Attention E46 owners..

If it is indeed under £300 or close enough and I do still have this car in a few months or my next car is another E46 then I will get one.

It runs Windows CE so the UI could be customisable, it has USB so a video recording app could be installed with a USB webcam and there you have a dash cam which you can tuck in discreetly somewhere.

The only issue is sound quality, but going by the video above it sounds ok but that's not entirely accurate although you can get a feel for the bass/treble.

Either way I'd imagine it would be better than any BMW stock head unit sound quality but obviously not up to Pioneer/Alpine standards.

As for the satnav screen position, I have a Garmin satnav right now and Garmin units have excellent voice directions, the only time I find myself looking at the screen is if I miss an audio direction or want to confirm the next exit.

It's not like you have to move your head all the way down to glance at it and it's a damn big screen to begin with!

The customisable steering wheel buttons is most appealing though, currently there are 2 buttons that are useless with aftermarket headunits and those could be mapped to the telephone and nav system!
 
Last edited:
Chap in America has one of the first units.

The unit is VERY solid in my hands and the buttons have a nice feel.
Click to expand...

I really hope this doesn't suck. And they hurry up with the E39 one. Tomtom runs on it as well :eek:

The way I see it, potentially given a budget of about £1000 surely this unit, a decent amplifier, a decent sub and some component speakers will yeild a better all round system (Look, functionality and sound quality) then retrofitting the BMW system which has both no RCA/Preouts and a 10 year old non touch screen interface..
 
I don't think a sub will be required at all unless you're a basshead :p or the quality of this dvnavi unit isn't up to scratch sound wise and as such a sub is required to compensate.
 
Last edited:
MarkDavis said:
It's also not a great place to have a sat nav screen - not anywhere close your natural line of vision when driving.
Click to expand...

I've always thought this about cars with built in satnavs, just doesn't seem right to be looking down there. I suppose it's fine if the software provides good voice instructions though.
 
My research so far has told me that there are at least two companies and that they are not related despite pursuing similar concepts.

This firm seems only do to them for Audi, VW, Mercedes and BMW and have only just started production.
 
Been following this very closely for the past month or so. E46zone is planning to have a group buy, pending a positive review from one of the members who is being sent a trial device (should be here in the next week or so). However, somebody on e46fanatics already has one and was in the process of installing it, but i herad only positive things from him.

Apparently this company has also made a Mazda one which some guy on E46 Zone loves and says it's not the usual chinese tat - so i'm cautiously optimistic. Dynavin have actually been very good when developing it in that they have listened to many things that people have suggested ie. changing buttons, adding things, changing backlight from red to orange to make it look more OEM.

I understand they are currently deciding whether or not to make an e39 one.

The GB on E46 zone should be around £500.

BE AWARE, THERE ARE PEOPLE ON EBAY WHO ARE PRETENDING TO SELL THESE SO DO NOT BUY THEM FROM THERE. Dynavin have said that the first units will be selling mid January time from their distributors ONLY (shown on their website).

EDIT: i also read they are making it compatible with the steering wheel controls?
 
Last edited:
MrLOL said:
http://www.vxronline.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=52711
Click to expand...

WTF? That's absolutely shocking where that screen is positioned.

How many families and kids needs to be killed before the stupid manufacturer realises that forcing a driver to look down at the floor when travelling at speeds of up to 70mph is the most retarded thing possible? And what retards buy something like that?

It's simply beggars belief. Clearly legislation is needed to ban unscrupulous manufactuers from selling devices that are fitted below a certain height and the stupid people who buy them.
 
Last edited:
Why suddenly bring this up Mark? Car audio equipment has been at that level (and even lower) for years, if anything things have improved now with steering controls, voice control, bigger displays etc. I remember the days of trying to tune a manual MW dial on a radio, or trying to insert a cassette. My old Escorts had the radio down by the gearstick.

Anyway, maybe this is a subject for a different thread rather than taking this one completely off topic.
 
MarkDavis said:
That's absolutely shocking where that screen is positioned.

How many families and kids needs to be killed before the stupid manufacturer realises that forcing a driver to look down at the floor when travelling at speeds of up to 70mph is the most retarded thing possible? And what retards buy something like that?
Click to expand...

on the factory fit sat nav, the satnav screen goes in the top screen thats blue on that car.

Its only when you retrofit your own headunit with a screen, that it ends up that low. Price you pay for retrofitting.
 
MarkDavis said:
WTF? That's absolutely shocking where that screen is positioned.

How many families and kids needs to be killed before the stupid manufacturer realises that forcing a driver to look down at the floor when travelling at speeds of up to 70mph is the most retarded thing possible? And what retards buy something like that?

It's simply beggars belief. Clearly legislation is needed to ban unscrupulous manufactuers from selling devices that are fitted below a certain height and the stupid people who buy them.
Click to expand...

Surely the idiots people who misuse the equipment and drive badly should be punished not the manufacturers of the perfectly harmless equipment it self?
 
MarkDavis said:
How many families and kids needs to be killed before the stupid manufacturer realises that forcing a driver to look down at the floor when travelling at speeds of up to 70mph is the most retarded thing possible? And what retards buy something like that?
Click to expand...

What kind of retards look at the floor at 70mph and then blame it on their Sat Nav?
 
@ Wicksta

It's hardly the same. I could remove/insert, FF, FR, a cassette without having to even take my eyes off the road in my first car. The buttons on those Blaupunkt and Phillips were huge and often mechanical, so you could easily feel your way into it. As for tuning by twirling a dial, I just twirled until the crackle stopped, but even back in the day, it wasn't difficult to buy a radio with presets.

Dogbreath said:
What kind of retards look at the floor at 70mph and then blame it on their Sat Nav?
Click to expand...

You think people are going to pull over, look at the sat nav and then get going again?
 
Last edited:
MarkDavis said:
It's hardly the same. I could remove/insert, FF, FW, cassette without having to even take my eyes off the road in my first car. The buttons on those Blaupunkt and Phillips were huge and mechanical, so you could easily feel your way into it. As for turning by twirling a dial, I just twirled until the crackle stopped, but even back the day, it was difficult to buy a radio with preset.
Click to expand...


And I can understand 99.9% of my sat-nav's instruction on audible command only. What's your point?
 
Hmm I'd want to see some reviews but I'd potentially be interested in this too.

A true double DIN conversion on the E46 is a PITA and not worth the bother. It looks like you can load Tomtom too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom