Upgrading the Stereo in a BMW E46?
- Thread starter NickXX
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Soldato
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Agreed, all of the BMW ice equipment is a complete rip off, when I got mine I was looking to have the BMW SatNav gear fitted. BMW dealers were charging £3800 for a retro fit and the cheaper eBay fitters were charging £2500 and to be honest it’s no where as good as the after market gear that can be had for less than half the price.Rotty said:
BMW charge in excess of £3.5k for the retro fit sat nav, so I can well believe the HK price at purchase as an upgrade!
Nick, i'm in Cardiff. There are a few screen options that you can gor for. There is a smaller screen but this is nowhere near as good as *** 16:9 screen. The 16:9 screen is motorised and folds out to reveal either a tape deck or cd deck. The price is obviousuly different, and its somthing to consider if your changing the rear changer to an mp3 one. The 16:9 screen with CD deck cannot play mp3's, so IMO just get the cheaper tape deck 16:9 screen and swap the changer in the boot for an mp3 one with the Intravention Interface. I can even alter the MK4 DVD software to include a nice GUI and female Sat Nav voice!
Ok,
Screen <400
MK4 DVD Computer < £300
Loom £100
mp3 changer £180
Intravention (circa. £100)
TMC Module <£100
If you want the sat nav module (shark fin), they come in at about £100, but there is a cheaper alternative which is a hidden item and it costs a bit less.
TBH, i dont agree with the above post. If the E46 Mk4 DVD comp is set up properly, with the latest firmware, it is far superior to most other sat nav kits availble, and will quite happily travel you all over Europe without making a mistake. It recalculates in micro seconds, and is voice activated to advise you of the nearest fuel station when it detects your fuel going low!
My only reservation i have with it, (and its the only reservation), is that you cant take it with you when you sell the car like you can with other sat nav options, however, you can remove the bulky stuff, and put it back on ebay!!
Nick, i'm in Cardiff. There are a few screen options that you can gor for. There is a smaller screen but this is nowhere near as good as *** 16:9 screen. The 16:9 screen is motorised and folds out to reveal either a tape deck or cd deck. The price is obviousuly different, and its somthing to consider if your changing the rear changer to an mp3 one. The 16:9 screen with CD deck cannot play mp3's, so IMO just get the cheaper tape deck 16:9 screen and swap the changer in the boot for an mp3 one with the Intravention Interface. I can even alter the MK4 DVD software to include a nice GUI and female Sat Nav voice!
Ok,
Screen <400
MK4 DVD Computer < £300
Loom £100
mp3 changer £180
Intravention (circa. £100)
TMC Module <£100
If you want the sat nav module (shark fin), they come in at about £100, but there is a cheaper alternative which is a hidden item and it costs a bit less.
TBH, i dont agree with the above post. If the E46 Mk4 DVD comp is set up properly, with the latest firmware, it is far superior to most other sat nav kits availble, and will quite happily travel you all over Europe without making a mistake. It recalculates in micro seconds, and is voice activated to advise you of the nearest fuel station when it detects your fuel going low!
My only reservation i have with it, (and its the only reservation), is that you cant take it with you when you sell the car like you can with other sat nav options, however, you can remove the bulky stuff, and put it back on ebay!!
Last edited:
Soldato
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Oracle said:
I think that was my main issue with the BMW Nav gear, the layout and GUI. I don’t doubt the actual mapping and I think pretty much all SatNav gear uses one of two different mapping databases so routing results should be similar, I just didn’t get on with the GUI.Oracle said:
By any chance to you have any photos of the improved GUI? Couple of guys I work with have BMW SatNav gear and they would be interested in an improved GUI.