Bought a new head unit for my '86 coupe

[PabloX]

It seems there are no head units sold in the US that aren't horrifically ugly except for Blaupunkt and those aren't the greatest. I found this one by a lot of searching. It's not a perfect match either but it'll have to do.



http://www.kienzle.de/uploads/media/MCR1116BT.pdf

[HammerESQ]

That's great looking, where did you find a US dealer, and what was the cost?

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by HammerESQ

That's great looking, where did you find a US dealer, and what was the cost?

Thanks, I hope it looks good in the car.

Unfortunately, there's no US dealer. I got it from here.

Kienzle MCR 1116 BT Autoradio USB Aux Bluetooth fse Ext Mikro Ohne CD Player | eBay

[PabloX]

Now a question that hopefully someone can answer. I installed this over the past weekend and I'm mostly happy. However, there's one problem with it which is FM reception isn't as good as the old stereo. I'm wondering if the following is part of that.

Taped to the antenna lead was another wire. With the old stereo, that wire was attached to the power antenna lead off the stereo. Since there's no power antenna (it's an '86 with the antenna embedded in the window), I didn't connect that at all.

So does anyone know what the purpose of that wire is?

[Dooodahman]

It is probably the antenna amplifier. Connect it to the wire for the power antenna and you will get much better reception.

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by Dooodahman

It is probably the antenna amplifier. Connect it to the wire for the power antenna and you will get much better reception.

Thanks! I was wondering (hoping) if it could be some sort of signal amp.

[MattKellett]

That"s a great looking stereo! Looks like a modern day version of the old Becker Grand Prix from the 80's.

I think the problem could be that, I believe, the frequencies used in Germany are slightly different to the US, meaning that you might not be able to fully tuning into the radio station.

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by MattKellett

That"s a great looking stereo! Looks like a modern day version of the old Becker Grand Prix from the 80's.

I think the problem could be that, I believe, the frequencies used in Germany are slightly different to the US, meaning that you might not be able to fully tuning into the radio station.

Thanks. It's a good visual fit for the car, IMO.

I did investigate the tuner before I bought and they said it's a "world tuner", meaning it will work with FM frequencies in all countries. It tunes down to the hundredth (e.g. 101.15) so I don't think that's the issue. Also, RDS seems to work well with the stations in my area.

The antenna amplifier seems likely so I'll hook that up sometime in the next few days.

Here's a pic of it in the car.

[ronkirkland]

I was just about to buy a Blau 420BT when I saw this. That head unit looks a lot better IMO. How is it working out? Any issues installing it at all?

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by ronkirkland

I was just about to buy a Blau 420BT when I saw this. That head unit looks a lot better IMO. How is it working out? Any issues installing it at all?

The only issue, as previously mentioned, is that the FM reception isn't very good. However, also as previously mentioned, that may be due to the wire I didn't hook up which seems to be for an antenna amplifier. So once I do that, I'll report back on whether it fixes it. I think the odds are good that it will.

Installation was straight forward and it used the same color coding as the previous Alpine, so that helped. It did use a different harness though. You'd need to get an ISO harness which seems to be a fairly recent standard. I got a Boss branded one off of Amazon.

If you have specific questions, feel free to post them and I'll try to answer.

Incidentally, a 420BT was what I was going to get before I found this one. Some of the reviews on the 420BT said the bluetooth on it was flaky. So far, no bluetooth complaints with this one.

[ronkirkland]

Great, thanks. Ordering now!

[midmoto]

Great looking unit. I too am looking for a radio for my 86 Carrera.
I will check this out and thank you for the information.

[db_cooper]

Your 86 should already have a signal amplifier, presuming you have the antenna in the windshield. That extra wire you have powers the signal amplifier and only needs to be connected.

[ronkirkland]

Can you post a link to the correct harness?

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by db_cooper

Your 86 should already have a signal amplifier, presuming you have the antenna in the windshield. That extra wire you have powers the signal amplifier and only needs to be connected.

Thanks for confirming that. I'll fix that this weekend.

Originally Posted by ronkirkland

Can you post a link to the correct harness?

This is the one I used and it worked fine. Color coding also matched the harness for the Alpine that was in there before, which was convenient.

Amazon.com : Boss Car Sterio Head Unit 16-pin Wire Harness Power Plug CD MP3 DVD : Vehicle Wiring Harnesses : Car Electronics

[ganun]

That german Kienzle website also has other branded head units , I like the orange colored Continental, others are the blue VDO branded. They all look like the same radios but different color and label. I would like the VDO cause it matches the clock.
see: kienzle.de

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by ganun

That german Kienzle website also has other branded head units , I like the orange colored Continental, others are the blue VDO branded. They all look like the same radios but different color and label. I would like the VDO cause it matches the clock.
see: kienzle.de

Yup. People on BMW forums are using this one for 80s and 90s cars because it's a good visual fit. It wouldn't be bad in an 80s Porsche either.



Kienzle Automotive GmbH: Audio

[pmax]

Originally Posted by PabloX

Now a question that hopefully someone can answer. I installed this over the past weekend and I'm mostly happy.

What tools do you need to remove the old radio ?
I have an old Sony unit in mine and can't figure out how it's attached.

Thx !

Cool radio.

[PabloX]

Originally Posted by pmax

What tools do you need to remove the old radio ?
I have an old Sony unit in mine and can't figure out how it's attached.

Thx !

Cool radio.

Not all DIN radios come out exactly the same way, so this may or may not apply.

First, so far as I know, all DIN radios have some sort of sheet metal sleeve that gets mounted to the dashboard. Then the radio slides into the sleeve and locks in place via some mechanism.

With the Alpine that was in there, it was simply a matter of prying off the bezel and there were spring loaded rollers that locked into a catch on either side. A small screwdriver got those rollers out of the catches and and the radio pushed out.

On others, there should be a small slot on either side of the radio. You push a little sheet metal key in there and that will release the lock tabs holding the radio in. If you look at my picture above of the installed radio, you can just see this to the left of the volume knob. There's another one on the right, hidden behind the USB door. The unit came with the keys.

After that, the sleeve is pretty easy. It's usually held in by tabs that are bent out to curl around the back of the dash. Sometimes there are screws.

Hopefully that helps.

[1990C4S]

I have never had 'good' FM reception from my '89 car. The windshield antenna seems to be weak.

I'm thinking of adding an antenna under the seat.