[thehungrymonkey]

I hate writing this. I'm a quiet, new BMW enthusiast with a love of my 2012 new to me car. I spent about 2.8k on this system to start. Spent about another $250 on top for unnecessary work as advised by support by BMW itself and I'm left with a cool looking retrofit without volume control. Yup Carplay is great, but when the volume knob wont work it loses it's charm.

I'll write another thread hoping for some expert on this site if they have any insight, but I wanted to post something that outlines my experience and current outcome so current prospective buyers can make an educated choice. Caveat Emptor and all that.

So, I purchase this system back in March. As mentioned in the thread above, it was suggested a professional install but they will help if you chose to do so your self ...as per above

"If, however, you are looking for a simpler way to do the NBT retrofit in your E-series, we will be happy to offer the complete eNBT kit for your vehicle, which will include all the parts which you will need for the upgrade. We will serve as a "project manager" for you, and will oversee the retrofit for you from start to finish. We will be by your side throughout the conversion process no matter where you are and will always guide you in the right direction."

I pay and about 30 days later it arrives. I'm feeling nervous so I ask a local installer if they would install for me. The local installer warns me that they have experience with this company fixing non-working systems at the end of the attempted install and I should return it if possible. Well, based on the retrofit companies reassurance I decided to move forward myself.

I follow very carefully the youtube instructions and the manual. If you are going ahead with this purchase if you PM me I can share some tips I learned along the way that aren't provided such as best way to fish the wires etc..

Installed and test run. Screen comes up and then dies. Everytime. They immediately accuse me of wiring things wrong, destroying the equipment and I am basically screwed. Well I feel bad. I must have fucked up despite being careful. So I ask what can I do? Andrew in support points out that perhaps the firmware is old on their NBT unit. I put on the new firmware and the system stays up..and well more occurs...I end up taking car to BMW for apparently unnecessary software update as my AMP may not work if the firmware is old...I didn't want them to have excuses to blame on me later so I did it.

Fine....Get to the end of the install. No sound...expected. Put in MOST loop at combox location and viola I have sound but the volume knob on the panel doesn't work at all it just sort of stutters and you can see it on the screen.

OK i still have to put the MOST loop in the HUD so I'm not worried as the rest of the system seems fine. Loop goes in and now the system has no sound again. Ask Andrew. I must have a bad panel. hmmm ok. Maybe I broke it so I reverse install everything again back to OEM. Panel works great. Everything works just fine. reinstall everything again...same problem.

This is where I get a little pissed..maybe I'm being unreasonable.

I contact one of their recommended installers. They are similarly confused by the problem.

Andrew suggests I buy a new panel. Wait my panel is fine on OEM equipment. I hesitate to take that option.

Andrew suggests that I go and take apart the MOST bus. Wait, that isn't what the manual suggests, it also isn't simple connectors and it would destroy as far as I can tell the MOST ring system in the car which I need for my aftermarket stereo goals.

Andrew suggests I mail them my panel and the eNBT and go without my car functioning for a few weeks. Um no.

Andrew suggests I can drive for 12 hours and have them reinstall and pay more. Um really? this doesn't sound like the company above does it?

So now, I am gonna bend the knee sotta speak and ask for help here and hope some enthusiast has an idea. And I will call that company that says they fix this shit ( full disclosure they sell competing option which I wish had originally gone with now) and pay them a few bucks if they can fix this.

What really pisses me off I guess is that Andrew blamed me for destroying my car when the screen went dark. From email "

With only display to NBT Evo and pnp cable connected between Evo and vehicle you should have system up and running with ignition ON.
If this is not your case than you possibly connected something incorrectly or damaged your vehicle or product with incorrect connection."

Turns out the box they sent me wasn't software compatible with my car without a firmware update. Fine. But don't blame the buyer when your shit isn't compatible. He then says it's my fault because I didn't go to BMW and have the software fully updated on my ecu's prior. Doesn't say that anywhere when you are buying the system.

So here I am again. They are saying must have done something again. Must be broken panel..but it works fine in OEM. According to Andrew:

This is not right behavior. I suspect your panel is the problem. Maybe incompatibility with eNBT.....Wait you sold me a 3000 dollar system that isn't compatible with my stock facia panel?

Oh and I love the defensive crap I'm getting from them now...from Andrew again "

We do expect installation to be done by professional BMW shop. Sorry you have to follow our requirements if you want kit to work. We do not accept installation by customer and none of our videos are intent to let customer to install kit on his own, unless customer takes all risks related to equipment damage and warranty void."

So now my warranty is void... Again not like the friendly tone in the ad above. I asked if he could get someone who has actually installed on the line. Nope...forget getting help from an engineer or an actual installer...he hasn't installed one before he says. WTF with this. Can you get help over the phone. Nope, they refuse. Can you please use black text in your replies? Nope needs to be in low contrast green so you can read it except in a dark room. I'm not kidding..can't make this crap up.

So, the title of the thread was top 3 reasons why you shouldn't be doing an NBT retrofit on your own.... I think they should bump reason 1. You will spend 3k on a system..the full damn kit. Spend hours and days installing trying to get the damn thing to work. End up with a system that doesn't work and start seeing them duck and hide from helping.

Thanks for listening..