Which CD changer to use?

[Ross]

My "95 car built 7/95 is prewired for the CD changer. The booklet that came with the car refers to '94 cars and shows the Alpine changer but does not mention it by name.
How do I determine which to use or will either work?
Also what is the preferred method to use i-pod in the car??
Thanks guys

[Ross]

???

[Russell]

Do a search. There has been several fairly recent discussions regarding compatibility. To my knowledge, only selected BMW branded Alpine or Pioneer changers will work with the 95s without modifications to the wiring or changing the radio head unit.

[Airborne001]

I just spent a month going through this, so I'll offer what I found out. The single biggest compatability problem you are going to have if you don't want to change the head unit is going to be the data plug that goes to the cd changer. You have to make like the Sopranos and climb into da trunk, but take a piece of paper with you and draw out as accurately as you can the pin arrangement on the data plug. The pin arrangement and COLOR of the plug must match (mine was blue) I was told by Pioneer that there are a few out there with similar pin arrangements, that are wider differently and coded differently by color.

You can draw out the power leads also if you like, but there are only two wires ( ground and a fused live wire). I finally found a CD player with matching data plug and just soldered the power leads to the existing plug that came with the new changer. Worked great, and the new one is smaller than my old one, so I gained room in the trunk.



As to MP3 players, I would love if someone would share anything they have about tapping one of these into an existing amp.