# Head unit replacement



## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

Okay, I know this is sacrilege to a lot of you guys, but just bear with me. I want to replace my CD head unit with an MP3 CD/CD-RW playing unit. I had everything in place, then found that the antenna connector on the BMW CD player is some new funky nonstandard connection. What's wrong with them?

Anyway, does anyone know if there are plans by any of the car stereo installation kit makers to make an antenna adapter for the 2002 E46 in the near future? It's a deal killer for me to have to cut factory wiring. For now I'm sticking with the stock head unit, but it really kills me that BMW made up some new connector for no good reason. What's wrong with standards?


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## Imola Ed (Dec 23, 2001)

*No answer here, but a question...*

How do you get the original unit out? I used to replace all my car stereos until I bought my first BMW, at which point I could never figure out how to pull it out - I was afraid I'd break something. Any hints?


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## evilfactoryowne (Dec 24, 2001)

you have to pull off the trim panels on the right and left side of the radio.


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## silroc (Dec 21, 2001)

*hmmmmmm*

There should be kits that allow you to plug and play ???? weird

they even allow you to keep your steering wheel controls !!!!

try this ques also at fanatics -

gl


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

Thanks for the replies, guys. Imola Ed, it's really easy to get the head unit out. CAREFULLY pry up and remove the trim piece on the far passenger side (it snaps out), then remove the piece directly over the radio. You'll see two screws exposed on either side of the radio. Remove them, and the stereo slides out. To release the wiring harness, pull up on the sliding piece on top of it until it unlocks. To remove the antenna connector, press in the tab and slide it out.

Sil, I got a replacement wiring harness that takes care of the speakers, lighting, and auto-on (for HK amps). I wired it up and tested it and everything works perfectly. The problem is the separate antenna connector, which is completely nonstandard. If I want to listen to radio and not just CDs, I'm afraid my only choices are to cut the factory antenna wire and try to solder on a Motorola type antenna connector, or just wait for an adapter. I'll post over at Fanatics, thanks.


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

*couldn't you make your own adapter?*

Buy the antenna connector and/or wire from your dealer's parts dept, buy a female Motorola type antenna receptacle from Radioshack. Wire the 2 together, and voila, you have an adapter. I'm not sure if there would be enough room behind the radio to accomodate this contraption though.


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

*Re: couldn't you make your own adapter?*



robg said:


> *I'm not sure if there would be enough room behind the radio to accomodate this contraption though. *


Yes, that is a big problem I didn't end up trying to solve when I was in there the first time. I've read that you can slide out the climate control module under the radio, and use the space behind it to tuck a lot of wires.

The soldering solution sounds good in principal, but I'm not very handy with a soldering gun. I'm not sure if the female antenna connector (which is integrated into the stock head unit) is available as a separate part. I'll have to check into that though. If it is, I could have someone solder the female connector to a MALE Motorola connector, and that would go into the female Motorola connector on the new head unit. Sheesh!


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## bmw325 (Dec 19, 2001)

*Yeah-- I reversed it--*

it probably will be hard/expensive to get the female BMW antenna connector. Maybe from a wrecked car's radio?


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## jeffxjet (Dec 25, 2001)

What head unit did you get? I want to do the same thing. Do the steering whell controls still work? I read that in the posts above but it wasn't real clear whether they still worked or not.
Jeff


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## Imola Ed (Dec 23, 2001)

*And does it fill the whole slot well?*

Call me curious


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

I got the JVC KD-SH99. Unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the install, and I think I'm going to sell the unit to my Dad and wait for an antenna adapter before I try again. I don't know if the steering wheel controls work--I didn't try it before I gave up on the install.

You can get an idea of how it will look by checking out the Scosche trim panel kit for E46. The head unit appears in the center of the trim panel. Not beautiful, but not horrible either, and I'd love to have the extra MP3 functionality and equalizer controls of the KD-SH99. The second piece of the installation puzzle is the Scosche wiring harness. I used heat shrink butt connectors to splice the ends of the wires to the corresponding wires on the JVC unit. Everything was going great until I was stymied by the antenna connection.

If you end up ordering at the same place I did (SoundDomain) be sure to use their 105% price match guarantee.

