# DYNAVIN N7 Multimedia GPS System for E46, E39, E53, E9X.... New for 2018



## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

Ill be filling this in over the next few days and weeks but now that the N7 units are shipping.....figured it was time to start a thread!

*DYNAVIN N7​*
*Dynavin has made substantial changes to their Audio/Video/Navigation System offerings, after 3 years with the previous generation N6 head unit, Dynavin has updated the hardware and added features to create the new N7. The goal of this thread is to keep all the relevant info and discussions in one place for future users of this forum. Please lets try to keep this thread about Dynavin and try to keep it informative, Q & A stuff....try to leave opinions and speculation out of it, there are already 100 other pages of that. Thank you in advance. *








As always, they are available in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit the *BMW E46, E39, E53, E90,*, and an assortment of Audi, VW, Porsche and Mercedes models.

Details can be found on Dynavin's website, http://www.dynavin.com

Or my website: http://www.jandtdistributing.com/

Also you can download the install guide from our website's E46 page if you want to get an idea of what its about
https://www.jandtdistributing.com/pages/installation-setup

Im just going to go over the new and significant stuff here....there are lots of old dynavin threads here on the forums but to see the BIG ONE that started it all, and get a look at what the install is like, look here, all really old info now but still lots of good stuff in there:
*Dynavin D90 (V5) thread: (The Big One!)* http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=793437

And the for the last 3 years of previous generation N6 discussion you can go here:http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1044105

*What is new?*

Here are the big changes.....details to follow further down in the body of this post.

-SiriusXM Satellite Radio ready with the addition of the Sirius SVX300 tuner

-Higher res, high contrast, anti glare, screen

-Capacitive touch screen

-9 Band EQ and much improved DSP audio chip

-"Android Link" for mirroring capability

*Source Selection Screen*

Like previous Dynavin units the MODE button brings up a source selection screen, large easy to press on-screen buttons display your most used sources for easy selection. These screens on the N7 are much cleaner and subdued compared to the brightly colored N6 "windows" looking tiles.










Swiping the screen side to side reveals the various settings menus and ALL of the potential sources.



















While the Radio, Phone, and Navigation on screen buttons are fixed on the home screen the other two are selectable so you can put your most used functions there for easy access.

The front panel now also includes a programmable hard button....its the one with the 4 squares on it....you can select what you want it to do, I use A2DP bluetooth streaming a lot so I set mine to that but you can set it to access the sound menu, the camera function, aux in, whatever you want quick access to...










*Digital Music: IPOD/SD/USB/Internal HD*

The ipod, SD, USB, and the internal 4GB storage functions all share the same basic interface. Simple and intuitive, with selections for artist/album/song/playlist, and in the case of SD and USB, additional selections for folders/video files/picture files. The list can be swiped up and down AND a quick jump alphabetical search allowing you to jump to any letter in the lists so large libraries are no longer a problem to navigate.










Also in the name of simplicity the ipod now just plugs into the USB plug, no more proprietary cables, no more need for lighting adapters for the newer apple devices. Just use the cables you already have. The unit comes with a USB extension to get the rear mounted USB media plug to the glove compartment, console, etc... and we also have on our website flush mount USB plugs and ipod to USB cables if you want to do something a little more custom.

Album art now displays alongside the track info. As you can see, clean and refined is what Dynavin was after here....
Interestingly apps like pandora display similarly (from my iphone at least), displaying track info and album art.










*BLUTOOTH PHONE*

Dynavin continues to work with Parrot on the bluetooth system, its clean as ever, will display your phonebook, and has a quick alphabetical search function to jump to any letter in the alphabet. As before it works with the phone buttons on your steering wheel.

I recommend experimenting with the external mic location for best results but the mic is pretty forgiving so most locations that work cosmetically, should function pretty good as well. There is a bluetooth level and mic gain adjustment here as well so that you can fine tune the mic sensitivity to your specific install.










My favorite feature.....there is a setting in the bluetooth that allows you to activate your phone's voice functions (Siri or OK Google). This allows you to do anything with your phone hands free, make calls, request music, dictate text messages, etc...



















*BLUETOOTH AUDIO STREAMING (A2DP)*

As with the N6, the Bluetooth audio streaming quality is now as good as plugging in, It connects pretty much immediately and works with apps like pandora, stitcher, etc... in addition to your standard media apps. In addition track info is displayed on the screen:










The steering wheel control buttons work as well, including in apps like pandora. I find that this is now my go-to choice as a music source.

*RADIO, CD, DVD etc...*

The radio is what you would expect, 15 presets, RDS, Pretty standard stuff here. Settings for different regions etc...










The big change here is that the Dynavin N7 is now satellite radio ready....some of you guys have been asking for that for years! The N7 comes with a cable that allows you to use the "universal" Sirius SVX300 tuner, plug and play with your N7.

