adding factory extra - is it wise - E91 Alpina Touring

[BTCC_racer]

Hi,

As per the title Id like to add the following factory extra's to my Alpina D3 Bi-turbo E91.

Power folding mirrors
Heated seats
Factory xenon lights
Harmon Kardon stereo - car has factory idrive system

Thanks

[595Heaven]

I suspect you'll find that the harness on the car won't support any / all of those options if it was not built with them. BMW have used 'KSK' harnesses (effectively unique to the build spec) for some time, so there won't be connectors for these options.

Power folding mirrors - you may be lucky. but would need the switches to support
Heated seats - would also need the switch panel
Factory xenon lights - these (as a legal requirement) come with auto levelling and power wash so if these aren't present on your car, it would be very difficult to retro fit
Harmon Kardon stereo - car has factory idrive system - I think the HK system uses MOST (fibre optic) links between components and these won't be spare in the harnesses

Edited by 595Heaven on Saturday 7th November 16:08

[g3org3y]

As 595Heaven says, could be logistically very difficult as opposed to simply plug and play.

Of course, where there's a will, there's a way.

[drdino]

There are a few people that do this and have done these specific retrofits. Look up Bavarian Coding or Gacoding on FB for example.

[BTCC_racer]

Thanks for the replies, ill have a look into those groups.
As far as the Xenon auto leveling goes I was thinking of getting this adjusted within MOT testing tolerance, yes it will be a fixed adjustment better than the candles im running at the moment.

If im honest the HK stereo doesn't bother me too much, but really the xenon lights, heated seats and power folding mirrors would be a must.

[BFleming]

I'll answer for heated seats, divided into 4 parts:

Seats: Your existing seats won't have the elements. Find some seats with them, or if they're Alpina specific, find the seats, and harvest the elements from them. BMW seats come apart nicely, so it's not a hard retrofit.
Switches: Get the switches! RealOEM is ambiguous, buy the switch set you need secondhand.
Wiring: you need wiring from your seats to the fuse box.
Coding: You need the car coding to tell it you have heated seats. Doing this enables everything.

Happy to help if I can.

[BTCC_racer]

BFleming said:

I'll answer for heated seats, divided into 4 parts:

Seats: Your existing seats won't have the elements. Find some seats with them, or if they're Alpina specific, find the seats, and harvest the elements from them. BMW seats come apart nicely, so it's not a hard retrofit.
Switches: Get the switches! RealOEM is ambiguous, buy the switch set you need secondhand.
Wiring: you need wiring from your seats to the fuse box.
Coding: You need the car coding to tell it you have heated seats. Doing this enables everything.

Happy to help if I can.

Marvelous thank you.
I think my seats are regular BMW Msport seats so I should be able to get a set of ebay relatively easily.

[d_a_n1979]

BTCC_racer said:

Thanks for the replies, ill have a look into those groups.
As far as the Xenon auto leveling goes I was thinking of getting this adjusted within MOT testing tolerance, yes it will be a fixed adjustment better than the candles im running at the moment.

If im honest the HK stereo doesn't bother me too much, but really the xenon lights, heated seats and power folding mirrors would be a must.

If washers and self levelling aren’t fitted; they cannot be failed, therefore cannot fail an MOT

So if you fit xenon and their beam pattern, and the and cut off are all as they should be (ie get your local MOT station to set them up once fitted) then they’ll pass.

I’m sure you’ll have to do some coding to get them fitted re the cold checks and dash warning light etc.

You can fit the self levelling after if you so wish, but then why would you need to/same with the headlight washers etc?

[BTCC_racer]

d_a_n1979 said:

If washers and self levelling aren’t fitted; they cannot be failed, therefore cannot fail an MOT

So if you fit xenon and their beam pattern, and the and cut off are all as they should be (ie get your local MOT station to set them up once fitted) then they’ll pass.

I’m sure you’ll have to do some coding to get them fitted re the cold checks and dash warning light etc.

You can fit the self levelling after if you so wish, but then why would you need to/same with the headlight washers etc?

Excellent thanks for this, Xenons can be fixed and set up by the mot station and set to the higher end of the tolerance. Most of my commute is on un-lit country lanes. I used to have a volvo with regular bulbs and the light pattern was very effective however in this day and age nothing really beats Xenon in comparison.

Does anyone know what if any control module I will need to get fitted? Also will the lights activate with my alarm?

Also who makes the original Xenon lights? I can see Valeo BMW and valeo on my halogen lights? I may consider new depending on the price.

Edited by BTCC_racer on Monday 9th November 10:40

[Sir_Dave]

BTCC_racer said:

Hi,

As per the title Id like to add the following factory extra's to my Alpina D3 Bi-turbo E91.

Power folding mirrors
Heated seats
Factory xenon lights
Harmon Kardon stereo - car has factory idrive system

Thanks

Some links for you

Folding mirrors: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98...
Heated seats: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=89...
Xenon retrofit: https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=91...
Logic 7/Individual Audio retrofit: https://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1...

If you search on google for "e90post" then whatever you want, the Americans will have done it

[BFleming]

I still have the documentation I put together when I did my heated seat retrofit. Instructions, wiring diagrams, pictures etc.
One worthwhile tip if you decide to retrofit seats is to stick to a similar year & type as you already have - so in my case (as was) 2010 & manual seats.

[Mr Tidy]

Some worthwhile upgrades planned there OP.

Luckily my E90 came with the mirrors and Bi-Xenons and I'm not too bothered about the heated seats or upgraded stereo!

On the headlight topic I think cars registered after a certain date in 2009 with Xenons/HIDs might need headlight washers for the MOT, so that be worth considering depending on your car's age.

[BTCC_racer]

Some great info here guys, Ive just been snowed under with work. Once I get a few hours to myself i'll have a good read and plan the upgrades.
Cars currently in the garage getting the famous chain replacement as a precaution along with a few more bits.

Its a cracking car and awesome chassis and I couldn't be happier, the extras will just complete the package.