[Theoneandonly]

Is this new or has it been out a while?

http://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRINT/5322

[SDKevin]

Link doesn't work for me, but interested!

[Theoneandonly]

Originally Posted by SDKevin

Link doesn't work for me, but interested!

Not sure happened, try this one http://www.shopbmwusa.com/PRODUCT/53...ATION-RETROFIT

[BentZero]

Seems expensive. Especially the holder kit. I'd rather get the bimmertech phone mirroring unit and use nav as well as anything else I want on my phone. It will also allow me to add a rearview camera at some point as well.

[Theoneandonly]

Originally Posted by BentZero

Seems expensive. Especially the holder kit. I'd rather get the bimmertech phone mirroring unit and use nav as well as anything else I want on my phone. It will also allow me to add a rearview camera at some point as well.

Suppose that depends on whether you want something OEM or not. Btw I'm finding most of the Bimmertech parts on the chinese websites, gives me an idea of the markups they are adding. you can find an identical mirroring unit for 69 bucks. No guarantee it'll work or even arrive lol

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by Theoneandonly

Suppose that depends on whether you want something OEM or not. Btw I'm finding most of the Bimmertech parts on the chinese websites, gives me an idea of the markups they are adding. you can find an identical mirroring unit for 69 bucks. No guarantee it'll work or even arrive lol

I'd be pretty pissed off if they just resold me a piece of junk lol.

[Xi-Xi]

Has anybody done this retrofit? Am I correct in assuming that some coding would be necessary in addition to just installing the parts?

[chattanooga240]

Originally Posted by Xi-Xi

Has anybody done this retrofit? Am I correct in assuming that some coding would be necessary in addition to just installing the parts?

In for this too, anyone installed this?

[Ken228]

I've been contacting a few dealerships in the area about my ability to do this. One says it can't be done, the other says it can.

"I have heard back from BMW NA and they said the navigation retrofit will in fact not work with your vehicle. Your vehicle needs a option call entry media, option code S6FWA and your vehicle is not equipped with that option."

The other guy is saying that it can be done.

I'm so confused. I want the nav retrofit badly, but it seems like the original link on shopbmwusa.com is no longer working. However, it can be found on getbmwparts.com. I don't know what to think.

Edit:

So I contacted my regular service advisor about this and I'm waiting to hear back... but support from getbmwparts told me it will work. So I think next week I'm going to pull the trigger on it and then report my results here.

[fancyfl1ght]

Originally Posted by Ken228

I've been contacting a few dealerships in the area about my ability to do this. One says it can't be done, the other says it can.

"I have heard back from BMW NA and they said the navigation retrofit will in fact not work with your vehicle. Your vehicle needs a option call entry media, option code S6FWA and your vehicle is not equipped with that option."

The other guy is saying that it can be done.

I'm so confused. I want the nav retrofit badly, but it seems like the original link on shopbmwusa.com is no longer working. However, it can be found on getbmwparts.com. I don't know what to think.

Edit:

So I contacted my regular service advisor about this and I'm waiting to hear back... but support from getbmwparts told me it will work. So I think next week I'm going to pull the trigger on it and then report my results here.

Personally, OEM means serious dollars, with coding involves some work with the dealer (you could do this yourself but you have to get the software, not exactly sure if this is legal). It's easier for you to find a HDMI video interface/Miracast and splice into the CAN BUS on your current radio and interrupt the video signal to your monitor.

Miracast will help you use all your favorite apps on your smartphone, including navigation of your choice (Waze, Google, etc.). I would argue dynamically updating nav like Waze and Google are superior to any in car navigation system, although there are folks that like the look and integration (whatever hell that means) of an OEM system. All my previous cars were loaded to the gills and I never used the navigation system because they were wrong and needed 300 bucks a year to keep them updated. Not sure BMW continues to charge this much a year for an update.

There is no way for BMW to keep up with the advances in smartphone technology and as far as I am concerned if your going with OEM your locking yourself into HAS BEEN Tech. Even my backup camera has higher resolution and night time sensitivity that exceeds BMW OEM specifications.

[Ken228]

Originally Posted by fancyfl1ght

Personally, OEM means serious dollars, with coding involves some work with the dealer (you could do this yourself but you have to get the software, not exactly sure if this is legal). It's easier for you to find a HDMI video interface/Miracast and splice into the CAN BUS on your current radio and interrupt the video signal to your monitor.

Miracast will help you use all your favorite apps on your smartphone, including navigation of your choice (Waze, Google, etc.). I would argue dynamically updating nav like Waze and Google are superior to any in car navigation system, although there are folks that like the look and integration (whatever hell that means) of an OEM system. All my previous cars were loaded to the gills and I never used the navigation system because they were wrong and needed 300 bucks a year to keep them updated. Not sure BMW continues to charge this much a year for an update.

There is no way for BMW to keep up with the advances in smartphone technology and as far as I am concerned if your going with OEM your locking yourself into HAS BEEN Tech. Even my backup camera has higher resolution and night time sensitivity that exceeds BMW OEM specifications.

