Materials to Maintain Your ZHP IIIII Hand Protection IIIII Tools to Maintain Your ZHP
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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Posts
    1,944

    Upgrading our X5's rear seat entertainment

    We have a 2008 X5 4.8 with the factory rear seat entertainment option, looks like this:



    It's based around a DVD player. Seriously, who still uses DVD's? After a few months planning think I've collected everything I need:



    The heart of the new system will be a Raspberry Pi running Linux with the open source XBMC media player installed and a 2 TB hard drive to store movies.

    XBMC will be set to run on startup and either the little Apple remote or the XBox remote will be used to operate the player. I'm still deciding which, the Apple remote is simpler for the kids with less buttons but the XBox remote has a backlight that comes on whenever the remote is moved. If I need to make changes I can use the wireless keyboard to exit to Linux command line. It will also have an ftp server running and with the wireless N adapter I can transfer new movies or TV shows right to the car while it's in the garage.

    The original screen is just 480i. It took me a while but I finally found a screen on eBay china that would fit the OEM housing and do 1080p.

    Best of all it was pretty economical:

    Raspberry Pi - $36 Amazon
    2TB HD - $89 Best Buy sale
    Wireless N USB adapter - $8.88 Amazon
    Wireless keyboard - $13.99 Amazon
    Apple remote - $15 eBay
    8" 1080p screen - $56 eBay
    XBOX Remote - 19.95 Fry's
    12V -> 5V adapter - $10.99 Amazon
    IR reciever for remote - $4.99 Radio Shack

    The HD was the most $ and I definitely didn't need 2TB but that was a killer price.

    First weekend of working on it:

    Everything is working on the test bench!



    The only major PITA was that XBMC does not like having the power cut off. When you first set it up there are a bunch of settings to set to get it to work in your particular setup. It's supposed to save these settings but it wasn't. After a bit of poking around I discovered that on startup it opens the config file, reads it, but never closes it. Killing the power then corrupted the file and it would create a new default one on each startup. With some help on a Linux forum I was able to come up with an executable file that on startup copies a backed up settings file into the boot directory. Now it works perfectly.

    Boot screen - Movies interface - TV Shows



    Next up, installing it in the car...

    **EDIT**

    I forgot about the sound!

    If you look closely there is an Aux A/V input on the rear DVD player. I could tap into that and it would then output through the OEM IR headphones or it routes to an input on the front system and through all the speakers.

    There's also another option if I get ambitious. Our car has the premium sound system with a DVD player in the glovebox. That player connects to the main system with a digital connector. If I tap into that I could actually play the movies in full AC3 / DTS 5.1 surround sound.
    Last edited by wsmeyer; 07-21-2014 at 10:36 AM. Reason: spelling
    2006 CiC 6MT
    ZHP, Cold Weather, Xenon
    Sapphire Black / Black Leather / Black Cube

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Posts
    1,944
    Reserved
    2006 CiC 6MT
    ZHP, Cold Weather, Xenon
    Sapphire Black / Black Leather / Black Cube

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Redondo Beach, CA
    Posts
    1,944
    Reserved just in case
    2006 CiC 6MT
    ZHP, Cold Weather, Xenon
    Sapphire Black / Black Leather / Black Cube

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jupiter, FL
    Posts
    5,160
    Absolutely amazing. From now on when we hang out, I'm riding in the back seat.


    iPhone 5S. Tapatalk Pro. BOOM
    2011 E90 Lemans Blue/Bamboo Beige M3- Harrop Supercharged IG: lmb_zcp
    2013 F25 Alpine White/Chestnut X3 35i- Family Hauler
    2006 R53 British Racing Green/Panther Black Mini Cooper S FOR SALE! DM for details!
    Past: 2010 X5M, 2014 328d, 2003 330i ZHP, 2004 330i ZHP, 2012 X3 35i
    WTB!! 2009-2012 E91 328i Touring Contact me with info!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jupiter, FL
    Posts
    5,160
    And you realize when I pick up an X5, you'll be recreating this same setup for me...


    iPhone 5S. Tapatalk Pro. BOOM
    2011 E90 Lemans Blue/Bamboo Beige M3- Harrop Supercharged IG: lmb_zcp
    2013 F25 Alpine White/Chestnut X3 35i- Family Hauler
    2006 R53 British Racing Green/Panther Black Mini Cooper S FOR SALE! DM for details!
    Past: 2010 X5M, 2014 328d, 2003 330i ZHP, 2004 330i ZHP, 2012 X3 35i
    WTB!! 2009-2012 E91 328i Touring Contact me with info!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Kitchener, ON
    Posts
    6,036
    dang. can't show this to my kids, they would demand a similar setup in the ZHP.
    peter

    2004 330i ZHP
    2005 330iT ZHP
    2010 328iT M Sport

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Salt Lake City, UT
    Posts
    6,871
    Nerd alert! Love it, Will. Can't wait to see the final result!
    In the market for an E90 M3

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Jupiter, FL
    Posts
    5,160
    Well, now that I'm an X5 owner, I think its a good time to bump this thread... Any updates??
    2011 E90 Lemans Blue/Bamboo Beige M3- Harrop Supercharged IG: lmb_zcp
    2013 F25 Alpine White/Chestnut X3 35i- Family Hauler
    2006 R53 British Racing Green/Panther Black Mini Cooper S FOR SALE! DM for details!
    Past: 2010 X5M, 2014 328d, 2003 330i ZHP, 2004 330i ZHP, 2012 X3 35i
    WTB!! 2009-2012 E91 328i Touring Contact me with info!

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