Retrofitting Combox in E Series

[Rob]

Really really great detailed guide by jimmelo from Bimmerfest. 

Props on a legit writeup



I've seen so many posts about a combox retrofit, with most of them being not very helpful to the DIY'er who just wants clear information so they can make the decision to do it themselves or if someone else should do it for them. I have a 03/10 build E90 335d. This means several things. My model build year is, according to BMW, not supposed to have a combox. I do have CIC, Bluetooth phone functionality, and USB with y cable. In other words I had 6FL and 6NF installed in my car (explained below). 

I fried my TCU/MULF2 when some water got in my trunk from a cooler filled with ice and some frosty beverages. The cost of replacing a TCU and MULF2 was basically the same as getting a combox so in fact I really had nothing to lose by going down this road. So my TCU/MULF2 were located in my trunk. They are under the floor liner of the trunk in lots of cars. Other cars have them located in the side of the trunk and I believe also under the rear seat. If you lift your trunk liner and you don't see it then you might want to check with the google of where yours is located.

So I decided I wanted to do it myself. A couple of things, you must absolutely be sure of what software your CIC is running. I was very fortunate in that my car's software had been updated almost every six months by BMW due to issues with the diesel. I believe if you are at V42-V43 you are fine and in fact won't need an FSC code to make BMW apps work. If you are beyond that you will need an FSC code, and more importantly someone who actually knows how to install an FSC code. An FSC code is basically a dealer issued registration key that this combox belongs in this car. This has nothing to do with telematics (aka Bluetooth assist). I am at V.50 so clearly I need an FSC code. 

If you are unsure of any of those things take your car to the dealer and ask one of the service techs to stick your key in their computer and tell you what software version you are at. There are a couple of people out there that can also tell you what software version you are at if you ask them nicely. I have no idea how they do that. I assume they are some how accessing BMW's files and looking up service records. They do seem to have some mad coding skills based on the things they can do and I am by no means trying to diss on them. I think for a lot of people that solution makes sense. I just happen to be more of a tinkerer. 

So at the end of the day this DIY cost me a grand total of around $500. From what I gathered from the after market prices to achieve the same level of functionality I would have paid around $1500. So apart from just personal satisfaction I also saved almost a grand. I now have BMW apps and connected drive on my computer including text messages in my iDrive. I currently do NOT have assist working, YET. I also chose not to have BMW live or BMW online working, That requires more coding but I really didn't see the need for those things in my car.

The cost breakdown is as follows:
$200 for used combox telematics. Build year on my combox was March 2013.
$35 for the new pin connector for combox from old TCU/MULF2
$235 for an FSC Code
$60 to pay someone to do the coding remotely. I have in fact started playing around with NCSexpert but trying to figure out exactly how to install an FSC code was proving a total waste of time and I'd rather just pay someone the $60 to do it for me. 

I had Alex at alpinemss do the coding for me. He shipped me the cable and a USB and then connected remotely and he had it done in something like 10 minutes. He also coded some other fun stuff while he was at it. It literally took him 10 minutes. He did say he wouldn't have been able to do it if my software on my cic wasn't up to date. So you may find yourself paying someone to do this for you. You will spend far more time trying to figure out the magic of installing an FSC code. I spent some time on it but decided to walk away. I don't have that kind of time and I can spend $60 on dinner and drinks on any given night. That was the best and easiest decision. Worst case scenario you pay Alex, or someone else the $60 and they tell you your CIC is not up to date enough. Then you bring in someone else who can upgrade your CIC. 

So here's a few things you probably need to know about and probably see tossed around a lot when discussing combox's or telematics/TCU/MULF2

Software Definitions:
6FL = iPod/USB interface, CCC or CIC. This can be with a TCU/MULF setup. Not sure if it can be had with either just the TCU or MULF.

6NF = Smartphone Integration, or 6FL plus a center console cradle requiring a phone-specific adapter that allows for iPod/USB functionality from the cradle, CCC or CIC. Note that the center console cradle is available without iPod/USB functionality as a dealer installed option. This can be with a TCU/MULF setup. Not sure if it can be had with either just the TCU or MULF.

