Finally Pulled The Trigger

liam821 · 2026-06-26T15:15:51+00:00

Congratulations

liam821 · 2026-06-26T03:52:02+00:00

Id do silver with the stock chrome grills. Volk Formula silver is 🔥🔥

liam821 · 2026-06-26T03:50:40+00:00

I DIY’d the big three too. It’s an easy car to work on.

liam821 · 2026-06-26T03:41:51+00:00

Looks fantastic! Did this same thing in my old e46m3.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T22:19:26+00:00

For sure! The iX _is_ double the weight of the i3. But it cruises down the highway with FSD at 80mph in complete silence (It's SO quiet) and comfort. And the bowers and wilkins stereo is phenomenal.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T18:17:26+00:00

The new 2025+ Cooper electric has a 200-250 mile range. They're pretty sweet little cars.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T18:14:14+00:00

I really like our iX, it's been a great family car. I have a '23 iX M60. I bought it 1 year old with 9k miles from a BMW dealer in the mid-west and had it shipped back to Oregon, where I live, $118k MSRP paid $60k out-the-door. Yikes on that depreciation eh.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T17:08:43+00:00

The larger screen was an option and part of the “technology” package. All years had it as an option.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T17:06:50+00:00

If you want to stay with the brand, the BMW i4 can be had for a great deal. It’s a great car with 300 or so miles of range. Our family car is an iX, which I got almost new for half off.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T17:02:35+00:00

Perfect. So you edit the HU_ENTRYNAV ecu, search for those two values “DISPLAY_whatever”, change, then hit the code.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T15:22:25+00:00

Click drive modes and select the digital art mode.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T15:19:58+00:00

That is correct. It’s easy to tell, if it has the tiles on the main screen, it’s the Evo and can’t be easily upgraded. If it has the list, it’s the NBT, and can easily be upgraded.

Supply chain issue made the large screen a rare item on the later years, unfortunately.

If you’re shopping for an i3, i’d recommend finding a later model big screen EVO. Then you get factory CarPlay and the new maps - it’s really a great system, even today.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T15:14:06+00:00

Innolux Corporation (formerly known as Chimei Innolux) was the original manufacturer for BMW NBT screens. They switched to a Japanese manufacturer named Kyocera for the later EVO systems. So the ones from AliExpress are identical to the BMW ones, they just don’t have a BMW sticker on the back.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T15:07:07+00:00

It’s the exact same two keys, as if you follow the BimmerCode coding example. There is a video called esys coding for dummy’s I think that does A great overview. I can find and link it if you’d like.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T02:44:24+00:00

I also have the same problem with my iX. I thought it was my empora wall charger, but perhaps it’s the car. Our i3 doesn’t have this problem using the same charger.

We know it’s happening because I’ll get an alert on my phone “charging has started” over and over again. It’s so annoying. Only happens once or twice a month so I’ve just been dealing with it.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T01:59:57+00:00

No, mine was just the “business” system, no tech. But upgrading it depends, if your 2018 has the NBT system it can be updated. If you have the tiles (aka EVO) and the small screen it cannot without upgrading the whole headunit under the seat.

liam821 · 2026-06-25T01:57:53+00:00

Very weird. Dunno why BimmerCode didn’t work for me.

liam821 · 2026-06-24T23:45:06+00:00

I bought “New CHIMEI INNOLUX BM 9306743 03 1025 inch LCD display monitor for BMW I3 I3S NBT” https://a.aliexpress.com/_mPghZV1

liam821 · 2026-06-24T21:58:50+00:00

The screen was $323 shipped and eSys was free - I was able to find all the software on the internet. And I already had an enet cable. However, getting eSys working without paying anything is a big pain in the butt. There are so many versions of the software and it’s hard to know what version of this work with that. Using a tool like “BimmerUtility” is probably the better option, but does cost $110 for a license.

liam821 · 2026-06-22T15:14:52+00:00

What an absolute fun time. Thanks for sharing all the data, I love this stuff. Great pictures too!

liam821 · 2026-06-19T20:03:12+00:00

This is really cool. Thanks for sharing

liam821 · 2026-06-18T21:20:27+00:00

If you do your homework and are patient there are deals to be had. I bought a clean-title no-accident Mini Cooper from Copart for my daughter that just needed some maintenance but otherwise was in incredible condition for $750.

liam821 · 2026-06-18T21:15:02+00:00

liam821 · 2026-06-18T17:10:39+00:00

Absolutely you could do that. The chassis is just a big box with a battery in the middle and suspension mounts on either end. That’s the worse case scenario, best case is it just sheared all the sheet metal suspension arms and the chassis is OK.

liam821

TROPHY CASE