[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Great write up Peter!
With the outlets the presumption is at certain steering wheel adjustments the angle of the shaft fouls on the outlet. I'm surprised to hear it doesn't. I'm curious, Was this before or after your M3 rack install ?

The stock modified outlets don’t make any contact with the steering column or any nearby objects regardless of the steering position. I am aware that all aftermarket outlets have issues on RHD cars, but this is not the case if you straighten the kink in the stock outlets and re-fitted them.

I was wondering why the rear outlet is squished from factory, they were probably just being extra cautious. It could also be to allow the steering column some free movement in the case of an accident. The steering column is designed to absorb the G forces and deflect to the side and have its u-joints break upon hard impact, instead of launching the steering wheel straight into the driver’s face.

[eastsidaz]

Love ya work! lots of great info

Also great work by vtl for defining the throttle tables. Looking forward to the xdf release

Might have to give linear throttle on the bimmer a whirl. I've done all that sort of tuning to my wrx, as you know it basically acts like old drive by cable,
However i didn't like it because on subaru's target boost and wastegate duty were based off throttle plate angle so it kinder felt like the boost was held back a little.

[Pete.J]

Another retrospective post, this time a maintenance task.

I installed new front wheel bearing on my E92 335i.

They made a very noticeable difference on my car, when going over road reflectors or crossing train tracks, it feels so much more solid. And the thudding noise is much quieter, overall significant reduction in NVH. Feels a bit like a new car, very solid over road imperfections.

Also, it‘s a lot quieter on the freeways and high speeds now, can barely hear any road noise from the front-end ����. And by far the best difference I’ve noticed, is a sharper steering response.

The bearings that came off the car felt grainy when turned by hand, they had a slight sideways free-play, and they were quite loose to turn (less resistance to spinning compared to the new bearing).

The old bearings covered 188k kms, they’ve been making faint popping noises over sharp bumps for the last 30k kms or so, and after testing all the ball-joints near the knuckles the bearings turned out to be the culprit.

I live in the inner east of Melbourne, the roads are quite bad. Specially the tram tracks with their concrete underpinnings in the ground. This could have potentially played a role in shortening their lifespan.

I got them off eBay, from a seller in the US. It was cheaper than FCP, $340 AUD delivered, then I bought 8 new micro-encapsulated bolts from the local dealer ($5/per bolt). The bolts that hold the bearing to the knuckle are one time use only. They're micro-encapsulated bolts, they got that pink lining on the threads, it's basically tiny beads or capsules that have Loctite stored in them, when the bolt is inserted and tightened the capsules break and release the Loctite into the threads.

The brand I got is called “***”, which is the OEM brand. I was initially looking for SKF, as I know from experience they’re the best bearing manufacturer in the world. SKF is Swedish, *** is German. But I couldn’t find the right part no. for the SKF part to suit my application.

After a bit of research, turned out that *** is one of the best bearings manufacturers out there. *** has been around for 113 years, and since the genuine ones are made by ***, and they lasted a good chunk of kilometres on my car, might as well repeat them.

Some pics I took when doing this:

[BSG335]

Nice... how much time did it take to do the work? Seems like a simple maintenance item for significant results.

[eastsidaz]

Love how much thought goes into their brand names “FAG”, This reminds me of company thats makes brakes and rotors

[BSG335]

^ yeah they changed their name after this roadshow to something a little less... unusual.

[Pete.J]

vtl posted the XDF's for the newly discovered throttle correction tables mentioned in posts 12 and 17 above, in the "N54 Turbo Engine" section of the forums, link:

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1610143

[Aus335iguy]

Hi Pete, this thread is fast becoming VERY popular for a number of reasons, congratulations!
Theres mounting interest now in the M3 DSC flash. We'd all appreciate when you have some time if you can run us through how to flash the M3 DSC on our cars? Its one thing i think that many of us would like to try. I imagine it can simply be done via WinKFP ?

[JohnDaviz]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Hi Pete, this thread is fast becoming VERY popular for a number of reasons, congratulations!
Theres mounting interest now in the M3 DSC flash. We'd all appreciate when you have some time if you can run us through how to flash the M3 DSC on our cars? Its one thing i think that many of us would like to try. I imagine it can simply be done via WinKFP ?