6NR = Support for iPhone apps (internet radio, twitter and facebook) and "iPod Out" (iPod user interface displayed on central iDrive display), CIC starting with Mar 2011 production. This requires a combox of some sort. Think of 6NR as what tells the rest of your car, and primarily your CIC, that you have combox installed (instead of a TCU/MULF2) and that these are the fun options you get now that you have the combox aka BMW Apps. You still need some version of the above two things to give you all the other options They are not mutually exclusive and they are better viewed as building blocks that you choose.

639= US Bluetooth and assist. This appears to replace 6NF in US build cars.

There are also many other codes such as 612, 613, 614, 615, 616, 619, 644, 7SP that somehow relate to being able to use some or all of these things depending on where you are located in the world. If you want things like BMW live you will need to trick your car into thinking it's not in the US with a VIN from another country for your combox. That definitely complicates things but should be programmable by someone like Alex, IF your CIC is up to date.

Hardware definitions:
TCU = Telematics control unit. I believe this mostly handles the BMW assist and SOS and communications with BMW. It has a 54 pin connector, a MOST connector, and up to 4 antenna connectors. White=Bluetooth, Blue = GPS, Black= GSM/roof antenna connection, Purple = GSM2/Emergency roof antenna connection. If you have NAV you likely won't have the blue connector on the TCU.

MULF2 = Heck if I know what that stands for. It handles the USB connection (black connector) and also a Bluetooth antenna (yellow connector). It also has a 54 pin connector and a MOST connector. For US models the yellow connector has no corresponding cable in the wire bundle/harness. In other words it's not used.



Combox/Extended Bluetooth functionality = Support for Blackberry Office functions, Bluetooth audio streaming, album art and use of the original Apple iPhone cable.

There are three types of Combox's I will describe. Also a note about comboxes. I would not go crazy trying to figure out if your combox's software will play nice with your CIC. It absolutely does not matter as long as your CIC is upgraded to a software version that will play nice with combox. You can upgrade your combox to the latest software through a USB stick and by downloading the software from BMW. If you are really getting your panties in a twist about it, just spend another $250 and buy a brand new one from one of the reliable vendors around. Think about it. You will still have only spent $750 total. That's still half price. As long as your CIC is up to date, the coding should only take 10-15 minutes. I don't see why that should cost an extra $750????

Visit http://www.bmw.com/com/en/owners/nav...update_vin.jsp to get the download and use vin #J593205 to be allowed to download it. Just follow BMW instructions. But if you want piece of mind buying a combox with a build date of anywhere after Jan 2013 is probably a good bet. I purchased a combox telematics with build of 03/13 just for that piece of mind. Had I known about the software updates provided by BMW via USB I would not have spent that much time on making sure I got a newer or almost new combox. I have read some of the websites and posts by some of the aftermarket sellers and they really try to scare you into thinking the combox software version is absolutely essential and that you absolutely need a brand new combox. This is simply not true. Again their marketing is effective because before I learned everything that I've learned they scared me into ordering as near as new combox as I could find. Even then I was still scared that it might not work. Just make sure you buy from someone who will give you at least a 30 day guarantee that the combox is actually functional to give you time to install and test to make sure it's working. 

Order the parts to do the pinout first (see below). Once you have those in hand, order your FSC code if you need one, then order the coding so you have time to get the cable, then order your combox. That way you'll have everything ready to go when the combox finally arrives. It should not take you more than an hour to do this DIY. 


Here's the types of combox's and part numbers:

Combox Telematics = Pretty much what it says it is, the Combox with telematics functions included. In addition to the connectors on the combox media it has the two GSM connectors (black and right next to each other). So this adds BMW assist and BMW Remote if you can get the telematics working. THIS HAS PROVEN TO BE REALLY HARD for some people. I have yet to try to do this but I figured if a combox telematics can be had for the same price as a combox media I might as well try.

