Hi from New Z4 Owner, and car audio question

[djpete]

Hello All

I've actually had my Z for just under a year now, but just got around to joining the Forum. It's a 2004 3.0i with the factory fitted Nav with flip up screen.



It's proved to be a fantastic car for me so far! powerful and fun to drive, while not being too thirsty either. Only big mechanical issue I've had so far was the water pump which disintegrated at the end of last summer, :thumbsdown:

My main issue is that the factory CD player's laser is wearing out, and also the laser in the Navigation DVD Drive is completely shot. The flip up screen is still in good nick.

I'm guessing that to replace the lasers in both units would cost around £250 to £300, and that would leave me with a working system, but with no Bluetooth/usb playback/DAB or Bluetooth phone functionality - all of which I would like.

I am trying to weigh up whether to rip the entire Nav unit out and go for a decent quality aftermarket replacement head unit, or to get the factory system repaired and try for something like a parrot to get the additional functionality I'm after. My other concern with replacing the lot is that I've got an amp in the boot so I'd assume I'm going to need my speakers re-cabling. As I said my screen is in very good nick so I guess I could recover some money by ebaying that if I were to change.

Does anyone have any advice to share here or am I better posting this on a different part of the forum?

 

[Roundozo]

Welcome to the forum. Can't offer any advice on your nav situation but I'm sure someone will come along.

Well done for posting a picture.

 

[AlanJ]

Hi and welcome to the Forum
I am sure someone on here has had the same problem - worth doing a search

 

[djpete]

Thanks Alan, Roundozo.

After a good search of the forum and elsewhere I've decided to get my Nav DVD drive overhauled, and get a Grom adapter which I can install whilst my rear centre console is stripped down to get the nav drive out. Revtronic are taking care of the repair, my soldering skills are not up to the task.

My Zed seems to have come with the factory Alpine CD changer (long since broken by the looks of it) so I'll be removing this to make way for the new Grom kit, which has a wiring kit which should fit right on the soon to be available CD Changer plugs. I've got the Grom with USB, Aux and Bluetooth kits so I should be made up to the best I can be while keeping the Nav and OEM look and feel.

I managed to identify the part number 51467043818 as the plastic insert I will need to put in place of that massive CD changer and it's mounting bracket, My local BMW dealer is Lancaster in Milton Keynes, and they are getting hold of one for me (special order from Germany). I'll be drilling a hole in the back of this to run the interface cables through to the Grom unit, and hopefully make a nice shelf for my usb sticks and phone which the Grom cables can also charge as a bonus.

I seem to have a 10 speaker audio system and the dreaded DSP options in the audio menu, but I also seem to be one of the lucky ones with analogue rather than digital optical cables, - neither the cd changer nor the Carver amp in the boot appear to have digital wiring so that's saved me a good deal of money and hassle. I'm a 2004 model year so I'm very lucky to have not got lumbered with a fully digital amp.

I've also ordered a cheap ebay replacement GPS antenna, because even while my DVD was stuttering it was clear that the GPS signal was being lost at regular intervals too so a replacement for this will hopefully be an easy fix. So when the drive comes back from Revtronic (it arrived with them yesterday so it will be interesting to see how they fare with regards to lead time) and the Grom, plastic insert and GPS antenna also arrive, it will be an afternoon of fun to get this lot installed, my trim re-assembled and have a play with it.

I'll try and make a picture post of my install in progress and the finished article. I'd estimate the total cost for this to be about £340, depending on whether the DVD repair is straightforward, so I think probably favourable compared to a replacement aftermarket system, getting a whole lot of new functionality, and maintaining my factory Nav and OEM look and feel to boot.

Thanks to all the forum members who's experience has been invaluable in getting me this far.

Pete