Best Headunits?

[]V[egadet]-[]

Originally Posted by KooPa

Well, I want to buy a headunit for around 100-250 maybe 300 if well worth it.
What do you guys have in your cars?
What do you think is best/looks good?

if you're looking for models that fit your personal tastes and needs, then you should post what you want in an HU. Just stating the price doesn't do much. For example, do you want bluetooth? iPod capability? iPod control? You know. And even what colors you're looking for would help. If you're interior is that light gray, and someone refers a HU and it turns out it's a nasty yellow... Anyway, you know what I'm talking about.

[zboot]

Get a jensen vm9512 off ebay. You will love it. It takes a bit of work getting it in the ti, but it's pretty nice and actually looks good:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kamakula/UpdatesTo318ti#

[danielbritt]

i bought this one from Best Buy for $150. HD Radio, an aux jack for my sirius plug and play unit and a USB jack to control/charge my ipod touch. i dont think there is a better unit for the price. the best thing for me is the fact i can dial in the color to match the classic BMW orange lighting. everywhere you see blue in the photo on the receiver is color variable.

http://www.amazon.com/JVC-KD-HDR50-C.../dp/B001PL7NZS

[cali_guy_559]

I am a Kenwood guy. Not high profile, but gives me what I want. 2 pre-amp outputs and some base boost/control. You can make the buttons red too so it blends in better.

[SNOWti]

Factory original BMW radios to me, look great. Im more into the Sony Mobile ES of the mid to late 90's which is period correct for the years my Ti's are from. New stuff looks so out of place and over the top. But Im speaking in interior aesthetics-wise. Ti's are rather dull and serious interior wise, which I actually like a lot, I love ti's of course! But anything that clashes with that... it unnerves me.

[ellcapitan]

Originally Posted by SNOWti

Factory original BMW radios to me, look great. Im more into the Sony Mobile ES of the mid to late 90's which is period correct for the years my Ti's are from. New stuff looks so out of place and over the top. But Im speaking in interior aesthetics-wise. Ti's are rather dull and serious interior wise, which I actually like a lot, I love ti's of course! But anything that clashes with that... it unnerves me.

That's why I suggested NAKAMICHI. http://cgi.ebay.com/CD400-faceplate-...item19b8a08b14 (Not affiliated...)

[SNOWti]

Originally Posted by ellcapitan

That's why I suggested NAKAMICHI. http://cgi.ebay.com/CD400-faceplate-...item19b8a08b14 (Not affiliated...)

Excellent taste and suggestion Capitan!

Thats nice... makes me curious about it, Nakamichi has some amazing products with a more subtle look to them. Wonder if it has amber matching lighting.

The latest Sony lines have a red setting but its not amber its like hot red, should be called chilipepper red, its awful and overbright.

[ellcapitan]

Originally Posted by SNOWti

Excellent taste and suggestion Capitan!

Thats nice... makes me curious about it, Nakamichi has some amazing products with a more subtle look to them. Wonder if it has amber matching lighting.

The latest Sony lines have a red setting but its not amber its like hot red, should be called chilipepper red, its awful and overbright.

Thank you! Yes, it has switchable green/amber illumination, including combinations of green buttons/amber display and vice versa (or, obviously, just solid amber, or solid green). However, it is not dimmable and does not have a lights-on feed or any sort of night mode. Thankfully, it's not too bright at night. (I have one in my Miata...green lighting.) Oh, and it DOES have an aux-input...very useful. These are the real deal! No "mid-fi" blingy junk here. Also, it would likely never get stolen because it looks exactly like stock!

[SNOWti]

Originally Posted by ellcapitan

Thank you! Yes, it has switchable green/amber illumination, including combinations of green buttons/amber display and vice versa (or, obviously, just solid amber, or solid green). However, it is not dimmable and does not have a lights-on feed or any sort of night mode. Thankfully, it's not too bright at night. (I have one in my Miata...green lighting.) Oh, and it DOES have an aux-input...very useful. These are the real deal! No "mid-fi" blingy junk here. Also, it would likely never get stolen because it looks exactly like stock!

Thats important, to not look blingy junk which is prone to thief attraction. I have an Sony ES 90's model MD head-unit in one of my ti's but Im still a bit paranoid and remove it. It fits the interior fine, its all dark grey, but there's a chrome-y SONY logo on it and seems to me like steal-able. I always have to remove the faceplate which honestly, gets dull after a while. I just want to get in, drive and listen to my jams. Thats why Im lookin' for a C43! Anyone?

