Head Units

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 14:51

Anyone know of any decent single DIN, stock-looking units with bluetooth?

By stock-looking I generally mean no awful chrome or eye-popping design that seems to be the standard these days.

Alternatively, any experiences with retrofitting bluetooth to a stock unit would be great.

Kenai · 2 Apr 2016 at 14:56

Perhaps look at less common brands like Blaupunkt, as I suspect they're less likely to join in the mass market bling competion

unclelonghair · 2 Apr 2016 at 14:58

I would look at the Pioneer range - they seem to be plainer than most. Link

Dogbreath · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:05

Kenai said:
Perhaps look at less common brands like Blaupunkt, as I suspect they're less likely to join in the mass market bling competion

I agree, they tend to be far more restrained with the bling.

Blaupunkt direct.

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:07

Cheers for the suggestions guys.

This one from (that link) comes closest but it looks too modern for my car. Tbh I doubt I'll get what I want from an aftermarket unit, yet the stock solutions I've seen are more work-arounds than actual added features. Ones that plug into the CD slot for example, still only read music in a CD format.

Kenai · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:09

What car are you trying to match it to?

unclelonghair · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:11

No idea if it's any good, but something like this?

unclelonghair · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:14

Or maybe something from here.

dacads · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:23

Pioneer still have those shiny chrome knobs

Kenai · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:25

If you're just looking for bluetooth phone function, I recently bought a parrot minikit neo HD 2 which is great.

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:30

unclelonghair said:
No idea if it's any good, but something like this?

unclelonghair said:
Or maybe something from here.

Not that old! It's an E46 3-series so it just has to be black and plasticky really. I am rather gutted that some of the classic car ones won't fit though.

Kenai said:
If you're just looking for bluetooth phone function, I recently bought a parrot minikit neo HD 2 which is great.

Cheers, I'll have a look into those then.

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 15:36

You realise you're a day late, you evil creature?

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soundb0y · 2 Apr 2016 at 17:06

Have a look at the parrot mki9200. Im looking to get one for the z4 if I can work out which dam cable it needs.

snapdragon69 · 2 Apr 2016 at 17:59

Kenai said:
Perhaps look at less common brands like Blaupunkt, as I suspect they're less likely to join in the mass market bling competion

Worth noting that Blaupunkt (as owned by BOSCH) no longer exists, it is now Chinese stuff that has licensed the brand to make it sound better than WingWongIndustries or whatever - a bit like Polaroid and Kodak are.

Psycho Sonny · 2 Apr 2016 at 19:24

soundb0y said:
Have a look at the parrot mki9200. Im looking to get one for the z4 if I can work out which dam cable it needs.

the remote on those has a manufacturing defect.

you will either need to open it up and use a soldering iron to fix or buy a new remote every year or so.

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 19:43

Psycho Sonny said:
the remote on those has a manufacturing defect.

you will either need to open it up and use a soldering iron to fix or buy a new remote every year or so.

Any idea if you can control music from the phone? That's all I want. Would even do away with the radio and have a dock I can just slide my phone into. I'm planning on using Automate, which essentially turns it into a head unit anyway.

If I got the 9100 (or 9000 in my case with no screen, just a remote) the remote would be stuck in the glovebox unless I had to use it.

Psycho Sonny · 2 Apr 2016 at 20:11

DannyDrama said:
Any idea if you can control music from the phone? That's all I want. Would even do away with the radio and have a dock I can just slide my phone into. I'm planning on using Automate, which essentially turns it into a head unit anyway.

If I got the 9100 (or 9000 in my case with no screen, just a remote) the remote would be stuck in the glovebox unless I had to use it.

you can but without the remote you would need to have the phone on (not locked) and within touching distance. i don't know about iphones but my phone locks itself after a while so i would need to unock it to use it every time using your solution.

it's not exactly safe or legal to have a phone in your hand, etc.

so either use the remote and fix it or buy a new one when it breaks. or look at a different solution.

i've had multiple pioneer head units then a parrot kit. the parrot was amazing but after the remote failed i've decided to stick with pioneer head units.

you can turn the led lights off, etc. so they look plain.

DannyDrama · 2 Apr 2016 at 20:24

Psycho Sonny said:
you can but without the remote you would need to have the phone on (not locked) and within touching distance. i don't know about iphones but my phone locks itself after a while so i would need to unock it to use it every time using your solution.

it's not exactly safe or legal to have a phone in your hand, etc.

so either use the remote and fix it or buy a new one when it breaks. or look at a different solution.

i've had multiple pioneer head units then a parrot kit. the parrot was amazing but after the remote failed i've decided to stick with pioneer head units.

you can turn the led lights off, etc. so they look plain.

I won't be fiddling while driving or anything like that, more like loading up or making a playlist before setting off. I can set the phone to never turn the screen off and even make a simple full-screen widget for back, forward and pause. It's just a matter of getting bluetooth in there with as little wiring/modification as possible.

I might even leave it for a while and do something decent and long-term. Either a removable tablet install or moving it to the glovebox and having another cubby hole.

I like the look of some old Denon(?) units but getting adapters for them would probably be utter hell.

soundb0y · 2 Apr 2016 at 20:56

Yeah thats why I want one. I bought a brodit charging mount, but when plugging in an aux it gives static so thought a parrot doing music and calls would be a winner. A few mates have got them and none had one die yet after 18 months or so?

Dogbreath · 2 Apr 2016 at 21:53

dacads said:
Pioneer still have those shiny chrome knobs

Yes that's a shame. They make some very minimalist, tidy looking head units and then stick a big blingy chrome knob on the front. Maybe black knobs are just too large...