There have been a couple of different part numbers for this one. I believe the current one is 84109257163(Real OEM lists for E90 or model BN2000 BLACK CONNECTOR) or 84109257153 (REAL OEM lists for F10 BN2010 WHITE CONNECTOR). Make sure you get the correct one for your vehicle. Please Read the list above closely before posting a question of whether this will work with my Exx. You have the answer two lines up.

Old part #'s: 84109248181 84109244191 84109251739 84109251750

Combox Media = No telematics functions, thus no communication with BMW. So no BMW assist, No BMW Remote App, No SOS. It will allow you to have BMW apps, BMW Live, BMW Online, BMW Connected Drive, Bluetooth audio streaming, Bluetooth phone. Some of these functions require far more programming. I for one didn't really care for BMW Live. I really don't want to be driving and searching the internet. And if I am just sitting in my car I'd probably just use my phone. I don't see the appeal. I was only interested in BMW connected drive, bmw apps and finally having Bluetooth audio streaming.

It will have a MOST connector, a 26 pin connector, a yellow Bluetooth antenna connector, 2 USB connectors (Black, Blue), Part # 84109257160 (Black Connector for E90) is the current part. 84109257153 may also be a current part number. # 84109248178 is the old part #. I have no idea if the white connector and black connector are used on the combox media to designate the difference between an Fxx series or Exx series.

Combox Telematics FO (aka GPS) = This combox adds a GPS antenna for SOS services I believe IF you do NOT have NAV. In addition to the connections for the BMW telematics it adds a purple GPS antenna connector.

Part # 84109257154 or 84109257164
Old part #'s: 84109251740 84109248182 84109251751

If you purchase a Combox with Telematics or Telematics FO you can program those features out. So if you find a better deal on ebay for one of those it's not a big deal. You'll be having to do some programming anyway.

Parts to connect TCU/MULF2 to Combox:

1 x 61136913644, BMW, connector, 26 pin $2
1 x 61136913626, BMW, socket housing, 26 pin $10
I may have those prices mixed up. I was amazed how much more expensive one was than the other. One is where you slide the pins in. Then you slide that into the blue housing.



MOST Termination loop
61136931507 (I believe this is the one most of the aftermarket guys will sell you for $30 or so. I paid around $15)
or
61136917541
supposedly both work so just buy the one that makes you happiest.

To connect the most loop you have to remove a double barrel ferrule in the middle. It just pops right out. At first I thought I was breaking it but then it just popped out. You'll be able to tell really quickly what that means when you get the most plug.



That's it unless you want to make a harness. I decided NOT to make a harness and boy am I glad I did. BMW makes this really easy. Everything is well marked and labeled and you'll know exactly what pin it is and you'll know exactly where it will need to go in the new socket housing. All you need to do a pin swap is a small dental pick. Go to harbor freight and pay $5 for a set. They actually have proven to be some very usefull DIY tools for various random projects. Yes you will have to bend over into your trunk for about 15-20 minutes, but it should not take you longer than that. Once you do the first one or two it will became extremely obvious how easy it is. There really aren't that many wires to deal with. Tape the old plastic pieces to the bottom of the mounting tray so you can have them handy later if you want to go back to factory install. 

I will say that a harness will make it possible for you to use the old mounting tray in the trunk that the tcu/mulf2 were mounted on. The wires weren't long enough for me to be able to use the old metal tray. I may in time put together a harness but for now my combox is just velcroed to the floor. It works.

Here are the pins and wires I had in my car. Keep in mind BMW often times will change wire harness colors. I had a couple of extra wires left over. No big deal I just left them in the old pin housing and they are just hanging there in the trunk. It was really difficult finding any information on those wires as it appears to not be very common. From what I gathered one was a ground but the combox only needs one ground and the other one was for powering the cradle, which I don't even have installed on my car. Has not affected functionality on my combox at all.

The chart below shows you the pin location on the TCU or mulf then the wire color on the left side and then the pin location on the new housing for the combox and the known function. 

