E46 Audio options

Surely a photo from the drivers seat/angle would be better Khaaan, as thats what he will see. Do you like the passenger side of your car or something. ;)
 
Ok I will tape the phone to my face and take a picture driving home just for you!
 
Ha ha please somehow take a picture of yourself trying to take a picture with your phone taped to your face :D
 
The HiFi doesn't get much better in the newer models either. :(

The one failing with the E60 is that it doesn't have the upgraded stereo. I don't even have a CD changer!

If it was my car I'd be all over an upgrade but I don't think my dad would appreciate the benefits when I have to give it back. :p
 
Khaaan! said:
This is what mine looks like but if your car uses flat pin connectors then you'll probably need something like this

You won't need a Pioneer HU adapter and a steering adapter individually, one of the above will do both jobs.


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It's an extra addon because by default the steering controls won't work, you need to have the steering control unit installed between the ISO and the HU with a lead plugged into the steering socket on the HU if yours has one.


:o Honest it doesn't look bad because the display on teh HU is aligned perfectly with the climate control display too.

Edit*

Pic:
[img][/ img]

I still need to tuck the cables behind the HU further back as the fascia pokes out slightly at the edges, I had to remove the lot last week to take out the steering control unit to get a new one so ignore it sticking out at the edges a bit.[/QUOTE]

That doesn't look bad actually! Do you have the plastic surround that comes with the HU on in that pic? I can't tell.

My Pioneer unfortunately has blue backlighting :( so won't match the rest of the lighting but has a similar offset main control stick so maybe the side aligned facia would work too...

Thanks for the links to the adapters, I don't know which I have in the car so I guess I will have to take it apart to check first before buying one. Why are there soooo many variables! :mad:

So once I have checked which adapter I need, that should, in theory be all I need to replace the HU right...?
Click to expand...
 
Yup :p
The HU bezel is in there too btw.

As promised, "driver side" pics!

No tape on face pics however, maybe next time eh ¬_¬


interior_hu_normal2.jpg

(surprisingly excellent quality for a notiPhone :p)

Happy Wicksta?!
 
Just thought, what about antenna connection? For good ol' fashioned radio? Does that need an adapter too?
 
It's either half-decent looking aftermarket or pants audio quality - I choose the former! I'm still on the lookout for a flat faced HU that has amber buttons/display to replace it with though so it looks much better still.

Can't stand crap audio :)


Six6siX I think it would depend on what connector your HU uses, I recall buying a patch lead for mine to convert to the standard aerial connector to the mini BMW one - I didn't even think of this earlier however ¬_¬
 
Khaaan! said:
It's either half-decent looking aftermarket or pants audio quality
Click to expand...
Yeah true, I've found ones which will/do look decent when fit but these are double DIN and again I'm not sure about moving the a/c unit down due to the lack of pressure reset button compatability.

I've noticed that yours does not have this button, only a DSC. Was mine an option for run-flats? Because mine does not have run-flats :confused:

Also, are your pedals after market? I can't recall what mine look like but I'm sure they don't look like that (unless they just need cleaning).
 
That's fine but some of you will consider anything that isn't at least 99.99% OEM naff though. Plus nobody that has seen it in person has said it looks as "naff" like it does in pictures. Jez himself said it looked nice enough at the first motors meet ;P
 
Aye since the dynaudio solution is up in the air now there really is no other option for high quality sound in an E46 and even then after looking into that with a bit more detail I doubted whether it would be that much better than the stock HU in SQ terms.
 
Looks like a pretty good match colour wise Kahn. Clearly very far from OEM but then if audio quality matters to you, what else can you do.
 
Mine will look worse as it will be blue, but the OEM sound is making my ears bleed :p ;)

Ok, I have been out in the car and taken the BMW radio out to check and the cables look like they go to a sort of plastic harness and there appears to be 3 main connectors

- Big round pin connector which I recognise from the above links
- 2x smaller block connectors under it (these I guess are to do with the cd changer and navigation drive in the boot?)

- There is also the odd BMW antenna connector

I'm right in saying that this will do the trick?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pioneer-BMW-E46-3-series-Stereo-Fitting-kit-FP-06-04-/170479818901?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_FasciaPlates_SM&hash=item27b1639895
 
Robbie G said:
Looks like a pretty good match colour wise Kahn. Clearly very far from OEM but then if audio quality matters to you, what else can you do.
Click to expand...

Do what plenty of other people have done with great results and fit a line output converter to the oem head unit and get a decent amp. Ok it's a bit more costly than a 10 quid facia and a single din head unit from Halfords but the quality is better and your dash doesn't look rubbish. There are plenty of threads on e46 forums with these kind of installs.
 
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