One such location are the license plate lights.  BMW employs for all their recent models now a version with two integrated LED bulbs which give a whiter kind of light, even with a hint of blue.

Tuning and styling fanatics of course wanted to mimic this new style (and the use of LEDs on competitors such as Audi’s headlights) and a few aftermarket options are already available for the BMW range.

However, if you get the correct parts, the OEM BMW parts can be fitted on cars which did not come with the LED versions of the license plate lights.  This can work for pre-facelift 1-series and pre-EfficientDynamics 3-series cars, but also for 6-series and even the previous model Z4.

People at the z-roadster.net forum were so kind enough to draft a manual on outfitting your Z4 with these OEM LED lights.  The text is in german, but the included pictures make the modification self-explanatory.

Get the manual: Install OEM LED license plate lights.

The Intravee is an innovative piece of hardware that enables BMW’s of the previous generation to accept Ipods as sound source, and use the radio and steering controls to navigate through the Ipod’s structure.  This Intravee enables E39 5-series, E46 3-series, the first model of X3′s and the first model of Z4 roadster and coupe owners to enjoy their Ipod in their car.

De Intravee is een innovatief stukje hardware dat het mogelijk maakt om in BMW’s van de vorige generatie toch een Ipod te gebruiken als muziekbron.  Zo past deze Intravee eenvoudig in alle E39 5-reeksen, de E46 3-reeks, de eerste reeks X3′s en de eerste modellen Z4 roadster en coupe.

The Intravee is actually not an Ipod-adapter per-se: The Intravee only acts as an adapter between the BMW media protocol, and the AlpineNet protocol to transmit commands and track info back and forth.  The actual Ipod-adapter is something such as the Alpine KCA-420i which enables an Ipod to talk AlpineNet and vice-versa.  Keep in mind that the KCA-420i has limitations such as being only able to show up to 511 albums and 511 artists, which means that if you take your whole collection of music on the road, you might not be able to select ZZ Top as artist out of the menu.

Contrary to the other models which have cd changers and navigational computers mounted in the trunk compartment, the electronics of a Z4 roadster are placed in between the two seats, under the covering that runs out of the gearbox and drivetrain tunnel.  This hampers the installation of the Intravee and the Alpine adapter, in such a way that large parts of the interior of a Z4 roadster need to be removed before access is gained to the existing cabling to enable the Ipod adapter.

As a sort of reference, I have gathered the Alpine CD Changer Installation documentation from BMW which describes how to install an Alpina CD Changer, including removing and restoring the interior parts that hide the electronics in between the seats.  This gives access to the cables necessary to connect the Intravee and the Alpina KCA-420i adaptor as described in the Intravee Quick Install Guide.

Update: Another option is to access the necessary cables through the trunk, as explained in this thread on z4-forum.com

De Intravee is eigenlijk niet de eigenlijke Ipod-adapter: De Intravee is een adapter die het BMW media protocol vertaalt in het AlpineNet protocol en vice-versa om commando’s en trackinformatie uit te wisselen.  De eigenlijke Ipod-adapter is vaak de Alpine KCA-420i die de Ipod laat praten met AlpineNet en vice-versa.  Denk eraan dat de KCA-420i een limiet van 511 artiesten en 511 albums heeft bij het gebruiken van de zoekfunctie, en je bij een volle Ipod met je hele muziekcollectie mogelijks niet meer tot ZZ Top geraakt als artiest.

In tegenstelling tot alle andere modellen, waarbij bekabeling, cd-wisselaar en navigatiecomputer in de koffer gemonteerd zijn, is al deze electronica in een Z4 roadster enkel beschikbaar tussen de twee zetels, in een uitloper van de middenconsole.  Dit vereenvoudigd de installatie niet, aangezien hiervoor grote delen van het interieur gedemonteerd moeten worden om toegang te verschaffen tot de bestaande bekabeling.

Als een vorm van referentie heb ik de Alpine CD Changer Installation documentation teruggevonden waarin staat beschreven hoe een cd wisselaar kan ingebouwd worden, inclusief het demonteren en monteren van de interieuronderdelen.  Dit geeft toegang tot de nodige kabels die beschreven zijn in de Intravee Quick Install Guide om succesvol de Intravee, Alpine KCA-420i en bijgevolg de Ipod te laten werken.

The MT5011 was a secondhand one, and was shipped with the following items:

• Original packaging;
• MT5011 box;
• Power and data wire loom;
• antenna adaptor.

