What to get... new stereo

[shadowninja 0]

I'm thinking of upgrading the head unit in my car to something that can handle MP3s. Would consider in-dash changer or even just single CDs.

Any strong preferences out there?

[m325i 705]

A tape deck or something with line in on the front

[shadowninja 0]

Haha... classy.

I'm not going for the rangi option mate.

[m325i 705]

I have mp3 playing head deck. (Cheap panasonic 4x50) and its sweet, but if you have an ipod or similar there's no where to plug it in. I would definately recommend a front line in or get the line in hooked up so a cable is out the front, when you install it.

Forget FM transmitters they suck.

Put your money in speakers. $250 will get you a totally sweet mp3 headeck with 4x50+ power.

[Jimocles 0]

I just got one recently, I was looking for something that would not look too out of place in the bimmer.

went for an eclipse in the end, nice black unit mp3, three preouts, great sound and lots of scope for expansion in the future

[petone 0]

I've had my MP3 pioneer deck for almost 2 years and its been faultless. Definatley recommend them, ok they aren't an audiophile deck but easily good enough for me. I only keep a single MP3 cd in my car and its all i need. Have had a stacker and didn't like it. They scratch cds and take too long to change cds.

If you are going the iPod route both Pioneer and alpine have headdecks that the iPod will plug straight into, and I'm pretty sure you can control the ipod directly from the headunit.

[martyyn 2]

Are you open to trying this Shadow ?

Ipod your BMW

Wish they did something like this for the E38's

[E30stz 0]

anything thats not sony

Clarion / Alpine / Rockford Fosgate are pretty good imo.

[aliluya 0]

anything thats not sony

Clarion / Alpine / Rockford Fosgate are pretty good imo.

Can you justify why Sony headunits are bad ??

I've used many Sony headunits and have nothing but good results from them...

Good bang for bucks at the time too .... With the headunits i had it out-performed my friends pioneer, panasonic, clarion and JVC of equivalent level.

[Gus 5]

agreed, my sony headdeck works sweet....any qualifications for your opinion other than reading it on the net?

[bimmer boy 21]

In my opinion i would either go with Blaupunkt (i think thats how you spell it) or Alpine ( F1 status Alpine gear if you want to go all out , which i think a Alpine F1 status head deck costs like 3k)

Sony is OK too I havent heard anything bad about them at all

[E30stz 0]

Had 2 sony xplod speakers gone yuckles over a period of 6 months without being trashed and 1 headunit that has really high pitch twang to it and often botches up enough to need to repower it by re-attaching faceplate. The older sony stuff we had works fine.

I guess I make that comment based around past experience, the headunit and speakers we're less than a year old when they started to play up.

My recommendation is to spend to your full potential, in the hope that you wont come across niggly problems. Sony is probably not a bad choice if your buying under $400 ... but if your bridging the gap between 400 and 800 go with Alpine.

Edited July 26, 2005 by E30stz

[ED1RTY 2]

Yeesh, ive never had problems with any of my sony gear, if you are on as budget i'd say its your best option, their subs seem to be pretty good to, ive been putting a bit of juice into mine and they seem to get better and better as they wear, not worse....

[shadowninja 0]

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em rolling.

Martyn that ipod idea looks pretty cool.

In terms of budget I wouldn't shy away from upwards of $1k spend. Speakers etc. are already pretty good in the E46, so probably wouldn't bother changing those.

[martyyn 2]

Martyn that ipod idea looks pretty cool.

You might want to have a look at this aswell then....

Custom Cradle

[aliluya 0]

Shadow, are you going to get the surround plates for your headunit? because the E46 has a different fitting that normal 1DIN headunits ...

[bravo 34]

Alpine - really good units plus don't look out of place in a bimmer, but they have a price premium.

Clarion DXZ-746MP (don't go for the 846MP 2 extra RCA's and onboard hard drive, but nowhere near as good sound reproduction)

JVC KD-LHX505 - a bit too much chrome for me, but a good unit none the less.

Panasonic CQ-C1301 - Robust brand, black front, very cheap.

Panasonic is a good brand, but I think it looks too gaudy.

Rockford Fosgate RFX9120G - looks good in a bimmer, the brand is good, but I've never had a play on this unit, so can't say whether it is actually decent to use.

[bemmaboi 0]

Ive had my sony black pannel head unit for the last 10months and it hasnt had any problems with it at all.

Its been great, and looks so bling at night....haha get heaps of comments from my mates who luv all the moving pictures etc haha.

its good cos its got a sub out put, so u can change the amount of juice that is pumping through to ya sub etc and also has a output so you can run couple tvs from it...

Love the headunit from sony, but the speakers i bought were sh*t.

Subs and amps were good as for the money etc, but the speakers were hopeless against kenwood etc.

Good buy for the money i say!

[*sic 1]

all depends on what your wanting to do with it.

spend as much as you can on it but dont get sh*t you dont need.

then upgrade the front components to a decent set and amp them.

talk to your local specialist who will go into full detail about what you need.

and play round with the units you like, there is so much sh*t out there you just gotta wade through it all.

[Juzzie Wuzzie 0]

In my M3 I've got a Sony L-Cube (ie, no buttons) CD head unit that is mint and works well. Use Sony 5.25" components as rear fill and they are nice. Have a changer, but never use it as prefer to try and have an accident whilst fiddling with inserting a disc up front.

In the Isuzu, I've got an old Sony CDX-480 (?) CD head unit that I've had since 1997 (CRX / 2002tii / Isuzu) which is still going strong and is my favourite due to the big mute button for when my bee-atches call on the mobile. I then try and have an accident by pushing the mute button with my left hand and answering the mobile with my right. If only the truck was automatic! Also in the Isuzu are Sony 5.25" for rear fill, two XM1502 amps (one bridged into the sub, the other running the front Audiophiles) and one Sony pentagonal 12" sub which CRANKS. Also a Sony changer (see above).

What I am trying to say is that Sony is pretty good for what it does. Lets face it, a car isn't the best sound arena, so top dollar audiphile stuff just yells "steal me" whilst not giving alll that much improvement on gear half the price.

Think what you spend on gear for the car v. what sits in your living room.

I must admit, if I was redoing stuff now, I'd get the iPod head unit as there is NOTHING better than an iPod.

My three cents.

J

[shadowninja 0]

Called up the dealer, the ipod adapter is about $320 plus installation.

That sounds like a pretty good option to me, as it also saves putting the original stereo back when I sell the car.

Will let you guys know if I change anything in the end.

[Coffee&Doughnut 0]

I got a Blaupunkt phoenix off E-bay, blends in nicely with the dash looks good, Mp3 is

useful, cant complain about the sound quality and I listen to a lot of audiophile gear.

I think it cost me about $70 US and about $30 shipping, cheap but damn good for the money.

[kiwi535 538]

I want a new headunit too,actually sony was std equipment in my car...m

MUST have orange illumination,preferably some sort of "on board" storage,cd of any description suck......are there any units that use"memory sticks" or similar with decent quality,and subtle looks.....?

[ScD 0]

Don't bother with memory stick. Sony have a bad habit of creating their own 'standards' which no one else uses, driving the costs up. Plus they use another proprietary format for digital music, which again, no one else uses. Look at PSP and their online music store Connect.

I've never looked, but do our cars have line in? Shouldn't be too hard to make your own iPod adaptor if they do.

[kiwi535 538]

i didnt mean memory stick as such but any memeory device.Our car have an aux button so there is a spare "channel" or is it part of the cd in...there isnt a line in plug on the front.....is the ipod our only non cd "storage option I am sure that i have seen a stereo with a "hard drive"