BMW X5 E70 IHKA to IHKA with FKA (4‐zone climate control) Do it yourself retrofit

Mechanical parts listing....(searched with some success on E‐bay and then found a place in Laredo, Texas for the remaining BMW Parts Inc.) Rear Seat Console Blower Motor Fan HVAC Heat AC Unit: 64116947554 Dash to rear A/C heater air vent rear duct: 64226958743 Fresh rear air vent center grill: 6954954 Rear console climate control trim panel: 6954957 Interior pocket tray trim panel (if NO rear DVD player): 6963379 Bracket for rear blower (VERY IMPORTANT): 64116947555 FKA Rear air conditioning control unit: 64119215514 Rear Seat Console Blower regulator & heater, rear blower: 64116949645 Left driver side rear heat floor Vent: 64116954487 Right passenger side rear heat floor Vent: 64116954488 Left driver side B pillar air duct channel: 51477148533 Right passenger side B pillar air duct channel: 51477148534 Left driver side B pillar lower air duct channel trim cover: 6963457 Right passenger side B pillar lower air duct channel trim cover: 6963458 Foam floor insert, rear left: 51476954933 Foam floor insert, rear right: 51479137764

Electrical parts listing.... 5amp mini fuse x1 15amp ATO regular fuse x1 30amp ATO regular fuse x2 Wiring harness from donor vehicle (with S4NBA option) to remove necessary wires and connectors to create a secondary wiring harness for rear climate controls.

‐‐Front seat removal. ‐‐WHILE BATTERY IS CONNECTED, remove seat rail to floor bolt plastic covers and bolts (2 each side, ahead and behind each seat). This requires moving the seats forwards and backwards for access. ****DISCONNECT BATTERY and only AFTER BATTERY IS DISCONNECTED remove electric seat/seat air bag connectors!!!**** Remove 4 torx seat bolts (2 each side, ahead and behind each seat) from the vehicle with seat belts attached.....move seats out of the vehicle, short "leash" distance away, but very “doable” without having to disconnect seat belt mounting bolts from mounts.

‐‐ Lower B pillar plastic trim covers removal. Remove lower B pillar plastic trim covers with a plastic trim tool (non‐marking and gets into small crevices easy). Lift out at the bottom of the vertical cover (towards the center console) first and when plastic keepers are free, pull downward from the upper pillar cover and away. (Repeat on other side).

‐‐Lower, plastic door trim cover removal. Start with the front AFTER the floor well cover (where you ankle would be if sitting in the front seat) and work back to the rear tire well. These have leading, overlapping tabs and require a direct upward stroke to remove. Once to the rear well trim cover you will be required to remove the rear seat belt mounting torx bolt, below, nearly at the floor level. (Circled in RED in the image below).

‐‐Center console Remove center console covers (driver side & passenger side) starting with the front section (torx screw under the dash), then smaller rear section. With a plastic trim tool (non‐marking and gets into small crevices easy), pop out two plastic keepers 1/3 and 2/3 the total length of the front, narrower section. Thereafter, slide the forward cover forward 1" and then out towards the door. Next remove the rear console cover by pulling forward 1" and then out towards the door. Disconnect, and mark, any wire connections that prevent you from lifting and setting the center console to the side. Center console removal was not too bad and there are many write‐ups online on how to complete this tasking.

‐‐Rear carpet/floor preparation My vehicle has the 3rd row seating, so the second row seats hinge forward for occupant access and these hinges have plastic covers that need to be removed. I was able to apply downward pressure on the lower portion and then pop up and off the top portion with my non‐ marking trim tool. With these (3) plastic hinge covers removed, you can use your non‐marking trim tool to "lift" the carpet over the metal hinges and this will allow you "peel" the carpet back to the rear seats for floor access. Remove the black, foam floor panels and discard. Install new, floor mounted air duct channels (left and right) and then the foam floor panels (left and right). Remove the existing rear heat floor vents, "foot warmers", (left and right) and discard. Install the new rear heat floor vents, "foot warmers", (left and right).

