# 2004 BMW X3 - Aftermarket Stereo Head Unit



## trader37 (Jun 25, 2009)

This is going to be a little long so grab a coffee and sit back and relax 

I had a business radio/cd h/u in my 2004 x3 with no DSP. I wanted XM Satellite radio, Bluetooth integration with Microphone and Iphone integration all within the stereo / hu. After reading and posting and more reading and researching I decided that an aftermarket head unit would be the best thing for me. I wasn't really looking for better quality of sound as I was satisified with what I had as I don't intend on blowing my ear drums. An upgrade path however was a still a nice to have and I certainly got it with this.

I just happen to walk into an electronics store during a storewide sale and started looking at car stereo's and found what I needed. A JVC Aresenal KDA-805. It cost about $200USD plus taxes. A quick side note about the h/u... it has a colour changeable display so I was able to change the lcd colour to red to match the current lighting in the interior gauges.

I ordered a SCOSCHE install kit from ebay for $17.50USD which included a dash kit, wiring harness/adapter, and a european to NA antenna adapter.

After speaking with an installer at said store, I also ordered (and am still waiting for) an Audiovox XM DIRECT 2 WITH MINI TUNER and an interface cable for $110USD and a JVC changer-extension cable for $20USD.

That's a total of about $350USD shipped to my door. This amount seemed reasonable to me as it gives me everything I need for a half decent price and I didn't think I needed to crack open the doors or try and get at the mid's under the seat.

On to the install:

I added the mounting brackets to each side of the head unit. My biggest complaint (only because i'm being too demanding), the SCOSCHE kit didn't come with any mounting screws so I had to find some. I couldn't find any countersunk screws so I had to stick with hex screws/bolts which worked out...not as nice as I wanted but I was impatient.

The jvc head unit comes with a jvc wiring harness of course. The SCOSCHE wiring harness matched the jvc harness for wiring colour fairly well. There was nothing confusing or difficult about figuring out what went where. I initially thought I would have to figure out pin outs for the BMW wiring harness and then match it up to the JVC pinouts but it just made sense to pair up green with green and white with white etc that I figured I would take a chance. It paid off! I simply joined the wires, taped them up (I'll explain later) and plugged the harness into the head unit.

I removed the dash pieces and the business head unit as per posts on this forum and on youtube etc. BSW has put up a nice video of the process, I believe it's the one showing the Dice install or the Aux install. *Kudos to BSW for that video by the way because it made the whole process far less intimidating and relatively pain free!*

I slid the JVC head unit into the opening and then slid the SCOSCHE dask kit over top and screwed the two in together into the dash. I ran a quick test at this point, listening for sound and radio. It appeared to work well.

The old head unit had the accessory wire wired to constant on so the head unit could be turned on even if the key wasn't in the ignition. Wiring everything according to colour code left me short of that. It now only works with the key in the ignition either in the accessory position or the start position. I may wire this so the h/u always works (It will be connected to orange-red to red or the red to orange-red). I ran the microphone out the side and then put the rest of the dash together and that was it.

Once everything looked nice and it was all screwed and clipped in securely I started playing around with my new car stereo. I must say..*****. All I did was replace the head unit. The sound is far better than it was with the original BMW head unit. It's still going through the factory amp. I'm not entirely sure if the mid's under the seats are working but it sounds amazing right now including bass! The sound quality has seriously improved AT LEAST 25% if not more plus I have all the funcationality I need (xm coming in 2-3 weeks).

I know some on the board have suggested changing the speakers first. then the amp and then the head unit if necessary. I wanted functionality rather than improved sound quality. Looks like I got both.

As far as taping the wires, I'm unfortuantely paying an installer for insurance puproses.
I'll let him use butt connectors or whatever. For $50 he's "wiring" up the stereo and the satellite.

I'll post up pictures soon. If you have any questions or comment please feel free to post!

<edit> 
Posting Pics. I haven't mounted the mic yet but I'll include a pic of it. Before someone asks the question, yes the dash kit is darker then the rest of the trim but it doesn't look bad to me, it just causes the eye to focus on the head unit. There is one thing I don't like about the h/u so far. The screen does not handle too well with glare. If I could get a glare guard or matte screen protector for the unit I would be happier but over all, i'm still not dissapointed as I've had the unit for a bit now and it sounds better and I have most of the functionality i wanted. I'm still waiting for the sattelite equipment. I purchased it from fleebay and they sent me an email saying they're out of stock but they should be getting more units in in a few days....

<edit2>The other thing that may concern people is that the h/u is not centered. It's offset to the left. I'm not sure if i'll modify the dash kit to add something else or not. I may add a bracket or phone holder / clip on the right side. It might be a good area for my iphone if I can get some sort of a raised swivel mount.</edit2>





































</edit>


----------



## Supercourse (Feb 15, 2008)

Sounds like a great upgrade.

Being able to change the display color to X3 red is important in my book.

The improved fidelity is not that surprising, for a fairly high-end aftermarket deck,
but I guess the fortunate thing is that it seems to be a good match input-wise to the X3's external amp.

I looked up the specs. and see that you get the same no. of pre-sets, so can't see any serious downsides.

Do the steering wheel controls work O.K.?

Will the remote be useful generally, or just when receiving/ending a call?

Will removing and storing the faceplate be an inconvenience?

Here's some useful pictures I found of the unit, until we see your installed ones:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/pictures.php?id=17638


----------



## trader37 (Jun 25, 2009)

Supercourse said:


> Do the steering wheel controls work O.K.?
> 
> Will the remote be useful generally, or just when receiving/ending a call?
> 
> Will removing and storing the faceplate be an inconvenience?


I don't have steering wheel controls but there is an input in the back for streering wheel controls and I believe you can buy an adapter to fit inline with the deck to interface with the steering wheel.

