Turbo_tel and Oxybluecoop thank you for braving the unknown and coming back to tell about it. It's fantastic what you guys have found. I wonder if the smartphone option could be coded back in or retrofitted? I have all the hardware in place since my R57 has the comfort arm rest with usb/bluetooth. I am kicking myself for not doing the extra 100 dollars on the order to include the smartphone option to allow for music play from a connected iphone.

So retrofitting that option would be so cool. And since I am on the east coast now in the DC area, it would be great to perform the retrofit for the rear fogs. Sounds like I am going to need that! Thanks again! Truly Brilliant work!!

The manual for the startup process can be found here, interesting reading.

 

No, battery stays connected, initially it will charge the battery so current draw will be high but as long as you have one with no more than 13.8v it will not overcharge... I got one with a variable votage output, 12-15v that way I could control the initial charge and keep the current down. If I remember right it was drawing around 5-7A when it was programming with the ignition on.

 

Thought I'd bump this thread with some updated info on programming/coding the R56. Yesterday I attempted to retrofit the auto AC,front and rear fogs and heated seats with some surprising results. First was to find a complete control panel with full toggles including seat heater buttons which I found through my scrap parts dealer. So I removed the manual control panel from my car and found three connections(one on the rear housing) as opposed to the automatics two connections.




Both control panels do share one connector(first pic lower right connection) that after plugging it up to my car I found controls the digital display,buttons,and toggles. Unfortunately in my case by connecting the auto panel to my default manual harness I confused the can bus and lost AC,vent and fan control. Turns out MINI's equipped with auto and manual climate control have different ac/heater fan assembly's(real oem does show this,my oversight) and harnesses which real oem does not show. So now I need to retrofit the actual ac/heater fan unit in order to have a functional ac system. For now I have just left the auto panel connected for toggle and defrost control and the manual for fan and heater control.

As for the heated seats they were successfully retrofitted. The fog lights on the other hand were ALREADY activated. Meaning that the climate control panel actually controls the fog lights and not a separate module. All that was necessary was to install the toggles with no retrofit coding whatsoever.

In summary for those folks interested in retrofitting auto climate from manual climate or vice versa it requires a harness and major component to be changed.

For the heated seats function to be retrofitted it requires heated seats(the control module is attached to seat) and a toggle panel with heated seat buttons(see white wires next to the blue on back of toggle switch contact board) along with coding.


For the fog lights to be retrofitted it requires either installation of the toggle switches(very simple as the contacts are already on the circuit board) combined with coding OR simply to purchase a control panel with the toggles already installed(either manual or auto depending on your car) along with the fog light assemblies.

In retrospect I really didn't need to have the auto climate control but always thought it was more appealing to the eyes than the manual control. The fact that it's going to cost me $700 to regain use of the AC and vent control I'll chalk up to trial and error. In the end I'm still impressed with the results.
Functional display and buttons

Both fog lights are functional


Next project will be retrofitting the xenons.

 

Fine detail & great information! Not to mention a heroic effort. It comes as a surprise that the climate display appears on the speedometer.

 

The blower 64113422644 is available on BimmerSchwag.com for $101.66 and the harness 64113422706 is available $76.42. Going through the section on RealOEM makes it seem that those are the only two parts that are different. That is way better than $700! :-) VERY GOOD EFFORT! I *LOVE* these retrofit stories!!!

The auto recirc sensor intrigues me. My car has it. I see the control panel you have shows it. Someone posted a very detailed description of it from the TIS on the board recently. Does that system come into play at all for you?

 

My next question is with the J2534 tool, can you retrofit the bluetooth kit with it?

Or change the audio system configuration from normal to HiFi or vice-versa?

And my BIGGEST question about the J2534, can you change the car to do the auto engine start/stop (the missing button between Sport and DSC OFF)????

 

Sorry for the delayed response I must have unsubscribed from this thread.The bluetooth can be retrofitted with the required harness. The HI-FI was on the retrofit list but from what I've heard it's easier just to go with a custom setup. The auto start/stop option was listed as well. I have a spare switch cluster and after pulling it apart the contact for that button is there but according to part references the circuit board is different. I'll take a pic later today.

 

Ooo cool! The reason for the question for HIFI is that people that DO want to change from HIFI to standard, the computer will no longer look for the amp. The car's main harness is different when the car is built with HIFI so that is not really feasible to change from a normal audio to HIFI.

