Radio upgrade

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   Hi All, 

Recently purchased a Z3 and joined the BMW car club.

All very new and exciting at the moment and the car is just great but one area I'd like to improve is the audio system.

Now I'm not into thumping bass and tizzy treble but I would like to make the best of what I have especially when it comes to music selection.

I have a 1999 car with the Business radio/cassette and a 6 CD boot changer but what I would really like to do is hook up my iPod.  Now I've done a little investigation and it seems that this is not possible with my radio unit but could be done with the radio/CD version.

So my question is can I:

a) swap my unit easily for the radio CD version (I assume the changer will not work) and then add an iPod interface?

or

b) Is it better to get a seperate head unit altogether.  If so, is there a reasonably priced iPod compatible unit which will look good in the Zed i.e. not too 'bling'?  I like things to be understated you see when it comes to interiors...

Edited by brianc - 11 May 2009 at 8:00pm

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brianc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Joined: 11 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote brianc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Radio upgrade Posted: 11 May 2009 at 7:59pm
	Hi All, Recently purchased a Z3 and joined the BMW car club. All very new and exciting at the moment and the car is just great but one area I'd like to improve is the audio system. Now I'm not into thumping bass and tizzy treble but I would like to make the best of what I have especially when it comes to music selection. I have a 1999 car with the Business radio/cassette and a 6 CD boot changer but what I would really like to do is hook up my iPod. Now I've done a little investigation and it seems that this is not possible with my radio unit but could be done with the radio/CD version. So my question is can I: a) swap my unit easily for the radio CD version (I assume the changer will not work) and then add an iPod interface? or b) Is it better to get a seperate head unit altogether. If so, is there a reasonably priced iPod compatible unit which will look good in the Zed i.e. not too 'bling'? I like things to be understated you see when it comes to interiors... Edited by brianc - 11 May 2009 at 8:00pm

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325iRon Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Club member Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Location: Bristol Status: Offline Points: 590	Post Options Post Reply Quote 325iRon Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 11 May 2009 at 8:55pm
	I purchased an Alpine head unit with a iPod connection ( iPod is in the glove box ) and a connector to enable me to retain HK speakers, �150. That was Oct 2007 it works very well I have a iPod Classic 80gb at the moment I have 1468 songs still with 68gb free. I think that makes a CD changer redundant. RonZ Forgot it's also a CD player Edited by 325iRon - 11 May 2009 at 8:57pm
	BMW Z3 the CLASSIC Roadster

Mike Fishwick Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Member Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 2753	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike Fishwick Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2009 at 11:50am
	The CD unit is a real pain, as it reduces boot useful space far more than one would think. I guess most Z3 owners never go very far anyway, and don't notice it. BMW must have had a mountain of antique cassette radios, and fitted them knowing that owners would want something better. I would go to a decent audio specialist, and ask if an adaptor exists to connect the Ipod in place of the audio input from the CD unit, but a decent modern unit, so long as it looks in keeping, would be the real answer. No doubt in the future, originality fetishists will be trying to get hold of these antique radios!

muppet 2 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Joined: 14 Aug 2006 Location: Scotland Status: Offline Points: 677	Post Options Post Reply Quote muppet 2 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 12 May 2009 at 4:42pm
	I took out the CD unit in the boot and now use an MP3 with an FM transmitter with the original haed, somes good to me but i am not HiFi buff
	zed 3 2.8 ...fast enough for an old bloke

brianc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Joined: 11 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote brianc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 9:19am
	Thanks for the replies guys. I must admit that the changer does take up a lot of the very small boot space so dumping it would be ideal. I'm not keen on the FM transmitter ideas as I have found that they tend to suffer from interference when travelling through various areas with different local radio stations. Looks like from your advice that a 3rd party head unit would probably be best. Ideally one with the ability to see what iPod track is playing on its display. The Alpine unit 325iRon has is OK bust still a bit flashy for my taste. Seems to be the case with most units in Halfords althoug the Sony units are suitably understated. Has anybody any experience of these?

Mike Fishwick Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Member Joined: 04 Aug 2006 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 2753	Post Options Post Reply Quote Mike Fishwick Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 2:11pm
	Look at Kenwood too - they are quite conservative.

brianc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Joined: 11 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote brianc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 13 May 2009 at 6:47pm
	Thanks on the Kenwood tip you're right, they are much more conservative in styling. Edited by brianc - 13 May 2009 at 6:47pm

brianc Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Club Member Joined: 11 May 2009 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 9	Post Options Post Reply Quote brianc Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 27 May 2009 at 10:40am
	Quick update... I spent quite some time looking through all the Kenwood models etc but generally all the models I quite liked had blue displays which I think would have lookedout of place. Settled on a Blaupunkt Hamburg M68 in the end. The unit looks very neat and has te ability for the display colour to be changed to match the car - very neat! It's got USB and IPod connectivity and also looks to be really easy to use with a phone as it also has Bluetooth built in and a keypad on the front. All for �150. Hoping to fit it next weekend