retrofitting a new oem stereo

[steve0suprem0]

howdy folks. i swear i searched, and didn't turn up anything relevant.

so here's my issue: i want a stereo that will control my ipod. preferably charge it too.

i'd really rather stay away from the aftermarket, and i'd heard quite a while ago (back when i got my scirocco. 2 years) that bmw had come out with a really nice ipod controlling stereo.

is it possible to stick one of those in the place of my stereo? would it be just a plug and play setup? i figure if it's not super easy i may as well just have a stereo shop install an aftermarket one, even though i'd rather not. i know alpine makes an ipod ready one... but it would be nice to stay with a bmw unit.

[Espen]

If you go for non OEM, choos Pioneer(Us brand= Premier), they got a very nice Ipod controlling unit.

[bbig119]

I don't know the answer, and I'd certainly be interested if there was a way, but my guess is no. All these newer cars tend to have more curvy consoles than the e34, so I'd be surprised if you could get a 'round peg to fit in a square hole'. That reminds me of an old funny tv commercial.

[steve0suprem0]

yeah, i saw a pic after an extensive search, and there's no way that thing's gonna fit.

[steve0suprem0]

there's a pretty damned sweet pioneer deck with bluetooth.. tat would be awesome. but i dunno if it's worth 500 bucks.

anybody have any experience with alpine or jvc units?

[BuckNaked]

I see you are going for a CD43.
I was going to bid but I recognised your ID from an earlier post.
Are you going to change any of your speaker drivers or amplifier?

[525SEI BRIT]

take a look at the conects2 range as these will connect an ipod to most after market Head units through their changer input, so the ipod can be controlled as with a CD. and they also keep the ipod charged

is it possible to play normal MP3 or WMA files on an ipod yet? really like the size vs storage, just don't like apple, i-tunes, white, not being able to drag and drop, etc.!!!!!....

[gmannino]

There are no BMW radios that will fit directly into the e34's din hole. You're only option would be to upgrade to an aftermarket radio. I would recommend the old alpine with the orange illumination. This will match the lights at night time.

I have a e34 with the Eclipse CD7000 but this deck is very expensive. My illumination looks like it was made by bmw and it is, by far, the best looking aftermarket radio for BMW's. There arnt many choices for orange illumination radios, do some research

[shrike071]

I have an Alpine CDA 9857 - all the bells and whistles you could ask for... But it lights up blue. I love it - but others may not..