and nav system. It may sound sad but that’s the one thing I’m missing from the 140i. Whilst I can stream music to the car via a little speaker thing under the armrest that plugs into my aux and usb plugs, I can’t control the music (skip tracks, select playlists etc). Plus the nav is ste.

With this I’ll be able to control the Amazon music app like I used to plus get Waze etc.

First impressions are that it’s well made, well packaged, came with good clear instructions and the pre and post sales support had been brilliant. It’s not cheap, but it’ll be well worth it and it seems like a better solution than pulling out screens etc.

Looking forward to getting it fitted this weekend.

[Podie]

Court_S said:

This also turned up late today







This will give me CarPlay whilst retaining the OE screen and nav system. It may sound sad but that’s the one thing I’m missing from the 140i. Whilst I can stream music to the car via a little speaker thing under the armrest that plugs into my aux and usb plugs, I can’t control the music (skip tracks, select playlists etc). Plus the nav is ste.

With this I’ll be able to control the Amazon music app like I used to plus get Waze etc.

First impressions are that it’s well made, well packaged, came with good clear instructions and the pre and post sales support had been brilliant. It’s not cheap, but it’ll be well worth it and it seems like a better solution than pulling out screens etc.

Looking forward to getting it fitted this weekend.

Both our daily drivers have CarPlay and we love it. Great system.

Really interested to see how well this integrates (just as a car / tech enthusiast, sad eh?) as I have to beleive there is a big market for this type of thing across all sorts of cars. Also, having two relatively new cars means I have to do my tinkering vicariously

Might seem a bit sad, but one of the reasons fro us selling the Mk7.5 Fiesta ST for the Mk8 was the infotainment....

[Court_S]

Podie said:

Both our daily drivers have CarPlay and we love it. Great system.

Really interested to see how well this integrates (just as a car / tech enthusiast, sad eh?) as I have to beleive there is a big market for this type of thing across all sorts of cars. Also, having two relatively new cars means I have to do my tinkering vicariously

Might seem a bit sad, but one of the reasons fro us selling the Mk7.5 Fiesta ST for the Mk8 was the infotainment....

I’m a big fan of CarPlay too. It’s so easy and gives me control of stuff like Amazon Music, podcasts etc. This will all be via the idrive controller. A long press of the menu button is all that is needs to swap from the CCC system to CarPlay. A short press takes you back to the OE system.

I think there is a big market for this sort of thing especially on older cars because it brings them up to modern standards. The DVD based maps are, well st. Dates images, slow, clunky especially after using Google maps, Waze etc.

It’s odd but the infotainment is the thing is miss from the 140. It had pro nav, so had the big screen which had really good graphics and an easy to use menu plus CarPlay. On a daily driver stuff like a decent infotainment makes life easier.

[pmorg4]

I'm looking forward to reading how you get on with this. It's definitely on my list for the E91, like you I have the Pro Nav, mine is widescreen 8.8" or thereabouts, but it's still DVD based, slow and clunky, and generally just badly aged. I'm in two minds as to whether to go for this type of solution, or the CarPlay replacement screen option. It seems that both options work in a similar way (integrated with the iDrive controller, and hold the menu button to switch back to the original CCC system), the difference is that the full replacement option gives you a higher resolution screen and touchscreen. Obviously I'd be using the iDrive controller when driving, but I could see where the touchscreen could be handy if you're parked or have a passenger in the car. I've heard that fitting the replacement screen and all the extra wiring and connectors etc can be a pain though as there's not much room to get everything back together. That's where your option might be better depending on where the box is located and how it connects to the screen.

My wife's car has factory fitted CarPlay alongside its built-in nav and it's great - we always use the phone apps for navigation as they are so much better than the factory nav, even on much newer cars.

Edited by pmorg4 on Friday 9th July 10:05

[Podie]

Court_S said:

Podie said:

Both our daily drivers have CarPlay and we love it. Great system.

Really interested to see how well this integrates (just as a car / tech enthusiast, sad eh?) as I have to beleive there is a big market for this type of thing across all sorts of cars. Also, having two relatively new cars means I have to do my tinkering vicariously

Might seem a bit sad, but one of the reasons fro us selling the Mk7.5 Fiesta ST for the Mk8 was the infotainment....

I’m a big fan of CarPlay too. It’s so easy and gives me control of stuff like Amazon Music, podcasts etc. This will all be via the idrive controller. A long press of the menu button is all that is needs to swap from the CCC system to CarPlay. A short press takes you back to the OE system.

I think there is a big market for this sort of thing especially on older cars because it brings them up to modern standards. The DVD based maps are, well st. Dates images, slow, clunky especially after using Google maps, Waze etc.

It’s odd but the infotainment is the thing is miss from the 140. It had pro nav, so had the big screen which had really good graphics and an easy to use menu plus CarPlay. On a daily driver stuff like a decent infotainment makes life easier.

I recently fitted a Pioneer SPH-10BT to our Griffith as well. Essentially a single DIN phone holder stereo as it allows us to connect a phone and use it for Sat Nav, rather than having to try and stick something to the windscreen with power cables draped all over the dash.

Anyway... looking forward to the install

[Court_S]

Podie said:

I recently fitted a Pioneer SPH-10BT to our Griffith as well. Essentially a single DIN phone holder stereo as it allows us to connect a phone and use it for Sat Nav, rather than having to try and stick something to the windscreen with power cables draped all over the dash.

Anyway... looking forward to the install

That’s right, I caught up on your thread the other day.

I’m tempted to give one of those a whirl on my other half’s 125i instead of a double din install. It’s cheaper and doesn’t involve cutting parts if the dash out. What are your thoughts on it so far?

