[AD51YYY]

Finally bit the bullet and swapped out the climate control unit for a G11 one. Swapped the buttons from my old one as I preferred the all black look. Took around 40 minutes to do. Bought the G11 unit off ebay for £130 with ceramic knobs.

The G11 unit was from a 2018 vehicle. Was a little sceptical as my car doesn't have a CD drive and the G11 one had the ionic air freshener symbol instead of menu but everything works fine. After the first drive the air freshener symbol automatically changed to menu.

Loving the new look. Before and after pics

[jagyro]

Originally Posted by AD51YYY

Finally bit the bullet and swapped out the climate control unit for a G11 one. Swapped the buttons from my old one as I preferred the all black look. Took around 40 minutes to do. Bought the G11 unit off ebay for £130 with ceramic knobs.

The G11 unit was from a 2018 vehicle. Was a little sceptical as my car doesn't have a CD drive and the G11 one had the ionic air freshener symbol instead of menu but everything works fine. After the first drive the air freshener symbol automatically changed to menu.

Loving the new look. Before and after pics

Looks nice bro. gratz on the upgrade

[Zac110]

Did it have to be coded?

[Joe-BMW33]

It's plug and play, no coding, 2 minute swap and no need to remove the dash panel. Vinyl tools and patience and it pops right out. I did it a few years ago. Sourced mine from eBay when the M5/Canada G30 version was readily available which meant no button changes. Ceramic controls and the slot.

All good, pretty cool upgrade.

[AD51YYY]

I actually had to do mine twice, the first unit I recieved had a crack on the screen which I only realised once it had connected. So a replacement was delivered and I had to do it all over again.

One thing I found on the second attempt, I put more force into it without fear of breaking the clips as they are actually quite robust. The frames etc all come apart. Luckily the one I received had ceramic buttons (black chrome) so I swapped the volume knob too.

Very simple job. I also took the silver buttons off the 7 unit and put my original black ones on. Just prefer the black look personally. If anyone in the UK needs a free set of silver buttons give me a shout.

[paul.j.ghosh]

Love the mod!
I am hoping one of you reading these posts who has done the mod is willing to part with the original G11/G12 aluminum bezel - hoping without scratches. My location these days is the San Diego, California area. Unfortunately, AD51YYY, not UK.

[430Scud]

This upgrade is not really an "LCI" thing. My car is a Canadian market pre LCI 2018 M550iX and it came standard with the HVAC control shown above. It also came standard with individual HVAC controls for rear passengers show in the picture below.

[solidsnake227]

Originally Posted by AD51YYY

Finally bit the bullet and swapped out the climate control unit for a G11 one. Swapped the buttons from my old one as I preferred the all black look. Took around 40 minutes to do. Bought the G11 unit off ebay for £130 with ceramic knobs.

The G11 unit was from a 2018 vehicle. Was a little sceptical as my car doesn't have a CD drive and the G11 one had the ionic air freshener symbol instead of menu but everything works fine. After the first drive the air freshener symbol automatically changed to menu.

Loving the new look. Before and after pics

I know you've done this a while back, as it looks good, but you have an issue with the LED not being flushed with the top covers. It can build dirt inside, but it's an easy fix. The G30 or G11 buttons can be removed with their attachment as a one-unit and popped in the new panel. It's easier than removing one cover at a time and the risk of scratching them. I hope this helps anyone in the future.

The reason why its not flushed, the G11 buttons comes with LED tube attachment and not like the G30 that has only one long LED tube.

[DaveBSC]

I'm planning to do this myself with my '19 540i. Was wondering if there's any reason why I couldn't use a UK, RHD panel in my US, LHD car? The panels look the same, but are they a different shape at all because of the dash layout?

Not much I'm seeing available in the US right now as far as panels that have ceramic controls, mostly they seem to be in Latvia (for whatever reason) and Poland, plus a few in the UK.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by DaveBSC

I'm planning to do this myself with my '19 540i. Was wondering if there's any reason why I couldn't use a UK, RHD panel in my US, LHD car? The panels look the same, but are they a different shape at all because of the dash layout?

Not much I'm seeing available in the US right now as far as panels that have ceramic controls, mostly they seem to be in Latvia (for whatever reason) and Poland, plus a few in the UK.

That should work fine. I am pretty sure my panel is a Euro or UK part as the "Band" button has some wifi-like symbol instead of saying "band". Does the same thing though.

They are pretty hard to find made specifically for the G30/F90. Canadian M550 came standard with rear climate, which is when these panels were used from factory. Maybe scour Canadian salvage yards. Mine come from Poland I believe (w/ Ceramic Controls), but I have bought many parts from Latvia via eBay, those guys seem to have a crap load of used BMW parts. My experience with Latvia sellers has been outstanding.

[DaveBSC]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

That should work fine. I am pretty sure my panel is a Euro or UK part as the "Band" button has some wifi-like symbol instead of saying "band". Does the same thing though.

They are pretty hard to find made specifically for the G30/F90. Canadian M550 came standard with rear climate, which is when these panels were used from factory. Maybe scour Canadian salvage yards. Mine come from Poland I believe (w/ Ceramic Controls), but I have bought many parts from Latvia via eBay, those guys seem to have a crap load of used BMW parts. My experience with Latvia sellers has been outstanding.

That's super helpful, thanks. I was also curious if there was any difference between the "band" and presumably DAB button for EU regions, which isn't really a thing here. Good to know there is not, and I can just pop off my Band button and swap it over to the EU stereo control panel.

I'm currently looking at a panel from a UK based BMW parts store that was pulled from a wreck there. It looks exactly the same as LHD panels, but I was curious if there was any difference at all.

[Joe-BMW33]

Originally Posted by DaveBSC

That's super helpful, thanks. I was also curious if there was any difference between the "band" and presumably DAB button for EU regions, which isn't really a thing here. Good to know there is not, and I can just pop off my Band button and swap it over to the EU stereo control panel.

I'm currently looking at a panel from a UK based BMW parts store that was pulled from a wreck there. It looks exactly the same as LHD panels, but I was curious if there was any difference at all.

That’s looks exactly like my touch panel. I didn’t bother swapping out the buttons. I never used the Band button before the swap and don’t use it after. It still does what band did. I live in Apple CarPlay and have hot buttons (1-2) programmed for the two sport radio stations I listen too.

[DaveBSC]

Originally Posted by Joe-BMW33

That’s looks exactly like my touch panel. I didn’t bother swapping out the buttons. I never used the Band button before the swap and don’t use it after. It still does what band did. I live in Apple CarPlay and have hot buttons (1-2) programmed for the two sport radio stations I listen too.

Cheers. I'd also imagine that if they made any changes to it for RHD, they would've swapped the position of the knobs and buttons, which they didn't do.

I'm planning to install a Bimmertech MMI unit for Android Auto since my car is pre-LCI and doesn't have it, so I figured while I'm doing that and the radio and climate panel has to come off anyway, why not take the opportunity to upgrade it to ceramic and the digital touch panel. While I'm at it, I'll probably do the ceramic iDrive controller and gear lever at the same time.