Upgrading My Radio Head Unit - A How To + Updates -- COMPLETED

[heyitsmatty]

Hi, was interested in this radio and nicely delivered in your car. I notice you have said in your post that this is a capacitive touchscreen, allowing multitouch and gestures etc I imagine. However on the Pioneer page for the AVH-Z7100DAB it now says that it uses a 'Clear Type Resistive Touchscreen': https://www.pioneer-car.eu/eur/products/avh-z7100dab

I wondered if you could shed any light on this? It's this which is preventing me from pulling the trigger on one of these as I have seen demos online where you can't do things like scroll lists smoothly or use a finger to reorientate/move around a map. Any ideas?

Thanks for a great post, Will

Hi Will,

I used to own an old resistive touch screen phone in the past, and the radio definitely feel more responsive than how that device was. On that note however it certainly doesn't seem as "fluid" as a modern day capacitive screen, and unfortunately with the design of the screen (popping out), it feels a little "plasticy" to the touch, therefore you have to push on the screen to fully get it to respond. That being said it is in no way a difficult task to press a button, as most of the time they are massive and easy to press.

I'll try and get a short video later to show off what i mean, for now i'd probably be right in saying it feels more of a halfway point between capacitive and resistive.

Cheers,

Matt

 

[heyitsmatty]

Nicely done, did you need to fit a dab antenna? Where did you fit it? As I'm looking to fit something similar.

Unfortunately i didn't fit a DAB antenna as i was quite suffice with FM radio (DAB is pretty bad in our area). I'm certain it can be quite easily retrofitted to your car however.

 

[willinliv]

Thanks Matt, Pioneer's specs seem to be all over the place. The SPH-DA230DAB for instance is sometime resistive and otherplaces capacitive multi-touch. I think I might go for the SPH-DA230DAB - I have a double DIN anyway, it was just the Z7100 would have elevated the display a bit higher in the car.

 

[heyitsmatty]

Thanks Matt, Pioneer's specs seem to be all over the place. The SPH-DA230DAB for instance is sometime resistive and otherplaces capacitive multi-touch. I think I might go for the SPH-DA230DAB - I have a double DIN anyway, it was just the Z7100 would have elevated the display a bit higher in the car.

I think if you have a double DIN slot i'd probably recommend that type. The screens are definitely a lot more premium feeling and brighter than mine puts out. The only time i would recommend this sort of radio is where double DIN isn't an option (like mine for example). Good luck with your project!

 

[paulromi]

Hi you mention in order to get the facia to work you had to take to cage off. Does that mean the metal housing around the stereo or something else. I’m struggling right now getting the facia to fit properly on a pioneer 3500 nex in my E85

 

[Donkman]

Hi Paul, I am looking into getting the Pioneer 3500 nex for my 2005 BMW Z4 also. Did you get the facia and all of the wiring set up? Any tips you might have would be appreciated.
Thanks
Donkman

 

[steve_naive]

I have mine all set up but can't seem to plug in the harness adaptor. There's blue plastic blanks over the pins of the original connector. Do I remove them?

Edit: yes, yes I do.

Had to butcher the original connector to remove the plastic blanks but all's well that ends well.

 

[Sgr74]

My problem with these units is the way they open and cover the heater vents. If you have the blowers on, will it cause any damage to the screen or components inside? I know you can switch them off, but it does get cold in Scotland.

 

[steve_naive]

My problem with these units is the way they open and cover the heater vents. If you have the blowers on, will it cause any damage to the screen or components inside? I know you can switch them off, but it does get cold in Scotland.

It's cold here at the moment and I've had no problem with heating.

With the cabin being so compact, you don't really need those front facing vents. And in winter you mostly need heat on the screen anyway.
If you do want them on, a high heat setting would only be bearable for short blasts. Plus you can angle them sideways if absolutely necessary.

 

[Donkman]

Love your setup. Did you need to run wires to the amp in the boot?

 

[Rekcus]

Why not just use your Smart Phone as the touch screen as per this unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXvrjJodaGU

 

[sharpyboy]

Why not just use your Smart Phone as the touch screen as per this unit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXvrjJodaGU

I fitted one of those in my zed. For about a week, I just couldn't get on with the different volume levels of the source inputs. If you switched from USB playback to radio without lowering the volume you would get deafened or blow a speaker cone. All the inputs had different volumes it drove me mad, so I sold it and bought a pioneer with 7 inch touch screen.

 

[steve_naive]

Love your setup. Did you need to run wires to the amp in the boot?

I didn't but one of my tweeters has burnt itself out. Suspect there may be a problem with some audio systems. Mine is the 10 speaker non DSP, or at least I didn't think the amp was dsp.

 

[Ilogik]

Would love to do this!

 

[steve_naive]

Do not fit this if you have a BMW Amp as standard!

Blew my tweeter out.

You basically can't fit an aftermarket head unit with the HiFi spec z4 with 10 speakers without some serious work.

 

[Bunnyboileravoider]

I'd love to have a modern head unit, but the work needed to get them to work properly with the DSP amp is beyond anything I'm willing to tackle!

Hi there. I've spent the last couple of days investigating options on upgrading from the OEM stereo, including reading tons of threads on here and talking to pro installers etc. The HU and TV tuner I had (and had planned to fit in the Z4), is apparently not even worth fitting according to the experts. Disappointing, because it cost a fortune 6 or 7 years ago, sat in a car for 6 months and has been boxed up waiting for a new home ever since :-(

One so-called expert fitter though, said that Z4s have an amp in the rear that makes it all a very complicated and costly affair. Frankly, based on others' posts in here, and just about every other fitter's views, I'd dismissed it as scaremongering. But your reference to "...the DSP amp..." has got me wondering now.

What is it, and am I going to waste 2 or 3 days trying to retrofit a new, modern head unit, only to discover there's some sort of gotcha about to come my way...?

 

[kalt]

It can be done but you will need the wiring schematic for your car whether it's the HIFI Spec or the Professional spec, to identify which pairs of wires to cut from the AMP harness in the boot.

Replace the BMW AMP with one of your choice making sure it can run the number of speakers you have
Run a pair of RCA cables from the headunit to the new AMP in the boot, separate amp for the subwoofers if you have them.
Cut and patch the speaker cables (I used 16-pin connectors so it can be reverted back to stock easily without soldering or having to crimp wires) from the AMP harness to the new AMP.

As previous poster remarked, you may have to replace the stock tweeter with a pair of component speakers to handle the tweeter and mids.

 

[Dean'o]

I know this is, an old post but very good work looks excellent, was, wondering how you got the air vent back in. I am struggling to fit my air vent back in again once fascia plate is screwed in.

 

[mantona]

So I ordered all of the parts as below only to find that the ISO adaptor was wrong. I attach a photo of my current installation which hopefully will help in identifying what I need. My car is a 2008 Z4M. Thanks!