NUVI hard wire with live traffic

[Montoya]

For those of us without I Drive, here's a quick DIY to hardwire your NUVI with live traffic. There are other hard wire solutions in the E90 post section, but none really deal with the issue of the extra thick wire that comes with the live traffic unit. Also, I really don't want my NUVI on the windshield or dash cluttering up the clean lines of my sleek, non-I drive dash!!

So I prefer the NUVI to sit right in the ash tray propped up by the lid of the ash tray. It's almost a custom installation!

So the pictures below are mostly self explanatory so I will hit the highlights.

Here's what you will need:

- A sharp Xacto knife
- Dremel or similar grinding tool
- A cigarette lighter socket extender or expander (try auto zone). The Nuvi plug sits too high to plug into the center consol socket and close the lid.
- E-Grips material to hold the NUVI in place firmly in the ash tray (www.egrips.com)

Notes on installation:

- The center console comes out easily. There are several DIY's but I suggest no tools be used so you don't mar your consol. You can pull it out by gripping the space where the I-Drive controller would be which is now a convenient cubby for all of us non- I Drivers.

- Once the console is out you can route the Nuvi power wires as shown in the picture. The heavy FM transmitter piece that is near the Nuvi connection can be shoved under dash right in front of the ash tray by making a loop so that the connector can pop out in the hole you are going to drill out in the bottom of the ash tray.

- Speaking of which you will need to make a hole big enough for the connector to fit through the compartment where the ash tray fits (you will leave the ash tray out of the car). See the picture below. Use an Xacto or dremel to trim it out.

- You will need to cut out a hole in the center console tray. Again look at the pictures and you will see there is a perfect place to trim out. I'm sure it's a cut out for other accessories I don't have!

- When you put the center console back on, make sure to reconnect all the plugs for your EDC and MDCT. It will work without them, you will just not be able to make changes (ask me how I know!).


The finished product works great! No wires and I can unplug the Nuvi and store it with no trouble. Reception is fine, there are no issues so far. If you use E-Grips on the Nuvi back where it rest in the ash tray and another piece in the ash tray, the Nuvi will stay in place with hardest M3 cornering!

[goto35]

Very nice! Do you have more pics of the egrips and where you put that? So when you dont use nav do you put it away?

[Maseroche]

Did the same thing to the same model unit when i had my R32.