I'm told knob shape is very much a personal preference. I mean, just look in a high street store to see just how many variations there are. Some with completely unnatural attachments.
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
Man of Honour
To you, as I said, i've actually bought and used all the BMW ones specific for my car and my experience says otherwise. You have no say in this comparison I'm afraid due to lack of actual hands on experience.
Man of Honour
Man of Honour
It only looks good there because it's virtually a month old in that photo! After a year or so the knob is shiny (as they all get eventually) and no longer has that nice refined look about it and unlike a steering wheel, the knob leather isn't as thick or as protected so too much cleaning will rub away the colourant quicker as I found and the wear becomes even worse.
Essentially it is more about an overall package rather than the immediate first impression from a photo
Plus shifting on this one is just superior feeling. The extra weight and short height make shifting quickly feel solid and involving instead of the original E46 M3 knob that just feels like a broom handle with a bee sting or the middle one that feels good but woolly as it's not got just the right amount of weight.
Essentially it is more about an overall package rather than the immediate first impression from a photo
Plus shifting on this one is just superior feeling. The extra weight and short height make shifting quickly feel solid and involving instead of the original E46 M3 knob that just feels like a broom handle with a bee sting or the middle one that feels good but woolly as it's not got just the right amount of weight.
Soldato
Me indeed. My unit is a 2016 model Erisin quad core but I am looking at upgrading it to the latest octa-core Avin AVANT 4 with various options selected in the high end Amp/DAC: https://avinusa.com/avant-4-multimedia-navigation-system-for-bmw-3-series-e46-m3.html
If you don't get a modern unit with at least 2-4GB of RAM and a few GB of internal storage then the older specced units (not sure on what Xtrons have currently but only the Avin Avant 4 has the higher end options) will end up limiting you to how many apps you can have running in the BG etc. I have had to install Apps2SD so app data can store effectively without eating into the 1GB of internal storage this unit came with back in 2016.
For my uses it ran Spotify and Waze which is all I needed back then but nowadays with Netflix, Prime, streaming and games console playing via a bluetooth gamepad etc means a higher specced unit is more compelling and you get a higher resolution screen to boot. The other benefit of the higher end amp built in is currently my unit uses the Viper4AndroidFX audio engine via the Viper app. This EQs the output to the point it's night and day even on the stock speakers and sounds considerably better than the Harmon Kardon setup in the E46 which just goes to show the stock speakers are actually really really good. \the Avant 4 with the high end amp upgrade will no longer need the Viper app as it can cover that area in hardware alone. The later versions of Viper don't work with this old unit either so I've been using the 2016 version ever since.
The install of these units is super easy really, but as yours has nav already you will need the extension cable to run to the boot as that is where your stock amp is. It's the fakra cable iirc and is one of the options on the Avin site should you need it but can be bought on ebay etc too.
I ordered on sunday and it arrived today XTRONS 7" Android 10 Car Stereo Octa Core 64G ROM 4G RAM Radio Android Auto DVD Player Single Din GPS Navigation Support WiFi DVR OBD2 DAB TPMS CarAutoPlay for BMW E46: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo
its a 4gb/64gb one running android 10 but i've now just looked at your link to the avant one and it looks much more oem, maybe I might return it as its unused as yet, i did get the extension cable already
reading this thread on Avin 4 - somewhat confirms my fears on audio circuitry being so so
https://www.m5board.com/threads/avin-avant4-very-disappointed-by-audio-quality.609896/
however the complete fake facia you can get to then install an alpine/kenwood which would sound good - why not
https://www.m5board.com/threads/e39...-style-innovadrive-nxg-39-fitting-kit.607350/
can likes of kenwood implementation of car-play / android auto be so bad ... they must have an arm soc in there, and s/w upgrade - are there some compatability benchmarks?.
I guess kenwood/alpine make their stuff in China too, but more likely to be the oem manufacturer for genuine high end car systems
Man of Honour
Interesting didn't know those fake buttoned fascias existed - Certainly opens up options. I can't speak for sound quality, all I can say is my current unit didn't sound any different out the box to the stock BMW Professional stereo (as in it sounded pants) and only once I set up Viper4Android did the sound become immense to the point you'd think I'd changed the amp and speakers and added a small sub in the back.
