[garagemethods]

so I recently installed an aftermarket headunit into my 08 328i bmw w/ the hifi sound system. it's a pioneer avic-x940bt navigation touchscreen. Ordered it from crutchfield which came with a metra dash kit, metra harness, and the metra heated seat relocator.

Some things I will say, is that the metra harness is a bit confusing. there is a wire coming from pin 13 that is for the "powered antenna". with this wire you should connect the remote turn-on wire and the antenna wire from your headunit. the reason for the remote turn on is to give your factory amp a turn on, as pin 13 goes to the factory amp as a remote turn on.

secondly, the metra dash hit, once installed DOES NOT look bad. I have seen pictures from the web of the corners sticking out with a gap. this is true, but not noticeable from any angle while sitting in the vehicle. There are though, two screws that will screw in to keep the dash kit against the dash on the bottom. I wouldn't recommend drilling through these holes because they drill into the dash at a point that is undesirable. I simply left these screws out and kept the dash kit held onto the a/c controls using 3M tape.

Third off, with the headunit installed there is to be a switched AND constant 12v connection. The switched connection I taped from the cigarette lighter (the middle wire on the connection) and the 12v constant I ran to the battery. the reason for running to the battery is because the car goes into "sleep mode" after roughly an hour after turning the car off which cuts off all power to most accessories. I noticed the constant 12v from the factory harness would cause my headunit to reset and loose my stored settings after this time.

these are my experiences and my .02 cents, comment as necessary.

[geko29]

You can also get a permanent 12V from some of the empty fuse blocks behind the glovebox, without going all the way back to the battery. The Dynavins actually come with a dedicated wire for just this purpose. Took me a couple of tries to find one that didn't sleep, like you found, but there are several of them there.

[BOBKUR]

Originally Posted by geko29

You can also get a permanent 12V from some of the empty fuse blocks behind the glovebox, without going all the way back to the battery. The Dynavins actually come with a dedicated wire for just this purpose. Took me a couple of tries to find one that didn't sleep, like you found, but there are several of them there.

I wonder if tapping wires at the fuse block will cause a problem when having recall work on connection fixed?

[garagemethods]

Originally Posted by geko29

You can also get a permanent 12V from some of the empty fuse blocks behind the glovebox, without going all the way back to the battery. The Dynavins actually come with a dedicated wire for just this purpose. Took me a couple of tries to find one that didn't sleep, like you found, but there are several of them there.

Which fuse exactly did you tap?

[gte460z]

I am about to upgrade my 08 hifi system with an x930bt. Thanks for the tips! Did you happen to install an AWSC or PAC controller to retain your steering wheel controls?

[garagemethods]

Originally Posted by gte460z

I am about to upgrade my 08 hifi system with an x930bt. Thanks for the tips! Did you happen to install an AWSC or PAC controller to retain your steering wheel controls?

Actually yes I did the Axxess ASWC and it worked like a charm. found the car and the headunit automatically with no manual programming.

[gte460z]

Nice! ASWC is the way I was going. Any weird ECU codes from removing the radio? Sorry for all the questions, just information building before I install mine.

[garagemethods]

Originally Posted by gte460z

Nice! ASWC is the way I was going. Any weird ECU codes from removing the radio? Sorry for all the questions, just information building before I install mine.

no codes, but that's because I didn't have SOS or any other installed option that would cause one

[09E90utah]

Does your trip computer still work correctly?

[atl530i]

Do you have any good pics of everything installed? I've seen a few pics but most were crappy quality. Did you relocate the OEM headunit?

[garagemethods]

i'll take some good pictures, and no i didn't relocate.

[gIzzE]

Don't you guys have adapters that retain steering wheel controls, pdc and give you all the connections you need, such as illumination, speed pulse, reverse, 12v switched etc. that makes it completely plug and play???

Connects2 do them over here, around $50 for the harness and then $5 for the lead that hooks it up to the various makes of aftermarket deck, such as Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, Kenwood etc.

[makkan00]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Connects2 do them over here, around $50 for the harness and then $5 for the lead that hooks it up to the various makes of aftermarket deck, such as Alpine, Pioneer, Clarion, Kenwood etc.

they have metra to do that.

[gIzzE]

So why take a positive switched of the ciggy lighter??

[gte460z]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

So why take a positive switched of the ciggy lighter??

The power from the cigarette lighter is tied to the ignition so its the perfect candidate for the switched power going to the headunit. This is not available from the stock BMW factory harness. Also, constant unswitched power is not available from the factory harness (the power from the factory harness shuts off after 30 minutes, called deep sleep mode) either and must be pulled from a fuse in the fuse box or directly from the battery.

[gIzzE]

I get that, but the Connects2 adapter we have over here has 12v switched on it, it takes the can signal and switches the 12v on as it would with the oem head unit.
This means the head unit wakes as soon as you put the key in, rather than pressing the start button.

I am surprised the Metra harness doesn't give this too.
Does it give you pdc bleeps and steering wheel controls?
I guess it must give you steering wheel controls as that is what it is sold as.

What about illumination signal, reverse signal, handbrake signal?