BMW-PC SOGO-VISION CAR-PC integration project

I am using a small Dell SX270 PC running Windows XP PRO. It's a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz with a 20GB Harddrive and I have an External USB 160GB Drive as well. I have Internet at 115KBps through my cell phone (Which required a phone-usb cable plus the purchase of some software which allows the use of the phone as a modem. I Also have a Linksys Wireless USB 802.11G device. I am using an 800watt power inverter which powers the PC and the A/D Converter. The SOGO-VISION Integration Kit is powered by a USB Port. The SOGO-VISION Kit is a bridge which takes care of getting the Video from the PC to the NAV Screen. No video module is required. I also have a bus powered USB HUB in the front along with a RF wireless keyboard and mouse. Which I can use the Microsoft On-Screen keyboard with the mouse, I prefer to type on a real keyboard. I can control the media portion of the MediaCar Sofware (which is superb and highly customizable with skins and such)with the Steering Wheel and Nav Controls. I can watch DVD's, Play MP3's, Surf the Internet faster than a 56K Modem, and run Any Windows Application I want. I do not do this while driving. My main purpose for this was to play MP3's while driving and have access to the web and email on the road. I am looking into having the email being read to me. I also might try controlling things via voice with Dragon System's Naturally Speaking.

I'm going to include a few photos here. These aren't doing the system justice as they are taken with my cell phone camera.

I've been wanting to do this for the past 2 years but didn't have all the pieces of the puzzle until now.

On another note, I have never had my stereo sound so good. I am now getting a full range of high's, mid's and low's like i've never had. It's like having a bass-link installed which I don't have.

I hope to post some better quality pictures soon.

Here's more info on the SOGO-VISION Kit that I purchased and Pictures
http://www.bmw-pc.com

That monitor looks fantastic!
Great install

Impressive install, I really like it, it looks great.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by erikdg

On another note, I have never had my stereo sound so good. I am now getting a full range of high's, mid's and low's like i've never had. It's like having a bass-link installed which I don't have.

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Couple of question, What sound car are you using? Is it hooked up to you stock head unit or are you using an amp?

Well, It's all running from my pc to an A/D and then connects to the digital input of the CD Changer and runs through the DSP.

the SOGO-VISION allow me to output from the PC directly to the 16x9 NAV Screen without having a Video Module!

Edited post.

I'm confused.

you bought the kit from that site?? And he sells it with MediaCar?? Does he have permission from Coyote?

$850? For modules to get VGA and sound into your factory display and audio?? no PC or PSU included? What am I missing?

First of all, I downloaded Mediacar - He did not sell that and it's not part of the Kit.
As far as the Module, it does many things. To interface with the BMW I-BUS and Convert Video to the Factory display is no easy task. The parts themselves are expensive and it takes about 20 hours to build each kit.

I downloaded Mediacar - He did not sell that and it's not part of the Kit.

Dude,

I have the feeling that SOGO-VISION has to do with Sean Sogom***, a guy I had to do with a couple of months ago. He was asking me a lot of questions about the BMW and it's multimedia system, I-Bus, connection of the monitor to a carputer, etc.

Anyway, I don't worry if people make a little money with this kind of stuff.
But what I don't like is when people try to rip of a LOT of money of others who are not electronically skilled, and when they try to do this with the knowledge of third people who give their experiences and projects to everybody without charge (like Andreas who wrote CarX, Detlef who wrote Varan, Kevin White who developed a simple I-Bus-Interface, Franck Touanen who developed the first simple program to talk to the I-Bus, etc.).

Just to warn other people who are thinking about the integration of a carputer into the BMW system: 850$ is a lot too much money for this, as an interface to connect a PC to the I-Bus cost less than 5$, and a VGA-RGB-Converter is about 100$, software can be found for free.

Everybody who wants to play with his bimmer should have a look at the following pages to avoid to pay a lot of money for things that can easily be bought for a few bucks:

www.varan.org
www.creative-nightshifts.de
www.car-amp.de

and of course the Yahoo-group "HackTheIBus" where all necessary information regarding this kind of stuff can be found.

cu
tsingsu