BMWs in the family

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Funny... Just after Wayne posts his announcement on the other BBSes about this one, my step-dad's Rx-7 dies--and he goes and gets himself a 98 328!

I wonder if that's what they call "fate"??

Mom says she wants a CD player instead of the cassette deck in it now. I just happen to have a spare Blau that's less than a year old. (Bought the radio, wrecked the car--DOH!!) I think I know what Mom is getting for her birthday this year...

--DD

[Wayne 962]

Hey Dave, the BMW's are pre-wired for CD changers in the trunk. Although the factory units are very expensive (although you can find some on Ebay), Pioneer and Alpine both make affordable aftermarket units that should just plug right in.

I would do this rather than hack apart the factory radio that's in the dash. I think that this generally decreases resale value on these cars, and adding the changer increases it somewhat...

-Wayne

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Hmm, thanks Wayne! I'll have to look into that. Rats, here I thought I had a cool way to dipose of the spare radio!

--DD

[Wayne 962]

Also, there are many OEM BMW changers on Ebay, although I'm not too sure what you would get if you bought one there...

-Wayne

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Wayne, do you know which models of Alpine and/or Pioneer work with the factory wiring? I poked around on Crutchfield's web site and couldn't find anything listed for BMWs specifically. The closest I could find was one of the "universal" players that plays through your FM radio...

--DD

[Wayne 962]

The CDX-30 from Pioneer is the same as one of the OEM factory units - that's the one that I'm going to go with, but looking now, I'm not sure if that would work with the 98. I think tha the cut off for that unit is right around that date...

-Wayne