Hell yes!

[Pete.J]

Another retrospective post, I did this in June 2018.

I have completely unlocked my CIC iDrive and activated all features !!

The iDrive uses asymmetric key cryptography (private+public key set) to validate FSC codes that are required to unlock features. In very simple terms, the iDrive has a secret key made of 128-bits (called private key), no one knows it. This key is used to verify signature on FSC files (to prove that they really came from BMW, and aren't fake), FSC's are required to activate features on BMW's, FSC's are uploaded to the iDrive head unit before it leaves the factory based on the vehicle order and what options the buyer opted for.

A script can be used to virginise the device again as if it's brand new device with no data on it (iDrive runs a QNX Operating System), this wipes off the root certificate that contains the private key used to digitally sign the FSC's. And then upload a custom root certificate that contains a private key that we know. So now we can sign FSC codes using a public key that matches the private key that we uploaded to the iDrive (glad I paid attention in the Software Security lectures lmao ).

Once the iDrive checks the signature of the FSC's, and it matches, it’ll allow the feature to be unlocked. iDrive uses RSA algorithm (Rivest–Shamir–Adleman), and they combine this with MD5 hashing functions, these are one way functions that CANNOT be reversed (with all the computing power we have in the world today, it’ll take a few years just to reverse one MD5 hash function).

Crazy security for a car's infotainment system lol, if there's money it of course they'll beef it up.

The outcome:

Now you can retrofit CIC iDrive in a car that came with the older CCC without the need for an emulator! Maps, voice control and absolutely everything will work as if the car came from factory originally with a CIC. You can also generate the 9C FSC to unlock BMW Apps (this was previously impossible to unlock even with an emulator). The only way to get it, is to buy a secondhand CIC device, that came off a car that originally came with BMW Apps from factory, then you would have had to buy an emulator (DCAN filter), because the navigation and voice control functionalities will stop working due to VIN mismatch between the CAS and retrofitted iDrive.

This method of virgin-ising the iDrive and uploading a custom root certificate, can only be implemented on the latest iDrive software, CIC.C1A. Older firmware like .C16, .C17, .C18… etc. won’t work. So the iDrive needs to be updated to the latest firmware before performing this.

Initially I used an ICOM cable and a clone MOST-BUS adapter for updating, which resulted in my iDrive getting bricked and stuck in the bootloader screen (later found out the Chinese clone ICOM B was the culprit). Lucky I had a spare CIC iDrive to throw in until the Genuine ICOM MOST-BUS adapter came in the mail.



It flashed very quickly, and from the first try with the genuine ICOM! The CIC iDrive is a pain to flash the firmware on, three ECUs need to be flashed with a specific order, ECU addresses; 63 (CIC itself) flashed first, then 62 (MOST-BUS gateway) flashed second, and lastly A0 (CIC Hard disk). All up will take around an hour to update the firmware on them using the latest SP Daten v66 files.



Some pictures with annotations on them:













My car is 2007, it originally came with the older CCC iDrive, I upgraded to a CIC that came off a newer car, it has always bugged me that my new CIC iDrive had the wrong VIN stored in it (from the donor car), and I could only get the Navigation and Voice Control working using a cheap Chinese emulator (acts as a DCAN filter basically, to stop the iDrive requesting the car's real VIN from the CAS module to perform FSC checks).



As you can see, maps now work with the emulator removed.



2019 maps are at the dealers I believe, need to look for them online, and then it should be an easy straightforward process to upload them to the iDrive and generate a FSC for them to work, I am still on the 2018 version.



BMW Apps unlocked (needed to digitally sign and upload the 9C FSC to the iDrive to get that working). There are plenty of apps which I didn’t have time to go through them all yet, but I did check out a couple.



I can now search places/addresses on my phone and send them to the car’s navigation with one touch, instead of having to manually enter the address on the iDrive nav screen with it’s annoying user interface.



Apps that can be run on the car:



Spotify App:



Web radio App, can listen to any Digital radio station from any country in the world. Not bad hey!



