getting ready for a non i drive to cic retrofit

trevor_e36m

Active member
And this is the final result, note the mismatching trim, I ordered the proper matching wood centre trim from an eBay seller in Estonia, let's just say big mistake! at the current rate, it will arrive sometime in the middle of the next ice age.

so I got impatient and sourced one from a breaker in PTA.

20210127-213149.jpg



Impressions



- Sound quality is better than the professional radio (on-base stereo configuration). Did some research and this is due to the internal amp in the cic / ccc outputting more power.
- You get lci gongs, previously I had annoying chimes from the cluster, that I eventually coded out. I like the gongs for now.
- Make no mistake, this is no NBT, but it's still very smooth, menus are intuitive and there is no lag. Impressive for something from 2010
- The system has a large built-in HDD where you can store your music, I'm still enjoying some of the previous owner's music collection, thank you previous owner
-Transforms the interior, now you feel like you're driving a luxury german car

In a nutshell, well worth it !!

Things to note

- Navigation is vin locked, so its greyed out. You have two options to remedy this.
1. Get an emulator, it's a box that plugs into the factory harness and tricks the CIC unit into thinking its in the original car
2. Embark on The tricky task of modifying the CIC vin and messing with fsc codes.

I will be embarking on number 2 offcourse, have downloaded fsc tools and cic patcher v2, busy going through the various guides.Will post my success or lack thereof here.
 

trevor_e36m

Active member
Excellent work, props for pushing through and the technical knowledge.. Interesting to see cloth seats, I've only ever seen those on base UK models.

It's a Rosslyn built 323 made for the Japan market. Imported it as a used car when I still lived in Botswana. Peculiarities are that it has folding rear seats, mini disc player, cloth seats, a factory toll collection module integrated into the windscreen mirror, Japanese user manual, and a radio that only went from 87.5 - 108.0 MHz FM, and a compartment with a bag between the rear seats, have no idea what the hell it's for, some overseas forums say its to store ski's in winter.
 
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trevor_e36m

Active member
What was the cost of getting all this , if you don’t mind me asking?

DASHBOARD R3500
LVDS CABLE R150
CENTER CONSOLE r250
I DRIVE BUTTON R2000
IDRIVE RADIO R3000
IDRIVE SCREEN R950
SECOND-HAND SCRAP WIRES R100
CONNECTOR PINS AND PLUGS FROM BMW R200

that comes to about 10150.
 

trevor_e36m

Active member
Navigation enabled!

phew !! a bit of a process.

In nutshell

I used a piece of software called cic patcher 2 to virginize the CIC. This works provided your CIC unit is on the latest firmware. I was fortunate in that the CIC unit already had the latest firmware version C1A, it happened to come from a 2010 car.Cic patcher itself was very easy to use. Simply copy a shell script to a fat32 formatted USB stick, plug into the glovebox USB. In about 20 seconds the CIC reboots and its virginzed.

The next step was to install a tool called FSCTOOLS2, using this tool I was able to sign two digital certificates and load them to the CIC. After restart, the navigation was enabled, but now it wanted FSC codes.

The next step was to download an FSC code generator, here I was able to generate a lifetime fsc code and activate the navigation with it.


This is after virginization and upload of new certificates , navigation enabled but prompted for code

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and finally, after entering the code we are cooking with gas, navigation stuck somewhere next to Soshanguve

20210129-215412.jpg



20210129-214109.jpg



Conclusuion
so I don't have GPS antennae installed, and the maps here are ancient, 2010 ancient. Bought some 2020 maps on the internet, and have to find a GPS antenna. But this is the icing on the cake as far as this retrofit goes.
 

Shaheenem

Active member
Great work bud! I myself enjoy doing retrofits like this. Very rewarding.

Sent from my SM-G980F using Tapatalk
 

NBN

Well-known member
Bud, how difficult is it to update the maps to 2020 ? is it possible to attempt it as a diyer, or alternatively if you are jhb based, would you mind dropping me a message to let me know how much you would charge to do this ?
 

Salt

///Member
Wow...that is impressive - one of the most technical and coordinated chaos and restore to order I've seen. Really well done. I myself enjoy such DIY projects but yes this really took some experience on the coding side - something I would have taken on back then in my IT days. Keen to see some pics after you've changed the trimming.

Next up - leather seats? lol - put some red ones in and make @FiRi@Rennzport proud hahaha - he might even supply them to you!
 

trevor_e36m

Active member
Bud, how difficult is it to update the maps to 2020 ? is it possible to attempt it as a diyer, or alternatively if you are jhb based, would you mind dropping me a message to let me know how much you would charge to do this ?
it's possible to attempt it as DIYer.

Lots of fragmented info, so you go through a wheel of pain trying to figure out works.

My method of uploading maps was to virginize the CIC completely, then upload self-signed digital certificates. From here I used FSC code generator, to generate lifetime fsc codes.Even then, this method only works if you are on the latest firmware CIC.C1A from a 2011 + car. Theoretically, you could flash your current CIC to this version, but then you need an ICOM and a battery charger. From what I have read, a DCAN cable does not have the requisite bandwidth (data transfer rate) and usually bricks the CIC.


I assume you have the CIC that came with your car and dealership wants to bend your over for a map update.

in the below folder I've put up the 2020 maps I bought and an FSC code generator


****disclaimer the generated FSC codes may not work******


First step: Pull 1b file from your car via USB stick.


1. Unpack the ZIP file (1b.zip) to the root of an empty USB stick
2. Power on your car (ignition on is fine, you don't need to start your car) and wait until the navigation system has started completely
3. Put the USB stick in the USB port in the glove box (do not use the usb port found in the middle console).
4. Wait for around 30 seconds
5. Remove the USB stick from the port in the glove box and put it in your (windows) computer
6. Check if the file 1b.hex is present on the USB stick (if not go to step 2 and try another USB stick). The file should be exactly 319 bytes in size and you can check your file by opening it with a hex editor such as HxD https://mh-nexus.de/en/hxd/

Second step: Generate your FSC code using Jaeger's FSC generator


1. Unpack the ZIP file (bmw_cic_fsc_generator.zip) in Windows/Mac (after unpacking wait for a couple of seconds for the generator to automatically download the file Lookup.xml")
2. Open the FSC generator by clicking on "BMW_CIC_FSC_Generator.exe" and select the 1b file you pulled from your car as described above.
3. Select desired map type, region and version to generate your code.


final step

unzip the maps zip into a FAT 32 formatted USB, and plug into the glovebox, the process will automatically start. Use the generated FSC code from the first step.

let me know how it goes
 
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trevor_e36m

Active member
Wow...that is impressive - one of the most technical and coordinated chaos and restore to order I've seen. Really well done. I myself enjoy such DIY projects but yes this really took some experience on the coding side - something I would have taken on back then in my IT days. Keen to see some pics after you've changed the trimming.

Next up - leather seats? lol - put some red ones in and make @FiRi@Rennzport proud hahaha - he might even supply them to you!
I badly need leather !!
 
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