I'm retrofitting iDrive 6 into my ZHP: Here we go!
If you have an F3x of F2x and are willing to do some data logging, please send me a PM. I will mail you an entire kit.
Hey everyone! Oh man, this has been a hard secret to keep. I am retrofitting iDrive into my E46 and I can’t wait to share this journey with you guys. I also walked away from the project because getting recyclers to source pigtails was quite difficult. I figured a number of people will be interested in following this. As you can see in the video at the bottom of this piece, I have bought nearly every computer in an F30 so I can bench the entire system. There are some people who have attempted this on their own in E39’s, but only one or two into an E46. You can give this thing a wakeup code and it’ll be fine, but I want full integration.
Here’s what I know for certain:
⁃The headunit will not fit in the dash, it’s a width issue before you think about anything else.
⁃Those without navigation will have to have an extension harness all the way to the trunk
⁃The above point hardly matters because the display is the only thing that will be in the dashboard, so you’ll need an extension harness for that anyway. I will likely try to make a mechanism to give it a storage pocket behind the screen for my SUNGLASSES! Which is the one thing I have hated about my car having a navigation system
⁃The system will require a one-way communication emulator. It will read messages from the E46, but not ever send any.
⁃You’ll definitely need the screen from a Mini Cooper, a screen control panel from an F3x/F2x, the headhunt itself and the matching ATM. My emulator will make sure you don’t need anything else. There ATM emulators as well. The ATM is the GPS
⁃I already know the wake-up codes and the E46 codes I need to verify and confirm F3x codes.
Here’s things I have to learn:
⁃I’m not sure if I need something called the ICM. It raises the project cost by $100 so it’s not the worst, but this is an expensive project so $100 can hurt people following in my footsteps. Other people who do this retrofit this report GPS issues and I suspect it’s because of the lack of ICM. I suspect the car uses car sensors (speed, steering angle, car lean) and compares them against the GPS signal to avoid issues with roads really close together. We’ve all experienced it.
⁃How to mount the unit in the trunk
⁃How to mass produce connectors into the stock modules. Headunits are easier than more bespoke connectors like the ATM
Things I’m unsure about:
⁃If I can get BMW connected services working such as weather. I’m told this is largely out of my control. If fuel level was communicated over CANBUS, I’d also get this working as well. Unfortunately it’s an analog signal into the cluster.
⁃If the Mini Cooper screen will even fit. Basically if it doesn’t, I’ll go above the dash and this project will be avoided by most.
⁃How to make the buttons. I’m already well over my head. I have some contacts about mass manufacturing. I aim to have a volume knob, prev, next and at least 4 favorites (preferably six) that support capacitive touch previews
⁃How to mount the control stick. I think it’d have to go where the cupholders go. That’s not an issue for me, but it may be for others. I’m open to ideas on this.
Let me know what you guys think. If anyone wants to help and things they can, that’d be awesome. If anyone has an F30 they don’t mind tapping into PT-CAN for me and drive and do a few things while driving, that’d be awesome. I’d mail you an entire kit.
Video of everything I've bought:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk5hmbWN7UE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk5hmbWN7UE