After doing more digging, I think I am out of luck with my automatic transmission and the auto start/stop feature...Looks like it is only supported on manual transmissions. Oh well. For any people with manuals that want to try adding it, the swtich cluster part number is on RealOEM.

Did you see anywhere in there to reinitialize the windows? I had to take the car to the dealer a bunch of times for that problem (knock on wood it has been better). Thanks for all the cool work!!!

 

I would love to see the results for this. And you didn't happen to notice an option for the electric windshield heater?

 

OXYBLUECOOP Did you ever get the Auto AC system finished? Just curious

 

Sure did.

 

Looks like you added a back up camera too. I followed lancing 74's excellant posts and installed an LCD display in the same spot you used.

Great post! I added rear fog light assemblies to my '09 R57 to get rid of the ugly blank plates. The wiring and connectors were there. I plugged them in but could not get them to work. On the R57 you raise the toggle for front fogs and flip it down for rear fogs. Don't know if there is something in the switch toggle that has to be changed.

 

Nice! What parts did you end up having to replace? I hope the cost wasn't too bad.

 

Only the wiring set and blower unit. I also had to install the auto recirc sensor under the cowel. Total cost was around $300.

 

Actually that's my MINI Garmin nuvi. As for your fogs it should be a simple programming.The only way to know for sure is to actually connect your MINI to the BMW network in order to find out whats options are available.

 

Here are some pics of the sport/DSC control. The center button is a dummy but removable.

 

Interesting! So the circuit board looks like it has the button support, just no button. :-) RealOEM does list different starter motors for the Start/Stop feature, but I don't remember which ones were installed in North American cars. Since I have an Auto, I can't do it. But anyone who sits at really long stop lights might save a good amount of fuel with this feature.

 

How did you figure out you need the Auto Recirc sensor? Open socket on the new harness??

 

Actually I've studied the TIS and when I ran my intake through the cowel space I found that there's a divider under the passenger cowel panel that seals off the battery compartment from water and the recirc sensor is attached to it. I didn't have this sensor on mine.

 

Wow, that is an obscure spot! Good find! I need to study the TIS more to find the information better, I have such a hard time listing what is available that applies to the R56.

 

If anyone is interested, I think this eBay power supply would be just perfect for keeping the car powered up during programming. Only $40!

http://cgi.ebay.com/350W-13-5V-DC-Re...item2a03fd7714

And the Mongoose J2534 tool is $287 on eBay.

I am tempted to order the bluetooth retrofit kit parts!

 

Hey!

The Mongoose J2534 are quite different (there are 3 types so far).
The one which is 287 USD on ebay may not fit the MINI's R56.

I've contacted the guys from Tuner Tools, they recommended
to use the Mongoose MFC. This one fits the most of european &
asian makes. 485 USD on ebay or 495 USD MSRP.

 

Suggest you call Drew Technologies Direct and check -- They suggested the MFC but then when I asked if the ISO/CAN would work, the rep checked and came back and said yes it. would. The advantage of the MFC is that it would work on more other cars such as Toyota.

If you want just for the MINI the ISO/CAN is much less expensive. I purchased mine from Tuner Tools also at $287--

 

I just wanted to add that MINI already sells a BT & USB retrofit kit for the R55/R56 (after 3/07) & R57:

PN - 65412152530 ($209.95 MSRP)

It requires the control module to function as well:

PN - 84109207360 ($429.43 MSRP)

R57 also requires the trim panel & mic:

PN - 51442758451 (TP) - ($28.42 MSRP)
PN - 84109167397 (Mic) - (42.82 MSRP)

You will probably also want the optional iPod/iPhone cable as well:

PN - 61120440796 ($67)

Anyway, great info. Thanks for posting.

OXYBLUECOOP - When you retro-fitted the front fogs, was the 2nd harness for the fog bulbs already in place to do so?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...69&hg=63&fg=15

 

There are updates to those Bluetooth part numbers that I put in this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...590-post8.html

For those wanting to install the kit themselves to save some money, still pricey at a minimum of $557+computer activation.

An update to the bluetooth retrofit kit. Looks like both the iPod cable and the ULF high control module has been updated to a newer hardware version (from looking at BMW, it is probably the 14th revision). The part number is now 84109224674. parts.com has the lowest price I found on the web.

Retrofit kit 65412152530 $196.94
Control Module 84109224674 $360.71 (msrp is $429.41)

Optionally add the updated ipod cable with this new part number:
61120440812 $61.78

And if you have the 09+ convertible you need the following:
Steering trim panel 51442758451 $23.81
Microphone 84109167397 $31.62