Installing an aftermarket BMW F10 or F11 Android screen head unit is pretty easy if you follow our step by step installation instructions. If you want to upgrade the OEM small screen with a big screen, a 10.25″ BMW F10 touch screen android head unit is your best option.

The BMW F10 and BMW F11 come with the same dashboard, so let’s take the BMW F10 Android screen install for example.

Latest 10.25 inch BMW F10 Android head unit comes with Android 14 system, Octa-core CPU processor, 64GB ROM and 8GB RAM now.

Note: Both BMW ID7 and ID8 UI are available now.

Shop here: https://www.sigmacarstereo.com/bmw-5-series-f10-f11-nbt-android-touchscreen

By the way, the latest Android 12 version and 12.3″ Android screen for BMW F10 is also available now.

BMW F10 Screen & Radio Removal

Installation tools you need: a screwdriver, a plastic pry tool or a flat screwdriver

In order to remove the OEM BMW F10 radio and screen display, you need to remove the decoration frame with air vents first.

Open the glove box, use a pry tool to remove take out the frame in the middle, then you can disconnect the plug behind. Or put this long frame at the top of the dashboard.

Take out the BMW F10 middle frame with air vents

Now you can see 2 screws which fixed the CD panel. Use the screw driver to remove these screws from left to the right.

remove left and right screws to take out the cd and ac panel

After removing the screws, you are able to take out the CD panel and the AC panel. There are 2 plugs behind, so you can easily disconnect the plugs.

disconnect the 2 plugs behind the cd and ac panel

Next, you can remove the screws to take out the CD player.

2 screws for the cd player/radio unit

Behind the CD player, you can see a big square plug which will be used to connect thew adapter wiring harness from the new Android head unit.

Unplug the cables behind the F10 radio head unit.

BMW F10 radio big square plug

So far you should know how to remove the oem screen and radio.

If you want to learn more, you can check this Video Tutorial of BMW F10 Radio & Screen Removal as well.

Install BMW F10 Android head unit

After removing the oem BMW F10 srceen and radio, you can go ahead to install the new BMW F10 Android head unit.

BMW F10 Android Head Unit Cables Connections

The new head unit comes with a 10.25″ large screen unit, a small control box, power adapter cable, usb cable, gps antenna, and 2 screen cables.

BMW F10 Android head unit control box

The above photo shows you where to connect the power plug, usb cable, mic, screen cables, gps antenna, wifi antenna.

You can put the gps antenna and wifi antenna at top corner of the dashboard.
USB cable can be put in the glove box.
And the control box can be hidden inside the dashboard as below:

Hide the f10 android unit control box inside the dashboard

Of course you can also put the control box in the glove box, or any other places you can put are also ok.

The next step will be installing the power adapter plugs.

After you disconnect the f10 radio square big plugs, you can see a male plug behind the radio, and the female plug from the original power cable.

Now you can connect the new female plug with the back square plug of your radio, and connect the new male plug with the original power plug. With this step doing correctly, the factory BMW F10 radio system and the new Android head unit can get power to turn on.

Fiber Optic Cables Moving

Important Note: There’s one thing you will need to pay attention to.

If there are fiber optic cables from your original CD plug, you will need to move the fiber optic cables to our new plug at the same position as below:

move fiber optical cables to new plug

The fiber optic cables should be moved here

After Installation

Our BMW F10 head unit upgrade supports original reverse camera display and parking sensors. See how the camera display looks after installation.

Support factory OEM reverse camera display

It looks beautiful in your car after you finished installation. All factory functions retain, including idrive control, steering wheel control, backup camera, radio system. Now you can also enjoy more features from the new Android system.

Looks beautiful after installation

Note: There are other BMW interfaces available, you can change the UI in factory settings to make a fresh new look.

Trouble Shooting

While installing, you may have a question or a problem, firstly you can check these FAQ and see if they help to solve your problem.

Factory radio system does not work

This usually happens if you did not move the fiber optical cables to our new plug. So you need to check the fiber optic cables, make sure they are well connected in the new plug. Normally the new unit keeps all factory functions working the same as before.

No sound after installation

  • If there’s no sound from the original BMW radio system, check the radio plug also check the fiber optic cables. Are they connected tightly? Any pins loose or not in good shape?
  • If there’s no sound from the new android system, like no sound from android music and video apps, you need to check the original BMW AUX mode. Because the sound transfers from the android head unit to car speakers through your car’s AUX mode.
    You can follow below steps one by one to check AUX:Switch to BMW OEM system, click CD/Multimedia, select External devices, select AUX front, enter AUX mode, turn up the AUX Volume from low to high.

     

    After you turn up the AUX volume, you can touch the screen, so the screen will switch to Android system automatically, click Music app, play music, the sound comes out from car speakers.

You can check the feedback from one of our customers who solved the no sound issue:

I hadn’t connected the two fiber optic cables !
It all works great now !!! – thank you so much, for all your patience and help.
I will write a great review over the weekend.
Thanks a million

From Louis with a BMW 528i 2011 model

Black screen or no signal after installation

For this issue, you need to check the car’s LVDS plug, is it with 4 pins or 6 pins? Can the new LVDS plug with the same pins as your LVDS plug? There are 2 different models for BMW F10, one with 4 pins LVDS plug, and other comes with 6 pins. If you ordered the wrong model, contact the supplier to get a head unit replacement.

If it’s totally black screen after installation, there may be no power to the new unit. So you can measure the voltage from the B+ wire and see if it receives 12V voltage. Sometimes a fuse may be burned for improper installation. To avoid fuse problem, please remember to turn off the car and take out car key before you install the new 10.25″ android infotainment unit.

I hope this post helps you to install an aftermarket BMW F10/F11 Android head unit and save your time. If you still got a question, you can leave a comment below, or contact us directly.

Posted in BMW

Tagged  BMW F10, BMW F11, Android Screen, Head Unit Upgrade, Car Stereo Installation