Sat radio is found in the same area as the AM/FM screen when USA is set as the region in the system settings menu....Here are a couple pics of it in action (pics happen to be on our new Dynavin GM unit....not a BMW but you get the idea...):



















The unit plays CDs, DVDs, etc.... same as before.










*NAVIGATION*

As with previous dynavin units we are able to offer our units with pre-installed, *licensed* iGo Primo on our Dynavin units. This program has long been a favorite of the "hacker community" and I know some of our competitors are pirating it but Im glad to say we can offer it to everybody in a legit legal way. The licenses are not cheap but we include Primo with all of our Dynavin units. This also greatly simplifies things like future map updates etc... as iGo is well established and has an easy upgrade path available via their website www.naviextras.com

Its clean and intuitive, easy to quickly search and enter addresses, all the maps are already on board so no internet connection is needed. With the newer higher res screen on the N7 the icons etc... are a little smaller on the screen while displaying more info.



















*CARPLAY*

Same as with the N6 you can add Apple Carplay capability with the add on iLink module, more info here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=17171958&postcount=662

https://youtu.be/vtorUcDgj3o

*ANDROID LINK*

Info coming soon...

*REVERSE FUNCTIONS*

As always the new Dynavin N7 will work with a reverse camera, but dynavin continues to refine this function to work with PDC (parking sensors, if your car has them) and is completely configurable within the settings menu. You can have just a backup camera, PDC, backup cam WITH PDC displayed, or nothing at all.

In cars that have canbus connected steering angle sensors the unit can even display parking assist lines that move based on steering angle, this is model dependent and remains to be seen what all cars it will work in....but for those where it does its some cool eye candy:










*AUDIO FUNCTIONS*

Here is where some of the biggest changes are.....Dynavin is going after a higher end market and as such has added a lot of good audio features to the new N7. Time alignment, three band bass/mid/treble AND a 9 band EQ with separate sub control, 4 volt RCAs for clean signal transmission to aftermarket amps, and 24bit burr brown D/A converters....you old school audio guys will know what thats about.

Most of you guys probably dont know what time alignment is or what to do with it but its probably the single biggest factor affecting sound quality in a car stereo environment, this adjustment allows for you to delay the speakers at the 4 corners of the car independently so that the sound from each reaches your ears as the same time....basically putting YOU in the "sweet spot". Ive been running time alignment of one kind or another for a couple decades now, in my opinion its a MUST HAVE for any higher end system. One thing to keep in mind though is setting this wrong can also make your system sound terrible so its important to at least understand the basic fundamentals of time delay before you jump into this setting. Also keep in mind this is optimizing ONE spot in the car at the detriment to the other seating positions. So if you regularly listen to music with passengers you may not want to use these settings.










9 band EQ, self explanatory:










There is now a more advanced OEM amp integration setting....it allows you to variably set the output level of the head unit to better match your factory amp, if you find that the volume level is too high in your car and the adjustment too abrupt, turn on the factory amp setting and lower the level until the desired results are achieved. In our particular E46 shop car, turning the setting down almost all the way works best. If you are using an aftermarket amp via the RCAs....you will want to leave this setting off.










*LIGHTING AND SCREEN*

Dynavins have always had matching button lighting, not a big deal, but FYI, the buttons match the other buttons in the car and dim with the dash light dimmer. Nice and OEM.

Another feature new to the N7 is that you can change the accent color of the interface to match the color scheme of your car....most of the text in the interface is white on black so I'm just talking about the accents and lines on the various screens, on the older N6 these accents were always red....On the new N7 there are 4 colors to match the 4 common automotive interior lighting scheems:










In most of the pics on this page I have it set to orange as that happens to look good in the E46 orange lit interior. But I also like the looks of blue....










Ive asked dynavin to add a couple more colors as well (I would prefer grey so the entire interface is monochromatic, I'm boring like that )

Now this next thing may not sound like a big deal at first, but for day to day, real world use....its HUGE. The LCD dimmer can be configured in multiple ways and the dimming amount is fully adjustable. There is now an onboard ambient light sensor as well. SO you can set the unit up to dim when your headlights come on OR when the sensor sees its getting dark, or you can dim it manually. There are pros and cons to each approach and the overall ambient lighting where you are at and your headlight use habits will dictate which setup will work best for you. The adjustable LCD dimmer looks great as it does not just darken the screen as most "dimmers" do, it dims the backlight, so there is no "LCD glow" at night. Between the nicely dimmed screen and the clean white/red on black interface this is the best looking aftermarket unit at night ive ever seen

A night pic in my E92,










E46 night pic.....










*NEW SCREEN.*

This new screen is a BIG DEAL....Screen visibility has always been an issue in the past, especially on the E46 and E53 since the screen is angled back where it can be hit with both direct lighting from above, and the reflection of the back window. The N7 has a new screen that is both VERY black and resistant to washout, but is also anti glare and resistant to reflection.