What was missing, is

• FM glue-on windshield antenna;
• screws and terminal blocks.

Installation is fairly simple, and similar to the MT5010 manual as found on navigatiehelpsite.nl (registration required):

• Connect the brown wire to the vehicle chassis;
• Connect the yellow-red wire to a continuous +12V connection; use a 3A fuse;
• Connect the red wire to the ignition-on +12V.  Since your MS5000 and similar VDO satnav needs a similar wire, this should not be a problem;
• Connect the white contact plug in the TMC receiver
• … and plug the green plug in the C2 position on your VDO satnav computer.
• Plug your antenna in the antenna connector

You can see if the TMC box is working if the red LED is on on the TMC receiver.

The issue I had was with the antenna.  The current company rental is an Opel Zafira, featuring Fakra plugs at the rear of the FM radio, so splitting this signal would be cumbersome.  I had another antenna with magnetic mount, but reception with only this antenna on the roof was sub-par.  I bought a 16€ cheap glue-on windshield antenna, and got better signals,.

I ordered a second 5011 box for in the Audi, and plan to use the stock radio antenna with a decent splitter.  Sometimes, outdated technology is better because it is easier to find a DIN splitter than Fakra plugs. 

Using

Using the TMC functions on my MS5000 is fairly simple.  When the TMC box is connected on my MS5000, I get an indication “TMC” in the middle of the status bar.  TMC in red means that there is no reception, in black it means my current map does not have the necessary TMC data and in green or in green with the station name means I am receiving traffic info.

At first sight, no additional menu items appear.  You first wonder where you can actually select which TMC stations you can select.  In “Settings” there always was an item where you could configure which messages you wanted to receive, but it was there too when you didnd’t have a TMC box connected.

It turns out that in Map or Directions view, when you get the submenu when you click OK, where you would normally look for setting the scale of the map, there is a new option: “Info”.  Also, in the full map view, another option “Traffic Info” appears.  In “Info”, you can select which station to tune in to, get traffic info around 300 km of your current location and destination and select your type of route.

In normal following mode, you will see in zoomed in maps that some bits of road have warning signs above them, when a problem is known from the traffic info agencies.  If you zoom out the map, you only get the warning signs.  But in these cases, you will not get a notification when you are approaching roadworks or a traffic jam.

You will only get these notifications when you have put in a route, and in this route, some incident occurs.  The MS5000 will display a warning sign in the status bar.  When the border is green, it means that your satnav can still work out a detour to avoid the traffic problem.  When the warning sign has a red border, you’re stuck on route to the traffic problem, with no means of escape.

When a traffic problem pops up, and you have a detour possibility, your VDO satnav will give you the possibility to figure out a detour.  When you choose “detour”, it will suggest a detour, telling you how much time and distance the detour will take, and wheither you want to accept the detour or eat the traffic congestion.

All in all a very good system.  Compared to the traffic info on FM radio every 20 or 30 minutes, you are kept up to date quicker, without interrupting your CD or MP3 playlist.  Some TMC stations even offer speed trap notifications, even on the older MS5000 models.

Before you get your TMC box, check what your TMC coverage is in your country.  The technology is not that recent anymore, but there has not been a major support for the service.  Only the Netherlands have many stations sending out TMC info, but they all use just a few common databases. 

My original plan when I got the Audi was to get Pioneer’s Avic X1, a system that had all.  Because of interests and budget constrains, I went for the secondhand VDO Dayton MS5000, which still does it’s job wonderfully and have bought 2 other MS5000′s since then (one in my company cars and one for an ambulance I used to drive with).

Slowly, the Pioneer got out of scope.  The VDO MS5000 is very good at it’s job, compared to Pioneer users’ comments, and with a normal radio you don’t miss anything as a driver.

VDO, however, have been eavesdropping on my brain and slowly started to release solutions such as flip-up screens, and separate radio modules.  This March, VDO has released the VRM 6100, a flip-up 7″ touchscreen in 1DIN housing incorporating DVD player, radio-tuner, memory card and USB stick reader, and a VRM 6200 sporting almost the same package but replacing the USB connection for an Ipod-connector and featuring a 2DIN fixed touchscreen.

The interesting bit about these two head units, is the ability to connect any PC5xxx computer by VDO-Dayton.  I would be able to connect my existing MS5000 without any special wires, and then later upgrade to a PC5200 model.  With a software update, touch-screen use of the satnav would be possible!

You can read more here .