2003 BMW M3 Custom Dash / Overhead Console

**tdevil** · 01-20-2005, 11:53 AM

gork you are my hero. please let me buy some trim from you

=D same here as the above poster... 325i need trim rest is almost good to go..

also i wanted to mount a dvd in the same area as you.. do you notice any problems in terms of shaking too much or the cd player falls out of place if you drive hard?

**edikp** · 01-20-2005, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by gork

I am using a somewhat combined form of both LCD's. I have connected the GAIN touchscreen to the Lilliput LCD panel. Now I think I have the best of both worlds.

gork, did you purchase only the touchscreen overlay and controller? If yes, would you mind telling use where you purchased it?

**thanos** · 02-12-2005, 05:01 PM

hi. i'm a newbie and this is my 2nd thread on this board. i'm about to start trying to rip apart my beemer. i guess this would be a good first step to installing my own car pc... i've gotten as far as removing the cupholder/coinholder, brake & shifter boots pulled up, and pulling out the middle storage compartment

(i know i'm pathetic). but i am really impressed with the work i've seen in this forum and i would like to try this stuff myself...so here's my first question: how do u remove the head unit? do u need a special tool? or just pry it out with a screwdriver? lol...now u see why i'm so tentative!

**gork** · 02-12-2005, 08:39 PM

thanos: I assume this is for a E46 since that's what you indicate in your profile.. Removing the head unit is easy. Insert a flathead screwdriver underneath the dash trim piece at the far left (by the passenger's door) and pry it out. The little aluminum pegs pressure mount the thing in there and they just pull out. Don't worry too much if you pull out or break one of the little orange things or the aluminum page. They are only like $0.30 each. Just continue popping the pegs until you get over to the headunit. There are 2 trim pieces to remove. Once you get there, it's obvious how to remove the HU - Take out the two screws and pull it out!

You can easily pop the climate control module out after you remove the head unit. It mounts in there with pressure. Just push it from behind and it will come out. There are 4 screws that hold the radio bracket in place. After you remove these, you'll have a nice open area to work in.

**dasbell** · 02-12-2005, 08:59 PM

For your car I am pretty sure you can use an allen wrench to remove the radio.
For my car I needed the special tool to remove the security screw. Check out the downloads section in openbmw.com for articles that explain the process in more detail. You should be fine though. Just be careful not to destroy your trim.

-D

**thanos** · 02-13-2005, 12:13 AM

Originally Posted by gork

thanos: I assume this is for a E46 since that's what you indicate in your profile.. Removing the head unit is easy. Insert a flathead screwdriver underneath the dash trim piece at the far left (by the passenger's door) and pry it out. The little aluminum pegs pressure mount the thing in there and they just pull out. Don't worry too much if you pull out or break one of the little orange things or the aluminum page. They are only like $0.30 each. Just continue popping the pegs until you get over to the headunit. There are 2 trim pieces to remove. Once you get there, it's obvious how to remove the HU - Take out the two screws and pull it out!

You can easily pop the climate control module out after you remove the head unit. It mounts in there with pressure. Just push it from behind and it will come out. There are 4 screws that hold the radio bracket in place. After you remove these, you'll have a nice open area to work in.

Thanks guys for the quick reply! I mustered up some courage today and took apart some more of the center console lol. anyway, i finally found my way to openbmw.org and they say i need a fishbone(actually 2 of em) to pry out the panel, true or just extortion?

oh gork, i think u mean the far right(by the passenger side door), but i understand. openbmw has a few decent step by steps for download. once again thanks for the help!

**gork** · 02-13-2005, 02:19 AM

You can do it with a screwdriver; just be careful not to ding the edge of the trim, especially if you have the brushed aluminum. After you do it a couple of times, you'll get the hang of it and be able to do it in about 10s. Like I said, don't worry if you bend or break the orange retaining clip. A replacement is only a few cents. This is what using a herringbone tool would avoid.

Also, yeah I mean the far right.. Unless you have a right-hand drive car, that is! I don't remember exactly if you need an allen wrench to undo the radio fastners.. I'm pretty sure that you don't, but I don't remember; the screws that hold the radio bracket in place are philips anyway.

**thanos** · 02-13-2005, 12:02 PM

[QUOTE=gork]
Also, yeah I mean the far right.. Unless you have a right-hand drive car, that is!QUOTE]

I'd concede that point if u or i were from outside the U.S.

i don't think i could ever drive a stick left-handed...that seems sooooo wierd! anyone ever do it?

**mp3oplecarrier** · 02-13-2005, 12:15 PM

[QUOTE=thanos]

Originally Posted by gork

Also, yeah I mean the far right.. Unless you have a right-hand drive car, that is!QUOTE]

I'd concede that point if u or i were from outside the U.S.

i don't think i could ever drive a stick left-handed...that seems sooooo wierd! anyone ever do it?

Only for the last 27 years!

**thanos** · 02-13-2005, 05:10 PM

The DVD/CDRW combo drive is mounted in the overhead console. I modified the trim piece with fiberglass/bondo to build up a drive bay/mounts and recovered it with headliner. I have fixed some of teh headliner problems you can see in this pic. The headliner is very dark black. The flash makes it look grey, but it actually matches the drive perfectly. The microphone is also installed up there and there is a grille for the sound to pass through. It records very well. The drive is connected via a Oxford911 firewire bridge. I had to reflash the fimrware to accomidate the drive. If anyone needs information on how to do this (you'll need some skill with a soldering iron) please contact me:

yeah...how exactly did you install that optical drive in the overhead console again?

...looks killa man. a step by step on that would be priceless!