‐‐B pillar modification Next, attach the (left and right) lower B pillar vertical air duct channels into each of the floor mounted air duct channels and attach to the metal of the B pillar support. Attach each (left and right) lower B pillar air conditioning vent ducts to the metal of the B pillar support with (3) three screws each. Attach each (left & right) B Pillar lower trim cover panels to the metal of the B pillar support (plastic push pins). Attach vent trim frames to each of the lower trim cover panels....these just snap into position.

‐‐Rear Seat Console Blower Motor Fan HVAC Heat AC unit (part I) Remove the existing dash to rear A/C heater air vent rear duct and discard. Install the new, dash to rear A/C heater air vent rear duct, with the duct opening going around the emergency brake manual override tubing. Mount the rear seat console blower motor fan HVAC heat AC unit pivot bracket to the floor of the vehicle. This allows the blower motor fan HVAC housing to set at the correct height and additional support so that the unit is not solely supported by the plastic air ducts. Move any blue tooth or USB modules that you may have currently in the rear console area to the rear seat console blower motor fan HVAC heat AC unit.

‐‐Secondary wire cable harness/loom At this time, route your secondary wire cable harness/loom if you already have this prepared (necessary cables and connectors removed from a donor vehicle‐‐with S4NBA option‐‐main wiring harness).

Due to the rather large connectors for the floor mounted heating vents and the FKA controller, I opted to connect all connectors at the rear seat console blower motor fan HVAC heat AC unit first. I then connected the floor mounted heating vent connectors, 1 large and two small each side and routed the cabling to the plastic cable tray that routes to the passenger side rear. Fold the rear carpet back into position at this time so that the front and rear portions are now overlapping. A ground connector bracket with two brown wires (leading to the floor mounted heating vents), 3 pin connector for rear blower/heater, the FKA 18 pin connector housing, and a white 10 pin rear vent connector must be pulled above the carpet, as this will be connected to the FKA unit and grounded to the center, rear floor fastener of the rear center console.

‐‐Rear Seat Console Blower Motor Fan HVAC Heat AC unit (part II) Slide the rear seat console blower motor fan HVAC heat AC unit pivot pins into the plastic pivot bracket that you previously installed, and into the plastic ducts of the dash to rear A/C heater air vent rear duct. Slide the rear, lower air ducts of this unit into the floor mounted air channel duct openings (that are exposed and pointing upward). NOTE: YOU MUST place the new, narrower foam floor panels and the floor mounted air duct channels BEFORE you place the rear HVAC fan & heater unit....trust me on this one!!

Once set into position, connect the 3 pin connector for rear blower/heater and connect the white 10 pin rear connector to the rear vent center grill. Reconnect all marked wire connections of the center console and set the console back into position, over the newly installed rear seat console blower motor fan HVAC heat AC unit. Mount the grounding connector loom with two brown wires (from the floor mounted heating vents) to the center, rear floor fastener of the rear center console (circled in GREEN in the image above). Install the FKA Rear air conditioning control unit and the interior pocket tray trim panel (if NO rear DVD player) into the rear console climate control trim panel. Connect the FKA 18 pin connector housing to the FKA Rear air conditioning control unit. Connect the rear console climate control trim panel to the center console (reconnecting any 12 volt outlet cables to the outlets if necessary).

‐‐Rearward electrical wires You should now have a group of wires to route to the passenger side and then to the right, rear of the vehicle. These should consist of: (2) two larger gauge wires, red/green and red/blue; (1) one medium gauge red/blue wire; (1) one small gauge red/blue wire; (2) two medium gauge brown wires; (1) set of small gauge twisted pair communication wires green and orange/green; Route the green and orange/green twisted cables to the passenger side rear door cable tray (white) area. Bundled in this group of wires you will find a cable splicing, with a rubber hood, for the green and the orange/green communication cables.

Remove the rubber hoods, strip about 19mm of each green and orange/green twisted cables from you newly placed secondary wiring harness, and attach to the existing wire splices. Crimp with pliers for good measure and then reapply the appropriate rubber hoods and tuck these neatly with the existing wires of the main wiring harness. 150 to 200mm from the green and orange/green twisted cable splices, you will see a brown ground wire connector. This needs to be added to an existing grounding loom. The longer brown ground wire proceeds further to the right, rear of the vehicle. This grounding loom is located below the rear seat, under the carpet and behind a small foam board. Below your hip position if sitting in the rear seat. Slide this brown wire connector into the grounding loom and crimp with pliers for good measure.

