2002 325i stereo upgrade
- Thread starter dfrank
- Start date
ehhh. i was reading in a magazine about a few companies trying to make kits to retrofit aftermarket stereos in new cars now days. the kits are spendy, and very custom. i heard that there is a pretty good one for bmw's, but i havent seen it yet.
lots of companies are getting off the DIN sizing, just so they can make it hard to put in aftermarket stereos. its stupid.
as for speakers and amps n such, its possible, but BMW doesnt have line-level outputs on their stereos, so you have to go aftermarket if you want to add amps.
lots of companies are getting off the DIN sizing, just so they can make it hard to put in aftermarket stereos. its stupid.
as for speakers and amps n such, its possible, but BMW doesnt have line-level outputs on their stereos, so you have to go aftermarket if you want to add amps.
well, with the design of your dash, i think you need the kit they make to make it look half decent. i dont think aftermarket DIN hu's will fit, but i am not sure, dont quote me on it. i will see if i cant look up where this kit is manufactured.
for hu's...its all about money, and look. you can find something with great features, but i am sure it needs to meet some standards. personally, I dont like flashy high techy look, but some do. either Nakamichi, Clarion Proaudio, Pioneer Premier, Eclipse, or higher end Alpine will work....but for sound quality purposes, the units with 24 bit dac's, and 4volt or better preouts for the amps in a must. i have a clarion proaudio, and its a lilttle flashy for me, but not bad by any means, it fits in well with the scheme of the car, and the color of the screen is adjustable to your likes, and one option almost perfectly matches BMW's audburn/orange backlight dash color.
for hu's...its all about money, and look. you can find something with great features, but i am sure it needs to meet some standards. personally, I dont like flashy high techy look, but some do. either Nakamichi, Clarion Proaudio, Pioneer Premier, Eclipse, or higher end Alpine will work....but for sound quality purposes, the units with 24 bit dac's, and 4volt or better preouts for the amps in a must. i have a clarion proaudio, and its a lilttle flashy for me, but not bad by any means, it fits in well with the scheme of the car, and the color of the screen is adjustable to your likes, and one option almost perfectly matches BMW's audburn/orange backlight dash color.
http://iweb.alpine-usa.com/pls/admn...9833&p_category=10&p_subcategory=20&p_main=10
1 bit DAC, 4v preouts. OK but not near as good as the clarion. it has V-drive, so you get pretty clean power up to a point with the hu's power supply - higher than normal.
its all your decision, but stats-wise, obviously the clarion is better. it fits quite well in my e36, and the color of the deck, aluminum face etc...fits great imo.
1 bit DAC, 4v preouts. OK but not near as good as the clarion. it has V-drive, so you get pretty clean power up to a point with the hu's power supply - higher than normal.
its all your decision, but stats-wise, obviously the clarion is better. it fits quite well in my e36, and the color of the deck, aluminum face etc...fits great imo.
I was going to buy the 9833 but I didn't like the display a bit, that circle thing on the display next to the volume knob is just so ugly to me. Yesterday I saw the 9815 (equivalent of the 9835 but last year's model) for 315 shipped on ebay so I jumped on it. Its not that flashy in my opinion and basically does the same thing but you can't change the color of the buttons I don't think. The clarion does look pretty nice with the BMW interior. I don't know which one but I saw one online and it had basiclaly the same color and everything. Oh and if you really want to know all the features of the alpine head, go on that site (alpine-usa.com), then tech support I think and when it asks you for user name and such, just click consumer site or something and then you can get a pdf version of the manual, if you read it, you will know all the features of the thing, I can even make phone calls from mine, never thought I could, could figure, they don't rescribe a lot of features so thats a good idea to me if you don't mind a long read. Well good luck with any of your decision.
Awesome audio upgrade with low $$
The biggest problem with the BMW factory audio systems is the amps are underpowered. It turns out that the electronics (head unit and amps) are fine *except* for the low end, so we turn up the volume and then things start to distort.
Solution --- put in an aftermarket subwoofer for about $250. In my experience, and to my critical ear, this is the way to go for first upgrade. If you want the sounds of a headbanger's ball, you will have to go for a grand or more if you intend to rupture eardrums. But for smooth even bass response WITH excellent mids and highs, just add the powered subwoofer.
Pick: The Infinity BassLink is *way awesome* and there are plenty of them for sale on eBay. Just go to eBay and type in "BassLink" in the search box. There is even an installation kit for BMWs for less than $50. Compare that to the insane Bavarian solution they try to sell us BMW owners for ~$550. Ouch, how stupid to spend $550 when $200 (Basslink) plus $50 (for the Install Kit) gets the same job done with the same effort.
Good luck.
The biggest problem with the BMW factory audio systems is the amps are underpowered. It turns out that the electronics (head unit and amps) are fine *except* for the low end, so we turn up the volume and then things start to distort.
Solution --- put in an aftermarket subwoofer for about $250. In my experience, and to my critical ear, this is the way to go for first upgrade. If you want the sounds of a headbanger's ball, you will have to go for a grand or more if you intend to rupture eardrums. But for smooth even bass response WITH excellent mids and highs, just add the powered subwoofer.
Pick: The Infinity BassLink is *way awesome* and there are plenty of them for sale on eBay. Just go to eBay and type in "BassLink" in the search box. There is even an installation kit for BMWs for less than $50. Compare that to the insane Bavarian solution they try to sell us BMW owners for ~$550. Ouch, how stupid to spend $550 when $200 (Basslink) plus $50 (for the Install Kit) gets the same job done with the same effort.
Good luck.
![[idea]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_idea.gif "Idea! [idea]"){kind=icon}
on the off chance you stay with the factory head - you could always roll with a couple of harness' in tandem to get the audio-outs you need. i did it in my e39 and it sounds great. i used a metra into-car and into-radio back to back - splitting off the audio outs into RCA jacks. that way you keep any IBUS functionality you had, etc. there are a few other companies that make the harnesses, too.
tips on using the harnesses
good luk