TCU
1 Yellow 25 Mic+
3 Blue Mystery wire/battery charging for cradle
15 Red on Black 7 Tel Crash
17 Green on Orange 2 Power T30
19 Black (maybe Dark Blue) 12 Mic-
21 Grey Black 11 Mic Shield
31 Grey (light) 18 SOS Signal F
33 Yellow 15 Tel WakeUp
36 Brown Ground/ Did not connect
37 Yellow/white 21 Emergency Speaker +
38 Blue/White 20 Emergency Speaker -
50 Blue/White (these two look exactly the same) 17 Emergency ButtonLED
Pins 18-1 (they are in revers order so right to left):


Pins 19-36:


Pins 37-54


12 wires total in TCU and only 10 transferred from TCU
Here's how I left the old wires:


MULF2
4 Red on White 23 AUX NF L
5 Green on White 24 AUX NF R
17 Yellow on Red 1 Power T30
22 Purple 10 AUX GND
23 Black 22 AUX Shield
36 Brown 14 Ground

Pins 18-1:


Pins 19-36:


The MULF had no pins in location 37-54 and there was just an empty housing inside the connector.

6 wires total in MULF2, all were transferred. That's only 16 pin connections you need to undo. Seriously 1 minute per wire is too much. Keep in mind that numbers 1-18 on the black connectors go from right to left. Again this will be labeled for you when you actually open it up. Because everything is so well labeled it is nearly impossible to screw this up. Pictures may help but once you actually open up the trunk and get started you will see how obvious it is.

If you want to get BMW assist working you will also need to add two new pins as follows:
Pin 5 on Combox to K-CAN high
Pin 6 on Combox to K-CAN low

There is a module inside of the combox called CECALLR. Pins 5-6 are how CECALLR communicates. I could see the module listed in NCSexper but I couldn't read or write to it until I installed these new pins.

I was very lucky in that I had previously installed a BMW OEM towing wiring harness in my car a couple of years ago. Back then I had even far less an idea of what I was doing and I simply followed the instructions. No coding was needed for that. As it turns out part of the wiring I did was actually tapping the K-CAN under the glove box. So I found those wires that I had brought from the glove box all the way back to the trunk for the towing module and tapped those wires. Because it was an OEM towing module it was color coded correctly and made it very easy. 



If you need to tap K-CAN and you have PDC you can tap into it by the rear seat at the wiring harness there. If you need more details of how I tapped the K-CAN and installed the wires I suggest you read my DIY on installing a tow bar. There are some good pics and instructions there. You will be looking for wires 7 & 8 on that DIY and they are the green and green/orange wires. There is also a pdf that shows the diagram and installation instructions from westfalia in that DIY.

In doing this research 3 other pins on the TCU where mentioned. I did not have these wires and I have no idea under what context they exist. I only put this info here as known factors that you may encounter. I can't tell you anything else about them.
They are:
Pin 24 Signal from wheel speed sensor, front left
Pin 25 Signal from wheel speed sensor, front right
Pin 46 Signal from transmit/receive button (Cradle Key)
Call accept/transfer/paring button

So a combox retrofit should only take you at most 1 hour. 5 minutes removing your TCU/MULF2 then 15-20 minutes doing the pin outs, 10-15 minutes connecting to K-CAN, 5-10 minutes mounting the combox back to where your TCU/MULF2 was. You've spent more time reading this than it would take to do it. Don't even worry about the coding, pay Alex, or someone else, $60-$100 to do it for you. I would not pay more than that unless you need to upgrade your CIC software. I now have connecteddrive, text messages, and apps on my iDrive. It's pretty cool. 

If you must have telematics and you need to tap K-CAN way up front then you are looking at a lot more work. Factor in at least another hour if not two. Just depends on how hidden you want to make the wires and how much of your car's interior you want to take apart.

The connectors are pretty easy to figure out how to remove. Just press on the obvious release for each one. The big 54 pin connectors after you hit the release you just throw the latch back and it will pop out. Pretty easy.

One last thing. When you connect the Bluetooth antenna you need to take a razor blade and shave off a tiny little raised fin on the bottom left of the antenna connector on the combox. If you look at the antenna connection you will see it has slots for some fins but the combox has an extra fin that the TCU did not and obviously this will prevent you from sliding in the antenna all the way. It comes off rather easily assuming you have a good sharp blade.