I'm interested in keeping the car as "OEM"ish as possible. I like the integration and ease of use. The retrofitted navigation actually works partially through a 3rd party. Updates are less than 100 bucks, including an add-on for real time traffic. These parts are available through getbmwparts.com for $750. So, it's not too big of an issue to have it retrofitted and updated for 1/3rd of the price of the updates for the navi that comes preinstalled. I really do appreciate what you're saying though and I thank you for the advice.

I've determined that the one service adviser was feeding me wrong information the whole time and that the retrofit will work with my car. I'm going to order it today and will post a review on here once it's hooked up.

[Xi-Xi]

Originally Posted by Ken228

I'm interested in keeping the car as "OEM"ish as possible. I like the integration and ease of use. The retrofitted navigation actually works partially through a 3rd party. Updates are less than 100 bucks, including an add-on for real time traffic. These parts are available through getbmwparts.com for $750. So, it's not too big of an issue to have it retrofitted and updated for 1/3rd of the price of the updates for the navi that comes preinstalled. I really do appreciate what you're saying though and I thank you for the advice.

I've determined that the one service adviser was feeding me wrong information the whole time and that the retrofit will work with my car. I'm going to order it today and will post a review on here once it's hooked up.

Good luck, hope it works out. I also like the idea of how well integrated and oem it would be. The parts aren't all that expensive, but I'm really curious how much they're going to rock you for labor. Looking forward to your review.

[fancyfl1ght]

Originally Posted by Xi-Xi

Good luck, hope it works out. I also like the idea of how well integrated and oem it would be. The parts aren't all that expensive, but I'm really curious how much they're going to rock you for labor. Looking forward to your review.

That's where the real money is made. Product margins are so slim they have it make it up with labor.

Just like upselling cars on options. The car is worth nothing now unless optioned to the gills or financed or leased.

Options cost next to nothing, but bump up the sales price for marginally necessary features you'll use occassionally if at all.

Both the lease and financing side, the dealer gets a nice subsidy from the company making it somewhat of a socialist price sharing scheme.

[Ken228]

Nav retrofit complete. Will post some pictures and thoughts here tonight. Also got dinan springs, shockware, and supplemental ride and handling kit too. Really excited to get my car back.

[Xi-Xi]

Originally Posted by Ken228

Nav retrofit complete. Will post some pictures and thoughts here tonight. Also got dinan springs, shockware, and supplemental ride and handling kit too. Really excited to get my car back.

Cool. Where did you have it done?

[Xi-Xi]

Alright, been a few weeks now and no updates. Did anything ever come of this? Successful or not? What's the story?

[Hllowrld]

So I stopped over at the BMW dealership in Mountainview CA and asked them about this. Apparently navigation retrofit is supported. It will be installed and hooked up to the 6.5in display that's already in the vehicle. They quoted 950$ for parts and 2 hour labor. The labor rate for this particular dealership is 210$/hr, so you'd be looking at roughly 1.5k to get this retrofitted by the dealership.

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by Hllowrld

So I stopped over at the BMW dealership in Mountainview CA and asked them about this. Apparently navigation retrofit is supported. It will be installed and hooked up to the 6.5in display that's already in the vehicle. They quoted 950$ for parts and 2 hour labor. The labor rate for this particular dealership is 210$/hr, so you'd be looking at roughly 1.5k to get this retrofitted by the dealership.

Yikes. I'd rather mirror my phone and use the ~$1,100 for other mods.

[Hllowrld]

Originally Posted by BentZero

Yikes. I'd rather mirror my phone and use the ~$1,100 for other mods.

My thoughts exactly. For that price I'd rather use the phone and keep a backup GPS unit in the trunk for emergency.

[fancyfl1ght]

Originally Posted by BentZero

Yikes. I'd rather mirror my phone and use the ~$1,100 for other mods.

I would rather spend it on a JB4 and catless downpipes!

[BeerGuySQ4]

Just curious on experiences for those that have done the Nav retrofit.

This is relatively new for USA, and not many dealers have done this yet in states. It was straightforward to make sure which cars are compatible. Installation varies by vehicle and installed packages.

I bit the bullet to update my sons 2015 228i Xdrive MSport. It sounded pretty straightforward in other forums for other series.

At a minimum you can buy the OEM integrated retrofit parts for 25% off at select dealerships. I called and got a little better. (PM me for dealer info ... don't want my first post to appear as a sales pitch ... I'm a super mod on another forum so know my suspicions would be up).

Call it $700 for the discounted parts, (3 pieces), ... now installation.

The BMW installation instructions (25 pages covers all applications) callsl for 1.5 hours + coding/registration time which could runs 1+ hours. Actual time came in at 4 hours for total start to finish ... the installation assumes you have removed the glove box access, nav head unit and trim to access i-controller, (which gets replaced). I think 2-series is very tight so no rear access.

My BMW dealer (Sun Motor Cars in Central PA), was really good about it ... it was their first time and were very sensitive to the added cost which was a little learning for all of us.

In the end, very satisfied ... no regrets. We got a fantastic deal on this car with almost everything including M Sport pkg but missing technology package.

As an aside, my wife's 2016 5-series has the 8.8" screen ... makes me wonder if for all this work I should have upgrade to that size screen. I know others have done it in 3 and 5 series but not heard of in 2 series.

I've seen others have installed themselves, (got code on forum) or have dealers install pkg for around $1200-1500.

[Gizzy's_M235i]

Any pics. Considering this here.