I'm not sure if the remote will be usefull, I think it's more than likely going to be a pain and I'll likely lose it somewhere in the car. I've tried the phone functionality and my arms are long enough to hit the phone button on the deck. I think the remote's more of a gimmick since everyone's including it, I'll be able to tell with more time.

Removing the faceplate is a bit of an inconfenience especailly since it's a bit of a tight fit. It's a little difficult taking it out but I can tell I'll get used to it and it will be pretty fast. If I had a garage at home rather than a car port, I might be tempted to leave it in the vehicle but no such luck. I'll take the minor inconvience for the other conveniences and better sound.

As for the pre-out's... I haven't used them yet. Right now the head unit is going through the factory amp using amplified signal on the regular speaker wires. I checked with the installer and he said it should be fine as long as I didn't crank it and even normal volume would be louder than the factory head unit. I do however intend on running RCA's to the back of the vehicle when I do the XM install. Also, I did hook up the amp / accessory control wire on both harnesses. I believe it's what turns on both the Audio Amp and the Antenna amp. I tried without the amp control wire hooked up and no sound came out.

I'll post pics in the next 48 hours. I have a brand new camera that i'm playing around with.


----------



## jspark (Sep 1, 2009)

I have a 2004 x3 as well. Been thinking of upgrading the H/U, but I like how the factory radio looks in the dash. For now I'm upgrading the speakers to see what the difference is. How does the non factory radio look in your car? I'd love to see pictures of your dash.


----------



## loci (Feb 12, 2009)

Does the AUX port in the back of the center arm rest still work?


----------



## trader37 (Jun 25, 2009)

I don't believe so. I don't have one there but I don't believe the new head unit has an input through the wiring harness. Depending on the device, you may not need one.

The JVC has bluetooth incluuded so I just use my iphone through that. It's also got IPOD/IPHONE control through USb but it's not as clean....

Having said that, the h/u has two usb connectors if you can use one of them instead. One on the front of the h/u and the other as a cable in the rear of the h/u. You can use the bluetooth dongle on the front. The dongle is pretty flat and it just plugs into the faceplate and doesn't plug into the actual h/u. You can then route a usb extention cable from the rear of the deck to the centre console or wherever else and use it that way. There could be a fair amount of creativity used here. I was thinking of routing it to the centre console or more so to the button area where underneath the climate controls (see my first pic). 

Also, just an fyi, I plugged my blackberry into the usb port on the h/u and it charged it up as well. I wasn't sure what it would do, especially since I don't have any mp3's on it. I was extremely glad it started charging the bb as it's a work phone and I was on call and down to 10% battery life!

I'm also toying with the idea of mounting a phone holder on the right side of the trim plate where it's empty.


----------



## Lefty_Russ (Aug 12, 2011)

*Replacing my 2004 X3's Business CD (w/DSP) - possible issues?*

I know this is an old thread.

The in-dash CD player is dead on my stock stereo. I am considering an aftermarket head unit. I have been getting conflicting advise from the installers.

For starters. My Business CD has DSP. I don't know why that makes a difference if it's being replaced, but to some installers I've spoken with seem to think it does. Because of this, some of the installers are telling me that all of the stock amplifiers in the system need to be removed and/or replaced. Yet, others are saying they can reuse the stock amps.

I don't know enough about this stuff to know who to believe. It figured I would just find a nice unit, buy the same Scosche install kit and then get the deed done myself. I'm looking more for functionality than achieving the end-all audio nirvana. I just need bluetooth, aux in, usb, iPod controls and CD player. my X3 has steering wheel controls, and have noticed that all of the stereos I am considering will utilize these if I purchase the correct adapter so this shouldn't be an issue.

Any/All insight anyone can share with me regarding whether or not the amps can be reused or need replacing is appreciated. I have a feeling that I'm getting smoke blown up my @ss by the installers/salesmen so they can just sell me more stuff.

Peace.


----------



## Stubakka (Jul 5, 2009)

I will also be installing an after market head unit in my 2007 BMW x3, I have never done a radio install in a Car in my life so i hope to not have to many issues. 

I picked up a Alpine CDE-HD148BT CD Receiver 
trim tool
Euro Antenna Adapter OEM F to Motorola M 
Metra 70-9003C Wire Harness for BMW/Mercedes/Mini 00-up 
BMW X3 2004-Up Kit E/I 
Axxess Metra ASWC-1 Universal Steering Wheel Control Interface with New Micro B Connector

Im going to take a look at it this weekend and if its over my head (Im more of a computer tech then Eletronics, wireing) I have a buddy that will do it for me for 100$. 

Ill try and post some pics of the install, if i can remember to haha.


----------



## Stalkingbutler (Sep 8, 2013)

Stubakka said:


> I will also be installing an after market head unit in my 2007 BMW x3, I have never done a radio install in a Car in my life so i hope to not have to many issues.
> 
> I picked up a Alpine CDE-HD148BT CD Receiver
> trim tool
> ...


Hey, I have a 2007 328i, and have the same new HU that I want to install ASAP.
For the same reasons, (IPOD, Btooth, Pandora,etc.) 
How did this workout for you? 
Any issues?
I'll be using pretty much the same parts as you....

Thanks,
Matt


----------



## Stalkingbutler (Sep 8, 2013)

Bump..


----------



## coffinsupply (Jan 31, 2017)

Same here 1st time doing a stereo diy and its a 2008 x3 . Installed a brand new power acoustic 701B w/7 inch display.

HU $67
Harness and single din kit with antenna adapter $17.75
12 Piece pry tool $4.14

The head unit is called single din but it not. It didn't fit the din adapter kit properly. This is where dremel skills came to play , its a life saver. 


Next add-ons will be a steering wheel adapter and backup parking camera.

So satisfied already.


----------