I believe I now have the GSM antenna connections figured out. Per the photo above they are not connected as they wouldn't fit. This is the purple and black antenna wires mentioned in the TCU. I also have figured out how to get a hold of a bluetooth antenna extender if you want one and don't want to shave off that little fin.

For the GSM antennas visit rfsupplier.com. You will need to order a Fakra Double B jack right angle (I guess you could get the straight one as well) to TWO Fakra Z plugs. Should be about $11 dollars. This is a standard cable for them. A Z plug is universal and has no fins so it will easily slide into the existing TCU antenna jacks. If you wanted to get fancy they can make you a Fakra Double B jack right angle to a Fakra B plug and a Fakra D plug. That would match exactly the two jacks from the TCU. I didn't want to bother with that.

For the Bluetooth antenna you will need to order a special made cable unless you went with a RG174 Fakra Z plug to Fakra Z jack. I ordered a RG174 Fakra B plug (this will connect to the TCU bluetooth jack without any modification, the white connector) to a Fakra G jack. Then you don't have to trim the fin or anything and it's just plug and play. You don't need to necessarily order this but it might be nice to have if you decide to make a harness and the placement of your combox is limited by which cable is connected where.

I have just ordered these so I am not 100% sure they work. But from what I can see I don't see a problem with it. These Fakra connectors have some very specific standards.



If you want to make a harness visit this schpenxel's thread. His post was the main motivator for me doing this myself.

I will let you know the BMW part numbers for the MSQ pins and sockets are:

61131393726 for the sockets/Female ends that would go in your new 26 pin housing
You need two of these regardless of whether you are going to make a harness if you plan on trying to get BMW assist working. You need them to run the new wire to wherever you are tapping K-CAN. Again see my DIY on the tow hitch install.

61130006664 for the male pins with wire extensions already connected. These will go into the kufatec connector he mentions. Order two of the kufatec housings if you have a TCU/MULF2 like I did.
If you just want the male pins with no wire extension try to order part #61131393723

I actually have a bunch of 61130006664 lying around from when I did an MS-8 and speaker upgrade a couple of years ago. Luckily I didn't throw them away because they are expensive. I do recall trying to order just the male pin but I kept getting it with the wire which is why I had so many extra. I don't think they charged me extra though. I prefer to have just the pins without wires so I can custom cut the wire length. Crimping the connectors is easy with some good needle nose pliers. You can get crazy and solder them as well.

The site he mentions for the MSQ (he calls them TE male and female pins) pins and sockets requires a $30 minimum order so you might as well get them from a bmw parts store when you are ordering your 26 pin housing and connector. Should still be cheaper than getting $30 worth of stuff you don't need.

Making a harness would add around $60 to everything.


Please let me know if you have questions. I am no expert and I only really know what I needed to know for my car, a 03/2010 build year e90 USA specs.

[cfeagle1989]

Really great guide!
This one is actually what i used about 4 years ago, Keep in mind on the CIC it has to be atleast C.13 to use the combox, My cic was c.09 which will not recognize the combox and will need to be updated. C.16 gives you the apps without the FSC code, but i recommend C1A update then do the inject to unlock all the other features like APPS.
If you're in Jacksonville, FL, I can firmware update the CIC to C1A and even guide with the retrofit.

[Captainl]

Nice guide!!!
For E60 probably i need the 84109257163 ? I have allready one 84109257153 at my friend (crashed ) car but i never tried to connect it.

[codemybmw]

Nice guide. I did back in 2011 on my E92. Was such a nice upgrade, but I never got around to doing the video out portion for iPOD out, however that feature didn't last long. Originally @vortex showed the way. I remember all these third parties charging big $$$ to do the retrofit and upgrade.

https://www.cars.com/articles/bmw-to-sup...663200829/

I think I still have a few multimedia or telematics combox in storage for sale cheap.

[soares_11]

Muito obrigada guia perfeito