A daft stereo idea?

G

Gebbly

Member
 Hersham, Surrey
Hi all,
I'm thinking of getting a Z4M. One of the things I have gotten used to with my daily driver 330e is the nice sized touch screen and satnav. I understand that the satnav screen on the z4 isnt exactly top tier. I have found a nice unit from hifimaxnavi that would be a direct swap for the oem unit. but some of the cars I am seeing for sale dont have the bmw screen at all and I dont fancy trying to cut a hole in the dash to fit the hifimaxnavi unit.

So I'm wondering how feasible the following would be. A single din unit with a pop out touchscreen such as
https://audiovisualworld.co.uk/pioneer-avh-z7200dab-multimedia-7-flip-out-motorised-screen-dab-bluetooth-apple-carplay-android-auto-dab-aerial.html
Ordinarily this would obscure the air vents which sit above the stereo. So heres where it gets daft... The din slots for the oem stereo and air vents arent rectangular but from what I can tell they do mirror each other with their angled sides. If I removed the airvents unit and the oem stereo. Then flipped the air vents upside down would they slide into the stereo slot? If so I might be able to find a piece of facia so that I could then put a unit like the pioneer in the freed up airvents din. This would mean when the screen pops out it would not obstruct the vents.

any thoughts at all on how feasible or stupid this would be please?
 
I have the exact same unit in my Z4M and am delighted with it. It was supplied and fitted by Halfords. They just removed the CD slot and replaced it with the Pioneer unit. No need to mess around with the vents. I’ll post some photos tomorrow.
 
Thanks Mantona that would be very helpful. So the pioneer screen does not block the airvents or vent control? Also after some further digging last night it looks like that unit can only provide satnav directions if it is connected to my phone is that right? A unit like the hifimaxnavi can provide navigation on its own without a phone connection which would be preferable.
 
Yes that’s correct. All functionality is available over Bluetooth apart from the sat nav which needs a wired connection with my iPhone. My connection is in my glove compartment. The screen does sit in front of the air vents but you can still get a blast of air from them. It does not block access to the air vent controls.. photos to follow
 
I had that exact model a couple of years back. I thought it was alright, but it wasn't as good as it should have been.

I don't know if they've improved it, but the price has gone up. I got mine during an Argos sale and it was heavily discounted.
 
So here are the photos as promised. I tend to leave the flip screen locked in the up position. I really would highly recommend it.
 

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Thanks for the feedback Beerman, unfortunately it looks like we have limited choices of display upgrade for the z4.

Thanks for the really useful photos Mantona. Looks like the air vents will be OK. I read in another thread about people having trouble with the bmw amp. Someone said it blew their tweeter. Kalt posted some useful but intimidating info about having to replace the amp and maybe the wiring to it. Did you have to make any amp modifications?
 
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