Bought an old BMW M3, filled with regret...

[mrk]

Hi Jez,

Yeah the Parrot uinits are shallow depth so plenty of room back there and no need to get a dremel out and cut bits of heater piping like with other double din units that aren't OEM style (Dynavin/Navall etc).

As for the how it will fit in, there's a few cm of dashboard trim between the bottom of the fascia and the top of the HVAC so it won't be sitting on top of it, it sits flush with the dashboartd curve hence why the bottom edges aren't flat

Example pic off Google:

The sides having no buttons will initially feel odd and I agree it isn't OEM looking and to many this is wrong, but it's really the only decent non OEM solution and at least it will be clean and flush with no buttons in odd places like other aftermarket units.

If I was an Apple user then the Dynavin would be a no brainer of course. I think what I will do with the empty right side is install a discreet magnetic phone holder, at least make use of the new free space.

 

[Jez]

Ahh yes.

While i really hate non OEM i guess the functionality will be very good, and you will avoid the chinese quirkiness of the dynavin and clone units.

 

[mrk]

Ok so, the existing cage was modified (cut up to only end up being the front bit that the bracket can attach on to) as such:

The rest of the install is plug and play, it required a couple of hours of faffing around tucking cables in and around to get a flush fit all round. I decided to poke the USB cable for sticks and things into the glovebox, didn't need to take that apart as the hole in the glovebox roof was big enough to reach into from the centre dash.

^Routed the GPS aerial cable between the trim strips and placed it out of the way using 3M sticky pads, easy.

(The gaiter I have is looking tired, certainly isn't lasting like the old car's alcantara one did, I'll soon be replacing it with a thick leather one)

Edit*
Mic moved to the steering column, more out of the way there:

^Routed the dual mic again through an existing trim hole beneath the strip and stuck it to the right of the fascia, seemed an ideal position for it and the final install seems to look decent.

Everything seems to work out of the box just fine, the sound quality is good and contact photos are pulled down from Google Contacts nicely too. I think I will get a large SD card to store all music on just because it's a simpler and less battery draining task than via my phone and simply leave bluetooth tethering for 4G/3G access.

I'm going to root the unit in a moment and install the latest Waze and compatible Google Maps as well as Clipper+, Firefox, Pushbullet and TuneIn/Spotify. These will allow me to send stuff to the car from phone and PC be it text, addresses for navigation or URLs and contacts or files ready for use when I start the car app.

The phone aspect is really quite cool, it's basically a replica of the phone app on my phone and voice commands work rather well too.

 

[Tom|Nbk]

Hmm want install one for me

 

[Housey]

No Stairway

 

[Will Gill]

Looks really nice actually

 

[mrk]

Cheers m8s, means a lot

Tom, I would if it was less of a ballache of a job lol. It's not difficult at all but a lot of faff is required especially with removing the centre vents. Thought I broke mine at one point the amount of cracking I heard

No Stairway

 

[Gibbo]

Looks oem, great job.

Maybe you can install me one too, oh wait, I pulled all those nice creature comforts out of mine.

 

[Jez]

faff is required especially with removing the centre vents. Thought I broke mine at one point the amount of cracking I heard

That is the worst bit about anything to do with changing stereos in E46's, the way the cage goes under the vent tabs so that you have to pull them out, they are such a pain

 

[mrk]

At least I will only need to do it once more when the Android Auto model is released

Knowing my luck I'll end up breaking it and need to buy one from a salvage yard or something. Really looking forward to that scenario!

 

[Tom|Nbk]

I have harmon kardon in mine is it even worth attempting this

 

[mrk]

I believe HK requires a few more additional things to be done. Bound to be lots of owners forum guides on what to do if you have that

 

[Gaygle]

Got some new genuine BMW flat evo wiper blades for mine today. Makes me wonder why I ever faffed around with £10-£15 junk on eBay, when these cost me £23 Inc del from BMW and are so much better built and constructed in everyway.

 

[mrk]

Any pics of the current BMW ones? Last time I had them off a dealer they were £34 and were a near 1:1 replica to a pair of eBay ones that cost £7 right down to the plastic retention clips on each end.

Still feel Tesco flat blades suit the E46 arms the best. The BMW ones still have the centre wedge the hook goes into that sticks out beyond the hook and looks a bit odd!

 

[Atari]

I must admit, I'm starting to think the Alca ones weren't a good buy. They work fine around town, but anything over 50mph they seem to lift and flick water back across the screen on the down stroke.

I might just leave the aero style blades out completely and get a set of the standard Bosch jobbies

 

[mrk]

If you find standard Bosch ones that are exact replicas of the original BMW Bosch ones let me know. I've tried many and none of them have had the same for on the arm like the original ones did. Snows BMW said they were Bosch specific to the E46 and are no longer made. The off the shelf ones fit but the spoiler doesn't hug the arm and make it look flush like the original ones do

Flat blades just don't compare to fixed arm ones for high speed wipes tbh.

 

[Gaygle]

The BMW ones look and work great. They have an inbuilt moulded spoiler which is meant to force the wipers down at speed to prevent lift. And for £23 including Fedex next day del, a bit of a steal!

The Alca ones I had from eBay are horse manure. Utterly terrible. Mrk, were these the £7 ones you were referring to when you said they were identical to the BMW ones?

I might just leave the aero style blades out completely and get a set of the standard Bosch jobbies

You can get the BMW refills for your wiper blades for very little money each. Think they're about £12 for both.

 

[mrk]

No, the Alca ones are completely different in design to any other flat blade. Over the years I've had a few pairs and they've all been good though I wouldn't put it past them having different batches made in different places like most cheap stuff these days I guess.

Yeah the £7 ones have integrated spoilers too just like the Tesco/BMW ones, like this.

I'm currently using a set of Tesco ones and I also have the Alca ones. The Alca are completely flat without integrated spoiler, probably why they aren't so good at high speed but s you've seen, they're fine at normal speeds, at least the ones I've had anyway.

Here is what the Tesco ones look like and they seem to perform exactly the same as the BMW Aero ones as well as look very similar, apart from in the middle on the attachment base which fits flush with the arm hook, this is why I prefer the Tesco ones over any other (inc BMW) Aero flat blade:

 

[Akagi]

I am jealous of everything about this car. It is sublime.

 

[mrk]

I am jealous of everything about this car. It is sublime.

I have driven it twice since the weekend, twice!

But this is what I love about it, and in many ways, the 318Ci as well. I drive so little during the average working week that when I do, I completely enjoy it. The 318 didn't have masses of power but it did have an excellent balance of handling and available power to put down without DSC intervening whereas in the M3 I have been finding it somewhat tedious the past few weeks to put the power down in 1st and 2nd gear and in some cases, 3rd (when rolling).

These road conditions are not for this kind of power and that's with 265 Super Sports!

Cannot wait until the warm weather though

I have a couple of pics not yet uploaded, so please enjoy!