Hi there,

finally managed to get all installed today. Everything that worked before works exactly the same incl. PDC. I'm running a E9x FSC emulator. My PDC display shows the right car picture (R57) and the sensors work.

Interestingly I finally have the Plugin menu under Connected.

However I'm asked to enter an activation code to start navigation after it briefly showed the map. I expected to need a map FSC code when updating but I didn't run an update yet? Can you advise on steps to retrieve the HU VIN to generate the code?

Thanks,
H

 

After months, two HUs, two emulators and two USB ports (bought the wrong size first) I finally have it working with full OEM look and a lifetime code fur future map updates. Very happy. Always swore on the previous owner for not spending the remaining £300 for Navigation and this time around I managed to retrofit for under that price. Thrilled. I hope the fact that we have established that only E9x CIC activation emulators work with 2nd gen LCI MINIs and can be bought for little money encourages more to go down the DIY path rather then spending ridiculous money on companies who rip you off. A UK based ICE company offered me the same emulator box for £350, claiming only they can do it. It can be bought for £45 from China.

Only remaining issue is that my Driving Excitement and Dynamic Music app in MINI Connected appears to think the car is static, i.e. it's not getting any real time data. Could this be filtered on the CAN bus due to the emulator box? All worked perfectly on my old visual boost with MINI Connected.

By the way, the fact that my car display for PDC is that of an R57 might be pure luck as the donor was also an R57. Or it gets car type from the ECU etc.

 

Great news, glad you got it all working, apologies I missed your earlier message regarding getting the VIN.
You said your pdc works fine, would you be able to let me teamviewer into the car one day so I can check the sw versions & part nos of the modules as this may give me an idea why mine doesn't show the colours?
Regards
Jason

 

Did some testing tonight & came to the conclusion the cheap Chinese emulators are stopping the pdc lines displaying, without the emulator they work fine, with a bimmerretrofit emulator they work fine also but no joy with either the e90 or e70 Chinese emulator.

 

Sneakinhysteria and mcrussell

I just purchased a low-mile preowned 2013 R55 because it has all the options I wanted for a great price. Just like your car it has all the options (Mini Connected, Visual Boost, Smartphone integration, etc) except Navigation. I don't understand why someone would spend the money but to save the last $750 not to get the nav. Anyway I found a used 2011 Nav head unit with original VIN. I need your help to get me started. BTW: I just did some code changes in my car so I am familiar with NCSExpert.

Questions:
1) From your original post it looks like I will need the GPS antenna and USB cable. Where do you get them? Any part number information is greatly appreciated.
2) I found cheap Chinese E9x FSC emulators on ebay. Anyone you would recommend? The ones at Bimmerretrofit is very expensive ($450).
3) Were you able to get the Dynamic Music and Driving Excitement working? If yes how?
4) Do you need the navigation code even if you have the FSC emulator? If yes where do you get it?

Hope you guys can help me out. Thanks.

 

E90 emulator is fine, FSC's will still be in the Nav you bought, haven't had much luck with the mini dynamic drive experience but mini connected works ok.
GPS antenna works ok on the A post.

 

Hi mcrussel,

Thanks for your response. Did you purchase the BMW Retrofit emulator? I read somewhere that the cheap Chinese CIC emulator actually cut out the speed information to allow video in motion. If you go into you setting screen, can you set speed alarm? If your vehicle can't detect speed, it is unlikely the Dynamic Drive will work.

There is a big price difference between the Chinese CIC emulator and the BMW retrofit one. Trying to understand if it is worth it.

 

Hi mcrussell,

a few more questions:
1) What code changes do I need to make to get navigation work? Did you add $606 or $6UM to your VO? What about RTTI? Does it work?
2) Did you have to use a GPS antenna or were you able to tap into the existing car antenna base?

Hope you can help me out. Thanks.

 

Heya,

sorry for the delay in replying.

Chinese E9x emulator is the better option as its far more reliable.
The emulator interrupts a couple of CAN bus signals that the MINI Connected apps need to function properly. Driving excitement (incl. sports instruments), dynamic music won't work properly. The rest of connected that isn't based on real time car data works. Also, the emulator prevents the SatNav from automatically switching between day and night mode. Speed-dependent volume also doesn't work. Everything else seems fine and I think the gain of a SatNav makes more then up for the missing features.

The car antenna base doesn't come with a GPS antenna. You need to buy one/ They are cheap. Mine works well behind the secret storage compartment under the dash.

 

I bought a USB cable and port on eBay but later realised that the MINI port has a rectangular shape, the E90 port is square. So I bought the correct port from my dealer.

USB port for glove box: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...=61&fg=35&hl=1

Cable: 61119208346

You will end up with two USB ports which is as designed. The head unit has its own port for map updates, the central dash port is connected to the combox.

 

MCRussel and I also confirmed in a long late-night testing session that his Chinese emulator interfered with the PDC but mine worked. There might be configurable differences between some boxes.

 

Sneakinhysteria,

Thanks for your feedback. I purchased a bimmerretrofit PNP CIC emulator for the reason you mentioned. bimmerretrofit specifically stated in its website that it won't cut speed sensing. I am hoping it will work.

Thank you for the information on the USB socket. I will order the right one.

I have sourced the head unit, CIC emulator, a GPS antenna and the USB cable with socket. Will wait for them to arrive before I start my retrofit.

Question:
From what I read I will need to add either $606 or $6UM for navigation and $6UH for RTTI. Also will need to remove Visual boost 6FP from VO. Other potential coding requirement like PDC car graphic. My car is R55. The donor navigation receiver is from R56.

Thanks for your help

 

Hello TTGOLF,

Im in a similar situation as you, having queried all of the parts and installed them into my 2009 R56. Only issue I'm having is connecting to the CHAMP2/CIC via NCSexpert.

When I initially installed the HU, Navigation and voice control worked fine. After the car slept those features went away and were grayed out. I know I need the emulator so have already ordered it. Did you have to bump up the production year of your car to see the CHAMP? Also, what features other than production date did you add to your VO? Thanks!