You can see in the pics throughout this post that the screen is very high contrast and unlike many LCD screens, it is VERY black in color. In the picture below I tried to make a worst case scenario....I opened the sunroof to let the sun shine directly on the screen from behind the car, then I put the camera into position where the back window was reflected directly on the screen. Note that you can still clearly see the text on the screen, even in this challenging situation.










This pic is from my actual driving position, the rear window reflection is only in the corner, sun still shining directly on the screen though.










In addition, the touchscreen is now capacitive, so it is much more responsive and accurate than in the past.

*ETC...*

You can set the boot screen to whatever you like. Put it on a SD or USB and select it as your boot screen, real simple. A word about start up.... The N6 has about a 20 second boot time BUT dynavin has done something clever, the unit starts booting when you unlock or open a door.... and it does not fully turn off until about 20 minutes after you shut the car off, it goes into a standby mode. So in regular use, running errands, that sort of thing, you rarely see the boot screen, or if you do its only for a few seconds. I like things clean and OEM so I went with this in my personal car....










Dynavin has moved the Canbus (or iBus in these BMWs) interface inside the unit on the N7....so the wiring is somewhat simplified and there are no external modules to install. In addition this allows updates to the CAN interface via firmware updates. No special tools or hardware required, simplifying things for everyone.










There is still an OBC display but at least on the E46 it doesnt show much....just a couple temps, not all the readouts will work with every car, your results may vary:










On my E92 there is a lot more, the newer canbus based cars have more data available, still though it depends on the particular model, options, etc...:










Finally, a word about updates. As with the N6, the N7 has updatable firmware. They have built into the unit (and their new website) an easy update path so that as they develop and activate new features it will be easy to update the units. Don't expect huge, earth shattering, changes in the firmware updates. But just know that refinements, bug fixes, and new features are possible, and easy to apply to existing units.

Finished look:










Ill keep adding to this post as we go, ill try to make it a inclusive resource for all the new, relevant, N7 info.


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## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

Reserved


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## EffectOne (Jan 9, 2018)

Very interested in purchasing one of these.

The thing that puts me off is the iGo mapping software that is used, which I have always found to be ugly and pretty primitive compared to something such as, say, the Google Maps interface. I would be VERY grateful if you could put together a YouTube video showing the navigation software in more detail. There seems to be quite a lack of information around about these units (no third party reviews for the N7 units, etc...). Is it possible for a different mapping software be installed to the unit after installation?

Thank you.


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## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

keep in mind this is just the new version that is replacing the N6 model....and that replaced the D99 model....and so on. So there is a TON of info out there on the various dynavin models over the years and generally speaking they are similar with evolutionary changes and improvements in the newer versions. The new N7 has only been shipping for a few weeks so its pretty early to be seeing much info out there yet.

iGo has proven to be pretty popular over the years and I personally like it, if it is not to your taste thats understandable though. As for other software....that would involve some kind of hack or pirated software and Im not going to discuss that for obvious reasons.


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## BmwBolton (Jan 5, 2018)

Can the dvds be played while the car is being drive?n, I would never watch it while driving but it would be nice for my son on long hauls. Also if you get the car play ad on can you use your own maps app?


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## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

No, the dynavin does not have built in crossovers.


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## gifant (Jan 18, 2018)

[email protected] said:


> No, the dynavin does not have built in crossovers.


Thank you for the information 

I will need an external DSP or make some passive crossovers for the door speakers then...


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## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

probably dont need crossovers if you are still using the stock amp and speakers....and if you have an aftermarket amp it will have its own crossovers.


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## gifant (Jan 18, 2018)

I was hoping not to use an extra amplifier for the the door speakers.

I will need some sort of high pass filter for the door speakers to filter away low frequencies.

Either through a DSP or on an amp - some amps have DSP integrated as an all-in-one solution.


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## denalixtc (Mar 25, 2011)

I think I’ll be getting two of these one for my e46 m3 and 06 x5 4.8is...still need the farms cable for factory nav cars? Anything else to retain steering wheel controls? You probably mentioned it but I read pretty quickly and did not catch it so sorry if you explained my questions already.. thanks


Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest


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## denalixtc (Mar 25, 2011)

I think I'll be getting two of these one for my e46 m3 and 06 x5 4.8is...still need the farms cable for factory nav cars? Anything else to retain steering wheel controls? You probably mentioned it but I read pretty quickly and did not catch it so sorry if you explained my questions already.. thanks

Sent from my iPhone using Bimmerfest mobile app


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## [email protected] (Jun 24, 2014)

Steering wheel control interface is built in. Nothing extra needed there.

Yes, if the car has the OEM nav system you need the extension harness to get all the radio wiring that resides in the trunk up to the dash where it can plug into the Dynavin.


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