What Head Unit to buy?
 

Anyone have any suggestions for an aftermarket head unit? I would like it to be simple and clean looking. Want it to blend in well with the interior. Don't need flashy lights or big knobs.

Bluetooth a plus, Aux in, USB would be nice. Whats out there? I have been out of the game for a while and haven't shopped for a new car stereo in about 8 years. Heck, I am pretty sure I don't need a CD player even. Just radio and ability to play digital music/podcast.

Plan on using it with just the stock 10 speaker system for the time being.

What do you think?

Thanks!

check out the new
Pioneer DEH-80PRS
Clarion CZ702
kenwood KDC-BT952HD or 996
alpine cda 117

Love the look of the Pioneer. Big bucks though.

whats your budget.
JR electronics will price match the P80 for 299.99, at least they did a week ago
Head unit was just released a few weeks ago, so its brand new to the market. some people have gotten it at Fry's and other electronic stores as cheap as 249!!

I just purchased a Alpine iDA-X305S.

It has full iPod/iPhone compatibility (can play from USB's), and the lighting of the unit can be changed to a red/orange color to match the BMW dash lighting. It doesnt play CD's though.

I LOVE my Kenwood KDC-BT852HD. It has built in bluetooth that lets you make/recieve hands free calling and also lets you listen to pandora. You can change the color of the display to look amber and it sits flush with the dash so it looks really clean. I would snap a pic but my car is in the shop getting color sanded :)

That Kenwood in Amber would look nice. I am still a few weeks out on buying something. If you get a chance to snap a picture I would like to see it how flush it fits.

I like pioneers, have had a few over the years and they don't die. Can get all of the features you want under 200 bucks.

I recently installed a CD43 and a Dice Mediabridge. Offers great sound designed for the stock speakers, and the Mediabridge lets me use bluetooth and iPhone. Plus, the Infinity Basslink makes the system complete.

I got tired of spending $$$ for music so for $100 I got a nice Kenwood at Walmart. Works just as good as the ones I have spent $300-400+ on and has pretty much all the same features. Did not have bluetooth but does have AUX in and USB. It just all depends on how you want your future layout sound wise. I dont need a booming system anymore and dont need to impress anyone so if it sounds good to me while im in the car I'm happy. I did upgrade my speakers to Infinity and Polk.

I can't compare it to anything previously owned but my recent Nakamichi CD400 sounds spectacular. And I'm only running it with a A/D/S P100 with Polk dB5251 up front.

Ordered this from crutchfield

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158BT40...P.html?tp=5684

Looks like it has all the features I was looking for and you can adjust the colors to match the interior color of the TI. Is a little more "flashy" looking than I wanted but it's not too bad. And I couldn't see spending twice as much to get something that looked a little better.

Also picked up 2 sets of Boston Acoustic 5.25" component speakers to fit in the front and back.

On sale on crutchfield for $62.99. They weren't available after I bought them. Guess I got the last ones.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...FaVgTAodInN0eQ

Ordered the 4" to 5.25" adapter brackets off ebay for the rears.

Everything should get in next week and I will work on installing next weekend. Hope it goes smoothly.

I think I will experiment with using the BMW amp or not, factory tweeters or not, using the crossovers or not. Assuming if using BMW amp the signals for the tweets, mids and woofers are already being ran through a crossover of some sort. Who knows, I have read a lot on here and other forums and there seems to be lots of contradictory information. If Anyone have experience doing the same thing and can save me some steps?

I have the 10 speaker system now, with 2 blown out rears and 1 tweeter up front not working.

We will see how it all goes.

This setup should work well for the time being and I can easily add a small amp, box and sub for some low end.

I removed the non-working CD changer in the back, Can I power an amp off the power run that is there for the Changer?

i have an Alpine ida-x001 its a few years old it still works fine for like usb memory but some of my songs on my usb memory dont play they say they are unsupported ( i think its just because they are encoded ) but it sounds nice i have rainbow door speakers and bsw enclosed sub in the hatch back powered by a 200 watt amp and it all sounds good.

However i am not satisfied with not being able to play my iphone 4 through the deck so i am buying a new pioneer deh-p7400hd soon. if anybody is interested in the x001 i will sell for ~$100.

Just put in a DICE mediabridge yesterday. Works fine, put it in behind the knee bolster below steering wheel and ran cables out the side. I really like the hands free phone thing, my Blackberry connects when I turn on the radio when I get in the car, just like newer cars with built in BT hands free. The interface with the screen of my dead stock BBR head is fairly useless, but it came with a menu card that lays out how to access things - and the unit talks to you as you move through the menus. The manual sucks, but I have done enough work on the radio/cd system in the car that it was no problem. Ignore the disconnect the battery advice, it does not matter. I used a little contact spray into the connectors in the trunk to make sure I got a good connection.

Audiovox is in the process of taking over the DICE Mediabridge line - my unit is even badged as Audiovox.

At bottom, a nice addition that preserves OEM appearance.

RAS

How does the Basslink connect to the CD43? Also, where did you mount the Basslink? I was considering doing this to my car (I have a CD 43 installed with iPod/iPhone adapter) but can't figure out a good place to hide the sub. Anyone run the Boss subs? Their profile looks low enough to where it might actually fit under a seat.