Hey everyone, - obviously new here. I'll just explain my scenario and maybe someone can help...
I have the "oem" Nav-TV unit (I think it was ~$1000 from NavTV which I purchased a couple years ago for a 7 series). Anyway, I just got an '03 Cooper with an MK4 system. My Nav-TV unit plugged straight into the nav like it did on the 7.
However on the cooper, the screen is now plagued with horizontal lines that roll up and down and sometimes the screen even scrolls wildly when in any mode except for "television". The only thing I could attribute it to was interference of some kind. So I ran a ground wire from one of the mounting tabs on the Nav-TV unit (under the drivers seat) to the body to see if that would fix it (as the unit itself is not touching any metal). That didn't help much. The nav unit still works fine and everything is ok when the Nav-TV isn't hooked in with it so I know there's no problems with the nav unit. The lines and scrolling do seem to get worse once I start driving (and maybe with rough roads - but that may just be in my head or coincidence as the screen-scrolling is very erratic).

The units are under each front seat so I routed the Nav-TV harness under the carpet up through the center console, going in front of and under the e-brake area.

I called Nav-TV for some troubleshooting but their main tech said he hadn't dealt with that unit since they quit shipping them from Germany but would send me the install instructions ...which I didn't receive.

Any suggestions?

Once this thing gets figured out does anyone know if I can find some tv signal amps that will work with this unit? I believe they also stopped shipping the oem amps from Germany.
Finally, can someone suggest a proper DVD player for the car? The Nav-TV unit has A/V inputs wired into its harness so it will be easy to hook in . But I'm not sure how you guys are powering your extras and if I need a special player to deal with the vibrations and bumps.

I did a search but couldn't find any threads dealing with any of these specific issues. I have already found NAM to be a wealth of great information and have updated my MK4 to version 30 thanks to this great subforum! Thanks!

 

I have a normal portable DVD player they are made to be moved around and its fine in the car. Get a good one and you should be fine. My Nav screen plays movies just fine. But I don't have your setup so I can't help you much.How did you get 3D on a CD based Nav?

 

Some of us have the OEM video switchbox (for the rear camera) and TheOfficeMaven was able to connect an aux video to it, but I haven't heard of anyone using an OEM TV unit. Was this an official MINI Cooper accessory in Europe? You should try to obtain official installation instructions if available anywhere. This may help: http://www.bimmernav.com/BMW_TV_Navg...tructions.html

 

You may need a different harness from the one on your 7 series. See here: http://www.bimmernav.com/store/catal...roducts_id=107

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll do some searching - how is your DVD player powered?
I have a late build '03 so it came with the DVD based MK4 unit.

This Nav-TV unit is a European OEM Nav option for BMW's (Same system the Mini uses). In '97 I believe all of the Nav equipped BMW's sent to the US (very few) were equipped with Nav-TV unit already installed. My stock '97 540i came with it. From what I've heard BMW was asked not to send anymore cars w/ the TV capability b/c the hack to get TV while in drive was very simple. ...They didn't want us watching TV while driving here in America. Thank you for the link - I've actually done the install on a 5 and 7 series - the mounting points were already there! The Mini however - just has a piece of Styrofoam where the TV unit mounts - no mounting brackets. I think this unit is a-ok mated with the MK4 Nav - but the scrolling is caused by something I'm missing. Hoping someone can brainstorm what that might be ...I'm def no expert! (inadequate ground? Harness interference? other?)


Yep, that's the harness I have. It was modified and sent by "Nav-TV" (the company here in the US) to accept inputs I think a camera option w/ trigger. It worked fine in the 7 series up to last year when I removed it and it's just been stored since. I hate to buy a new harness - but may have to.

I was hoping someone could come up with a reason for the interference ...maybe due to where I ran the harness or something. What's odd to me is that when actually watching TV the interference goes away and the screen is steady.

Still need some amps for the antenna though...

Thanks for you input so far!!

 

I've been interested in the OEM TV tuner for a while now, so any knowledge learned on the matter (i.e. integrating it into 1st Gen MINIs w/Nav) is valuable to me too.

 

Just a note... if you tap the car's power (e.g. cigarette lighter) for the DVD player, you may need a ground loop isolator like this for reliable sound from the aux input (assuming you use aux input for the DVD's sound). By the way, how is the OEM TV connected for sound? Do you select a mode on the stereo?

Maybe you could try to find out from Nav-TV or Bimmernav whether there is any difference in the harness between MINI and 7 series.

Edge, you are obsessed! I thought you'd be out of funds to even consider this.

 

I didn't say when I would do it... but it's OEM, it's a cool technology gadget, and it adds yet another function to my OEM Nav... how could I not be interested?

 

The sound comes through the speakers w/ no tapping or splicing. The OEM harness is plug and play. Nav-TV did tap the harness and add A/V inputs (DVD player, game console, etc), a camera trigger, and a video output (to add monitor/s). "Television" is added the list of options on the main Nav menu. When in TV mode the radio screen actually reads "Television".

It interfaces quiet nicely. Automatically searches for the strongest stations then stores them sequentially so there is no scanning through fuzzy channels. For instance if your local stations are channels 3,6,8,13, etc then the Nav-TV will store them as 1,2,3,4, etc. Also if the channels are a bit fuzzy the Nav-TV will mute the fuzz.

I talked to several people at Nav-TV including the main tech. They almost refuse to comment on it - seemed odd. They say they no longer offer support on those units and can no longer even get parts or TV units from Germany so they won't comment on it (?). The tech said he had a 30-page installation manual which included the Mini that he would fax to me ...but I never got it. I have a feeling that was just to get me off the phone. I'm hoping someone here on NAM either has that manual or has a working setup that I can copy.

I'm just guessing that if the harness plugs and plays into the Mini's Nav it's a correct harness. My understanding is that the MK4 is a universal Nav unit used in BMW's across the board from ~'03 up to recently. This Nav-TV actually works with MK2 & MK3 systems too - I've had it on both.

 

I ran across this installation guide. This may be the guide to which the tech at Nav-TV was referring.
Looks like I installed everything correctly but if you scroll all the way to the bottom (troubleshooting) #5 refers to erratic TV & Nav on the Range Rovers. This may also be the case with Mini's? My ground wire to the "TV tuner chasis" may have been a start but it looks like I should do something else? What does "reinforce brown ground wires directly to vehicle ground" mean?
That HAS to be what I'm missing - a proper ground to something. Would the harness need to be grounded too I wonder - or just the physical Nav-TV unit itself? How can I make sure I get a proper ground? I already soldiered a substantial wire directly from the Nav-TV unit to the floor panel of the car.
I'm obviously no wiring/electronics expert so it's quite possible I've missed something basic here.

 

That wording is vague, and open to interpretation. Brown wires are suppposed to be ground, and somewhere along the harness they will be either directly connected to ground, or indirectly connected to ground through something like a component chassis. Fundamentally it seems to be saying to give brown wires a better ground connection but not describing more about how to go about doing it.

 

Clear reception is an issue in a moving vehicle, most people prefer recorded content from a DVD player or iPod nowadays. The easiest (and most cost effective) solution would be the 1265 module from Dietz:

Dietz Video Multimedia Interface - 1265
http://www.europeanautosource.com/pr...roducts_id=338

This allows a video and stereo (MINI TV kit is only in MONO) to be integrated into your MINI easily.