CD Changer

[Kristen]

Hi! I just bought a '95 318ti a week ago and I absolutely love this car!!! Anybody that has a problem with the acceleration ought to drive a '99 Saturn Coupe for three years, the ti is a blessing. Anyway, I was wondering if anybody knew where I could get a rather inexpensive CD Changer for my ti, the stores I went to said I needed a $100 adapter on top of the changer itself.

Thanks!

[Bimmer422]

check out ebay. you should find them for significantly less that the dealer's $500 price tag.

[DougZ]

Kristen: I bought a 12 disc Pioneer CD changer that came with the adapter from Autotoys.com for a mere $250.00. I was very happy with changer and how easy it was to install. I don't know if your car is "prewired for CD changer", like mine was...but if it is, the install only takes like five minutes. The wires from the car plug into the adapter, and the wires from the adapter plug into the changer. The longest part of the install was drilling the mounting holes for the brackets. Let me know if you need anymore information. You can email me at dz08876@aol.com

[This message has been edited by DougZ (edited 03-02-2002).]

[1996 328ti]

1995 and 1996 have different cabling than 96+.

FWIW- The CD changer mounting bracket for the factory CD changer is no longer available for the 95-96 models.

[Kristen]

I had heard that the '95 cd changer wiring was different, but I'm not sure how it differs or how to get by that. Does anyone else know?? Also, does anyone else know how difficult it would be to put an in dash cd player instead??

Thanks!!

[StevenTN318]

I put a dash CD player in my '96 ti just after I got it. I bought it and had it installed at Best Buy, it didn't take them but like 30min. Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents!

------------------
Why look like all my friends at high school and drive a civic, when I can beat them in my TI?

[ayton]

first off welcome aboard! second on the changer issue for about $300-350 you can get a new radio and changer combo all together at places like Best Buy and Circuit City when they have sale specials. I've seen them in my area do that and I think you would make out better in the long run.Keep in mind I'm talking about reputable names like Sony,JVC and Aiwa and I have seen 1 or 2 Alpine and Panasonic deals and these two are OEM.

[Suddha]

Hey, StevenTN318... what kind of in-dash CD player did you get? I asked at Best Buy and they gave me some kind of technical mumbo jumbo about BMW's being hard to do aftermarket installs on...

I'd love to get a cheaper in-dash unit than the $500 one the dealer wants.

Thanks!

[myred318i]

I put a new in-dash am/fm/cd player in mine.... whole process took about 30 minutes. I bought an "open item" unit from Best Buy for $49 (retail $299) and had to buy a wiring adapter ($30). The wiring adapter fits right into the pigtail from the car, and the wires from the adapter into the unit matched right up color-for-color. The only thing that threw me off was one wire was labeled "power antenna", I left it disconnected 'cause I don't have a pwr. antenna. I turned on my new unit and had power, but no sound... as it turns out, the power antenna wire is what connected the amp in my car. Works great! Obviously, a much cheaper alternative to buying the pre-wired CD changer.

[Suddha]

Great news!! I'd love to know the specific brand of stereo you bought, and how recently. I am not an audio guy, so don't have any experience installing stereos. If you found something that works, I'd love to follow suit.

How difficult was the physical removal of the BMW unit and install of the new one?

Thanks....

[myred318i]

Suddha,
I bought a Pioneer unit. I don't think it matters what brand... just size (1 DIN). I bought the wiring adapter at the installation shop in the back of Best Buy. As far as removal of the BMW unit... there is a tab on each side of the face of your radio. Lift them up and insert a very small allen key ( I don't know what size it was, just small...experiment, you'll figure it out). Loosen the allen bolts, they cause the locking mechanism to retract into the head unit, and it just slides right out. To unplug the connector on the back of the radio, you just slide the locking tab down, and the connection pulls off. If that process takes you more than 3 minutes, it because you can't find the right allen key!! Pre-wire your adapter wires to the new unit (color-for-color, hopefully) and slide in the new mounting bracket (comes with the radio) bend the locking tabs in place to secure it inside the dash... connect the factory wiring harness to the new adapter harness, push the wires as far back as you can to clear space for the head unit, and just slide it into the bracket and your done. New Tewnz!!
I did mine about 2-3 mos. ago, and was no big deal. I'm sure there are others who go all out with component systems, and spend mega-bucks, but I accomplished what I wanted to do. Play CD's... and it's loud enough to drown out my voice when I sing along. I did replace the speakers in the kick panel too, that was also easy. I probably wouldn't have done it, but I got a great deal on another "open item" speakers, so what the hell... anyway, it suits me fine!!
I got lucky with the prices I paid for the radio & speakers. I did the whole thing for <$100 and my time. But as simple as it was, I can't imagine paying a shop to do it.

[Suddha]

Thanks for the install tips! I am going to start hitting Best Buy weekly, looking for "open items" and give this a try.

I don't need anything fancy. The 10 speakers in this car are more than adequate for me. I just am tired of playing tapes or messing with my Car Ready Discman.

[asianwitattitude]

dougz: what is the model of your pioneer cd changeR?

[DougZ]

Asain w/ att.: I have the Pioneer CDX-P1250 12 disc changer. I have it running through a Pionner DEH-P4400 head unit. Unfortunatly, the Cd changer is out of the car right now being repaired. It broke down and would do nothing about two weeks before the one year warranty was up. Lucky me. Apparently, Pionner had some trouble with one batch of their older CD changers, like mine. I spoke to a bunch of stereo install guys before I sent mine back. I tried all of the trouble shooting that I could myself, but had to send it to a certified Pioneer repair center to get fixed. I am kinda pist now because I spent a lot for Pioneer components because they are supposed to be very high quality, but I had some trouble. And forget about their customer service....it sucks.

You can see how I installed it at http://members.cardomain.com/dougz

click on page 2

I will kep you informed on what happens when I get it back.

------------------
Doug Z.
1998 Active....modded just enough to stand out!