Below is an image of the unit. Note that the trim ring shown does NOT get installed when you use the Scosche trim panel kit. I thought the brushed aluminum face of the JVC looked pretty cool with the titanium trim of my interior.










If any of you guys found out a way around the antenna problem, please post it because I really want to do this!


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## jeffxjet (Dec 25, 2001)

That's a bummer about the install. I'm gonna go to a luxury car stereo installation place and browse to see what they have and what they can do. Whatever happens I'll fill you guys in. Let us know what yo do if you get a different unit and how it goes.
Jeff


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

jeffxjet said:


> *That's a bummer about the install. I'm gonna go to a luxury car stereo installation place and browse to see what they have and what they can do. Whatever happens I'll fill you guys in. Let us know what yo do if you get a different unit and how it goes.
> Jeff *


Yeah, that's another possibility--get a European radio (Blaupunkt) and hope they have the right connector in the package. The only problem with the Blaupunkt MP3 units is they won't resume an MP3 where they left off when you power off the car. That's a HUGE problem for me!

I'm looking forward to your report Jeffxjet, please let us know what they recommend doing with the antenna connector.


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## jeffxjet (Dec 25, 2001)

Will do, not sure it's gonna happen anytime soon though Wife says no mods for a year after purchase, only 3 months to go. 
Jeff


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Euro sites seem to show that most current euro cars use the same antenna connector. Have you tried looking at a Audi/VW/MB/whatever one to see if its the right one?


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## DKJBama330ci (Dec 22, 2001)

*HMMM, Look at the site you just linked to*

It the bottom of the page for the installation bracket you posted a link to, they have your antenna adapter listed as a recommended accesory. They say it is for a VW but i'd be willing to bet thta if they put it there, it will fit your car.

Later,
DKJ


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

*Re: HMMM, Look at the site you just linked to*



DKJBama330ci said:


> *It the bottom of the page for the installation bracket you posted a link to, they have your antenna adapter listed as a recommended accesory. They say it is for a VW but i'd be willing to bet thta if they put it there, it will fit your car.
> 
> Later,
> DKJ *


Yeah, that's the one I tried, but it doesn't fit (too big). I'm guessing it may fit some previous year E46, but not my 2002.


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## Mystikal (Dec 20, 2001)

Mr. E said:


> *I got the JVC KD-SH99*


Hell yeah! I bought one of these back when I had my Grand Am (it was only for a couple of months, I swear!) and it took like 6 weeks to arrive. But then soon after it came, I realized that we were going to buy a new car, and I didn't wanna mess up the dash on the SE-R Spec-V that we were getting, which already had a 280-watt Rockford w/In-dash 6-pack.

But now that we ended up with an E46, I *still* don't wanna put an aftermarket deck in, because the factory one blends in so well with the rest of the interior. Sigh, compromises...


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

Mystikal said:


> *But now that we ended up with an E46, I still don't wanna put an aftermarket deck in, because the factory one blends in so well with the rest of the interior. Sigh, compromises... *


Yep, that's always the dilemmna, to preserve the harmony of the interior or improve the functionality. I'm more of a "function over form" guy myself, so I have no problem changing out the head unit.


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## Mr. E (Dec 19, 2001)

For anyone who's interested, I emailed Scosche to ask them whether they would be developing an antenna adapter for the 2002 E46


> Hi there, I started a stereo installation project on my 2002 BMW 325ci, to replace the stock CD player head unit with a JVC KD-SH99. I used your wiring harness and trim kit, which worked great, but the VWA antenna adapter does NOT fit the antenna connector on my car so I had to abort the installation.
> 
> Will you be producing an antenna adapter for the 2002 BMW 3 series, and do you know when it might become available?


Here is the reply I received today:


> At this time we are developing the adaptor. But unfortunatly We dont have any projected time.


Sounds like I will be able to attempt this another time, and do it the right way (without cutting wires). I'll keep an eye on Scosche's site and let everyone know when the adapter comes out. Thanks everyone, I love this board!


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## [email protected] (Dec 20, 2001)

*Please keep us posted*

i also had the whole car apart and had to stop my install cause of the antenna wire...well as of now my ICE sits and collects
Cmon Scosche its now 2002 wake up!


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