DAB Plus upgrade?

[DonDon]

I have the standard stereo and iDrive fitted to the 2013 28i. Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the DAB radio to DAB Plus, or it is a case of biting the bullet and going the mr12Volt route for a full MMI upgrade?

As that is around £350, any DAB upgrade would have to be significantly cheaper, or else it wouldn't be worth it.

 

[AnubisZed]

I have the standard stereo and iDrive fitted to the 2013 28i. Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade the DAB radio to DAB Plus, or it is a case of biting the bullet and going the mr12Volt route for a full MMI upgrade?

As that is around £350, any DAB upgrade would have to be significantly cheaper, or else it wouldn't be worth it.

It is and it isn't!!

From what I know.... As for adding DAB+ it is regarded as a retrofit, and the part number is 65 50 2 310 288...



And looking at that page it states that you have to have an exchange headunit, parts price for the upgrade and the exchange headunit....



So from BMW £1392, so probably a hell of a lot cheaper to have the Mr12volt

 

[jenniferlouise]

Excuse my ignorance… does this assume the car has DAB to start with? My 2010 23i has MMI, satnav, lots of speakers (10??) but I’ve never found a DAB setting so assume the wee isn’t one. Is there a similar DAB ‘plug n play’ upgrade or is that a more significant refit? It was not bothering me until I bought a 2013 Mercedes and that has everything already (I think it will play a DVD video but I’ve not tested it yet)

 

[AnubisZed]

Excuse my ignorance… does this assume the car has DAB to start with? My 2010 23i has MMI, satnav, lots of speakers (10??) but I’ve never found a DAB setting so assume the wee isn’t one. Is there a similar DAB ‘plug n play’ upgrade or is that a more significant refit? It was not bothering me until I bought a 2013 Mercedes and that has everything already (I think it will play a DVD video but I’ve not tested it yet)

DAB was always an option until the end years, so a 2010 wouldn't have had it unless it was specified from the factory.
It can be retrofitted but isn't a cheap option to do.
There are a few companies that do add-on DAB options.
In this day and age its better to have a MMI box which gives you Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which in turn gives you your favourite sat-nav or music streaming apps at a touch of a button, including apps like TuneIn Radio for all your Internet radio options. The best MMI, IMHO, is the Mr12volt box, although not the cheapest it is by far the best one for integration and use. It connects into the MOST fibre optic network and gives you digital audio instead if the analogue signal received via the AUX socket that all other mmi boxes do.
*** As a side note Mr12volt actually also make a dedicated DAB box that also links into the MOST fibre optic network.

 

[Silverstar]

It connects into the MOST fibre optic network and gives you digital audio instead if the analogue signal received via the AUX socket that all other mmi boxes do.

Dave have you actually been able to tell the difference in audio quality between the AUX and MOST connection? I have the old AUX type MMi but I don't find the audio quality lacking in anyway, to my ears at least.

 

[AnubisZed]

Dave have you actually been able to tell the difference in audio quality between the AUX and MOST connection? I have the old AUX type MMi but I don't find the audio quality lacking in anyway, to my ears at least.

Well now there's a question!
Personally, no

But here is the issue, I've read no end of comments from owners where they've complained about audio quality from anything attached to the AUX socket. Now this can be down to a number of reasons, but the most common is Verdigris (corrosion) on the contacts inside the AUX socket, thus this degredates the contact between the plug and socket giving poor (at best) to no passthrough of signal.
In using the MOST fibre optic lines you negate this issue and it delivers a non-corruptible digital signal (yes you can have a break in the MOST lines, but then you've got other issues to contend with).

I personally think the actual integration is better, as in it's more OE then the "press and wait" of the standard boxes. It acts just like an original component that was factory fitted.
Yes I appreciate that it can be more expensive than some standard boxes (Aliexpress etc), but is actually cheaper than a lot of "UK Supplied" standard boxes (that actually come from China once ordered anyway).

 

[jenniferlouise]

What about a ‘used’ BMW DAB unit? Could one be added? Such as this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285186316055?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TG2Yz1wHRCy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=PmTme1vwQKy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[AnubisZed]

What about a ‘used’ BMW DAB unit? Could one be added? Such as this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285186316055?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=TG2Yz1wHRCy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=PmTme1vwQKy&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

After a year and half and two of these modules I've still not been able to get the headunit to "see" it. All of my diagnostic equipment "sees" it and I've coded DAB, which comes up on the headunit display, but it just won't work. I know it "should" work, but I've not been able to find a way.
Also on that unit, I've not had it confirmed that it does the DAB+ only DAB.

 

[Silverstar]

Dave have you actually been able to tell the difference in audio quality between the AUX and MOST connection? I have the old AUX type MMi but I don't find the audio quality lacking in anyway, to my ears at least.

