Table of Contents
Exterior and body changes
At the front end the headlights, the front grille, the bumper trim, the bonnet and the front side panels have been changed.
Thanks to the new styling, the new headlights with transparent direction indicators have a new visual appearance. The light rings around the high-beam headlights are now completely enclosed. The bi-xenon headlights are now included in the basic equipment specification, as is the headlight washer system. Adaptive directional headlights AHL are offered as options.
The fog lights are bigger and even more striking due to the fact that they are accommodated in separate openings.
The bumper trim has a new design. The outer contour of the air intake lends the car a friendly appearance. The air intake in the bumper trim is equipped with three grilles. The openings are adapted for the brakes, new engines and ACC II (option).
The front grille is now wider (2x 14 chromeplated vertical bars per kidney) and their outer contours run almost parallel to the headlight contours.
The front side panels have been modified in the area of the headlights. Owing to the new headlight shape and the new front grille, the bonnet has also been adapted to the new
design. The bonnet and the side panels are still made of aluminium.
The wheel arch trims, bumper trim carriers and bonnet insulation trim have also been redesigned.
The basic procedure for removing/installing the modified parts at the front end remains as before.
Rear lights
The newly designed rear lights with fibre-optic technology tail lights give the car an exclusive night-time design with outstanding visibility. The outer contours of the rear lights in the side panels have stayed the same. The rear side panels have not been changed.
Bumper trim
The bumper trim has also been redesigned. The side rubbing strips are slightly shorter and no longer stretch to the wheel apertures. On cars fitted with the trailer tow hitch option the bumper trim is cut out accordingly at the bottom and sealed with a cover.
The exhaust tailpipes are covered by the bumper trim.
Boot lid
The design features of the boot lid have also been altered.
The three-part light surround has been replaced by two larger-sized rear lights which merge almost seamlessly into the rear lights in the side panels.
Other new features next to the BMW badge with chrome frame are the country-specific number plate trim and the long chrome strip which visually connects the reversing lights to each other. In addition, the new number plate lights and the new boot lid lock are integrated in the boot lid.
The boot lid trim panel is adapted to the new boot lid. The bulbs in the rear fog/reversing lights can be easily replaced by unclipping the corresponding trim panels. The boot lid lock is located to the right of the number plate light and is not longer directly visible.
The 02-05 E65/E66 cars can be converted to the Facelifted body
.
BMW Offered kits Conversion Kits when the model first came out. I am sure you can do your own conversion as long as you can pull all the parts yourself from a used model.
Headlight Changes
02-05 Xenon Headlights
02-05 Xenon none AHL
04-05 Adaptive Headlights
04-05 Auto Level (AHL) Dynamic lights
04 these were an option on many models. in 05 they became standard. 05 is the first year to have directional headlights in the e65/e66.
These were ran with LCM (Light Control Module) and a separate AHL controller located in the dash.
06-08 Adaptive Headlights
06-08 Dynamic Headlights
All 06-08 headlights are auto level and Dynamic.
Another change was a updated LCM to version 2, this has the AHL controls built in. It is possible to swap an LCM2 into the pre-facelift models but requires one wire to be repinned, the plug needs trimmed to fit (Same pin out, slightly different plug), as well as programming, VIN coding and VO coding to CAS to recognize the newer module.
Interior Updates
Steering Wheel And Drivers Airbag changes
The redesigned 4 spoke wheel features slightly different shaped airbag and more rounded front.
The mount and electronics remain the same. It is very easy to retrofit the newer style wheel and airbag into pre-facelift model. No programming or coding required for this retrofit.
ASK and IHKA Changes
IHKA controls and light switch centre
The IHKA controls and the light switch centre have been visually enhanced. The rotary knobs are modelled in pearl-effect chrome. The buttons or the button groups and the rotary knobs are set off by a so-called insular design. The corresponding trims are coated with high-quality paint (titanium).
Starting in 06 the ASK now has a Mode and AM/FM buttons. The shape is slightly different so if you plan to retrofit this you will also need a Trim plate from 06-08.
07-08 ASK has the ability to add AUX Input. (Even though the 06 ASK looks the same they didn’t have the AUX circuit inside.) The ASK can be retrofitted into 02-05 models but will need to be Feature Coded and VIN coded into the car.
IHKA in newer models swapped the front Defrost and Off buttons. In addition to the new minor styling changes and they also slightly changed the front face, as you can can see next to the old one there is a diagonal end vs the straight. This unit can also be retrofitted into older models but you will need the changer door and CAS trim for it all to mount and sit correctly. As well as coding and VIN matching.
iDrive Controler Changes
02-Late in 04 models had a basic iDrive Controller. Late in 04 and 05 models got an updated version which also added a menu and programmable button.
06-08 Models got the same electronics for iDrive controller as the 05 version but with newer finish and new leather topped idrive knob to better match the updated styling.
