New Audio System - advice

[jooty]

Heya,

Got my e53 a week ago today, has the crappy radio and tape deck (no sat nav) the pixels are gone and sound quality playing through an fm transmitter is shocking. I want to put this in the car

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165474

I know i need a single din adapter facia and some kind of wiring loom, if i get all the parts is fitting something like this easy? Ive never done it before on any car so dunno if its best to get it fitted or just do it myself, anyone else done a similar upgrade?

x

[Raj]

As long as you get the correct wiring adapter it will be plug and play. You may need an aerial adapter too. It's not terribly difficult tbh as I'm guessing you will just run the standard speakers off it?

I've replaced my OE widescreen unit with a Pioneer HD1BT and love it over the stock unit.

Where abouts you located?

[jooty]

im located in dorset, yeah i will just use the current speakers, they are fine tbh. I also just found a 6 cd changer in the back of the car... didn't know i had one

[Raj]

[quote=""jooty""]im located in dorset, yeah i will just use the current speakers, they are fine tbh. I also just found a 6 cd changer in the back of the car... didn't know i had one [/quote]

Ok bit far otherwise could have helped.

You should be fine tbh although the interchanger will become obsolete with the clarion.

[jooty]

yeah figured as much.... actually, i dont think i even own a cd

[Raj]

[quote=""jooty""]yeah figured as much.... actually, i dont think i even own a cd [/quote]

Lol.

[jaynana]

[quote=""jooty""]Heya,

Got my e53 a week ago today, has the crappy radio and tape deck (no sat nav) the pixels are gone and sound quality playing through an fm transmitter is shocking. I want to put this in the car

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165474

I know i need a single din adapter facia and some kind of wiring loom, if i get all the parts is fitting something like this easy? Ive never done it before on any car so dunno if its best to get it fitted or just do it myself, anyone else done a similar upgrade?

x[/quote]

hold your horses mate, i get the feelin that your too new to play around too much. but before u rush into solutions, there are other options that others in this forum have gone into. like.. do you want an integrated satnav as well? if so i suggest u consider other options, like check for Hualingan in this forum. there are loads of ppl who've done it.

[storminmike]

One thing has been bugging me about audio upgrades, especially to non nav (hack the dash) for a hualigan or double din

For that sort of money you can get something like a galaxy tab....that you can take OUT of the car and use it to do other non car things. Now I know its not
1fully integrated into the dash (bezzeled and sort of defeats the object if it was) and
2would need another (existing) amp...and
3 you'd have to remove it from the car everytime
4 may or may be controlled from the steering wheel
5 may or may not be good at hand free
6 but is a bit more discrete than an Ipad
7 can have nav?

Is this a messy idea

[jooty]

[quote=""jaynana""][quote=""jooty""]Heya,

Got my e53 a week ago today, has the crappy radio and tape deck (no sat nav) the pixels are gone and sound quality playing through an fm transmitter is shocking. I want to put this in the car

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165474

I know i need a single din adapter facia and some kind of wiring loom, if i get all the parts is fitting something like this easy? Ive never done it before on any car so dunno if its best to get it fitted or just do it myself, anyone else done a similar upgrade?

x[/quote]

hold your horses mate, i get the feelin that your too new to play around too much. but before u rush into solutions, there are other options that others in this forum have gone into. like.. do you want an integrated satnav as well? if so i suggest u consider other options, like check for Hualingan in this forum. there are loads of ppl who've done it.[/quote]

Sorry, yeah i have only owned the car a while, looked at the Haulignan stuff yesterday and was interested. I have not done it yet, the nav is not important to me, the main thing is the iphone integration and decent radio reception. I am always open to suggestions tho

[jooty]

So this is all getting complicated... After talking to an audio place in bournmouth they have informed me that if my car is rear amplification then the install of any product will cost more money and take a much longer time. I ideally wanted to get it all sorted this weekend, I have the money but just feel like every choice/step is a minefield.

I just want to take my car somewhere and get a decent bloody audio system that I can plug my iphone into....

Really interested in peoples opinions on this and how best to solve the problem, my current radio/ cassette player has almost no pixels and is rubbish reception.

What would you guys do? I dont want to spend more than £400 the less the better, Sat Nav not important nor is dvd playback or anything, mainly just pluggin in my iphone so it charges and plays.


Help

[n1k85]

You might be able to get an Ex-Demo unit for around £400 from here:

http://www.car-vision.co.uk/235-bmw-navi-dvd

I paid £495 for my Hualingan from there, it was a great upgrade from my single slot CD player I had before:

The best thing about them is they look OEM and will help when you come to sell the car, I would be personally put off buying one that had got an aftermarket unit/fascia plate in there, as the first thing I'd have to do was to rip it all out and fit an OEM or OEM looking one.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1UwvOPc32s

[jaynana]

[quote=""jooty""]So this is all getting complicated... After talking to an audio place in bournmouth they have informed me that if my car is rear amplification then the install of any product will cost more money and take a much longer time. I ideally wanted to get it all sorted this weekend, I have the money but just feel like every choice/step is a minefield.

I just want to take my car somewhere and get a decent bloody audio system that I can plug my iphone into....

Really interested in peoples opinions on this and how best to solve the problem, my current radio/ cassette player has almost no pixels and is rubbish reception.

What would you guys do? I dont want to spend more than £400 the less the better, Sat Nav not important nor is dvd playback or anything, mainly just pluggin in my iphone so it charges and plays.


Help [/quote]

man u own an X5 now, nothing comes easy with £400 with an X5

be careful with what you mean by 'rear amplification' . be sure of whether u mean simply the BM54 (standard RCM) in the boot or whether u also have a DSP in the boot.

I don't have a DSP but i've heard that upgrading systems with DSP is more complicated.

so i suggest that you find that out what exactly you have, to whoever is suggesting u various solutions as well. if not u'll go wherever to fix a unit and figure out that its a lot more money.

hope that doens't complicate your life a lot more:)

cheers

j

[Sanj]

As you have the cassette/radio you have the quadlock at the front. Connect a Hualingan straight to that, no additional charges for the extended loom. Ask Jon at CarVision to sort you out, mention the forum (drop my name if you wish) and he'll see you right.

Haggle hard, in most cases it's free fitting at his but if you can DIY it yourself ask for a discount. And go for the 4th Gen unit, gives you Bluetooth and the iPhone charging. The rest is a bonus where you're concerned.

[Raj]

As Sanj has stated, as you only have the cassette player up front then it is a fairly straight forward swap out for the replacement unit (whether hualingan or Pioneer double din, etc).

[jooty]

Thank you everyone