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      03-07-2008, 04:54 PM   #1
benny90
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DIY: Portable GPS Navigation Hardwire and Mount

Hey guys, just wanted to share how I hardwired my navigation. Did this with a compilation of a bunch of different DIY’s that I had seen. Got the idea from seeing GooseInOz’s installation. I didn’t take pictures while I was doing it so I am borrowing them from other’s installs (hope no one minds, if so just PM me and I will take out pic). Plus I do not have my car right now since it is in the shop getting repaired. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.

Special thanks to: calvino, jwarcd, 12Esc, xg_zhu, and GooseInOz

Items needed:

1. Phillips and Flat head screwdrivers
2. 3M quick-splice connectors available from any hardware store: the blue 16-18 gauge ones from Radio Shack
3. Cigarette lighter to wire adapter: available at Radio Shack

4. A ton of patience!! And basic common sense!

Steps:

1. Remove the long trim piece containing the vents on the dashboard of the car. Easiest way to do this is to use a plastic wedge or a flat head screw driver covered in a cloth. Start at the far right side where it meets door jamb and start to pry it up. Work your way down until you reach the two middle vents. You need to disconnect the two wires in the middle of the two vents and also the wire connected to the start button. Place the trim piece aside.

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2. Remove the climate controls and radio. To do this refer to 12Esc’s DIY:
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9390

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3. Remove center console trim piece. Start at area where trim meets the center armrest. Make sure that you have the armrest in open position. Use your hand to pull up trim going from rear near armrest to front.

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Once you get closer to the shifter you are going to need to put the car in neutral so that you will be able to lift the trim piece out. Before doing so you need to unhook the shifter boot from the trim piece. After that disconnect the wires that are attached to it, one is connected to the shifter, other to the cigarette lighter. Place the trim piece aside.

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4. Now remove the plastic cover for the center speaker on the dash (if you have Logic 7), plastic vent cover if not. Just pry it up and off.

5. With mine, instead of buying the adapters from kuda, I just used the dock that the nuvi came with. If you look at where the ball mount would go on the dock, there is a very small screw there. Unscrew that, then take something like maybe a very small drill bit and drill a hole from where the screw was on through to the front. Then just try and carve out an area on the dock so that when screwed into the kuda mount the screw sits flush with the dock.

6. Take the cigarette lighter charger that came with you Nuvi/Nav unit and begin by putting it through the vent openings. Run the wire all the way down inside the dash to where the climate control normally is (making sure wire is out of the way for when you put the radio back in).

7. Now connect the cigarette lighter end to the cigarette lighter adapter. Push adapter far enough back so that it will not touch the climate control or anything else. You can also wrap the adapter in felt tape to ensure that it does not rattle.

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8. Run the wires from the adapter into down into the center console where the cigarette lighter would be.

9. Notice the + and – wires in picture below. This is where you will be tapping into.

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10. Tap into wires using the quick-spice connectors and connect them to the wires from cigarette lighter adapter. Tuck wires away.

11. Now replace center console trim. Remember to connect back all wires, shift boot, etc!! Replace radio and climate control.

12. Place Kuda mount into position using the directions it came with and connect charging cable to dock unit.


13. Put trim piece back on making sure to connect the two wires and the ignition wire placing the power cord so that trim will still sit flush with the dash.


14. Now whenever you turn off you car your Nuvi will power off also.


15. Enjoy!!
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Last edited by benny90; 05-01-2008 at 10:49 PM..
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      04-11-2008, 09:41 PM   #2
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For those that asked:

