[mdowg10]

So I am receiving my car in about a week and I just thought of a question that I have never heard anyone talk about. So if the navigation player is DVD, is there any way to make it play movies? I know it is not intended for this use, but is there any mod that is possible? Oh, and why dont car companies make the DVD based navigation play DVD movies in the first place?

 

[Nico3k]

there is not enough processing power in a navi system to decode video and audio streams like that... so even if you reprogrammed it, it would not work.
they dont make them play movies becuase you would need a more powerful processor to play them which would cost them more for that extra feature and its not worth it overall.

what may people do is just get a computer and a screen. you can fit a mini-itx box easily in your glovebox or trunk and just get a navigation system and dvd player for that. that setup would be much cheaper than just the navi system and also it could do tons of more things such as playing mp3s and games etc... you get the idea

 

[mdowg10]

interesting, too bad I couldn't "upgrade" my factory nav system to play DVD movies as well....that is something I would be into

 

[russ330]

Perhaps this site may help you out. http://www.nav-tv.com/main.htm

 

[Nico3k]

interesting, too bad I couldn't "upgrade" my factory nav system to play DVD movies as well....that is something I would be into

yeah you cant upgrade the navigation system its self. but like russ330 said, you can add a player to the monitor. www.nav-tv.com has kits for that.

 

[Sicily1918]

Isn't it also illegal to have a TV viewable by the driver?

 

[russ330]

I believe so, but that's just a minor detail

 

[mdowg10]

Am i the only one who thinks this would be sweet? Anyone here actually have this done? Someones gotta know a little more about this!!! Thanks guys

 

[mdowg10]

niko3k: What is the difference between upgrading and just adding a player to the monitor?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Am i the only one who thinks this would be sweet? Anyone here actually have this done? Someones gotta know a little more about this!!! Thanks guys

I installed the BMW TV tuner and add-on AV input in my wagon:

More pics here.

 

[egyptnads]

now thats clean

 

[mdowg10]

Terry Kennedy: Have you had any problems with your navigation since your install? How difficult was it to install? And how do you change channels and stuff...does it change our normal nav. options so there is a TV tuner option? Last question, where would you put the DVD movie player if you got one? Thanks in adnvace

 

[mdowg10]

oh also what does the TV antenna look like? Where does it go?

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Terry Kennedy: Have you had any problems with your navigation since your install? How difficult was it to install? And how do you change channels and stuff...does it change our normal nav. options so there is a TV tuner option?

No problems with the NAV (well, none related to the TV - I have the same issues everybody else has with the NavTech DVDs being incomplete and occasionally doing the "Correct dest. guidance not possible" bit).

The install isn't bad. It varies depending on the car, with the Touring like I have being the worst - you have to route the tuner harness from the back of the NAV computer in the left fender to the electronics bay under the trunk floor. If you don't have a wagon, it all fits in the fender by the NAV computer.

You get a new menu option, "Television" on the NAV screen main menu. It takes a minute or so to appear after the install, so don't panic. Once you select "Television" you can change channels with the right knob or push the right knob for a menu to adjust brightness / contrast / etc. There are 32 channels, each one of which can be mapped to any VHF / UHF channel. An additional channel, "AV", lets you connect a video + mono audio source for a DVD player, VCR, etc.

Last question, where would you put the DVD movie player if you got one? Thanks in adnvace. oh also what does the TV antenna look like? Where does it go?

I have a DVD player, actually. I didn't mount it - instead (since I have a wagon with a second cigarette lighter socket in the trunk) I just plug it in there when I use it. I have the A/V input cable rolled up just inside the hatch on the left fender and plug it into the player when I'm using it. Again, since I have a wagon, I can just point the DVD remote at my rear view mirror to bounce the infrared back to the player in the trunk. If I were doing this for regular use, I'd probably mount the player under the passenger seat and run the infrared remote to either the ashtray / sunglass holder area or wire it into the clown nose in the rear view mirror.

The official BMW antenna mounts in either the bumper or the rear pillars, depending on the car model. But I don't think it works for US television frequencies. I got the Nav-TV stick-on antenna for (I think) $80. It mounts to the inside of the rear bumper (and pulling the bumper is the hardest part of the install). Other people have stuck them to the rear windshield or mounted them on the parcel shelf. The Nav-TV antenna is pretty small (maybe 2 22" pieces of wire with sticky pads on each end).