The "thing" in the vent is a gauge from P3CARS .
It plugs into the OBD port and can read a number of interesting data sources such as
Boost: Will show vacuum and boost
Coolant Temperature (exact in F/C)
Air Intake Temperature (exact in F/C)
Exhaust Gas Temperature
Ignition Timing
RPM/Shift (exact RPMs)
Actual Road Speed
0-60 time
Battery Voltage
It is sold either pre-configured or you can install it yourself
Installation itself is very easy on the F10 platform. Just install the vent
and plug the cable into the OBD port . Shouldn't take longer than 15 minutes
http://www.p3cars.com/catalog/f10/
Only thing to note is that on our cars you likely want to move parts from your original vent to the new one (if you opt to have it pre-installed) as the new vent will not have the
chrome slat and the illuminated dial wheel