getting ready for a non i drive to cic retrofit

[trevor_e36m]

Hi Everyone 

after weeks of scouring the eBay and local parts breakers, I have finally managed to collate all the components needed to retrofit CIC into my non I drive 2006 323.

Would like to document the whole process here from disassembly to programming, perhaps we can have one definitive go-to thread. Most info I've found on the web has been frustratingly fragmented.



Here are some pics of all the components I've assembled for the DIY


LVDS cable (was like looking for hens teeth)

glovebox USB lead (incredibly hard to come by )

Dashboard

center console trim 

 yes I will make my own harness 

CIC screen 

 

[zaleonardz]

Headunit ?

 

[Riaad]

Now this is going to be sub worthy  :clapper:

 

[trevor_e36m]

Headunit ?

yes offcourse the headunit 

 

[zaleonardz]

MOST ?

I dont see anywhere in your wire bundles... ?

SHow us back of HU as well ?

 

[trevor_e36m]

I stand to be corrected, but no wiring should be required for MOST fibre optics. The car does have a most bus that talks to the cd shuttle.

The Quadlock connector from the old radio should be plug and play with the new radio.

The harness I will be making will be for power to cic display and power + canbus signal to the I drive controller.I won't be installing a combox .

---

going through the list of tools I need, then will start tomorrow

the test subject, my Rosslyn built, japan imported, poverty spec 323 (ok it has electric seats though !). If you're observant you will notice the mini disc player 

 

[Danny2]

watching... would it have not been a lot less effort and cost about the same to get a android unit installed in place of the current unit?

 

[trevor_e36m]

Hi Danny2 ,

I thought of that, getting a double din android made specifically for our cars. But I just love the OEM look of the double scoop dash.


As for the effort, I have a fetish for taking stuff apart and putting it back

 

[trevor_e36m]

And so the work began took roughly 3 hours to get to this point

 

[trevor_e36m]

the next step was the wiring, surprisingly very straightforward.

The screen needs 12v negative and positive, plus signal wires can high and can low that makes a total of four wires going to the screen.
The controller needs exactly the same.

I spliced the can signal wires and power from the main the radios main connector. The OEM way would have to been to connect to junction box electronics, unfortunately, I ran out connector pins, so I opted to butcher the factory harness

This is the guide I used for the wiring (ATTACHED). I ordered the plugs and connector pins from BMW, the cost was around R200


Making sense of the rats nest

 

[trevor_e36m]

First Bootup !!!

This was good to see !!, there is so much dismantling going on here that at some point you question if you are sane to be dismantling such a fine and untouched bavarian specimen

 

[Danny2]

cant wait to see the end result

 

[trevor_e36m]

test rig

Sometime the following day

 

[trevor_e36m]

At this point, I was not getting any sound from the unit, so it was time to whip out the dell G3 with my BMW standard tools loaded.

The CIC unit seemed to have come from a fully loaded e9x m3, so it was looking for comboxes and external amplifiers.
The purpose of programming the CIC unit was to let it know that it's in a poverty spec 323 with base stereo and 6 speakers and not a fully loaded m3 with logic 7 sound system.

By switching from logic 7 to base stereo, the CIC will stop looking for the external amp on the most bus and use its internal amplifier to drive the speakers.

These are the steps I followed to get sound.

1. Install the latest Daten files on ncs expert.
2. modify the vehicle order and move the production date from 2006 (in my case) to 2010.
3. add the $6VA and $609 to the vehicle order

If the above is successful you will see the CIC and CID unit in NCS expert.

4 Final step is to run SG CODIEREN on the CIC. This codes the CIC according to your current vehicle order. In my case, it meant the following.

- Mdrive menu was removed
- logic 7 to base stereo
- Connection to my 6cd changer was established.

After I completed the above I was greeted by the sweet sound of the LCI gongs.

 

[trevor_e36m]

will post more pics of final install , and give some final thoughts on the retrofit

 

[raks16]

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

 

[KPM3_30]

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.

 

[applehero]

Well done!

 

[K0dAx]

Very technical and rewarding DIY! Can't wait to see the final results and hear your thoughts on the retrofit.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[Jeremy]

This is amazing, welldone. I look forward to seeing what else you have planned.