6 CD Changer

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Phil-E30

Active member
Hi guys,

Looks like I may have a car bought, I decided to accept not having Xenons, heated seats or CD changer in exchange due to the full BMW service history, being the right colour and having 39k miles.

I wanted to know if it is easy to fit the 6 cd changer to a car without it? Is the wiring there and it just needs to be connected or is it a big job?
 
The wiring will already be there in an EU car, but it'll be hidden away and may involve a bit of dismantling to uncover.

Not sure the cost of a CD changer unit, but many disconnect them to fit alternatives (intravee, denison, etc) that allow you to listen to music off an ipod. Have you considered that as an option?
 
I hadn't actually, I didn't know about them. I would be very keen on that. Do they act as CD changers as well as platforms for ipods etc?
 
The six CD changer is not terribly reliable. If you especially want to play CDs, you'd be better off with the dash-mounted single CD player as this seems more robust and plays MP3s.
If you can cope without a CD player, as Stovax said, you can fit an Intravee or the like which will allow you to use the sat nav screen and radio controls to control your ipod. These can be expensive and time consuming to fit though. For around £10 and half an hour's work you can fit an Aux socket into which you can plug your ipod. This makes the car radio act like headphones so you have to use the ipod controls and screen as usual to manage playlists etc.
 
My car didn't come with a cd changer (or navigation) but since you can connect the dension to an ipod or usb stick and navigate using the radio controls I decided this wiill be my next upgrade ready for the Summer.
Search youtube for dension and bmw for examples of how the folder/album navigation works with the single line radio display.
Dave
 
BMWZ4MC said:
The six CD changer is not terribly reliable. If you especially want to play CDs, you'd be better off with the dash-mounted single CD player as this seems more robust and plays MP3s.
For around £10 and half an hour's work you can fit an Aux socket into which you can plug your ipod. This makes the car radio act like headphones so you have to use the ipod controls and screen as usual to manage playlists etc.
Click to expand...

The six CD changer in my Zed Coupe has been 100% reliable. Contrary to the suggestion above that it does not play MP3s, it most certainly does plays MP3s, ... though I would suggest you try live a quality life free of both oppression and compression.

My Zed coupe also comes with an AUX socket built-in ... which I have tried connecting various iPod devices into. Compared to the elegance of the 6 CD stacker, I really disliked using the AUX socket ... (i) The wires are ugly, (ii) It is plain dangerous fiddling with your iPod while driving, whereas the CD stacker is just steering wheel clickety clicks outof the way hands-free, no temptations and no messing about ... (iii) The volume setting on the AUX setting is also completely different to the usual radio/CD setting, so you have to keep on adjusting it as you change the input to AUX.

I set up my six CDs with different styles of music ... button 1 = Rapsta, button 2 = Jazz, button 3 = Bach, etc ... and then I use them like mood buttons :) Plus there's a a random button within any disc. I think BMW did a pretty neat job on the interface.
 
Don't retro fit a CD changer, for one as said they arent that reliable and you need to take half the interior out to fit.

Your better off fitting a Dension with or without Nav, or an Intravee if you have Nav.
 
There is no sat nav, looks like Dension or the CD changer. How come you have to take so much out to fit them?
 
krusty said:
BMWZ4MC said:
The six CD changer is not terribly reliable. If you especially want to play CDs, you'd be better off with the dash-mounted single CD player as this seems more robust and plays MP3s.
For around £10 and half an hour's work you can fit an Aux socket into which you can plug your ipod. This makes the car radio act like headphones so you have to use the ipod controls and screen as usual to manage playlists etc.
Click to expand...

The six CD changer in my Zed Coupe has been 100% reliable. Contrary to the suggestion above that it does not play MP3s, it most certainly does plays MP3s, ... though I would suggest you try live a quality life free of both oppression and compression.

My Zed coupe also comes with an AUX socket built-in ... which I have tried connecting various iPod devices into. Compared to the elegance of the 6 CD stacker, I really disliked using the AUX socket ... (i) The wires are ugly, (ii) It is plain dangerous fiddling with your iPod while driving, whereas the CD stacker is just steering wheel clickety clicks outof the way hands-free, no temptations and no messing about ... (iii) The volume setting on the AUX setting is also completely different to the usual radio/CD setting, so you have to keep on adjusting it as you change the input to AUX.

I set up my six CDs with different styles of music ... button 1 = Rapsta, button 2 = Jazz, button 3 = Bach, etc ... and then I use them like mood buttons :) Plus there's a a random button within any disc. I think BMW did a pretty neat job on the interface.
Click to expand...

I don't deny the six CD changer is a truly magnificent piece of kit (when it works), nor how inspiring it can be to have six, yes SIX different CDs available of any genre at the touch of a button :lol: However, it really isn't reliable (no matter how blessed you have been with yours),and there are many posts on here to support that :P
 
Phil-E30 said:
There is no sat nav, looks like Dension or the CD changer. How come you have to take so much out to fit them?
Click to expand...

Some of the rear interior needs to come out. Once you have done it, its an easy job but the first time will take a couple of hours.

Your best bet really is a Dension though.

I have a 6 CD changer here under my desk but refuse to sell to anybody as I have no idea if it works, or how long it will work for. (And I mean refuse)
 
srhutch said:
Phil-E30 said:
There is no sat nav, looks like Dension or the CD changer. How come you have to take so much out to fit them?
Click to expand...

Some of the rear interior needs to come out. Once you have done it, its an easy job but the first time will take a couple of hours.

Your best bet really is a Dension though.

I have a 6 CD changer here under my desk but refuse to sell to anybody as I have no idea if it works, or how long it will work for. (And I mean refuse)
Click to expand...
Which is why, after we talked , I retrofitted the aux socket when my 6CD changer finally gave up the ghost
 
krusty said:
... though I would suggest you try live a quality life free of both oppression and compression.
Click to expand...

The interior of a car isn't exactly acoustically perfect and even the best of the Zed speaker setups aren't much better than average

Why worry about mp3 compression? A decent encoding setup will be acoustically invisible to the average ears. I guess if you feel pain at dog whistles... :D
 
Stuart Truman said:
krusty said:
... though I would suggest you try live a quality life free of both oppression and compression.
Click to expand...

The interior of a car isn't exactly acoustically perfect and even the best of the Zed speaker setups aren't much better than average

Why worry about mp3 compression? A decent encoding setup will be acoustically invisible to the average ears. I guess if you feel pain at dog whistles... :D
Click to expand...

Are you serious? Lossy mp3 compression is for the noobs of the audio world ... people who value mindless quantity over quality. At today's prices, there is basically no justifiable need to use losssy compression formats which cause ugly harsh digital sound. If you want to compress, use Apple Lossless compression or other non-lossy format.

[ P.S. I admit I do have some mp3 files ... but only of stuff that I have downloaded off the net, that I would never have purchased. ]
 
In a car?... In the house I use FLAC but in the car who really cares. I doubt 85% of the population could hear the difference
 
I can't tell the difference in the car. I have the bog standard hi-fi though. My CD changer works fine and plays MP3s : perhaps earlier ones do not.

Srhutch - would you not give it away then :P
 
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