Adding sat Nav

[steham]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie to owning a Z4, and just picked up a lovely e89 23i yesterday.
So, this question has probably been asked on here 5 million times already, so please forgive me.....I don't have navigation fitted, and am interested in some of the AliExpress android units, that come with an i-drive type controller. Now, have any of you fitted these? Do you recommend them? And is the original BMW professional head unit still used for sound for the new Android screen, or is the thing going to be sitting there redundant?

Many thanks

[B21]

Welcome…always good to ask questions…in these areas things change over time so different options apply now that maybe didn’t apply then…

In no particular order…

It’s pretty prohibitively expensive to retrofit a CIC system to a non CIC car..it has been done but it’s not for beginners IMHO..

The audio comes out of the ‘radio’….mostly in the US the headunit connects to an off board amp driving either 11 or 14 speakers..the basic 6 speaker system wasn’t imported into NA.

So an android unit has been done a few times..pretty straightforward…there are some YouTube Z4 E89 specific implementations..

Normally the android unit feeds the head unit via an aux connection..

Playback quality is OK using that method..some people are happy others less so..

Enjoy your journey

[DavesZed]

Originally Posted by steham

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie to owning a Z4, and just picked up a lovely e89 23i yesterday.
So, this question has probably been asked on here 5 million times already, so please forgive me.....I don't have navigation fitted, and am interested in some of the AliExpress android units, that come with an i-drive type controller. Now, have any of you fitted these? Do you recommend them? And is the original BMW professional head unit still used for sound for the new Android screen, or is the thing going to be sitting there redundant?

Many thanks

B21's answer above is totally spot-on

I've done this Android screen option to my own and a few other Z4 owners as well. As a rule there is normally a good quality of sound (considering you're driving a convertible anyway!) as long as the AUX socket is clean and making good contact.
I happen to have a video on the installation process, although this is the first generation in firmware (Android 8.1) the actual fitment is exactly the same...

Originally Posted by B21

....
It’s pretty prohibitively expensive to retrofit a CIC system to a non CIC car..it has been done but it’s not for beginners IMHO..
....

B21 is not kidding here, it is a lot of work to retrofit the full OE iDrive system, unless you know what you're doing and really don't mind getting stuck in. After a couple of years with the Android screen I decided to remove it and retrofit the full Idrive system, and I happen to have a video on that as well
But for day-to-day usage then I recommend the Android screen as it does the majority of what you'd want, and most of them include Apple CarPlay and Android Auto these days anyway, so win win