AC and RADIO relocate

Hi Guys. I plan to relocate my Climate Control (AC control) and my radio so that I can fit a custom made lcd frame where they are.

I have looked everywhere on the forums and net, have not found a guide, kit or anything.
I plan to move my radio to the glovebox and not quite sure about ac control....
Is the a USB interface to control it from software on a computer? or what are my options if i wanna keep it there, i mean where do i put it?
I have read alot about relocating it to the ashtray/lighter, but i cant seem to find a kit, and i am trying to not have to make it custom.

Does anyone have experiences or can help me with this?

Thanks

Some things to find out first before you jump right into ripping into the dashboard are... Does the vehicle have any cable driven controls, electronic or vacuum lines, and to what degree of difficultly your willing to go to relocating and extending these things, the radio in my opinion would be the easiest to relocate you would just need to extend to the factory harness to reach your new location and figuring out a mounting solution for the radio and making a new or using the factory radio bezel as a template to build off of to create a new bezel in the relocated spot. As far as controlling the computers audio through the factory radio you could use the auxillary input if present or try and use one of those adapters to adapt the radio to have a set of rca inputs if possible.

In short, there isnt an exact way or any single way to do this, its much more of a trial and error method .

Snap some pictures so we can see what you have to work with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by brukutu

Hi Guys. I plan to relocate my Climate Control (AC control) and my radio so that I can fit a custom made lcd frame where they are.

I have looked everywhere on the forums and net, have not found a guide, kit or anything.
I plan to move my radio to the glovebox and not quite sure about ac control....
Is the a USB interface to control it from software on a computer? or what are my options if i wanna keep it there, i mean where do i put it?
I have read alot about relocating it to the ashtray/lighter, but i cant seem to find a kit, and i am trying to not have to make it custom.

Does anyone have experiences or can help me with this?

Thanks

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What car do you have?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by edge2k

Some things to find out first before you jump right into ripping into the dashboard are... Does the vehicle have any cable driven controls, electronic or vacuum lines, and to what degree of difficultly your willing to go to relocating and extending these things, the radio in my opinion would be the easiest to relocate you would just need to extend to the factory harness to reach your new location and figuring out a mounting solution for the radio and making a new or using the factory radio bezel as a template to build off of to create a new bezel in the relocated spot. As far as controlling the computers audio through the factory radio you could use the auxillary input if present or try and use one of those adapters to adapt the radio to have a set of rca inputs if possible.

Snap some pictures so we can see what you have to work with.

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AC is electronic. Read it has a wiring harness.
Radio is easy... agree....
In short, there isnt an exact way or any single way to do this, its much more of a trial and error method .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Civic Modz

What car do you have?

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E87 2006, 116i at the moment. getting a E87 2006 120d soon (where i am gona fit it) but it is the same dash.

Will put pictures a little later.
Thanks for the reply

This is the trim around the area, part n 19
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...04&hg=51&fg=30

This is the ac unit..
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...42&hg=64&fg=20


Reason a post this is.
To remove part number 19, do i only have to remove the 2 screws on top and pull it out?

Also found this guide. Not exactly the same dash, but will it work?
http://www.fitaudio.com/?View=entry&EntryID=164

I just managed to take AC controls out and saw that that how to is right.....
but the question still remains...How do i go about relocating AC unit? i mean, its just extending the wires, but how to i go about mounting it under wehere it is ? near the ashtray and lighter. is there a kit avaiable?

Thanks again. : )

Yes you can just cut the connector off...make sure you leave yourself enough wire on both ends to strip off and solder some extension leads. The controls don't care how long the wires are. I would try to use the same gauge wire though but don't try to extend it too far with like 28 or 30 gauge wire as you could run into issues. Also, make sure none of the wires are twisted pairs. Unlikely they would be if if they are any twisted pairs, you need to keep them twisted as much as you can. Twisted pairs would be the only real stumbling block.

As for mounting, you just need to figure out where you want it and find a way to do it. It's all about fabrication and how much you want it in that location.

I wanted to do the same with my controls to get a bigger screen in the center console but when I looked at how much effort and pain it would be to move the controls, I decided it wasn't worth the effort and complexity. I have enough complexity in my install already.

Jay

Quote:

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Originally Posted by creaseguard

Yes you can just cut the connector off...make sure you leave yourself enough wire on both ends to strip off and solder some extension leads. The controls don't care how long the wires are. I would try to use the same gauge wire though but don't try to extend it too far with like 28 or 30 gauge wire as you could run into issues. Also, make sure none of the wires are twisted pairs. Unlikely they would be if if they are any twisted pairs, you need to keep them twisted as much as you can. Twisted pairs would be the only real stumbling block.

As for mounting, you just need to figure out where you want it and find a way to do it. It's all about fabrication and how much you want it in that location.

I wanted to do the same with my controls to get a bigger screen in the center console but when I looked at how much effort and pain it would be to move the controls, I decided it wasn't worth the effort and complexity. I have enough complexity in my install already.

Jay

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I would rather not cut wires. Is there anywhere where i can buy an extension or the actual connectors so that I can make one? Thanks.
And the fabrication, use bondo?

I plan to relocate my HVAC climate control panel for much the same reason. However, mine shouldn't be a problem because it's just going two feet below its current spot, and I think the wires/vacuum lines can reach that far. Only issue will be mounting it to the new location.

If you want to retain the original wiring without cutting (which I completely understand), one way is to get another climate control panel out of a junkyard and hack the connectors off the back of it, depending on exactly what it is.