Business audio upgrade options

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Paulpen

Wpoll - might be worth sending them an email to see what they can do for your unit ?

Postage to and from the UK is prohibitive....

I spent some time goofing with it last night - made the wiring loom including caps and resistor - no dice - still no aux.

There are several variations of pin outs for these radios and I'm using the one that seems most likely (matching the other wiring etc.) - might need to experiment some more.

[Paulpen]

If you had a diagram for yours would you be able to wire it correctly ?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Paulpen

If you had a diagram for yours would you be able to wire it correctly ?

I have multiple diagrams and none of them seem to be correct...

Trouble is my unit seems to be fairly uncommon (CD54 E39 Becker) so there's not much info on it.

No biggie... it wasn't something I wanted anyway. I rarely listen to music when driving - even long distance. I wanted it so I could add in a BT interface for music streaming for the significant others in the car, when they travel with me - not a regular thing either.

[Paulpen]

Thats fair enough chap - ive always found bmwplanet diagrams to be pretty good unless you have already looked there ?

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by Paulpen

Thats fair enough chap - ive always found bmwplanet diagrams to be pretty good unless you have already looked there ?

Nope - I'll have a gecko - thanks.

*edit* long gone but I think they were vehicle wiring diagrams, using the WDS system (which I have access to on other sites) - pretty much the same as what's on the newtis.info site.

Wiring diagrams like this often don't cover the minor variations due to third-party hardware like Alpine vs Becker (for radios head units etc.).

[BigBody]

I went down a similar path as Mr. Robot, & retrofitted apple airplay (lossless streams) into the stock radio. For navigation I like to use my iPhone/waze as well. While it is also completely subjective, I much prefer the look of the regular radio with the matching trim hiding the CD player. I think it ties the dashboard together much nicer then aftermarket or the even worse stock nav. unit.

[BMTouring]

For the audio part, have you looked at the cp600bmw? That has an optical out for DSP and an analog output. Soud and build quality are top notch.

No bluetooth though, but 16 bit DAC and fully integrated into the BMW user 'experience' (meaning the menu and button's work like they do for a CD-changer)



For DAB+ I only know of a module for the CCC, so for the E70 and up, not the I-bus driven E53/39/46/38 etc.



I use an old Nokia bluetooth carkit to connect my iphone for phone only. The music is coming form an SD card in the CP600. I don't like using the phone for calling and navigating and music streaming at the same time. The bluetooth nokia kit's output goes into the BM54 radio so there's only a small button and a microphone visible in the car.



And for Aux; not all generations of radio modules have the hardware on board to accept the aux input triggered by a simple resistor. Don't know the precise date/year but I have had two E39's with the same configuration, with different radio internals. Both facelifts so no optical DSP.

[yes_its_neil]

Originally Posted by wpoll

I've looked at that with interest, as if I could get the aux. input on my CD54 going, I could add my own BT.

Never managed to get the aux. on the CD54 (E39 Becker) working though - seems to be very little info. about the aux. on a CD54 (E39 Becker) - most info is on either the CD53 (E46 Alpine) or CD54 (E46 Becker) and it seems my one is different.

Hi Wayne, I just stumbled upon this post, are the CD53 and CD54 interchangeable, or is the CD54 the unit that can interface with the CD stacker?

I have 2 CD53's in the garage, you are welcome to either / both. Both are SW 42, HW 41 09/05. I also have a MID.

[wpoll]

Originally Posted by yes_its_neil

Hi Wayne, I just stumbled upon this post, are the CD53 and CD54 interchangeable, or is the CD54 the unit that can interface with the CD stacker?

I have 2 CD53's in the garage, you are welcome to either / both. Both are SW 42, HW 41 09/05. I also have a MID.

Wow, Neil. You are the man... I'll do some research and get back to you on that option. As I said, I'm not too stressed about sorting it - to be honest, my main driving factor was just to understand more about these systems so I can help others.

Even just knowing where there are some spares in this part of the world is great news for the whole community.