Nexus 7 Installed in BMW E46

[Jake]

The E46 BMW is a wonderful car, with an unfortunate lack of aftermarket "infotainment" opportunities due to the shape of the stock head unit. It's curvy and extra-wide, and most aftermarket head unit brackets end up looking really awful, like this:



Come on now, that looks horrible.

The other option is made by companies such as Dynavin. They produce a drop-in, 2-DIN unit that runs on Windows CE or Android 2.x, has a clunky interface, gives you iPod/Bluetooth/navigation, and is typically slow and very outdated with software that can't be upgraded. They do at least look physically nice:



So, when the other half decided that his 330i's stock head unit wasn't acceptable (he wanted aux input and Bluetooth), we both agreed that the "easy button" aftermarket upgrades were hardly upgrades due to the downsides.

Fortunately, the size of the dashboard lends itself to fitting a 7" tablet. The iPad Mini doesn't work very well as the screen is the wrong aspect ratio, and iOS is not flexible enough to be customized sufficiently for in-car use. The Nexus 7 is the easiest option. And, to make it even better, there's a guy who custom-makes bezels for the E46 (and other BMWs) that are sized to accommodate a 7" tablet, mounting brackets and all.

We are not the first people to put a Nexus 7 in a car, but I think we certainly did one of the cleaner installs. A lot of folks will hide the stock head unit (or an aftermarket, if stock doesn't have Aux in) and route the audio through the head unit to the speakers. Well, why do that? BMW head units do not amplify the audio. Rather, there's an amp in the trunk with front and rear inputs. So, this install was pretty easy.

First, you gotta remove some things.



The climate control panel can be relocated to where the "sunglasses holder" pocket is, in front of the shifter. Some E46's came with factory Navigation, so their climate panels were down there by default. That means you can order the BMW bracket to hold the panel. Unfortunately, Paul was shipped the wrong bracket, so his climate panel is just kinda pushed in there until ECS Tuning can re-send the correct bracket.

From there, you have to figure out your wiring "flow" to make sure things are in order. We elected to use a USB digital audio converter (DAC) as it's a cleaner output than the Nexus's headphone jack. From there, we routed the DAC's output to a Clarion EQ that is mounted in the glovebox. This provides equalization abilities that are accessible, and also conveniently splits the one sound output from the DAC into a Front/Rear set of outputs.

The Front/Rear outputs are routed directly to the BMW/Harman Kardon amp in the trunk. Joey and I soldered RCA connectors directly to the proper wiring coming from the BMW radio harness behind the dash. The amp and EQ both require a "trigger wire" to make them turn on with the ignition. You can tap those directly to the red 12V power wire of the BMW radio harness.

Sorry I didn't take more photos of the install, I forgot entirely and three of us were all busy getting this done.

Anyway, here's the layout of how this all works:



You make sure it all functions before you solder, then you solder, heatshrink, and reinstall everything. We stuck the DAC and EQ and hub to various inside-the-dash support bits using Velcro strips.

Finished product! It uses a custom ROM to allow for charging + external USB devices. The ROM also makes the device turn on and off when power is supplied (aka, with ignition key). The launch screen is a combination of custom wallpaper, a "desktop widgetizer" app to create landing zones that launch the apps, and UCCW widgets for all the info on the left sidebar.

Internet access is required for this whole shebang to work, so his phone creates a WiFi network (he has an unlimited LTE data plan) that the tablet connects to when the car is started.

[Sully]

Well thats pretty awesome and having a tablet in dash sounds like it'd be titties... until the day he no longer has unlimited LTE or his phone breaks or is lost and then no radio but the benefits probably outweigh the risks.

Now figure out a way so he can take the tablet out to play with it :thumbup:

But wait, wherever will he put his sunglasses now that there is no covered pocket?! Tisk tisk, That's not very BMWish Jake. You should know better :fingerwag:

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

[BFisch06]

Very cool. Where did you get the custom ROM?

[davej]

that is really clean, i love it!

[Jake]

Well thats pretty awesome and having a tablet in dash sounds like it'd be titties... until the day he no longer has unlimited LTE or his phone breaks or is lost and then no radio but the benefits probably outweigh the risks.

