BMW X3/Z4 Central Information Display wiring

stepir · 06-24-2005, 02:45 AM

Hi guys!,

I decided to build a carputer for my X3. It will arrive in September and I’m yet building up my system in house (can wait to have the new car

).

My car will come without any TFT lcd, car navigation, etc etc. But I decided to try using the original OEM LCD, even if it is not touchscreen, because it motorized and it get completely hidden when you are away from the car.

I managed to bought one working and semi new from ebay for 63€ !!

Now my doubt are:

- Will I manage to use it as a VGA monitor? Do It accept VGA or Svideo input?
- more over I suppose the motorized system is connected to powering up of the car. How I will have to connect the monitor to the car to maintain this function.

I have downloaded the BMW WDS TIS ETK but still don't have a clue about wiring

Any help from someone with similar experiences greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks
Stefano

Tranman · 06-24-2005, 09:28 AM

It's probably possible, I am using my Stock Navigation screen in my Lexus GS430 to run a Xbox. I originally used a composite to RGBs converter (spliced in between the nav screen and nav computer with a 4PDT relay), but it really sucked as far as brightness and clarity. So I found some information and used a component video to RGBs converter (Audio Authority 9A65) and the difference was astouding, just as clear and bright as the stock navigation graphics.

However, the "composite" video sync frequency that is required on the stock Lexus nav screen is around 15Hz (not sure on the BMW, but probably similiar), otherwise you get garbage on the screen. So you can't run anything with a high resolution on it, I originally tried running a X2VGA adapter and it wouldn't accept 480i, 720i, 1020i, but would accept 480p...but the sync signal was too high so all I got was a rolling, fuzzy picture.