Well now there's a question!
Personally, no

But here is the issue, I've read no end of comments from owners where they've complained about audio quality from anything attached to the AUX socket. Now this can be down to a number of reasons, but the most common is Verdigris (corrosion) on the contacts inside the AUX socket, thus this degredates the contact between the plug and socket giving poor (at best) to no passthrough of signal.
In using the MOST fibre optic lines you negate this issue and it delivers a non-corruptible digital signal (yes you can have a break in the MOST lines, but then you've got other issues to contend with).

I personally think the actual integration is better, as in it's more OE then the "press and wait" of the standard boxes. It acts just like an original component that was factory fitted.
Yes I appreciate that it can be more expensive than some standard boxes (Aliexpress etc), but is actually cheaper than a lot of "UK Supplied" standard boxes (that actually come from China once ordered anyway).

Thanks Dave. I guess if there is a problem with audio quality caused by verdigris then this would be an inexpensive fix. Interesting point about the difference in integration between the older MMI box and the MOST type. Perhaps you can make a video showing the differences between the two.

 

[birdy_z4]

I’ve installed the mr12volt dab and have the mmi box, plus upgraded to a Combox on my 2010 3.0si

Mmi box is great and works well if you have lots of phone data

Combox upgrade is great too and now also have usb in boot for usb music too and can now switch between mmi and std bmw

Dab well it works if you have signal which where I live is not great the big problem is the aerial in my opinion

 

[AnubisZed]

Thanks Dave. I guess if there is a problem with audio quality caused by verdigris then this would be an inexpensive fix. Interesting point about the difference in integration between the older MMI box and the MOST type. Perhaps you can make a video showing the differences between the two.

Cleaning the Verdigris can be problematic within the socket, but a good switch cleaner should do it.

I might be able to produce a video showing the differences, depending if I still have my raw video available.

 

[AnubisZed]

I’ve installed the mr12volt dab and have the mmi box, plus upgraded to a Combox on my 2010 3.0si

Mmi box is great and works well if you have lots of phone data

Combox upgrade is great too and now also have usb in boot for usb music too and can now switch between mmi and std bmw

Dab well it works if you have signal which where I live is not great the big problem is the aerial in my opinion

This is what I've found about DAB reception in general, when it's good it's good, when it's not then you put up with FM or use USB, HDD, CD, MMI etc

 

[Ed.Straker]

It connects into the MOST fibre optic network and gives you digital audio instead if the analogue signal received via the AUX socket that all other mmi boxes do.

Dave have you actually been able to tell the difference in audio quality between the AUX and MOST connection? I have the old AUX type MMi but I don't find the audio quality lacking in anyway, to my ears at least.

Today I tried the aux input vs USB on my car
I have a 676 amp with some Eton midrange speakers and tweeters, stock subs and woofers
I used an iPhone 5SE with both a 3.5mm jack and lightning connector which then was plugged into the USB socket
Audio was 192kb AAC encoded
I tried several tracks doing and A/B swap
To be honest the aux sounded good once I’d got the corrosion out of the socket with some contact cleaner
Adjusting the two volume levels on the aux input and iPhone volume helped as it was easy to get bad distortion with incorrect settings
However swapping to USB input did show a much firmer base and better spatial image
I think the high end was cleaner but at my age my ears are struggling up there
So better than I’d expected but not as good as USB input
I’d assume MOST would equal or exceed USB

 

[AnubisZed]

Today I tried the aux input vs USB on my car
I have a 676 amp with some Eton midrange speakers and tweeters, stock subs and woofers
I used an iPhone 5SE with both a 3.5mm jack and lightning connector which then was plugged into the USB socket
Audio was 192kb AAC encoded
I tried several tracks doing and A/B swap
To be honest the aux sounded good once I’d got the corrosion out of the socket with some contact cleaner
Adjusting the two volume levels on the aux input and iPhone volume helped as it was easy to get bad distortion with incorrect settings
However swapping to USB input did show a much firmer base and better spatial image
I think the high end was cleaner but at my age my ears are struggling up there
So better than I’d expected but not as good as USB input
I’d assume MOST would equal or exceed USB

Excellent work

I've always thought of the quality in this order...

HDD
CD/DVD
CD/DVD Changer
MOST line connected module (Like Mr12volt)
Direct Phone connection (iPhone to USB/Cradle on Media options)
USB
Radio (FM & DAB)
Bluetooth Streaming
AUX


Everything is all dependent on original quality, (yes you can have bad digital quality, especially if it's a transfer from some other medium) and received "over the air" reception.
But at the end of the day it doesn't amount to "a hill of beans" when you've got the roof down at speed, as nobody will be able to tell the difference anyway!!