Now figure out a way so he can take the tablet out to play with it :thumbup:

But wait, wherever will he put his sunglasses now that there is no covered pocket?! Tisk tisk, That's not very BMWish Jake. You should know better :fingerwag:

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

Well, you don't necessarily need an unlimited data plan for this. Streaming Spotify and running Google Maps doesn't use much data, so a 2 GB plan would likely work alright.

And Matt, his sunglasses will stay on his face, so you can't look him in the eyes. Because BMW douchebag driver. :thumbup:

[D_Eclipse9916]

Great job and implementation! I like the look. I have been eyeing the dynavin (for simplicity) for my mom's E46, but I have been trying to convince her into another car for a little while so not sure we want to drop the money.

[SlimKlim]

but I have been trying to convince her into another car for a little while

Yes. http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/...x=17&Log=0

[JPolen01]

Awesome fit and finish. Looks very cool. I would love to have a 7 in my car as I love my 7. Wish I still had my unlimited plan. le sigh

[PDenbigh]

That's awesome! Nice work!

[D_Eclipse9916]

but I have been trying to convince her into another car for a little while

Yes. http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/...x=17&Log=0

:lol: As badass as that would be, the following badassery of throwing out 50 grand when it depreciates to $20k in 4 years would suck.

[ispoonwithmugen]

Came out awesome Jake!

[ScottyB]

holy crap, that's legit. nice work! i'd get to like, unboxing the Nexus, drinking a beer, and then giving up because wiring is scary.

[Evan]

nice!! that kicks so much ass. I love mods like this, especially when combined with the right software/UI.

is there any reason why it must always be connected to the internet? could you just play local music files?

and if you didnt want/need the EQ could you have saved the expense of the external DAC and just wired the 3.5mm output directly to the amp?

[Jake]

nice!! that kicks so much ass. I love mods like this, especially when combined with the right software/UI.

is there any reason why it must always be connected to the internet? could you just play local music files?

and if you didnt want/need the EQ could you have saved the expense of the external DAC and just wired the 3.5mm output directly to the amp?

You could play local music, definitely. We ran a USB extension to the glovebox for use with flash drives full of MP3s.

We used the USB DAC because the Nexus's DAC is apparently not very good for anything but headphones. Others who have used it with car installation got a lot of noise. The DAC was only $30 or so. We used the EQ in part for tweaking of sound, but also to split the sound from one output to two for front/rear. You could use splitters, but I didn't know how that'd degrade sound quality, if at all.

[Beej]

Man, that's fancy, and clean. :thumbup:

I've stopped following the Dynavin type things - there are a few "manufacturers" now, all with their own take on Android or whatever they decide to use. Just never got the impression it was spectacular.

[Jake]

Man, that's fancy, and clean. :thumbup:

I've stopped following the Dynavin type things - there are a few "manufacturers" now, all with their own take on Android or whatever they decide to use. Just never got the impression it was spectacular.

Let me know if you want all this done to your car!

[Beej]

Let me know if you want all this done to your car!

You are far too generous.

By today's standards, my factory nav and iPod integration are nothing to write home about...but they present a solid case for 'good enough' - especially considering my penchant for OEMness.

Though if you just covered up his aluminum trim with CF wrap, I'm all ears if the wrap comes off.

[Jake]

Let me know if you want all this done to your car!

You are far too generous.

By today's standards, my factory nav and iPod integration are nothing to write home about...but they present a solid case for 'good enough' - especially considering my penchant for OEMness.

Though if you just covered up his aluminum trim with CF wrap, I'm all ears if the wrap comes off.

Ah, didn't know you had factory nav. That at least looks a bit more modern in there, and if you have iPod integration then so much the better.

His trim was some darker wood, which looked positively awful against the gray interior. So, we fixed that.

[Jeff]

Man that is about as cool as shit. Like I said on FB I was looking into doing this with my truck before I got the pio double din and modded my dash for that but now I might need to give it a second look. When I was looking I couldn't find a way to get a USB out and charge it at the same time but I see now how they beat that. I have a Nexus 7 I could use, do you think it would be better to add a line and let an old 4g LTE phone live in the car all the time hooked up USB for data? I find with mine now that the bluetooth functions don't sync correctly sometimes and I would imagine similar problems might occur with the wifi going in and out.