To get the plastic piece on the top of the dash to sit flush instead of popping up with the mount, I drilled a hole in the mount. I first marked where the screw from the center speaker hit the mount tap and drilled accordingly. I then removed the screw, placed the mount in there and screwed it back in. It now sits nicely flush. (realize this is only if you have Logic7, so not sure about the guys who dont)
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      04-14-2008, 07:57 AM   #3
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Very cool. Does the trim piece only work with that one navi system? Do you know if that trim piece works for the coupe as well?
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      04-14-2008, 09:47 AM   #4
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Great DIY, but what's the part number, I can't make it out on the pic...
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      04-17-2008, 01:25 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rubber_ducky View Post
Very cool. Does the trim piece only work with that one navi system? Do you know if that trim piece works for the coupe as well?
You can use any navi you want with it, just comes as the black leather mount. I added the dock that came with my Nuvi to it myself, they also have options to buy specially made adapters from them for many different types of electronics and GPS's. Yep, it works with the coupe, sedan and the wagon
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      04-17-2008, 01:28 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aznshrek88 View Post
Great DIY, but what's the part number, I can't make it out on the pic...
The mount is not OEM, it is made by KUDA. Here's a link to where I got it from (the one at the bottom of the page): http://www.kudausa.com/kuda_mount_an...2006-3-38.html
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      04-21-2008, 10:41 AM   #7
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Cool thanks, so do you use double sided tape to mount your garmin or do you have to drill it in to be permanent?
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      04-21-2008, 06:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aznshrek88 View Post
Cool thanks, so do you use double sided tape to mount your garmin or do you have to drill it in to be permanent?
I would drill it, its not very hard, just need to find the right bit. All I did was remove the screw from the base on the inside area that connected to the window mount, then drilled all the way through. Since I used a screw I had to taper where the screw met the base for it to sit flush. Overall looks pretty good IMO.
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      05-01-2008, 10:51 PM   #9
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Pictures now embeded within post and steps
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      05-17-2008, 03:40 PM   #10
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Is there a cover you can put over the garmin base like on the OEM garmin bmw kit?, this way it looks "cleaner" when you dont have the gps hooked up. i want to do this mod, but i dont want to look at the eyesore of a base lol .

Last edited by bigpapapablo; 05-20-2008 at 06:34 PM.. Reason: forgot to add rating
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      05-19-2008, 05:34 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigpapapablo View Post
Is there a cover you can put over the garmin base like on the OEM garmin bmw kit?, this way it looks "cleaner" when you dont have the gps hooked up. i want to do this mod, but i dont want to look at the eyesore of a base lol .
I'm sure that there is some kind of flush ball mount that you could bolt directly to the kuda mount that would look a little "cleaner". I think I've seen some before but not sure where. Maybe google search for "garmin ball mount" or something like that and there should be something. Then you could just pop the base on and off and would have a somewhat cleaner look.
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      05-20-2008, 05:52 PM   #12
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thanks for the response benny90

i dont think you understood my question though. even the ball mount is an eye sore to me lol

i was referring to a cover like this: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...min+bmw&page=2 see post number 27

http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page104.html see second pic....for the oem bmw mount for the 350 series, there is a cover that goes over the base (which looks similar to the base on the garmin 600 series)

do you know where i can buy a cover like that? i cant seem to find if they sell it individually. .

thanks

Last edited by bigpapapablo; 05-20-2008 at 06:44 PM..
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      05-20-2008, 08:35 PM   #13
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Ooo, gotcha. Unfortunately I havn't seen a cover like that yet. If you have a Garmin 350 you can get the bmw installation parts with the mount and cover from tischer bmw but it only works with the 350's models and not the 600's. Maybe someone that has seen one with a cover can chime in..
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      05-21-2008, 10:52 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigpapapablo View Post
thanks for the response benny90

i dont think you understood my question though. even the ball mount is an eye sore to me lol

i was referring to a cover like this: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...min+bmw&page=2 see post number 27

http://64.225.94.154/ShopSite/page104.html see second pic....for the oem bmw mount for the 350 series, there is a cover that goes over the base (which looks similar to the base on the garmin 600 series)

do you know where i can buy a cover like that? i cant seem to find if they sell it individually. .

