Wiring
So now you know how to plug everything in except the two wires that are hanging out of the adapter cable. They are:
  • Black and White= GAL/Speed Sensitive Volume (SSV)- sometimes black wire
  • Turquoise (blue) and Chartreuse (green)= Reverse Lights
  • Ground Loop Interference Fix
GAL/Speed Sensitive Volume:
You must connect to the GAL Speed Sensitive Volume (SSV) wire, pin 10 in the BMW Harness, for the Traffic Pro to function, it is located behind the head unit in the console.
WB Writes:
Here you can see the receptacle for the GAL pin (#10) on the auto harness(Yellow Arrow) On the right is the Harness received with TP. You can see where the Male pin for the GAL should have been.(Red Arrow)



RichC writes : The GAL is pretty easy to get to because it goes directly to the radio in the Z3, perhaps Becker knew it would be located elsewhere on other models, so that's why they left pin 10 out. (See E46 install notes, one example)
Use BMW part # 61 13 0 007 452 for the pin:

PDRM0767
Strip the green wire (part # 61 13 0 007 452) and the black/white wire
PDRM0769
Twist the GAL wire and the green pin wire together and solder them.
PDRM0758
Take the green wire and shove the connector into hole 10.
 just keep pushing, it will eventually come though and seat into the hole.
just keep pushing, it will eventually come though and seat into the hole.
PB060187
Soldered wire for GAL, CD Connector connected

Photo- Jon Trudel
PDRM0754
So now your Traffic Pro harness that was missing pin 10
PDRM0766
...Now it has the pin 10

Also note please that some BMWs have a black wire for the GAL/Speed Sensor. It should be black and white on the Z3s. Older car? Got no GAL?



Reverse Wire:
Many people use Traffic Pro without hooking up the reverse lights- this only lets Traffic Pro know when you are going backwards to give you better directions. Mine is hooked up. In some cars the reverse wire is impossible to reach. The connector for the reverse lights in some Z3's is easy to reach, it is under the gear shift boot:
Here is the reverse pinout for JonT's and my Z3:

We found it in the gearshift boot area under the HVAC
PB060190
Jon T has the reverse connector in his '99 Z3 2.8- it's the small one in the lower right corner.
Photo- Jon Trudel
PDRM0780
In my hand is not the reverse connector, it is again the small connector on in the lower right corner of the photo- mine is shown already spliced here. '97 Z3 2.8
PDRM0783
Jon's Reverse connector- before splice
PDRM0782
My reverse connector- spliced

These cars don't have the reverse connector, but they found the wire:
John K writes:
The reverse wiring in my car '02 ///MZ3 is behind the footrest in the lower left corner within the large wiring bundle. The color blue with yellow stripe is the same

Ron Stygar's ///M Coupe's reverse wire is also behind the kick panel:


Boris writes about his M3:
Remove the lower trim panel on the drivers side(has 3 screws and a few clips). Then get a 10mm extension socket and remove the knee crash bolster(has 3 bolts). Snake the blue/yellow wire down the side of the climate control unit and across all the wiring. Remove the dead pedal(one philips screw to remove hood latch, then plastic flathead screw you turn 90 degress - whole plastic piece will unhook if you pull it towards the back of the car). Pull the carpet back underneath and look for the untaped cluster of wires. Within them should be another blue/yellow wire. Splice the reverse wire into it and reassemble everything. That's all there is to it, should take no more than 10-15 minutes.

Chad writes about his '99 318ti:
I was able to get to the reverse light wire under the dead pedal.

We are finding that there may have been changes to the Z3 wiring- maybe after 99 or maybe later. This reverse wire pinout may not be the right one for your car. It's good to check with a voltmeter.
RichC writes:

No magic backup light connector under my shift boot, but fishing around under the
 emergency brake uncovers a connector taped to the floor.
Fishing around under the emergency brake uncovers a connector taped to the floor.
Found! The connector Rachel mentions wich is actually for use in a cell-phone kit was actually located under 
 my emergency brake boot (not shift boot). Bad news, in my 2002 3.0 there have clearly been changes. The 
 plug contains unswitched power, switched power and three other "potentially live" plugs, but none
 of them are live when in reverse.
Bad news, in my 2002 3.0 there have clearly been changes. The plug in the emergency brake shift boot contains unswitched power, switched power and three other "potentially live" plugs, but none of them are live when in reverse.

No big deal, most people don't hook up the reverse wire, they just ground it.

W.B. writes: ('00 Z3 2.5) There is a ground for your reverse light right under your armrest. Note that it is the forward screw and not the rearward one. Just route it down behind TP unit, through the gear shift area, and into this cavity.

RichC writes:
tp_ground
Insert a wire hanger bend into a "U" from the console area up to the DIN opening. Tape the reverse wire and run it down to the console
to the grounding screw

tp_ungrounded
If you fail to ground the TP, it will think your car is always traveling in the wrong direction. Interestingly enough, this has no effect whatsoever on the unit. It figures it out just fine in the calibration step. HOWEVER --- (imporatnt safety tip) If you then ground it without deleting the current calibration (Pres NAV, NAV, then press soft-functions 3 then 5 to enter service mode and scroll to calibration), your unit will get hopelessly lost.
tp_grounded
If you ground it, it will now know it's ass from it's elbow
  • Ground Loop Interference Fix: There's one more thing you might want to do. Most of us have found that there is a whining background noise that increases with acceleration, a "Ground Loop Interference" or "Audible Tachometer". There's one wire to cut, the instructions are here. Very simple. You can do it now or wait until you hear the noise, pull out the TP from the dash and do it then.

    7

    Traffic Pro Basic Install Pages
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Page 1- What are you installing~~ Page 2- Parts Needed ~~ Page 3- What's in the Box? ~~ Page 4- Mounting ~~ Page 5- Plug It In ~~ Page 6- Anti-Theft/Finger in the Hole ~~ Page 7- Wiring 2 Wires ~~ Page 8- GPS Antenna Placement and Routing the GPS Antenna Wire ~~ Page 9- After it's Connected
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Traffic Pro DIY Owner Install Instructions
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