///M Lap Timer App:

By far my favourite, the ///M Lap Timer App, it’ll display the g-forces on the screen as you corner or accelerate hard. It can record track sessions so you can later analyse them and compare corner speeds, maximum g-force achieved mid-corner on different tire/suspension setups, it'll also record the racing line… etc.

I can see myself using this next time I go on a mountain run, or head to the track!



Throwing it hard around a sharp right corner on the Yarra Scenic Drive in Kew:

Hard straight line acceleration:

And if you have a GoPro mounted anywhere on the car, you can display the live footage on the iDrive screen (wirelessly).



The ///M Lap Timer can also log throttle, RPM, steering angle, accelerator, brake and g-force. You can later replay the log on your phone and watch the car go around the circuit map with all logged data laid out. It also has support for GoPro, so you can overlay this data on the GoPro video. Definitely great to use on the track for analysing and comparing laptimes and to track my own driving for the purpose of improving.







Eligibility of adding BMW Apps to you BMW

- You need CIC iDrive and a Combox to achieve all the functionality shown above. The older CCC won’t work, and a CIC without Combox won’t work either, you need both (google Combox retrofit, it's well documented on this forums and everywhere online, when buying a Combox make sure you get the BN2000 version, not the BN3000. The BN3000 is for the F series cars and won't work on our cars. I can organise Comboxes for $250 plus shipping through a good mate of mine).

- BMW Apps don’t support Android, only iPhone.

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by BSG335

Nice... how much time did it take to do the work? Seems like a simple maintenance item for significant results.

Two hours all up, and that's with working slow and taking my time cleaning up parts as I go, I am very pedantic with my car lol.

Make sure you got a torque wrench ready, replace the bolts that hold the bearing housing like the BMW service manual suggests (ISTA/D). The bolts that hold the bearing housing to the knuckle are M12, to be tightened at 110Nm.

Originally Posted by GovernUrMental

Love how much thought goes into their brand names “FAG”, This reminds me of company thats makes brakes and rotors

Hahah I lol'd at the name too

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Hi Pete, this thread is fast becoming VERY popular for a number of reasons, congratulations!
Theres mounting interest now in the M3 DSC flash. We'd all appreciate when you have some time if you can run us through how to flash the M3 DSC on our cars? Its one thing i think that many of us would like to try. I imagine it can simply be done via WinKFP ?

Originally Posted by JohnDaviz

Hell yes!

I am doing a complete DSC write up, I'll cover all the nannies that I discovered over the years, and what to parameters to change in the DSC coding to disable them... etc. And yes I'll cover the flashing different software on the 135i/335i DSC module, like E82 1M or E9x M3 DSC software

[Aus335iguy]

Ill pay you to update my iDrive Pete. Its been bugging me since I retrofitted the combox.

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by Aus335iguy

Ill pay you to update my iDrive Pete. Its been bugging me since I retrofitted the combox.

Yeah I can do that, I've installed, updated and unlocked CIC iDrives and Comboxes for a few people here in the past.

Do you only want me to update it to the latest software, which is .C1A? Or you want me to unlock it with custom root certificates too to get BMW Apps working? Two distinctive processes.

Edit: just pm me what you need done.

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Yeah I can do that, I've installed, updated and unlocked CIC iDrives and Comboxes for a few people here in the past.

Do you only want me to update it to the latest software, which is .C1A? Or you want me to unlock it with custom root certificates too to get BMW Apps working? Two distinctive processes.

Edit: just pm me what you need done instead of discussing publicly

I wonder if piss cheap US cic parts will work in Australia?

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

I wonder if piss cheap US cic parts will work in Australia?

Yeah all the US spec CIC components including headunit, Combox, controller, screen... etc. will work fine in Australia, the CIC iDrive in my car atm actually came from a US Spec E92 M3.

There's a difference in the ZB software number between the EU and US specs, i.e. at the same software version, the ZB nr. is different. So there are two .C1A ZB's in the V66 daten files, one for EU and other from the US.

In practice, it's not required to flash the correct ZB nr. to get it work, just code to VO and it'll work perfectly. But because I have OCD, so I flashed the CIC unit I bought from the US to the EU ZB nr., I worked out the correct EU ZB, and then I used WinKFP Expert Mode to flash a custom file to it that is different to the original hardware number. WinKFP Comfort Mode won't work for that. It'll keep popping with a message that you're trying to flash the wrong software to the device.

