Laptop in the car.

[Lurker27]

I don't really like super loud stereo setups...they're heavy and unecessary. But, I would like something that can navigate, play mp3s, movies for a passenger, etc.

So I looked at car PC setups...they're obscene with a 7" touchscreen. A quick jaunt to ebay shows that a DVD equipped pII 14"lcd laptop can be had for $300, used. A cheap head unit to interface to your stereo system is another $50 or so.

So, the question is an issue of mounting and software.

I drive an E30 1989 MBW325is, kind of a project car. My hopes for the computer system is to do the following:

Navigation software (microsoft streets?)
Wifi
AM/FM tuner (additional piece of hardware? interface to head unit)
DVD
recording->text (dragonspeak or the like)
MP3s
Engine Diagnostic/tuning (I will be putting an LS1+T56 in, so LS1edit is the obvious choice, which I believe does diagnostics as well as A/F tuning)

An of course, the other issue is how to mount it. I could fab something out of AL and paint it black, but there's probably a bolt-on solution.

Any suggestions on any of this is appreciated...anyone with a laptop in their car already?

[HoppysMag]

cant help you with the stereo stuff, but check out , if you havnt alread, www.bmw-forums.com those guys are great and can probibly help

[Lurker27]

I belong to bimmerforums, which I *think* is the largest community...They tend to look down on budget type solutions there though.

[Mango]

ok

[HoppysMag]

I belong to bimmerforums, which I *think* is the largest community...They tend to look down on budget type solutions there though.

ya i post on bimmerforum a couple times. not very friendly people but did get awsome advice on a turbo for my e28 535i