Mounting a Garmin Street Pilot III and Nokia 8260 in a BMW 328i
Stage I - Crappy Job. | This job was done by Auto Sound & Security in the San Francisco South Bay. As you can see...DO NOT TAKE ANY BMWS into this place! These guys just bite. They also refused to refund me. |
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Wires lying everywhere. I TOLD them to pull the wires so they're clean, going behind the console. Instead they just stuffed them at the air vents. |
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And it doesn't look any better in the back. |
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Garmin Street Pilot III on dash attached by two velcro strips. Panamount cell phone mount with a mount for phones with swivel clip on the right. This is using the OEM express car kit for the Nokia 8260. There's an aftermarket speaker hidden underneath the passenger side that works with the GPS. The speaker for the cell phone is actually the BMW speaker that's being used. It's located at the bottom of the steering column. I'm also using a Wheelskins leather steering wrap. This was done by All the Right Connections in San Mateo, CA. Can we all smile and marvel at just how much smarter these guys are? Click on the image for a larger picture. |
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Click on the image for a larger picture. This is JUST within arm's reach, but it's still not convenient for changing options while driving. |
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Just another shot. I like the swivel stand because I can show it to the passenger. |
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I decided to use the GA 26 low profile antenna. It boosts the signal strength and allows me to remove the stock antenna stub, which looks tacky. |
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Much cleaner in the back now. The wiring now goes through the A/C vent. Click on the picture for a larger image. |
Stage 3 - skip the swivel mount.
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A friend of mine suggested this approach. Remove the Garmin mount. And just use the velcro on the back. It looks more integrated now. If I built a mount underneath the front, or put some sort of padding there it might look better. On the downside, the passenger can't really see the screen anymore. The glare is too much. |
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Just another POV. Click on the image for a larger picture. |
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The back. Click on the image for a larger picture. |
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Wide shot in the daytime of everything. This is what I'm using now. |
Nokia 8860 car kit install
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The phone says 'Outdoor' as the key needs to be in the accessory mode to activate the car kit. It's very easy to touch the keypad. Click on the image for a larger picture. |
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The Nokia microphone. This is the optimal position. Don't put it horizontally. This position picks up the most voices and the loudest volume. Click on the image for a larger picture. |
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Side shot. Notice the Panamount mount. It juts out of the trim and require no drilling. It's also much lower profile than anything else on the market. Click on the image for a larger picture. |