It is possible to swap in the 04-05 and 06-08 iDrive controllers into older vehicles, you will need to get the console trim and controller of choice. You will also need to enable the extra buttons using NCS Expert in the ASK and MMI units.
MMI and iDrive Changes
The MMI saw some hardware and software updates in the 06-08 models. The 06-08 MMI received faster processor, higher quality screen that is easier to see in the daytime, and updated menus and screens.
These can be installed in preface models, but will required VIN coding with WinKFP and feature programming with NCS Expert/NCS Dummy. If you want to swap ASK for Aux in you will also need to swap in 06-08 MMI so you can enable the AUX in feature in the iDrive menus, as AUX is not an option or feature in 02-05 MMI. The newer MMI has oil level built in, this will not work if you retrofit. The Oil level is handled is a added feature in the New DME. While the pins have not changed on DME some components and minor changes to motor would need to swap these over to swap in a new DME. Its possible, however I have not seen any one do this yet.
Engine Changes
There were other changes I will do my best to cover in other sections on this website.
The N62 was replaced with the N62TU. Equipment changes are as follows:
- Air Intake
- Differential Intake System (DISA)
- Crankshaft
- Oil Dipstick
- Oil Pump
- Intake and exhaust valves
- Spark Plugs
- DME 9.2.2
DME 9.2.2
- New Processor (GreenOak Type, clock freq. 56MHz)
- Lambda oxygen sensor LSU 4.9
- Hot film air mass meter HFM 6
- Software for electronic oil level measurement
Those that do a MMI retrofit this is why you cant get the Oil Level to display, because it was added software in the newer DME.
Energy Mangement Changes
There were several changes to the PCM software and few of the connections. Most notably is the the time it buts the cars BUS systems to sleep is greatly reduced. In the long run this would help the battery live longer.
I am still working to gather data on these changes and looking into if the newer PCM can be retrofitted. I honestly don’t see why not, it does not look like there were any Pin changes just software changes. It may even be possible to update the software on the older PCM to the newer protocols.
If anyone has swapped a facelifted PCM into a pre-facelift please let me know.
Lighting Control Module LCM
The LM light module contains the complete functions for controlling the exterior lights.
Cars with adaptive directional headlights no longer have a separate AHL control unit. The functions of the AHL control unit are integrated in the LM. The housing and the plug coding of the LM are not changed. The LM receives the information from the PT-CAN (yaw rate, road speed and steering angle) for controlling the adaptive directional headlights via its own PT-CAN connection.
02-05 LM with seperate AHL control unit
06-08 LM2 with AHL integrated in the LM
There were some minor software changes and updates, one of which is Halo lights as Daytime running lights.
Retrofitting is possible and I hope do this to mine at some point and include a How-to and feature changes write up on this site.
MOST System Changes (Enterainment System)
There were a few changes to the entertainment components over the life span of the e65/e66.
We saw two versions of the Logic 7 Amplifier
02-04 5 Clip Mounting style, These are also harder for repair places to fix if there is an issue
05-08 4 Clip Mounting style, there were some minor hardware changes but I am still looking for info.
Amps can be swapped around as the plugs have not changed, however Logic 7 amps need to be VIN Coded. They will work plug and play but you might get random communication issues and might also create issues if you try to update software on the Bus.
Technically we had 3 versions of ASK units:
02-05 – Does not have Mode, AM/FM buttons and does not have ability to have AUX.
06 – This was the first of year of new design and now includes Mode and AM/FM buttons on the faceplate. No AUX In Circuit
07-08 – Same buttons on face as 06 model but now has the AUX In Circuit built it. These is the unit you want to retrofit if you want AUX- IN
We also saw 3 versions of Navigation unit.
02-03 Navi1 This was CD-ROM based system and as such need a lot of CD Roms as CD’s have a limited amount of data storage.
04-05 Navi2 – This was DVD bassed Navigation, I wanna say that 3 DVD’s covered the whole US.
06-08 Navi3 – This is the latest version, I belive there were POI updates, as well as added views. I think (not sure here) that you can update the software and use the latest BMW Navigational DVD’s. I am still looking for some better info on these.
Retrofit is possible but like many will require VIN Programming with WinKFP and feature programming with NCS Expert/NCS Dummy.
TCU
We saw two versions of the Telephone control module.
02-05 Had the basic version,if you wanted to connect with bluetooth you had to get an adapter and put into craddle, anyone who has used this know its a PIA and had a lot of issues.
06-08 The TCU got Bluetooth so now you can connect directly to TCU for phone calls. You can not use this to stream music. *Yes I am aware there are some apps that do it but they make it a Mono signal and sound horrible, this unit was not made to stream music, so if that’s what you want please check out the Aux In How-To on the site.
The 06-08 Changer added the ability to play MP3 and WMA Files. This can also be retrofit for those that want this ability.