[ellcapitan]

Here's a somewhat fuzzy pic of the Nak' in my Miata. (The thing below it is a satellite radio tuner.) It looks bone-stock in this car too, and I use the all-green illumination setting to match the dash lighting perfectly. (I wish I could say the same about the Sirius Starmate tuner...it lights up blue, and is very annoyingly distracting at night--there's no way to change it's lighting.)

[DGWGuitars]

Originally Posted by ellcapitan

Here's a somewhat fuzzy pic of the Nak' in my Miata. (The thing below it is a satellite radio tuner.) It looks bone-stock in this car too, and I use the all-green illumination setting to match the dash lighting perfectly. (I wish I could say the same about the Sirius Starmate tuner...it lights up blue, and is very annoyingly distracting at night--there's no way to change it's lighting.)

Any thoughts on problems installing it in a ti? I'm about to pull the trigger on one for mine, and although the seller says it should fit, he disclaimed it by saying that I should research it further. I've looked in other BMW forums and there appear to be any no problems, but I hate to spend the $$ and get a surprise.

[bob///M]

i have a 7" flip DVD head unit in my TI
i have had no problems with it at all
no over heating
no skipping
and sounds great with 1000watt x 4 for door and rear speekers
and a vibe 12" active CBR sub and amp in the boot

[ellcapitan]

Originally Posted by DGWGuitars

Any thoughts on problems installing it in a ti? I'm about to pull the trigger on one for mine, and although the seller says it should fit, he disclaimed it by saying that I should research it further. I've looked in other BMW forums and there appear to be any no problems, but I hate to spend the $$ and get a surprise.

I can't imagine there being any fitment issues. I know, it sounds like famous last words. "What could pooooosibly go wrong?" LOL. But, this really is a standard size and depth single-din head unit. If other units fit in these cars with no problem, I'm fairly confident there won't be any problem with this one. I can tell you that in my Miata, the radio/HVAC bezel had a non-standard size radio opening, so I had to replace the bezel with a newer version, meant for Japan home market (JDM) non-airbag cars...because that bezel is identical, except that it DOES have a true 2-din radio hole. (The later-model USDM cars, with true 2-din radio holes, used a different bezel, due to the redesigned dash/dual airbags). In the BMW, you should not encounter any such problem. FWIW, I did not (and never do) choose to use the "din sleeve" to mount it...I screwed it right into the car's metal radio cage. This way, it's more secure, it won't bounce around in the back (the "sleeve" really only holds it from the front), it's nice and flush (it doesn't protrude...looks "factory"), and it's harder to steal.

[DGWGuitars]

Originally Posted by ellcapitan

I can't imagine there being any fitment issues. I know, it sounds like famous last words. "What could pooooosibly go wrong?" LOL. But, this really is a standard size and depth single-din head unit. If other units fit in these cars with no problem, I'm fairly confident there won't be any problem with this one. I can tell you that in my Miata, the radio/HVAC bezel had a non-standard size radio opening, so I had to replace the bezel with a newer version, meant for Japan home market (JDM) non-airbag cars...because that bezel is identical, except that it DOES have a true 2-din radio hole. (The later-model USDM cars, with true 2-din radio holes, used a different bezel, due to the redesigned dash/dual airbags). In the BMW, you should not encounter any such problem. FWIW, I did not (and never do) choose to use the "din sleeve" to mount it...I screwed it right into the car's metal radio cage. This way, it's more secure, it won't bounce around in the back (the "sleeve" really only holds it from the front), it's nice and flush (it doesn't protrude...looks "factory"), and it's harder to steal.

I ended up buying it - all indications are that it will fit. Now we'll see if it really does.

[ellcapitan]

A good choice, made in good taste, IMO. The only thing is, the capability of this thing, what with the 24 bit DAC for CDs, will be lost without a whole high quality audio setup to back it up--amp(s), speakers, and sub. If the rest of your system is stock, well...at least you can take pride in knowing the capability is there, but it's main role in life basically is a tastful and stealthy stock appearance. And, as such, I'm sure it's still cheaper than a new replacement BMW radio/tape deck!