Not exactly the news I was hoping for but appreciate your input nonetheless.

Just so I fully understand your reply:

SOT-060 is the connector block?

BM24 is the radio unit/amplifier?

What I'd assumed I would need to do is:

Remove radio/amp unit

Remove Nav unit

Remove head unit

Extend the 17-pin cable that used to go into the radio amp so that it reaches to behind the head unit slot. (I've made the assumption here that the current cable will have all the required connections). As in this image:



I'd then just have the antenna to worry about I think.

I'm unsure of what you meant about running two antenna feeds to the head unit if you could clarify?

I'm also not sure about what you meant about NG, FAKRA etc... Are these referring to the CD changer connection? If so, I think I'd ditch that anyway as I'd have the in dash CD and potentially an aux in if I purchased the appropriate head unit.

Assuming all of the above is sound theory, I think I just need to know if I should ditch the radio amplifier or whether it will still work with everything else removed. I need to work out what sort of aerial extension cable I require.

I also need to either purchase a '17-pin' extension cable or figure out how to make one.

This is a SOT-060 that you would want to buy and extend. You cannot purchase one, because I think the Dynavin 5M cable was only ever a 40 pin version, but you can check of course if they have added the 17 pin type.

You can see it has both the male and female 17 pin connectors. There is also a 40 pin version should you wish to have the NG connector up front.



BM24 is the tuner/amp with the round pins. BM54 has flat pins.

BM24 has two antenna feeds. The strongest signal from diversity (3 antenna) array in the rear windows is selected by the BM24 by means of an IF tone up the second antenna feed. DC for the amp_on signal is also sent up the second antenna cable.

After about 09/2002 BMW swapped to the NG (Next Gen) arrangement. This meant

1) 40 flat pin connector replaces the 17 round pin.
2) single FAKRA FM antenna feed with DC amp_on signal.
3) FM Amp does the diversity selection without help from the radio.

You cannot ditch the FM amp. If you go to NG, you will need a newer FM amp (eBay - £20)

For your new CD HU; I know that Aux In was only ever on HU's dated 09/2002 and onwards. Get a 2003+ just to be safe. HW version and SW version do not come into it, always look at the date. Post 2004/2005 ish (check online for the exact build date) MP3 CDs became supported. These CD players fetch top dollar, and eBay sellers often try to sell early 2004 CD players and hint they support MP3 when they don't, some even change/alter the labels.

A new 5M antenna cable is roughly £25 from BMW.

Brain frazzle but I think I'm just about up to speed.

From what you're saying, I would need to go to next gen in order to get a CD head unit that was ready for an aux in? And this would also mean I'd need to swap out the FM signal booster for a newer NG one?

Must admit I thought I'd seen older 17 pin style ones with aux in capability.

It may be possible to add aux in with the 17 pin radio. The swap to NG connectors did not come at the same time as the Aux In support, it was sort of smeared across the years and engine sizes, US cars had it different too so beware US forums catagorically stating cutoff dates. The only way to be sure is find a head unit and thoroughly reseach the part number.

If you are making and running cables though, You could always look at making up the white plug (RGB video) and going for a 16:9 CD nav...

Don't tempt me! Too much cash at the moment and it opens up all sorts of other questions and potential wallet emptying.

So...

Assuming I can find a 17 pin Business CD player that is aux-ready, how do I attach the current antenna to it? Did you say there are two feeds out of the current signal booster? I assume there is only provision for one antenna on the back of the CD player. How would I deal with that?

Actually, looking at the image of a BM24 that you linked, that looks like it just has one antenna feed...

Frankly, the 16:9 is what? £250? An aux in CD player is pretty close to that. The only downside is you'll need to shelve the Aux In for now as BM24 doesn't support it. It would certainly add value to the car.

Anyway the 17 pin CD player will have 2 antenna connections (so long as it's not in the NG smear zone - which it probably will be ), and so you'll need 2 £25 FM cables.

That's the bastards son. A BM54 back. It's a BM24 with an NG radio. Part of the NG transition smear. Does not support MP3 or Aux. Avoid.

Confusing isn't it!

Take this one for example. As I understand it, any unit that has two 'bus' ports on the back and a 'mode' button on the front instead of a 'CD' button should be aux compatible. This one has both but only has one antenna port as far as I can tell. In fact I haven't seen any yet with more than one antenna port including the older cassette ones. Am I looking at the right connector?

BMW BUSINESS CD PLAYER E46 (3-SERIES) on eBay (end time 11-Nov-10 09:11:33 GMT)