I'm still siding with the Avin 4 with the latest SoC though and /if/ the dsp upgrade turns out to be lacking then I can simply restore my ViperFX apk and put my custom EQ back like I have now I reckon. The problem with installing a Pioneer/Sony etc unit is that unless an ISO adapter etc exists, then you gotta do some wire splicing yourself and you lose the iBus features and some other stuff in order to gain better out of the box sound quality. There are pros/cons to both.
I also would prefer to have fully configurable buttons on the fascia, not fake ones!
Edit* In that m5 thread linked:
This is the exact difference I noticed after configuring Viper4Android - The sound quality limitations appear to be solely on the software side of things not the hardware. Viper also talks directly to the sound hardware on whatever device it's installed on bypassing Android's own sound driver so probably that is the reason why it is able to do what it does.
I'm still siding with the Avin 4 with the latest SoC though and /if/ the dsp upgrade turns out to be lacking then I can simply restore my ViperFX apk and put my custom EQ back like I have now I reckon. The problem with installing a Pioneer/Sony etc unit is that unless an ISO adapter etc exists, then you gotta do some wire splicing yourself and you lose the iBus features and some other stuff in order to gain better out of the box sound quality. There are pros/cons to both.
I also would prefer to have fully configurable buttons on the fascia, not fake ones!
Edit* In that m5 thread linked:
This is the exact difference I noticed after configuring Viper4Android - The sound quality limitations appear to be solely on the software side of things not the hardware. Viper also talks directly to the sound hardware on whatever device it's installed on bypassing Android's own sound driver so probably that is the reason why it is able to do what it does.
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Haha, the shape is weird isn't it. The G32 does look rather large and ungainly when next to a 3 series, but the interior is no competition at all.Beauty and the beast?
First impression is the 30d engine is very good for normal road use, it's more like a shove in the back than a punch like when you floor the petrol but in reality it's plenty good enough.
Nice choice
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
Me indeed. My unit is a 2016 model Erisin quad core but I am looking at upgrading it to the latest octa-core Avin AVANT 4 with various options selected in the high end Amp/DAC: https://avinusa.com/avant-4-multimedia-navigation-system-for-bmw-3-series-e46-m3.html
If you don't get a modern unit with at least 2-4GB of RAM and a few GB of internal storage then the older specced units (not sure on what Xtrons have currently but only the Avin Avant 4 has the higher end options) will end up limiting you to how many apps you can have running in the BG etc. I have had to install Apps2SD so app data can store effectively without eating into the 1GB of internal storage this unit came with back in 2016.
For my uses it ran Spotify and Waze which is all I needed back then but nowadays with Netflix, Prime, streaming and games console playing via a bluetooth gamepad etc means a higher specced unit is more compelling and you get a higher resolution screen to boot. The other benefit of the higher end amp built in is currently my unit uses the Viper4AndroidFX audio engine via the Viper app. This EQs the output to the point it's night and day even on the stock speakers and sounds considerably better than the Harmon Kardon setup in the E46 which just goes to show the stock speakers are actually really really good. \the Avant 4 with the high end amp upgrade will no longer need the Viper app as it can cover that area in hardware alone. The later versions of Viper don't work with this old unit either so I've been using the 2016 version ever since.
The install of these units is super easy really, but as yours has nav already you will need the extension cable to run to the boot as that is where your stock amp is. It's the fakra cable iirc and is one of the options on the Avin site should you need it but can be bought on ebay etc too.
Was yours factory nav or not? I've pulled the carpet in boot to one side but cant immediately see the plug I need to connect to the extension, didnt really want to have to start taking all the bluetooth, nav unit etc out as I wanted to keep it there should the next owner want it, i guess as long as I keep it all safe it will save a bit of weight too
Soldato
*EDIT* doh! I forgot I had the amp unplugged
all working now sounds much better than original head unit, I still forgot to order the ariel extension so will have to wait for that to come before doing much else
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Realised after 4 years of ownership my m140i should auto lock the doors after being left alone for a bit. Except mine doesn't (box is ticked in iDrive).... Anyone come across this before? Really should have been something fixed under warranty but now out of warranty and feeling somewhat numpty ish!
It only does this if you unlock it and fail to open the door.
Soldato
Seems quite common, I'm sure our lowly Fiesta dodes this too!