There's also a small aesthetic difference in the iDrive buttons between the two versions of the iDrive. EU iDrive's received 1-8 numbered buttons on the headunit while US iDrive's received numbered buttons 1-6 and AM/FM and Mode buttons instead of the 7 and 8 buttons. The function of the buttons can easily be coded to match the physical button layout of the headunit, on Euro cars Mode button is on the steering wheel (it's all just coding stuff, pretty easy).

That front button panel can also be easily replaced with an EU one, I much prefer the 1-8 numbers layout, looks cleaner imo, plus who the hell listens to AM radio these days haha, it's 2019! I had a Euro CIC iDrive as spare, so I re-used the buttons panel off it to reuse on my new CIC iDrive I bought from the US, it came off an E92 M3 and had additional features like DAB Digital Radio, and extra sockets at the back to plug in a digital radio antenna, I haven't had a chance to retrofit DAB yet, but that's why I have two iDrives, I was hunting for DAB capable iDrive for a long time

Pic illustrating what all the sockets fo on the back of the iDrive.

Only DAB capable units have sockets 9 and 10, and of course it requires a FSC to unlock DAB function to work for your specific VIN, but that's not an issue anymore, as mentioned in post 32 above, FSC's can now all be generated with custom root certificates.

Those DAB capable CIC units, are extremely hard to get! And they don't sell for any more expensive than standard units. Majority of sellers have absolutely no clue actually.



Pics:

*Pics taken from eBay sellers.*

EU CIC iDrive



US CIC iDrive

[Nickco43]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Yeah all the US spec CIC components including headunit, Combox, controller, screen... etc. will work fine in Australia, the CIC iDrive in my car atm actually came from a US Spec E92 M3.

There's a difference in the ZB software number between the EU and US specs, i.e. at the same software version, the ZB nr. is different. So there are two .C1A ZB's in the V66 daten files, one for EU and other from the US.

In practice, it's not required to flash the correct ZB nr. to get it work, just code to VO and it'll work perfectly. But because I have OCD, so I flashed the CIC unit I bought from the US to the EU ZB nr., I worked out the correct EU ZB, and then I used WinKFP Expert Mode to flash a custom file to it that is different to the original hardware number. WinKFP Comfort Mode won't work for that. It'll keep popping with a message that you're trying to flash the wrong software to the device.

There's also a small aesthetic difference in the iDrive buttons between the two versions of the iDrive. EU iDrive's received 1-8 numbered buttons on the headunit while US iDrive's received numbered buttons 1-6 and AM/FM and Mode buttons instead of the 7 and 8 buttons. The function of the buttons can easily be coded to match the physical button layout of the headunit, on Euro cars Mode button is on the steering wheel (it's all just coding stuff, pretty easy).

That front button panel can also be easily replaced with an EU one, I much prefer the 1-8 numbers layout, looks cleaner imo, plus who the hell listens to AM radio these days haha, it's 2019! I had a Euro CIC iDrive as spare, so I re-used the buttons panel off it to reuse on my new CIC iDrive I bought from the US, it came off an E92 M3 and had additional features like DAB Digital Radio, and extra sockets at the back to plug in a digital radio antenna, I haven't had a chance to retrofit DAB yet, but that's why I have two iDrives, I was hunting for DAB capable iDrive for a long time

Pic illustrating what all the sockets fo on the back of the iDrive.

Only DAB capable units have sockets 9 and 10, and of course it requires a FSC to unlock DAB function to work for your specific VIN, but that's not an issue anymore, as mentioned in post 32 above, FSC's can now all be generated with custom root certificates.

Those DAB capable CIC units, are extremely hard to get! And they don't sell for any more expensive than standard units. Majority of sellers have absolutely no clue actually.



Pics:

*Pics taken from eBay sellers.*

EU CIC iDrive



US CIC iDrive

How much is a CIC in Australia?

[Pete.J]

Originally Posted by Nickco43

How much is a CIC in Australia?

Between $800 and $1,000 AUD for the headunit, screen and controller to suit E9x 3er, and the Combox is usually around $250 (can usually be found for as low as $150 AUD on eBay if you look hard enough).

E82 CIC iDrive screen is very hard to get, because it was a very rare option to have E82 with the 8.8" screen CIC Professional iDrive. So usually for a full E82 CIC (headunit, controller, screen), you're looking at around $1,250-$1,400 AUD.

[carguy138]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Between $800 and $1,000 AUD for the headunit, screen and controller to suit E9x 3er, and the Combox is usually around $250 (can usually be found for as low as $150 AUD on eBay if you look hard enough).

E82 CIC iDrive screen is very hard to get, because it was a very rare option to have E82 with the 8.8" screen CIC Professional iDrive. So usually for a full E82 CIC (headunit, controller, screen), you're looking at around $1,250-$1,400 AUD.

Hey just wanted to say that you are doing some outstanding work! I stumbled across this thread and it's one of the best I've seen on this site. Keep it up!

Last year I was able to turn on the M drive option on the Idrive screen (10/10 n55 e90) but it didn't do anything. Very excited to see what you come up with.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Another retrospective post, I did this in June 2018.

I have completely unlocked my CIC iDrive and activated all features !!
- BMW Apps don’t support Android, only iPhone.

Hey Pete does this work for the the NBT?

[Pete.J]

I had heaps pm's asking how to get the IKM0S tune bin from the 1M to run on a standard N54 135i/335i.

In the name of freedom of information for everyone , there you have it, I edited Post 13 in this build thread, in Part 1 of the post I discussed in details how to move from MSD80 to MSD81, and all what's involved in the process (including details for the nerds), and Part 2 of the post I discussed how any MSD81 135i/335i can migrate to IKM0S which is the 1M tune bin. I also included the XDF at the end of the post with the bits that require changing defined in the XDF.

I thought about whether I am going to post this publicly or not, and eventually decided to post it to help push the platform develop. The issue with the N54 and other similar BMW platforms, is information hoarding!

No one shares anything or any new discoveries, it's crippling the development of the platform, and I wouldn't want to play a role in that. I discovered how to flash the IKM0S myself with the help of two of friends, and it involved heaps of trial and error on my car, and stuffing around. So I own the rights to the information, and I chose to post publicly to help others that are interested to head in the same paths.

Look at all other performance car platforms, JDM cars, EVO's, WRX's, Muscle cars... etc. they're all well developed and much more understood, because people don't hoard information and they don't hide discoveries like the case on N54 and other turbo BMW's!

Pete

Originally Posted by Socket

Hey Pete does this work for the the NBT?

NBT definitely supports ConnectedDrive and BMW Apps, but I haven't been following the latest development on whether someone managed to crack it to upload custom FSC's to it for enabling these features or not.

Most likely you'll have to put your NBT into a F series car to do this, because we can't communicate to the NBT in an E series car using the standard tools that we use for the CIC. The NBT will be expecting an Ethernet connection which pre-LCI E92 aren't capable of providing, only F series cars.

The other option is to buy legit FSC's from BMW, but that'll be a ripoff haha, definitely don't do it, I am sure a solution for the NBT will popup online soon, someone is going to figure out how to crack them.

Originally Posted by carguy138

Hey just wanted to say that you are doing some outstanding work! I stumbled across this thread and it's one of the best I've seen on this site. Keep it up!

Last year I was able to turn on the M drive option on the Idrive screen (10/10 n55 e90) but it didn't do anything. Very excited to see what you come up with.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Yeah I got the M Drive menu on my iDrive too, it doesn't do anything. It needs the Siemens MSS60 DME from the E9x M3. I've been looking into it on and off in my freetime to get M Drive retrofitted to my car, I've made a little progress, but I am still not there yet. I'll definitely post all the info publicly if I ever got it work correctly like in the E9x M3.

[Aus335iguy]

I have no words, except THANK YOU !

[Works]

Fucking legend, thank you for all these posts.

The best EVO community members were Aussies too, your car culture seems to be much more community driven than US/EU where people seem to be close guarding their findings either to be able to give the middle finger of "well I researched it, you should spend your time on it too" or they will want to sell it as a service.

I'm really looking forward to the next how-to for updating the DSC module with 1M software.