Hark

Here's the plan: use a Thinkpad T30 w/docking station, Jeff Mucha's shutdown controller, DC-DC power adapter (not sure which one yet), and put a Xenarc 700TSV in the dash, taking out the existing factory nav system (what a piece of junk). I'll probably buy one of the E46 screen bezels that people here have offered to make/sell rather than fabing my own. I have the IBus module to send/receive the steering wheel messages, but haven't read enough yet to fully know how to use it.

I'm looking for some good advice on where to mount the laptop/docking station, since I'd like to be able to pull it out and use it outside the car as well. I'm thinking where the cd changer cage is on the left side of the trunk - maybe I'll yank all that stuff out. I also have to see if it's possible to use the factory FM antenna in the car. My requirement for all of this is that I have to be able to put everything that was stock back in (and it has to work), so I can still sell it as "unmodified" when the time comes.