aftermarket head units

[cavemanDarrell]

what do you have for aftermarket head units?
I want to have something that doesn't look like it came from an alien spacecraft. It should fit in with the very 80s look.


speaking of looking 80s.....

[alijonny]

Tyrrell p34 FTW!

[Karl Grau]

I still have the stock radio in the M5 but the e30 has a Blaupunkt Sydney.

[Patrick McHugh]

That first unit is 100% win! I am in the market myself. All I care about is red display and Ipod plug.

[derrith]

I've got a nakamichi mobile tuner deck 1, the m535i has a mtd 2. Aux in at the rear, no internal amplifier, almost the right amber backlight.

The m5 just has an inline volume control running to an amp in the trunk.

[RonW]

Blaupunkt Tucson CM84. It has the right look and controls a Sony CD changer in the trunk. It's from the last century, though.

[PMA]

The CM84 controls a sony changer? I had that same radio but took it out as the blaupunkt changer in the trunk stopped working. I've been thinking about switching back though, it even has a line-in jack for an MP3 player.

[Jsanders]

I have no radio

[EZE84WIP]

I also have no radio

[slammin_e28]

I have one....just for looks. Some shitty Pioneer that was probably the greatest thing eva eva in 1995. Fills the hole so whatever.

[travisj]

I currently have the stock radio in my 533i, but I also have a Blaupunkt New York CD player circa 1988. It looks way closer to period correct than most of the Blaupunkts that I've seen people here with. It has a CD cartridge! I will have to snap a pic and post it. I had it in my Volvo about 5-6 years ago. I remember looking at one at the Blau dealer back when they were new and it was selling for $900! crazy, I think. But I love it.
It actually looks like this Phoenix (which I also have one of): from the same line, but it's a CD player :

[Mr. E28]

Pioneer P99RS waiting to replace my P800PRS. They aren't classic in design, but they are very understated and flow with the E28 interior quite well. Most importantly (to me), they sound phenomenal.

[stuartinmn]

The thing I always liked about old Blaupunkt head units (or Nakamichi, for that matter) is they didn't feel the need to put a thousand pushbuttons on the front. 95% of the time, the only control I'm concerned about is the volume knob anyway.

The head unit in the 325ix I bought recently has all these stupid little chiclet-sized buttons for everything, with cryptic labels for their functions. I've been driving the car for six months now and I still haven't figured out how to turn the stupid radio off.

[M. Holtmeier]

It sounds like the radio that Stuart dispises is the exact one I have!

It's a Clarion DXZ835MP. I bought purely based on it's multi color display. It has not impressed me in the slightest. I've been looking for replacements.

[travisj]

wow, I have two units of that exact same clarion and not really pleased with the quality. I had an early 90s clarion proaudio unit that was of exceptional quality as well the old blaupunkt products. as far as I'm concerned, with exception to some really high end stuff, most of the shit any of those companies put out around 2000 and on is exactly that, shit.

clarion, soundstream, blaupunkt, alphasonik, fosgate, mb quart all sold out and are terrible now. mtx, pioneer, sony and those sorts have always been subpar.

I will stick with my old school alphasonik, blaupunkt, soundstream, mb quart, and altec lansing.

my $.02

[ElGuappo]

Alpine 9845 circa 2002.

Has red and amber illumination, a rear aux in (ipod adapter FTW) and is rather understaed by todays standards.

Quasi parametric EQs for bass & treble, 2 sets of outputs.
Wish it had better than a 2v preamp output though.

[RonW]

The CM84 controls a sony changer? I had that same radio but took it out as the blaupunkt changer in the trunk stopped working. I've been thinking about switching back though, it even has a line-in jack for an MP3 player.

Yup. Those first generation Blaupunkts had Sony Uni-Link instead of Blaupunk's protocol, so they work with Sony changers. The early Blaupunkt CD changers used Uni-Link as well, you have to match the right changer with the right head unit.

My first e28 came with a Blaupunkt Monterey SQR 23. If it weren't for the fact that it suffered from a severe case of brake pedal pop, I might never have replaced it.