So I got around to installing my dsp unit this weekend and could not have done it without this thread and a few youtube videos. Mostly a lurker but figured I'd give a summary for anyone in a similar situation. I also have some lingering questions.
I have an '07 e91 328xi 6mt with ccc L7 and dealer installed ipod integration kit.
First I went and pulled a CIC unit, screen and lvds cable from a u-pull-it yard for $35. Got lucky and everything worked on the retrofit and followed a youtube video to get the sound to work using ncs expert.
I did not swap over to the cic controller/knob since the car I pulled from didn't have the same aluminum trim as my car. Mr12volt cic dsp unit worked fine with this setup with a few comments below!:
1: My ccc knob somewhat works. It scrolls and selects things perfectly but I cannot go up down right or left to skip a few scrolls (I did not mess with dip switches. Not sure if anyone else has and gotten the same configuration working (cic unit with ccc controller). I saw a post earlier from mr12volt saying the ccc controller would not work at all with the cic mr12volt unit so at least I have 75% functionality.
2: For my car without pdc and with a 6mt, I could not get the green yi camera to activate without tapping a reverse signal. Seems others have seen the same. That is now a later project once I figure out how to do it cleanly on a wagon as all the DIYs Ive seen are on sedans/verts. (need to figure out how to get through all the insulation on the wagon hatch to access the handle, as well as the least sketchy way to tap the reverse light signal).
3: As stated before, the ipod integration kit will not work in tandem with mr12volt. I had to unpin the ipod cabling and fiber cables (the hardest part was opening the optical barrel connector and being sure I was unpinning the correct cables). On the bright side this kept me from having to code anything since the ipod system ran off the same cd changer format. If anyone needs help with uninstallation let me know as I found little info other than a picture of what fiber cable to remove from earlier in this thread. Pic below showing the power tap cables/clips I unpinned as well. This freed up a lot of space behind the unit.
4: My carplay randomly shows "demo software" in the bottom right (see pic). It goes away after a reboot but randomly comes back. Anyone else seen this?
5: Someone else just mentioned this. Entering the passcode to change the bootloading logo in factory settings doesn't come up as an option for me either, even when you click into factory settings. Did this go away for the dsp models? Not super important since most of the time the system is already completly booted up before I even turn on the car.
6: Has anyone else experimented with higher quality mics? I saw one member said a shop put an unamed high spec one in and it was great. I tried a gorund noise isolator with the one that comes with the kit and it actually made it worse (don't know much about mics) Ignore the mounting location in the pic... glovebox would not install with it there. See #7.
7: I spent over an hour trying to figure out where to mount the box so it is easily accessible. I found I could gently nudge the passenger footwell vents to the right and get the unit between the left side of the vent and the large wire loom along the trans tunnel all the way in the back-left corner of the footwell. This way I only need to undo the two torx screws and unclip the footwell light to remove the footwell panel and access the unit.
8: Happy to report I have not yet encountered any of the early issues found like bass loss or crackling/popping
