6SpeedOnline - Porsche Forum and Luxury Car Resource - Got my ACM & USB interface installed!!!

Michael at Method Sound:

http://www.methodsound.com
949-842-0792

has installed the following items on my 08 M5.

ACM
USB interface
Front/Back Camera
Battery Tender charger connector

He did an excellent job, everything is hidden away, so all of them look like a factory install. Now I can use a USB flash drive or portable hard drive (like WD Passport) to watch video (MPEG 1/2/4, AVI, DIVX 3/4/5, DVD, VOB) and control everything via iDrive. He also installed the Battery Tender connector under the hood, so I don't need to open my hood to charge the car. The charger connector is normally tuck in, so you won't even see it from outside. I plug it out, so you can see it in the photo.

For video, you can change the size of the view (4:3, 16:9, wide).

For the front/back camera. When you turn PDC on, the front camera automatically shows up. When you put in reverse, the back camera automatically shows up. You still get the PDC beeps on both.

We tried BMW Round Vision ($2350 - a whole kit includes ACM, front/back camera, switchbox and all cables, but no USB interface) on Michael's 545i, but we didn't like BMW's front camera. It is point to the 2 sides, like Eclipse's FEC106 camera:

http://www.eclipse-web.com/us/acce/fec106.html

I want to see what is in the front, not the 2 sides at the front.

Cost for parts:

BMW ACM: 65500441372 - $750
BMW Back Camera: 66210412010 - $650
BMW USB interface: 65500433281 - $450
Switchbox: 66210406999 - $450
Front camera Wiring set: 66210411384 - $60
Front camera Bracket: 84210305664 - $15
Front Camera (not BMW) - $230
Battery Tender - $40