[Dleo]

Heres the story, because I changed jobs I do ALOT more traveling now, most places I have never been to before in my life, so all of a sudden a navigation is a MUST.

Since my car does not have a navigation system, I went out and purchased a TOMTOM 910. All was good, until the ONE NIGHT i forgot to remove my TOMTOM from the window mount.... and i guess you can tell how the story ends.
I walked up to my car to see a broken passenger side window, bent and scratched up door pillar (im guessing they tried to slim jim into the car before breaking the window) and tomtom was kidnaped! when all was said and done it cost me about $1200 to get my car fixed and good as new again, BUT i still dont have a navigation system!! Well thats my dilema, i dont want to buy another window mounted navigation system because i never want to go through this again, also sometimes i make a lot of quick stops and it just too much of a hassel to mount and unmount all the time.

What I had in mind was removing the radio head unit and replacing it with an aftermarket in dash navigation system, something with a pop up screen. Has anyone had any experience with this? Any suggestions on which system to buy? Any pictures installed on an E90?
I have come accross a product on one of the threads thats says it intergrates the steering wheel controls into any radio, so thats def a positive!

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance guys!

[Dleo]

anyone?

[zzz3]

Replacing the headunit is not easy especially in US car, there are several threads with this subject.
You will have to replace the amps and speakers, you will lose the bluetooth, BMW ASSIST, CD changer, Steering wheel botons and PDC... your dealer wont be able update/diagnose your car without the original radio.
You will also need a CAN BUS Interface to connect the aftermarket radio, along with speakers and amps.
At moment I think Alpine as best solution, they have a CAN BUS Interface with steering wheel integration, and a second interface for the PDC (only for rear PDC).

[shipill]

just forget about getting aftermarket in dash navigation system !!!!

[liquid]

some cell phone companies are starting to offer it. i kgiht see about adding it to my treo.

james

[f30er]

I got my car without i-Drive also and have been trying to come up with something for getting NAV in my car but keeping the clean look. I'm thinking of replacing my dash with an I-Drive dash, and putting in a screen in the iDrive window and adding a carputer in the trunk. This'll be much cheaper than some of the iDrive retrofits I've seen on eBay, I'm thinkin somewhere around 2k. I think the most expensive part of this will be the replacement dash...Anyways, its a thought....

[xdrive]

2k is INSANE! I'm also in the market for an aftermarket nav, but I want a clean look too. Thinking about getting the Garmin Nuvi 660 ($700 USD) and mounting it flush on the dashboard (right about the vents). I looked into the Garmin Streetpilot 7200 with a 7" screen, but I saw it in person and do not like it. It's way too big. I also looked into the Maxdent or Polenio (both also with 7" screen), but the interface is horrible. The screen resolution is subpar compared to the nuvi 660. The nuvi 660 is just right with 4.3" screen. I'll post some pic of my install once I finish. Planning on hard wiring the nuvi by running the wire in between the center wood trim (right about the vents) and the dashboard.

ANYONE with the nuvi know if it will turn on automatically once the car starts if it is hard wired?

[xdrive]

Exactly how this guy mounted his navi. Instead, I'll be using the nuvi 660. This is what I plan on doing. Anyone have any pics on how he did this? Any DIY photos?

[bimmerFUD]

Originally Posted by xdrive

Exactly how this guy mounted his navi.

I like that. xdrive, please let me know if you find out how this is mounted.

I'm also considering this cupholder mount:
http://www.mountguys.com/product_p/mfx33-nuvi660.htm
and this floor mount:
http://www.mountguys.com/product_p/mfx88-nuvi660.htm
Has anyone tried either of these? The floor mount seems like a nice way to go.

zameergill, I hate to say it, but maybe you should just order a new car with the nav option.

[xdrive]

The floor mounts is the nicer of the two.
The problem i have with the floor mount is that it gets into the way for the front passenger and it's too low. Might be kinda dangerous to be looking at the navigation if it's all the way down there.

[jhanlon]

Originally Posted by xdrive

Exactly how this guy mounted his navi. Instead, I'll be using the nuvi 660. This is what I plan on doing. Anyone have any pics on how he did this? Any DIY photos?

Have a look at this thread at GPSpassion:
http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/t...TOPIC_ID=46749