[f30noob]

Hello all,

I am new to the group.

recently purchased a f30 330d. before collecting the car the idrive was supposidly stolen from the car.

Been looking online but there seems to be different variations of the idrive. I have no idea which one this car had.

Will post pictures hoping someone from this forum can help me.

Last time i used a car forum was crx.net around 20 years ago. Please go easy on me

[f30noob]

can't see how to upload picture

[f30noob]

hope this worked

[f30noob]

circled the wires that have been cut.

Thank you to anyone who does respond and is able to help me with this.

[Billfitz]

If you're not skilled with BMW it's best to leave this up to a dealer or an independent BMW specialist. All of the electronics must be programmed to work, something the thieves will discover to their dismay.

[mmm-five]

Personally, I wouldn't have bought the car with a 'supposedly stolen' iDrive

I hope you got a HUGE discount for doing so.

But at least you'll have the opportunity to install a later version than what it probably came with

[Zheez]

Looks like a pre-LCI car which means it presumably originally came with NBT. Surprised that thieves bothered to steal an NBT unit unless they just didn't really know what they were stealing. The amount of wires suggest it has GPS so it has to be NBT or Entrynav and I can't imagine anyone would bother stealing an Entrynav unit with the smaller screen.

The upside is that they at least didn't cut the quadlock connector as that would've been a pain to sort out. The rest of it is annoying but it is fixable with some soldering skills, or by running new cables if you were up for that.

Looks like the 5 wires cut on the right side are the cables for the DAB antenna and the FM antenna (2 for each) along with the GPS antenna. On the left side you have the cable for the bluetooth antenna, the USB port and the connection to the TCB in the boot. These are easier to identify at least - thin one will be bluetooth antenna, thickest one will be the USB port in the armrest and the medium thickness one will be the TCB.

The challenge comes with figuring out which of the other 5 cables are what. That would be a case of getting to the other end of the antenna connections in the sharkfin and checking it all out with a multimeter I guess.

I happen to have a a set of cables that have been cut from a car when I bought a used OEM reverse camera kit from a breaker. I hope it was acquired from a wrecker and not someone's car like yours

This is what I was dealing with when I was picking the wiring harness apart to take out what I needed and what I didn't:



On the right I have the USB (cream connector) and TCB (green connector) cables along with the beige fakra for bluetooth. In the middle at the edge of the desk I've got the bunch of 5 fakras which are the DAB/FM and GPS antenna connectors.

If you're up for the task of splicing wires together then I'm never going to use those cables/connectors.

Then once you've fixed that you'll be needing a head unit. That's all down to how much you want to spend. An NBT unit will be the easiest option since that'll be what the car originally came with and getting nav etc activated on it isn't difficult or expensive. But an Evo unit will give you the newer UI and possibility of CarPlay etc. All down to budget But as mentioned, it isn't as simple as just putting a new HU in, it will need coding and nav will need activating.

[f30noob]

Originally Posted by Zheez

Looks like a pre-LCI car which means it presumably originally came with NBT. Surprised that thieves bothered to steal an NBT unit unless they just didn't really know what they were stealing. The amount of wires suggest it has GPS so it has to be NBT or Entrynav and I can't imagine anyone would bother stealing an Entrynav unit with the smaller screen.

The upside is that they at least didn't cut the quadlock connector as that would've been a pain to sort out. The rest of it is annoying but it is fixable with some soldering skills, or by running new cables if you were up for that.

Looks like the 5 wires cut on the right side are the cables for the DAB antenna and the FM antenna (2 for each) along with the GPS antenna. On the left side you have the cable for the bluetooth antenna, the USB port and the connection to the TCB in the boot. These are easier to identify at least - thin one will be bluetooth antenna, thickest one will be the USB port in the armrest and the medium thickness one will be the TCB.

The challenge comes with figuring out which of the other 5 cables are what. That would be a case of getting to the other end of the antenna connections in the sharkfin and checking it all out with a multimeter I guess.

I happen to have a a set of cables that have been cut from a car when I bought a used OEM reverse camera kit from a breaker. I hope it was acquired from a wrecker and not someone's car like yours

This is what I was dealing with when I was picking the wiring harness apart to take out what I needed and what I didn't:



On the right I have the USB (cream connector) and TCB (green connector) cables along with the beige fakra for bluetooth. In the middle at the edge of the desk I've got the bunch of 5 fakras which are the DAB/FM and GPS antenna connectors.

If you're up for the task of splicing wires together then I'm never going to use those cables/connectors.

Then once you've fixed that you'll be needing a head unit. That's all down to how much you want to spend. An NBT unit will be the easiest option since that'll be what the car originally came with and getting nav etc activated on it isn't difficult or expensive. But an Evo unit will give you the newer UI and possibility of CarPlay etc. All down to budget But as mentioned, it isn't as simple as just putting a new HU in, it will need coding and nav will need activating.

Cannot thank you enough. I will have a look at replacing the wires or purchasing the correct ones.

I'm not confident in doing it by myself so will get it fitted and coded by someone. Hoping they don't charge me an arm and a leg for it.

I have found a few NBT idrive's not too far from me for around £350.

Will update once fitted

Thank you again