2004 Z4 3.0i questions

G

g14ash

Member
Hello,

I thought I would introduce myself, Yesterday I made a 300mile round trip from Kent to Birmingham to buy a 54reg 3.0i SE. Its got 60000 miles (quite high) but full BMWSH so i didnt mind too much, Ellipsoid alloys, Silver colour with red interior. So far am really please with it, the power and drive are very nice, I do have a couple of questions though that the search button has not helped me with. These are:

It has the BMW Business Stereo- 4 questions here:

- is this different to the carver one?
- Are the sub woofers standard on the Business HIFI?
- As there is no aux in, are the ipod units that replace the CD changer any good? Can younavigate albums etc from the headunit?
- Will the sub woofers still work if you put in an aftermarket HU?

It appears to have self levelling headlights(they go up and down when you turn the ignition on) but they do not have xenons, does this mean an aftermarket good quality HID kit can be installed?

Thanks in advance

Ash
 
I'll take a stab at it--head units all look the same.
1. Carver has a second amp in the trunk/boot
2. There are subwoofers for all cars, but without Carver, they're in the footwell. You have only one speaker behind each seat if you don't have Carver, 2 if you do.
3. Aux in is after the 2006 "face lift". The BMW iPod adapter lets you navigate, not sure of other brands, but those who have installed them will chime in.
4.Don't know the answer to that.

Do a search in re: Xenons. you have to replace the light unit and the control module.
 
Thanks for the reply, I do have two speakers behind each seat, two round ones at the top behind the headrest and a woofer behind each seat further below. The HU or speakers do not have the Carver logo anywhere though, which is why i thought the BMW Business and Carver systems were two seperate things.Very confusing.

.
 
No Carver logo. Should have 2 amps in the back (one to drive the Carver speakers) and options such as "concert", "jazz club", "church" under DSP.
 
hi & Welcome :thumbsup:

You have the business system, two 4" speakers behind you, two tweeters in the doors, and to 6" speakers in the footwell, there are two 4" grills in the doors, but these are just blanks, but can be retro fitted.

The headlights on non xenon BMW, do seem to self level when you start up, they do it on my Z and my old 3 series.
 
Ash - welcome

I'll leave the audio questions and take the Xenon...

All Z4 headlights do an auto adjust up and down cycle when switched on, halogen or xenon. Not to be mistaken for auto level that comes with xenon to avoid dazzle as the car tips and pitches

You have 3 options:
Replace with brighter halogen bulbs - some speak well of this as a cheap mod

Fit an aftermarket HID kit. It will be illegal as it needs auto level adjustment which it will not have. You can take a chance as many have as it's unlikely to be spotted. Beam is likely to be poor focus as all your doing is substituting a xenon bulb (not to be confused with crap so called xenon filled bulbs on Ebnay) in place of the halogen.

Retrofit proper xenon - fairly rare for 3.0i silver inners, expensive and needs a new LCM (light switch in plain English) reprogramming and the level adjustment sensors on the suspension. Best option by a country mile if you do it correctly
 
Hi and welcome,

I've fitted the brighter halogens on other BMWs and for the cost and time invlved it's worth trying.

Hope you enjoy your Z
 
Ive checked and the subs behind the seat are definately there, very strange as there are no carver amps in the back.
 
g14ash said:
Ive checked and the subs behind the seat are definately there, very strange as there are no carver amps in the back.
Click to expand...

My carver amp is in the recess in the boot near the battery under the lid. I think they relocated it after a certain model year ?>..i coudl be wrong though. Mine's a late 2003 if that helps..it also has different settings for sound, i.e. jazz, concert etc.

Enjoy your new car !
 
easty027 is right, they moved them but not until the facelift in 2006, so yours should have the amp in the boot, it's under the floor though, so you'd need to lift it up to see it.
 
Thanks for the responses,

The stereo doesnt have jazz, concert etc.. and under the boot floor by the battery there are Two black boxes but do not look like amps. I am wondering whether a previous owner had retrofitted something like this:

http://shop.audioimages.co.uk/pioneer-ts-wx11a-150w-max-low-profile-oval-cone-amplified-subwoofer-p-788.html

behind the lower grills behind the seats. Is this possible?


Also, can the aux in be retrofitted without losing the CD changer? If so is there a guide anywhere?
 
I have a simialr setup and have not yet found a definitive answer on here.

Have grey business head unit, has some DSP settings but cannot recall which ones, only 3 I think.

Have subs behind the seats and an amp in the boot by the battery too. 53 plate 3.0 like yours. Mines on 72k and tight as a drum so don't worry about the mileage, like you say with a good history it will be fine.

Check the how to section for info on the Aux mod.
 
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