WraithJ

Well in my experience of light sensors, (college physics projects etc), if its a sensor (as in not a button or knob), then it will measure the ambience and brightness of the light in the surrounding area over a period of time to reach a conclusion on what brightness to set. It maybe that the sensor module will have the chip to calculate this in the sensor module, and so it then relays that in the form of a variable amount of electricty to the main LCD board. Otherwise the sensor chip maybe on the actual LCD board, in which case I would think it will be much harder to change. If it is seperate, and anything like the sensors I used last year, depending on the brightness it will let more or less electricity to regulate the brightness. If this is the case then you might get away with a dimmer switch or something similar which also works by allowing more or less electricity through, depending on the position on the dimmer circuit, sort of like an old school speed controller on a remote control car, the more foward you press on the the joystick, the further the servo moves the arm on the speed controller (effectively a dimmer switch), and the more electricity is sent to the motor!

Hope this is both helpfull and right (why is it so hard to remeber my Physics from last year?!)

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kelmk

Some more pics

kelmk

Is it a variable resistor or does it create voltage like a solar cell??

WraithJ

what the sensor? It will most probably be a variable resistor, with the more light being detected the more or less electricty sent!

johnwest72

kelmk,
Did you install that sub in the ski hole yourself? I have a sub enclosure that takes a lot of space in my trunk right now; if you're getting base your happy with through the sub in the pic, I'd think about doing the same, and gaining my space back. Can you tell me more about it?

Thanks.

johnwest72

kelmk,
I'm getting ready to do an install like yours (already removed the dash, center console and rear seat), so I might have lots of questions. I hope you don't mind.

I have an old Dell Inspiron 8500. How does your laptop handle hot days? I'm just wondering if mine will survive the temps in my trunk.

Also, when you moved the ac controls down, did they reach ok? And when you removed the tray, how did you fit the ac controls to what was left of the tray enclosure so that there were no gaps?

Finally, I'm debating between the mp3car transflective 7" screen and the cartft screen... http://www.cartft.com/catalog/il/870. I have no idea how to adapt the screen to the double din BMW enclosure that mp3car has. How hard is it to do, and do I lose any functionality with the screen? FWIW, I'm tending towards the cartft one, simply because it has all the cables combined into one.

Thanks so much!

John

kelmk

I lived in LA when I first installed the laptop so it got pretty hot during the day but I never had any overheating issues.
The AC controls reach fine. There in a new console that you have to buy from BMW which is the nav version. It will have hole the proper size for mounting the AC controls lower.
I would definitely go with the cartft screen. That is the exact one I have and it's awesome. I have bought a custom bezel that is made to fit a 7" screen from mybimmer.net

kelmk

There are a few tutorials out there for doing this. Here is a good DIY http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...=sub+ski+hatch
The amount of bass is fine even with the top down but it's nothing crazy. Make sure you Dynamat everything though or else it will rattle like nuts. You will loos a bit of bass if you put the center cover back on but not much. You could also enclose the back of the sub to get more bass instead of just using the trunk area.

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johnwest72

Hmmm... do you mean I should buy a different ac controller, or just the plastic enclosure that goes where my current ashtray/drawer is? How much was it?

Do you have to take the screen apart to fit it into the custom bezel? Is that hard to do?

Thanks so much! I'm getting closer. I sent an email to http://www.kustompcs.co.uk today to ask about shipping the CTF700-SH to me here in ATL!

John

kelmk

Just the plastic enclosure. Make sure you get the correct one since there are a few versions depending on what package you have. I think it was $30 or $40 from the stealership.

You will have to take apart the screen to mount it in the bezel. The cartft is a little more difficult than the lilliputs or the xenarcs to take apart but it's not that bad. The touchscreen is not attached to the lcd panel so I put a little bit on scotch tape on each side to secure it. I just used hot glue to secure all the electronics in place afterwards. I also extended the IR sensor and ran it into the ash tray area so I can use the remote control if I have to. I haven't figured out where to put the light sensor yet though. I plan on fabricating a panel where the ashtray is with an extra usb port, ipod dock, line in, and IR sensor.
I can post some pics later if you like.

I would recommend buying it from cartft.com. Great service and it arrived in SF from Germany in 2 days!

johnwest72

The first orders are in...

-- Ordered the ashtray/ac control enclosure. I sure wish I could have gotten it for that cheap. It cost me $64.99.
-- Ordered the CTF700-SH for ~$840US w/shipping. Ouch!
-- Ordered the bezel from mybimmer.net for $250. Was going to order it from mp3car.com, but I've been trying to call them all day, and no answer. Didn't give me the warm and fuzzies.

Any pics of how you installed the lcd in the bezel would be awesome! Are you able to run the cartft lcd at 800x480? Did you run the cables from the LCD through the center of the car?

Thanks again and again!

John

kelmk

BMW is weird. Sometimes they give me a deal at the parts department and sometimes they don't. Depends on who is serving you it seems. I have bought the same parts at different prices on different days.

$840 sounds wrong, are you sure you unchecked include VAT? If you are in the US you don't have to pay VAT. I paid $720.43 USD total.

$250 for the bezel is what they go for unfortunately but Rich is the only source I know of and the bezels are very high quality. I also don't get a good feeling towards the mp3car store. I have inquired about their transflective displays before and their answers are short and not very customer service oriented. I just don't get a sense of professionalism from the company.

I haven't been able to get 800x480 running yet but 800x600 looks really sharp and it's kinda hard to tell that it's not native. I am happy with 800x600 for now.

The LCD cables are very long and almost reached to my laptop in the trunk. I had to get a 6 foot VGA extension unfortunately which is the shortest I could find. All I really need is 12 inches or so. I also have about 6 usb cables all running under the carpet into the center console. You can never have too many usb cables. I suggest running a few extra just in case so you don't have to run more later. I also ran a cable with some extra wires that I used for remote on for the amp, 5 volt power front the trunk, laptop power switch, whatever.

kelmk

Here is a good instruction manual for installing an aftermarket sub in the ski hatch.
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/pr...ible_99-06.pdf
These guys sell a premade kit for this.

johnwest72

You are right about the price. I thought the checkbox was to add VAT; I've requested a refund for the VAT charges.

I think I'll run the extra cables like you suggested. I might also run a couple of cat5 cables.

Not to bug you, but do you have any images showing how to mount the lcd to the bezel? I'm nervous as crap about ruining it .

Thanks.

John

kelmk

LCD mounted in bezel

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