thanks
Why don't you buy the factory install kit and mount it to the kuda base. Then you have the clean look but do not have to drill your dash. This of course will cost more but I think is worth it to get the clean install you want.
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      05-22-2008, 08:25 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kkratoch View Post
Why don't you buy the factory install kit and mount it to the kuda base. Then you have the clean look but do not have to drill your dash. This of course will cost more but I think is worth it to get the clean install you want.
the bmw kit only works with the garmin 3xx series. i have the garmin nuvi 650, the base is different

i dont even mind buying the bmw kit and drilling into the dash, my car is a lease anyway so it doesnt matter

its just that the bmw kit doesnt work with my nuvi 650

i just want the whole thing to look as clean as possible
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      10-04-2008, 02:29 PM   #16
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I plan on hardwiring my Nuvi, but I would like to fuse tap instead. I also plan to use the Kuda mount as well, the main difference would be hardwiring through fuse tap instead of tapping into existing wires. It brings me to my question, what is the easiest route to wire to the glovebox? Will it be necessary to remove the radio and climate controls? or is there a wiring path to the glovebox through the area behind the center AC vents? Thanks for any help.
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      10-07-2008, 09:12 PM   #17
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Done, bought a Gilsson USB direct-wire so I could save my cigarette power adapter for another vehicle. Ran USB plug end from fuse box up behind the airbag across to the center vent area. Attached Add-a-circuit fuse tap to 5A Homelink/PDC fuse (#28 for my fusebox diagram). Attached ground to T10 torx and fired it up. Garmin turns on/off with the ignition. Kuda mount took a little finessing to keep the center speaker from bulging. Very low difficulty, just be easy with the dash trim when removing and all is well.
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      10-07-2008, 09:18 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adamc514 View Post
Done, bought a Gilsson USB direct-wire so I could save my cigarette power adapter for another vehicle. Ran USB plug end from fuse box up behind the airbag across to the center vent area. Attached Add-a-circuit fuse tap to 5A Homelink/PDC fuse (#28 for my fusebox diagram). Attached ground to T10 torx and fired it up. Garmin turns on/off with the ignition. Kuda mount took a little finessing to keep the center speaker from bulging. Very low difficulty, just be easy with the dash trim when removing and all is well.
What's an add-a-circuit fuse tap? I'd like to weigh this option against taking out the climate controls (which I can't figure out how to do). Because I have an MSN direct charging cable, I'll likely have to wire a cigarette lighter socket to the fuse box.

I hear you about the kuda and the bulging center vent. I ended up folding the metal tab under the kuda and mounted with double sided tape up top. Looks good to me.

Thanks.
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      10-09-2008, 07:53 PM   #19
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THIS is an Add-a-circuit. Crimp your power wire to the blue end. Plug the fuse end into a suitable location in your fusebox (I used Homelink fuse location) and plug the fuse you replaced into the back like in the photo. These fuse taps come in different sizes: ATC, ATM, ATO, etc. so make sure you pick up the correct one if you decide to go this route. I used the ATM fuse tap. Picked it up at Autozone on the way home from work one day. I hope this helps.
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      10-10-2008, 11:08 AM   #20
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Accessing the shark fin

this would be great if you could include wiring the antenna to the external shark fin on the roof. that should really help satellite reception.
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      11-04-2008, 05:17 PM   #21
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Red face

Hi All,

I am new to this forum. I own a 325i and just bought a Garmin Nuvi 770 and would love to mount it the way it is pictured here.

I am definitely not as handy as virtually everyone in this forum by the looks of your posts. I've been able to repair 2 problems with the front windows bending the regulator back on it's track and was able to install the Dice Ipod module in my car, but that is the extent of my handiness.

I have a general idea with the pictures and instructions here, but it still isn't clear what parts are needed and I would like more specific or step by step instruction especially with pictures.

Does anyone know a better link with more specific instructions or a complete kit with illustration and instructions that I can buy?

Sorry for being so clueless with this, but I grew up in a big city and didn't have to drive or get my license until I turned 26.

Thanks to ALL for the replies.
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      11-04-2008, 07:02 PM   #22
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Im getting ready to hardwire my gps tommorrow, i bought a proclipusa mount. IMO it looks ALOT better than the CUDA one shown here. I'll post my DIY on that when i finish.
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