As one of the proprietors and administrators of this web site, I guess that you could say that I already do ;)

Ok every one...take a step back...
 

First I would like to say that I love this site because everyone contributes and we all act like the mature inteligent people we are, well except on Freaky Fri, but I digress.....anywho...

Rich on the surface it does seem a bit priced on the high side...my installer said he could have made one out of fiberglass for about $100....but he also said it would not have been as an exact a fit and would not have been as clean on the surface...so as with any thing you pay a premium for a certain feel and look and I was happy to pay that once I saw your product in my dash....I think what you should tell everyone here is how you go about doing what you do and the effort that is involved so that your hard work and craftsmanship can be appreciated and a direct coralation of that work is how you arrive at your pricing....I mean you do not need to divulge your trade secrets but at least give all the potential customers an idea of all that in takes to make this bezel from scratch....

Any to everybody else, if you have a product that you think is priced fairly in realtion to your effort to bring a custom piece to the market place you might initially react a bit defensive as well. I mean people pay big bucks for a custom piece of jewlery, how is this different? There is no mass produce face plate for the X5, Rich makes his by hand out of resin fron scratch. I have interacted with Rich on several occasions and have nothing but nice things to say about him and our transaction so before this blows completely out of proportion and Rich joins Vendetta on the heap lets give him a bit of understanding and wiggle room here....I am on this board more than I should be and I enjoy everything that everyone adds....so with that I am going to go and hug a tree and "can't we just get along?"

I may have missed this....but with this aftermarket install, can you still use the steering wheel controls for volume, etc to control the head unit..?

Yep...that is what the PAC SWX is for
 

I actually have control of Vol, source, and mute.

Thanks for all your hard work....I may have missed this but can
you change radio stations from the steering wheel? Allan

Roc3B, I can understand you telling us to take a step back on this. I can also understand you sticking up for the bezel maker and your good customer service experience. However, I also understand that you, for your willingness to stick your neck out there and try it first, you also got your bezel for free. Adding an additional $300 to your install price may have made you ask the same questions. I understand your analogy, but this ain't no custom jewelry. :dunno: The point is, there is always a limit to whether a price for a product is "worth it", no matter how much time and money is spent on making it. As an IT consultant who builds, implements and manages servers and networks as well as deals with clients, I know this balance all too well. Personally, As a consumer, I would like to see this bezel price be $75 less. I just think it would be more of a "worth it" for the consumer, and would sell many more while not coming off as "If you want it that bad, then pay x and like it" While this may be the case, it doesn't give me the consumer the warm fuzzy feeling, and that feeling makes me become a repeat buyer 95% of the time. It's the difference between knowing a craft, and knowing the consumer and running a successful business. Calling people ignorant rarely gains repeat business, no matter who is in the right. OK, I'm done with that.

On another note, I hate to flame those that come on to a board looking for information, but PLEASE people, READ the thread before posting the same questions over and over!! Roc3b has answered SEVERAL times that he can use his steering wheel controls for EVERYTHING, radio, DVD, GPS, everything. Read the thread again, then GOOGLE the product for more detailed info.

OK Roc3b, I took care of the last question for you, so now you have to answer one for me. In your earlier post, you were trying to figure out the issue with the dash computer (mileage, fuel consumption, etc) and then said "There was no problem, just had to reset the dash computer." When you said you reset the dash computer, did you still have the old radio unit connected below the seat (with that one wire) to get the dash computer to work, or did you reset the dash computer with just the AVIC connected, and not the old unit? Just want to be clear on this, it's the last issue I am unclear on. I already know that since my computer is NON-DSP, I will be able to get up and running with no external amp...

Thanks again for sticking your neck out there, and job WELL DONE!!

-Sterling

As far as the dash pc...the only thing I cannot do is reset the clock...everything else works fine with out the radio hooked up under the seat. There is a clock on the D1 and I just use that now...temp, dist, MPH...all work fine.

I have to bump this...

How do you reset the computer? Is there a guide floating around on the net somewhere? Also, could you plug the data cable into the HU display unit and set clock and then unplug it?

Just hold the reset button in on the stick itself...ummm yeah you could to that just by popping out the temp controls...plug it in and reset no problem...I would not recommend selling the OEM radio after installing this so that you can put everything back in in the event that you end up selling the SAV and you can put it in the next vehicle...it is that good.

I'll be doing this to my X within th enext few weeks, and be giving you a call rich. I did my own for my M3..I had at least 30 hrs into that thing...came out great, but 200 bux is easier! I'll be out at CES next week, and will be looking at the new Pioneer unit..internal Hard Drive like the Eclipse unit, and rumor has it both SIrius and XM..only thing keeping me from going with it....I'm a sirius fan. That screen looks pretty tiny though, hopefully the new one is larger.