[Podie]

Court_S said:

Podie said:

I recently fitted a Pioneer SPH-10BT to our Griffith as well. Essentially a single DIN phone holder stereo as it allows us to connect a phone and use it for Sat Nav, rather than having to try and stick something to the windscreen with power cables draped all over the dash.

Anyway... looking forward to the install

That’s right, I caught up on your thread the other day.

I’m tempted to give one of those a whirl on my other half’s 125i instead of a double din install. It’s cheaper and doesn’t involve cutting parts if the dash out. What are your thoughts on it so far?

Thoughts? It's OK. It's not as good as proper CarPlay and the Pioneer app is a little finiky at times (I have an iPhone XS) and have found it needs to be deleted and re-installed on occasion. Not so bad in a toy car like the Griff, but would hack me off on a daily driver. Bluetooth connection (for Spotify) and Google Maps through it are fine as it is essentially a glorified phone holder.

[IAche]

Court_S said:

And literally the most boring way to spend £100 on my car, a set of new OE mats. The ones that came with the car were a pain in the bum with the front one moving every now andy then and getting caught under the clutch pedal. These are much better quality and shouldn’t move about.

I've been nowhere near your carpets!

[sortedcossie]

That's an interesting purchase, i'm looking at hands free kits for an e91 so this may be suitable.

[Court_S]

Podie said:

Thoughts? It's OK. It's not as good as proper CarPlay and the Pioneer app is a little finiky at times (I have an iPhone XS) and have found it needs to be deleted and re-installed on occasion. Not so bad in a toy car like the Griff, but would hack me off on a daily driver. Bluetooth connection (for Spotify) and Google Maps through it are fine as it is essentially a glorified phone holder.

I did read a few reviews and the app is the thing that gets slated the most. Might stick with the original idea of a double din unit. Belsee do a really good looking one but it does away with the bottom row of buttons. Some of it like the seats and front PDC can be accessed through the main menu but there is nothing for the roof controls and with her car being a cab that looks like it kills that idea. I’ll probably end up with a Sony unit like in her old 116.

sortedcossie said:

That's an interesting purchase, i'm looking at hands free kits for an e91 so this may be suitable.

It’s not a cheap solution, but it’s on par with the cost of a double din unit, fascia panel and cables. Big upside for me is that it retains the OE look.

[Podie]

Court_S said:

Podie said:

Thoughts? It's OK. It's not as good as proper CarPlay and the Pioneer app is a little finiky at times (I have an iPhone XS) and have found it needs to be deleted and re-installed on occasion. Not so bad in a toy car like the Griff, but would hack me off on a daily driver. Bluetooth connection (for Spotify) and Google Maps through it are fine as it is essentially a glorified phone holder.

I did read a few reviews and the app is the thing that gets slated the most. Might stick with the original idea of a double din unit. Belsee do a really good looking one but it does away with the bottom row of buttons. Some of it like the seats and front PDC can be accessed through the main menu but there is nothing for the roof controls and with her car being a cab that looks like it kills that idea. I’ll probably end up with a Sony unit like in her old 116.

If you're local, you're welcome to have a look.

I'm close to J18 of the M1.

[MDifficult]

I know it's mega money, but did you ever look at a full retrofit of NBT etc from http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/

I got into a good discussion with them about it, working through all the options and found them incredibly helpful. In the end, I baulked at the cost because I figured I'd need some professional help on the install side - it was just beyond by level of confidence. But, it's fully possible using just BMW stuff and some clever coding.

[Court_S]

Podie said:

If you're local, you're welcome to have a look.

I'm close to J18 of the M1.

I’m not a million miles away so may take you up on that. Thank you.

MDifficult said:

I know it's mega money, but did you ever look at a full retrofit of NBT etc from http://www.bimmerretrofit.com/

I got into a good discussion with them about it, working through all the options and found them incredibly helpful. In the end, I baulked at the cost because I figured I'd need some professional help on the install side - it was just beyond by level of confidence. But, it's fully possible using just BMW stuff and some clever coding.

I have looked at various NBT solutions but most replaced the original screen and I wasn’t sure how the big 10inch screen would look stuck on the dash of the E8x cars. I’m half tempted to fit one on her 125i although the storage bin in the top of the dash is pretty useful.

I think the ideal solution for me would have been the later screen like in your 1M with CarPlay but as a retrofit that was a bit rich for me if I’m honest. The bigger screen like yours integrates nicely with the dash and looks less stuck on like the NBT systems for the 1 series.

[Court_S]

This is what I mean by the NBT styles screens not looking quite right on an E8x car.



Obviously the big benefit is that it’s a big screen and you get a replica of the nicer NBT style menu etc.

[MDifficult]

Court_S said:

I have looked at various NBT solutions but most replaced the original screen and I wasn’t sure how the big 10inch screen would look stuck on the dash of the E8x cars. I’m half tempted to fit one on her 125i although the storage bin in the top of the dash is pretty useful.

I think the ideal solution for me would have been the later screen like in your 1M with CarPlay but as a retrofit that was a bit rich for me if I’m honest. The bigger screen like yours integrates nicely with the dash and looks less stuck on like the NBT systems for the 1 series.

Yeah, spot on - if you have the larger size CIC screen then you can replace like for like and it'll look factory. As you say though, yet more cost if you've only got the diddy screen / no screen.

[Court_S]

MDifficult said:

Yeah, spot on - if you have the larger size CIC screen then you can replace like for like and it'll look factory. As you say though, yet more cost if you've only got the diddy screen / no screen.

Just the screens sell for upwards of £300, plus the CIC gubbins, new fascia plates etc. I reckon I’d be in it for a grand plus.

I’ve also been talking to Haywood & Scott about a custom backbox. I can’t find an N55 135i box let alone the Performance one, so that might be my only option for a bit more volume.