Nice man. Glad to hear you getting a new one. It sucks that you have to replace it, but it's always nice to have a new toy to play with.

 

Yeah, im still torn on whether or not I want the AVIC. It seems like I see as many awesome reviews as i do ****ty ones. But...i think im gonna make the plunge and pick it up. Deffinitly getting the 4 year warranty on it this time. My own dumbass mistake for not getting it on the N3. If it crashes and sucks with the firmware, ill swap it for the 920 when we get it, or pay the difference for the Z when I get tax money.

 

How did you do this?



Mine I thought scratched off like the cluster, and I ended up scratching the black off as well.

 

not sure. Patman made that for me.

 

Well, pulled the trigger and bought the AVIC X910BT today. Pricematched Amazon for $560. Already have an IU230V ipod cable in my tool box, and I dont think im going to use a dash kit to mount it, but we'll see when the time comes. Pretty excited, should be here March 3rd.

 

Great unit and a super price! I hope you continue to take lots of pictures.

 

Alright well heres the update...

The patman cluster is in and looks awesome. However, the info I had when ordering light bulbs was wrong. there are NO 194's behind the cluster as some had said. They were all 37's. The blue looks phenomenal under my warning lights and blinkers. Now i just need to order some white 37's and ill be in business. Pat, if you read this, your awesome. A little heads up for next time though...there are so small pin ***** holes in the face of the gauges. Im assuming its from where the little points were that held the stock cluster to overlay. Im going to use a small piece of black electrical tape on the back of the overlay to cover the two small holes. ALSO, when doing this, there is no real way to re-secure the overlay to the face of the gauges as tight was it was from the factory. as a result, all of my needles were jumpy. for instance, i could be doing 15mph and my speedo reads 10mph. Jump up to 65, my speedo says 50. etc etc. To combat this, all i did was pull the needle off the pin just a little bit, and all is well. i know my fuel gauge still needs to be adjusted a little bit. I also may use electrical tape to secure the edges of the overlay to the cluster so that the face is as tight as flat as possible. This will all be hidden by the black shroud.

The AVIC-X910 is installed, and I am in love. I dont have any build pics, as we were doing it in between doing a Deck and 4 in a Wrangler and an amp and sub in a 2010 3 series at work and were in a bit of a hurry. To modify the dash, I first cut out all of the plastic visible behind the radio cavity. Top, bottom, sides and back were all removed. So basically all you see is the air box in the back, the vents on the sides, and the ac controls on the bottom. Next, we removed the dividing plastic between radio cavity and the ac control cavity. after that, we took maybe 1/8th to 1/4 of an inch off the top of the radio opening. The dash kit comes with slide locks that screw to the side of the AVIC and slide into the dash just like the stock radio. Surprisingly, this thing is very sturdy and well supported. It is much harder to remove from the dash then the single din dash kit that my flip out AVIC N3 was in. The trim piece kind snaps into place and is pressure fitted into place by the radio bezel. there are two drop down screw holes that mount over the ac controls using the ac control screws. These are 7mm screws.

The AVIC is kick ***. No wheres near as slow as the F series was. Music kicks on in about 10 seconds, full function in about 20-30. This really doesnt bother me since ive got the remote start so she'll usually be alive and kickin by the time im ready to rock. So far the nav is awesome. have navigated using it, but it is dead on while im driving. the lane assist on the freeway is awesome. Havent used ipod control yet. I dont think my 2nd gen is supported even though it says it is. Im gonna try my 120gig classic today. im very impressed so far in the less then an hour ive had to play with it.

Now to the good part....tonight. Pics will be up tonight to illustrate some of what im talking about. next time i have the deck out, i will take pics of the inside of the dash.

Next phase...relocating tweeters to higher up on the doors, moving the cross overs to the back walls, and run new speaker wire to all 4 doors.

 

Where'd you get your 194 bulbs?? If you can't return them i'd buy two of them off of you

 

The 194's i got from super bright leds because VLEDS is sold out. Not really worth my time to try and go back and return them. I think i can use 194 in my dash cup holder and my glove box. PM me your addy man. they're yours.

 

I cannot wait to see it! Would the iPhone 3GS work with it?

 

I did see those pin holes you are talking about, but i thought once the cluster was reglued that it wouldnt shine through, so sorry :o

Yea i would recommend trying superglue between the overlay and the white core, I dont know how well this would work since i havent tried it yet on mine, but seems like a small dot of superglue, and some weight on the face of it while its curing should do the trick.

Let me know when you're ready to send your stock one back and ill send you my addy at work.



Im so happy that you like it, makes my time worth it.

Did you have any problems doing the PRND21 gauge swap?

 

Cant wait to see that cluster.

 

havent dropped it in yet. been busy with school and work and family. Hopefully tomorrow or thursday ill get it in. I promise ill post pics up tonight guys of whats done!!!

 

Cant wait to see the pictures! I also want to see the cluster and the lights.

 

This is a great thread and I have learned a lot just reading through it. Thanks for sharing and I also am anxious for new pics.