‐‐Rear Junction box (A42) You should have two larger gauge wires, red/green and red/blue, a medium gauge red/blue wire, a small gauge red/blue wire, and a medium gauge brown wire left to route. These get routed to the rear junction box (A42) located in the right, rear compartment behind the rear wheel well. Route these cables in the existing, white, plastic cable tray to the rear compartment. Remove the right, rear compartment cover. Inside and just before the rear junction box (A42) you will find a grounding loom with 10‐16 brown wire connections. Add the medium gauge brown wire to this grounding loom.

While the battery is STILL DISCONNECTED, lift the black protective junction box cover/curtain to reveal the rear junction box (A42). Remove the (3) three rear junction box (A42) mounting screws.

Carefully pull the rear junction box (A42) free from the mounting location and then remove the smaller blue connector, the large grey connector, and the large purple connector. The sides of the connectors are marked with the pinout locations 1, 3, 4, 6, etc. Push the large gauge red/blue wire snuggly into the #5 pinout location of the purple connector. Reconnect the purple connector to the rear junction box (A42) at this time. Push the large gauge red/green wire snuggly into the #4 pinout location of the grey connector. Push the medium gauge red/blue wire snuggly into the #2 pinout location of the grey connector. Reconnect the grey connector to the rear junction box (A42) at this time. Push the small gauge red/blue wire snuggly into the #3 pinout location of the small, blue connector. Reconnect the small, blue connector to the rear junction box (A42) at this time. Carefully replace the rear junction box (A42) into the original mounting location. Replace the (3) three rear junction box (A42) mounting screws. Lower the junction box cover/curtain and replace the right, rear compartment cover.

‐‐Testing Time to test.... Install the seats, temporarily, back into the vehicle and reconnect the seating module and seat air bag cables to each front seat. If you DO NOT CONNECT the seating module and seat air bag cables to each front seat before reconnecting the battery, you will get system air bag faults....you have been warned!! Reconnect the battery at this time. Install a 5amp mini fuse, into fuse location #126 of the rear junction box (A42) at this time (rear FKA controller power). Turn on the ignition, do not start the vehicle, and test that you have power to the rear FKA controller. If you have power, then remove the key from the vehicle. Install a 15amp ATO regular fuse, into fuse location #98 of the rear junction box (A42) at this time (rear blower fan power). Install a 30amp ATO regular fuse, into fuse location #95 of the rear junction box (A42) at this time (left, lower floor heater power). Install a 30amp ATO regular fuse, into fuse location #91 of the rear junction box (A42) at this time (right, lower floor heater power). If you test at this time, there will be no change and the fan/heater will not react to the FKA controller fan velocity/temperature buttons, as you have to modify the vehicle VO and code the IHKA module for 4‐zone climate control for this to work.

‐‐Final connections and clean up Reconnect the front and rear center console side panels, driver and passenger side. Reconnect the front seats to the vehicle with the four, torx mounting bolts. Reconnect the forward and rearward plastic seat track covers, driver and passenger side.

‐‐Coding You now have to connect and communicate with your vehicle using an OBDII cable and NCS Expert software program. To your vehicle's VO, you will FA write $4NB to the CAS module and then the FRM module.

Next, you will need to code the vehicles IHKA ECU. In the IHKA_E70 module you will amend to the following: KLIMA_SG_ART_Z (climate control type) high_4_zonig

Finally, you will need to code the vehicles CCC ECU (CAPPL). In the CCC_APP module you will amend to the following: VA_FOND_CLIMATE (rear climate control) aktiv ‐ enabled

‐‐Relax, smile and pat yourself on the back. Take your left over/removed parts and sell them on E‐bay and then.... Sit in the rear seats for about 30 minutes, (as I did), and enjoy the new buttons, dials, and the new, cool refreshing breeze (I am currently in Mexico), or for some of you up farther North, the new, cozy heat!

Enjoy, Gringo Scot