Keeping it Original as poss?

I got a Pioneer DEH-P77MP for my '89 635 as it has a very retro look. No dancing dolphins or dazzling light shows! The front panel is a solid slab of brushed aluminium with a white led display.

It has a hidden cd slot behind a removeable front & can play MP3 tracks from cd's you've burnt. It has enough power to make itself heard with good sound quality.

I paid around £199 for it although you may well find it cheaper now.

It's also available with a remote which clamps to the steering wheel for around £25 which is actually quite handy.

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Period stuff from BMW direct was discontinued years ago so I doubt if you'd have much luck anyway.

I've got a Pioneer KEH M9500 early flip front (complete with early remote) in my '89 325 convertible, coupled to a CDX-M30 CD changer (similar to http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/pioneer-CDX-M50-6disc-multi-changer-no -reserve_W0QQitemZ5880201488QQcategoryZ75302QQrdZ1QQcmdZView Item). The changer dates from about '92 and the head unit dates from about '94. In my opinion the black units look more period and you need a unit that has the Amber illumination option. This set up looks VERY period (important to me) and with the custom fit Sony 2 way's, sounds okay.

In my opinion the classic Alpines never looked right even when the cars were new. They had big square green buttons. I did get offered my mates original 1989 pull out Alpine for mine that he kept from his then brand new 1989 325iSE.

With a convertible it is VERY difficult to get equivilent sound quality to whats acheivable in a saloon especially with the hood down without throwing huge money at it. I think you've got the exact right idea by not wanting huge speaker builds and modern gimmicky hi fi's

Personally I'd look at improving the speakers using the available space in the existing positions. Then I'd look at the iPod option of an FM modulator which tunes the MP3 into a radio frequency. I'm currently using this in the firms car with excellent results and will be using it in the summer in the e30. You may not even need to change the head unit leaving the dash looking EXACLTY as it came from the factory.

It all depends on what sound quality your looking for. If your after Max Power sound off quality you've got to forget about keeping it standard. If you want originality, you have to compromise.

Cheers

Trevor

Edited by whitey

billgates e30 wrote: for brilliant sound (with a suitable matching system obviously) then you could go for a nakamichi  only problem is that that particular head unit costs about 400 notes, and trying to find them can be difficult look good though

Now that would look okay. It would match the switchgear well and not look out of place.

What i like about it is that the front panel does not look too thick in depth. On the e30 the recess is not that deep and some units can look as though they are "hanging" out of the dash.

To be honest, yes, you can go and pay £120 in Halfords and get a CD tuner but it will look like a dogs dinner and be full of gimmicks that you never need. Sitting in the cupboard here I have a Sony mini disc (a format I really like) that is a superb unit. But it would just look wrong in the e30. It also has the prancing horses scrolling function and all the rest of it that I never used!

However if you want a descrete, period looking and undoubtably one of the finest quality units you can get, £400 is (in my mind) not out of the way. Espescially in what sounds to be an ultra low mileage mint car that needs no other money spending on it.  I'd go for it, however I'm just about to do the thick end of £200 on a pair of chrome bumper centre sections from the dealers so my priorities lie elsewhere.........unfortunately! 

TOP advice thanks geezers...

And yep it is a really mint original car so thats absolutely KEY to me, no mods at all in preference....

Thanks again!

400 for the head unit? what about changer, amps, speakers eeek!

I went for this one in my 6 series as my budget was pretty tight. I think its a pretty good period type look - and the orange back-light fits in with the display.

Big advantage here is the Aux in port on the front panel, which allows you to plug your ipod or similar straight in.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/JVC-CD-Radio-KDG612_W0QQitemZ579846321 2QQcategoryZ39759QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem