FAB's 2004 320d SE Touring **Double DIN Parrot Headunit**

[FAB_BMW]

Hey guys, had this car for a couple of months now, and its a keeper so thought I would get a journal going over here

Intro (29th March)

So i’ve ended up with a touring…I’ve been talking about it for a long time, a good couple of years infact. I’ve always been fortunate enough to have 2 or more cars, so for those of you who dont know me very well, I’ve been running an E46 330ci Sport Convertible, an E39 535i Sport Individual, and an Astra 1.3 CDTi Estate for work. The problem has come that the 2 BMW’s are not being used, they have done about 100 miles each since January, and its a waste of two lovely cars. Add another dog, and a new job that requires me to deliver parts around town, and the Astra was the only car being used. There was only one car that could appease all my needs, and it was a BMW Touring.

Now, last year I picked up an E46 330d SE Touring as a breaker, and thought i’d stick some road tax on it and use it to see what they were like as an every day car. To be honest I was disappointed, that even though the engine is nice and has plenty of torque, they are quite juicy around town, and not a world away from my 330 petrol interms of urban economy. So I decided to look for a petrol E46 Touring or a 320d E91 Touring. During the years in the motor trade we’ve bought lots of cars from Leasing Companies, choosing ex company cars with good history. Unfortunately the majority of their BMW’s are 2010’s or newer, far out of my budget, so that was a no go…or so I thought. I looked around at so many E46 Tourings and they were either mega miles, mega abused, or mega priced.

Then some luck, a member of staff at the leasing company decides to lease a car, and part ex their E46 320d touring into the lease company! The snag is the car ends up getting sent to auction…in Leeds! I saw pictures of it, and it looked clean, but the pictures were crap. It had 120,000 on the clock, with full service history. So off me and my dad go 240 miles, on a whim that its not crap, or makes too much money. Walk into the auction and its sitting on the front row, and its pretty much immaculate, just missing a door mirror cover, and a rust spot about the size of a 10p coin on the rear arch. The second I saw it I knew it wouldn't be ‘cheap’. Waited a couple of hours for it to go through, and about 20 people follow it into the hall, 18 of them were out pretty quick as me and another lad blasted it past its guide price. I went £250 over what I wanted to ideally pay, but I knew another one would not come up with that kind of background for along time.

Drove it home 240 miles, and noticed a few things that needed attention. The temperature never went above a quarter, so I knew it would need a thermostat. Also I could smell exhaust fumes through the vents and under the bonnet, so it was probable that it needed a new flexipipe. Apart from that it drove faultless, and returned 60mpg on the way home, amazing for a 2.0 BMW!

The car is a 320d SE (Euro 4 150bhp 6-Speed Manual), Silver Grey, Black Leather, Factory Bi-Xenon headlights, Auto lights, Auto wipers etc.

The next morning I phoned up my indi to ask him about the exhaust leak and the thermostat. These are jobs I could tackle myself but literally every moment its in my workshop I lose money, so I weigh up what I have to gain by DIY’ing compared to what I have to lose, and the margin was so small that I shipped it off to Walkers Autotech to see what it needed. They had it a day and gave it a thorough check, then called with what it needed;

The exhaust leak was caused by the downpipe pulling away from the turbo, they literally only had to tighten the bolts, result.

The thermostat was stuck open, so a new one was fitted, and the coolant renewed.

The rear brake shoes had seen better days, so they were replaced, along with new rear discs.

They also flagged up an intermittent fault with the MAF that didn't trigger a EML but was coming up on diagnostics, but they left it for me to sort incase I could find one on one of my breakers.

I picked the car up 3 days later, and it felt much better to drive.

Gave the car a good clean and took some piccies;

Next I turned my attention to the bodywork, the thing that lets the car down is the big rust bubble on the drivers side rear quarter panel;

With the car being a 2004, it comes with BMW’s 12 year anti corrosion warranty. So I phoned up Vines of Redhill, and spoke to the bodyshop guy, he said bring it down, and he’d examine it. If the car had been painted in the past then the warranty would be invalidated, and if the rust was caused by a stone chip then it wasn't covered either. So I popped down to see him, very nice knowledgable lad called Dominic, he said straight away it wasn't down to a stone chip, but he needed to take Paint Depth readings to see how much paint work the car had. The whole car had the same readings! All between 70-80 microns, which means the car has never had paint in its life, which is amazing for an 11 year old car, let alone one without a blemish. He said he’d send off the readings to BMW UK to get authorisation, and he’d call me in about a week. Well true to his word he did, and they gave authorisation, so its booked in for the 7th of April to have the work done under warranty, whoo! I’ve made sure it’s going to their bodyshop and is not being outsourced, and i’ve been assured its not, and that I can go bodyshop to see the car at any point.

In the mean time Vines are getting me a quote to sort the door mirror cover and colour code the door handles while its in. If they come back with a crazy price then i’ll do it myself.

I’ve got quite a few plans for this one, so stay tuned and thanks for looking!

Edited August 8, 2015 by FAB_BMW

[FAB_BMW]

A Quick Service (5th April)

Whenever I get a car, even if its stamped that its been service 10 miles ago, I still like to do an oil and filter change myself, so I know the best/ right grade oil and filters have been used. Well the 320d had been service about 8000 miles ago, so even though it didn't need doing for another 10000 according to the OBC, I decided to do it anyway. Another reason it needed doing was that when the car went into Walkers Autotech they flagged up an engine fault code regarding the airflow meter, basically the car couldn’t communicate with it, so it was technically known as buggered. So off I went to Europarts, to buy 10L of 5w30 Oil, Bosch Oil and Air Filters, and an OEM Bosch AFM. Well I don’t mind admitting, the 320d engine is a complete and utter pain in the arse to work on. Getting to the air filter ended up half the engine bay out(slight exaggeration but certainly not just undoing an airbox!). Here is a picture of the engine bay dismantled with the old airflow meter and new one waiting to go in;

The old air filter hadn't faired too well against an engine bay filled with exhaust fumes due to the exhaust pulling away from the turbo;

Engine starting to go back together;

I wanted to take more pictures, as I’ve missed out the oil change, pollen filter change etc. But as the workshop was blocked up, I had to do it outside, and it started raining, so time was of the essence.

The airflow meter has made quite a big difference to the driving, the car pulls much better, and MPG is a tiny bit better. However, I now have a new engine code(still no EML light though), which is that there is a higher volume of air being measured after the AFM than there is before it. According to the DIS software its a mechanical fault rather than electrical, and it can either be the swirl flaps jamming, EGR valve gunked up, or a split vacuum pipe. The only real symptom i’m getting is a tiny amount of judder at about 2k RPM, so once it comes out the bodyshop i’ll have a nose around.

Its due to go into BMW’s bodyshop on Tuesday, where apparently they’ll need it for 3 weeks. So i’ll be back to old faithful(the astra) for 3 weeks again!

[FAB_BMW]

April 7th

Just dropped the old girl off to Vines BMW's bodyshop. Mixed feelings about it really, on the plus side, talking about what they may have to potentially do to it, I'm very pleased I'm not the one doing it for a change. But on the other hand it's the first time in my life another bodyshop has touched my car.

BMW are dragging their feet little, as they want vines to repair the rust, rather than replacing the whole rear quarter panel. Vines think the rust is too bad, so the compromise has been that vines will grind the rust back, take pictures and then go back to BMW to push for a panel replacement. Unfortunately it's going to add over a week to the job, so they'll need the car for about a month. Doesn't overly bother me as I've got another estate car to use in the yard, and at least I know it's being done properly. They are also going to take pictures for me apparently as they do quite abit of work for forum members, so know how 'anal' us enthusiasts are. I can also visit the car any time.

One last point to give you a giggle. I enquired how much it would be to have the door mirror cover supplied, painted and fitted. They came back with a price of £80 which isn't too bad really, and I might have it down.

Then I asked about having the door handles colour coded, the price...£380!! Needless to say I'll do them myself sometime in the future

[FAB_BMW]

Bodyshop time (April 27th)

When I first bought the car, I was amazed at its condition given its age and mileage. Only one thing let it down though, there was a massive rust bubble on the drivers side rear quarter. I knew the car had a 12 year anti-corrosion warranty, so I was hoping BMW would honour it, which they did as can be read abit further up.

The day came where I had to drop the car off, and I was told it would take about 3 weeks to be done. I got a phone call from Vines on Friday evening to say it was ready, and I went on Saturday morning to collect. The job they have done is absolutely fantastic, I honestly can’t find a single fault with it. They ended up painting the rear quarter and fading into the rear door, aswell as sorting my mirror cover for me.

I did ask for progress pictures which they took for me and sent over earlier today, so here are all the pictures, and I can throughly recommend Vines BMW for bodywork, and definitely their customer service.

Now the bodywork is out the way, I can concentrate on the couple of mechanical niggles I’ve got. Firstly is i’m not sure if I’ve got a wheel bearing on the way out, as i’ve got the ‘thud thud thud’ noise, but the tyres on the back are near their limits, so i’m going to change them first just incase its dodgy tyres.

Also i’ve got a slight mis-fire at 2000rpm, which the DIS software has told me is due to ‘High Air Volume’, DIS then suggest the swirl flaps are checked. This has scared me abit because I know they are still fitted, and an ingested swirl flap means throw the car away pretty much. So with this in mind today I ordered Swirl Flap Blanks, a new Vortex Filter, New inlet manifold gaskets, and some Wynns EGR3 cleaner. Hopefully this weekend I can get the car into my workshop and i’m hoping to fit the swirl flap blanks, and also give the inlet manifold and EGR valve a proper clean. Also the car will need an MOT by the time thats all done, so its all go!

[FAB_BMW]

Getting back to relative normal (23rd May)

Right, after a turbulent few weeks I'm slowly getting my mojo back for cars in general. I have to admit, after the crash I was considering selling this car, mainly due to not wanting to set foot in an E46 again, but now the shock has subsided and I'm thinking abit clearer, I'm getting my love for the car back. I went out and sat in it a couple of days ago, moved it up and down, and I'm fine with it. So I've set plans in motion to get it on the road, the main thing I'm concerned about is the swirl flaps so that's booked in for next week to be done, I would have liked to have done this myself, but I'm just not in any fit state to work on cars.

I insured the car today privately, prices varied wildly! Everything from £550 up to £2000! I ended up going with AXA, and adding some extras like legal cover, and nationwide roadside assistance, with hire car etc. Total came in at £650, and Lauren can drive the car whenever she wants.

The car is also due an MOT, so I need to sort out my tyres which were on their way out. I have a plan for the car, and a method of how things would be done, so even though this would have been a good opportunity to get new alloys and tyres, exterior mods are way down on my list behind maintenance and mechanical/interior upgrades. With this in mind I looked around the breakers in the yard for decent tyres, and as I have an E46 Saloon with the exact same alloys, with almost new Bridgestone tyres, it was a no brainer. So I got dad to swap over the wheels under my direction, much to his annoyance.

I then drove the car to the MOT station. It felt so good to get back behind the wheel of it, really is a fantastic driving car, and leaps and bounds ahead of the Diesel Merc i’ve had as a courtesy car for the last 3 weeks in terms of everything apart from gadgets.

The car flew through its MOT, with no advisories, which was quite a surprise given it had covered 20,000 miles since the last MOT. Think its a credit to the previous owner to be honest.

Next week its heading to my independent to have some work done;

Swirl flap removal

New inlet manifold gaskets

New updated vortex filter

Heater plugs replaced

EGR valve and inlet manifold clean

Anything else the car needs

I ordered everything bar the heater plugs from PMW(not a typo), the astute amongst you might notice I've got 8 swirl flap blanks. Unfortunately my car hasn't turned into a V8, there are 2 different sizes 22mm and 33mm, and it's impossible to tell the size until the car is stripped down. So I ordered one of each size, and I'll just sell on the size it's not.

Swirl flap blanks;

Inlet manifold gaskets;

Diesel Vortex Filter;

Hopefully once all that's done I can start concentrating on making it my own :-)

[The_Judge_]

You've been a busy boy!

[FAB_BMW]

You've been a busy boy!

Lol, It's kept me occupied that's for sure. Looking forward to getting the maintenance out the way, so I can start adding other stuff.

[The_Judge_]

I know that feeling!

[RedDevil]

Nice car im at the same stage as u doing filters and new fsr next week then get swirl flaps and vortex filter asap after. What is next on your to do list?

[FAB_BMW]

Nice car im at the same stage as u doing filters and new fsr next week then get swirl flaps and vortex filter asap after. What is next on your to do list?

Cheers mate, yea I'm a firm believer in maintenance before anything, and the swirl flaps are making me paranoid, lol.

After the car comes back from the garage, I want to turn my attention to inside the car. I'm going to move my Storm Gear Knob and Handbrake from my convertible into this. Also got a click that comes from the steering wheel when it's turned. Then I need some kind of Bluetooth in the car, and something better than the crappy BMW business headunit that's in it at the moment. So I'm planning on getting the Erisin unit which Chimp has got.

[RedDevil]

I saw you update about your 330ci thats bad I had my 330ci written off last bank holiday by a old woman grrr but nowhere near as bad damage as yours!

You have just added bits of my list to do clean egr valve and disconnect it lol Same as me im dieing to mod it but need to get it runnig sweet then start im going to upgrade my bm54 wih baris so can stream music but will need to check if iphone 5 works with current ulf or will need to get a newer gen ulf.

At least you still have your old car to get the bits from .chimps unit looks good but have you also thought of transferring your oe nav from your 330 into the touring??

[FAB_BMW]

I saw you update about your 330ci thats bad I had my 330ci written off last bank holiday by a old woman grrr but nowhere near as bad damage as yours!

You have just added bits of my list to do clean egr valve and disconnect it lol Same as me im dieing to mod it but need to get it runnig sweet then start im going to upgrade my bm54 wih baris so can stream music but will need to check if iphone 5 works with current ulf or will need to get a newer gen ulf.

At least you still have your old car to get the bits from .chimps unit looks good but have you also thought of transferring your oe nav from your 330 into the touring??

With your EGR valve if you're planning on disconnecting it, you might trigger an EML if yours is a euro 4 engine. I'll be fitting a bypass at some point when I get the car mapped so they can code out the EGR completely so I don't get an EML.

I had my bm54 unit upgraded by Baris with the streaming, it's a good bit of kit, but very basic, it literally just plays the music, you get no info on the screen or controls. The upgrade he does to the Amp is spot on though, sound quality is fantastic.

Which ULF are you referring to? The factory fitted Bluetooth? Or the one Baris uses for streaming?

Yea I did consider moving the oem stuff over, but I would need new brackets for the hardware, and I would just be retrofitting 10 year old tech. So I thought it would be better to fit something newer and sell the stuff out of the convertible.

[RedDevil]

I saw you update about your 330ci thats bad I had my 330ci written off last bank holiday by a old woman grrr but nowhere near as bad damage as yours!

You have just added bits of my list to do clean egr valve and disconnect it lol Same as me im dieing to mod it but need to get it runnig sweet then start im going to upgrade my bm54 wih baris so can stream music but will need to check if iphone 5 works with current ulf or will need to get a newer gen ulf.

At least you still have your old car to get the bits from .chimps unit looks good but have you also thought of transferring your oe nav from your 330 into the touring??

With your EGR valve if you're planning on disconnecting it, you might trigger an EML if yours is a euro 4 engine. I'll be fitting a bypass at some point when I get the car mapped so they can code out the EGR completely so I don't get an EML.

I have the older euro3 engine so no electronic eml .

I had my bm54 unit upgraded by Baris with the streaming, it's a good bit of kit, but very basic, it literally just plays the music, you get no info on the screen or controls. The upgrade he does to the Amp is spot on though, sound quality is fantastic.

Yep bluetooth streaming from baris kis what i want be nice as easier/better than fitting a aux input.

Which ULF are you referring to? The factory fitted Bluetooth? Or the one Baris uses for streaming?

The factory fitted on mine is a very early version need a later one to work with new phones.

Yea I did consider moving the oem stuff over, but I would need new brackets for the hardware, and I would just be retrofitting 10 year old tech. So I thought it would be better to fit something newer and sell the stuff out of the convertible.

I see your point iv never had oe nav before i really like it now got updated map disc.

[FAB_BMW]

Yea don't get me wrong I like the oem set up, and it was one of my 'must haves' when I was looking for my convertible. But after having it in my e46 and e39, I'm not overly fussed in this car. When/if you come to look for a ULF, give me a shout as I'll be breaking up the convertible in a few weeks.

[RedDevil]

Ok no problem defently interested in your ulf , give me a pm when you start breaking it .I have had 5 bmws e39 e36 e46 etc none had nav always wanted oe nav so im happy lol

[Ashley1995]

Nice start mate, looks like you got a good deal there.
Where abouts are you from? Vines at Redhill is my local BMW garage too. always been helpful, just been in there looking at a new 1series

[FAB_BMW]

Ok no problem defently interested in your ulf , give me a pm when you start breaking it .I have had 5 bmws e39 e36 e46 etc none had nav always wanted oe nav so im happy lol

Yea I'll be sure to give you a shout, it's also got the genuine digital TV tuner, so might be something that will interest you also.

Nice start mate, looks like you got a good deal there.

Where abouts are you from? Vines at Redhill is my local BMW garage too. always been helpful, just been in there looking at a new 1series

Cheers bud, loving it so far. I'm from Warlingham, so technically Cooper BMW are my local dealer, but they are crap, so I thought I would try Vines, and I wouldn't go anywhere else now, they are fantastic.

[RedDevil]

Ok no problem defently interested in your ulf , give me a pm when you start breaking it .I have had 5 bmws e39 e36 e46 etc none had nav always wanted oe nav so im happy lol

Yea I'll be sure to give you a shout, it's also got the genuine digital TV tuner, so might be something that will interest you also.

Yep defently be interested in the tuner as well.

Nice start mate, looks like you got a good deal there.

Where abouts are you from? Vines at Redhill is my local BMW garage too. always been helpful, just been in there looking at a new 1series

Cheers bud, loving it so far. I'm from Warlingham, so technically Cooper BMW are my local dealer, but they are crap, so I thought I would try Vines, and I wouldn't go anywhere else now, they are fantastic.

[320Rob]

Hi all, I enquired to BMW Sandal Wakefield about the paintwork warranty because I have (on the to-do list) exact same corrosion on rear driver's arch... their reply was your vehicle is not covered because I am not the owner from new so they won't honour it... wtf!! Can they say that? Does it matter if I am owner 1 or owner 1756 as long as it is under the 12 year time frame? Cheers

[FAB_BMW]

Hi all, I enquired to BMW Sandal Wakefield about the paintwork warranty because I have (on the to-do list) exact same corrosion on rear driver's arch... their reply was your vehicle is not covered because I am not the owner from new so they won't honour it... wtf!! Can they say that? Does it matter if I am owner 1 or owner 1756 as long as it is under the 12 year time frame? Cheers

They are pulling a fast one, the car needs to have seen no paint on that panel, have full history, and not been caused by a stonechip or damage. The number of owners makes no difference.

Like I've said on another thread on here, I don't understand dealerships reluctance to take on the work as they get paid by BMW for it.

The only time Vines mentioned owners to me was when they told me the paintwork they had done was guaranteed for life, as long as I owned the car.

[FAB_BMW]

Back from Walkers

Took the car to Walkers Autotech on Tuesday to have some work done, they did;

Swirl Flap Removal

Heater Plugs

EGR and Inlet Manifold Clean

Replaced Gaskets

Fitted new style Vortex Filter

Topped up diff oil

Adjusted the handbrake

For the above they charged £140 which I thought was very reasonable, hardly worth me running the risk snapping a glow plug!

First thing I noticed when they bought the car out to me, was the engine sounded smoother. Apparently one of the swirl flaps was likely sticking, so really it was on borrowed time in that regard. I drove the car home the 30 miles it is, and it was like driving a different car, miles more torque in every gear. Also the horrible hesitation and misfire I had at 2000rpm has gone, most likely culprit was the swirl flaps, but I’d say everything that was done has contributed in one way or another to the car driving better.

The revs also used to flutter abit on cold start, probably the fact only 1 heater plug was working. That has now completely gone, so i’m very pleased.

To brighten up the interior abit and make it feel like my own car, I decided to start off moving over the Storm gear knob and handbrake handle from my E46 Vert. Luckily, as this is a Euro 4 engine its a 6-speed like my Vert. It really makes a huge difference to the gear shift and feel. Also they look fantastic

Got a couple more mechanical bits I want to address in the coming weeks, but they are nothing particularly urgent or major, so i’ll just grab the bits as and when I come across them.

Next stage needs to be the Headunit, as I really need bluetooth and a decent satnav for work, so i’ve ordered a Climate Control relocation unit, and once that is here i’ll think about ordering the headunit(once i’ve decided which one I want!).

Thanks for looking

[FAB_BMW]

Headunit

Right I started writing this about 2 months ago, but with various things that have gone on in my life, I completely forgot to finish it, so sorry to anyone who was waiting for it.

So as this car is now my main car, the time came to turn my attention to the audio. Basically it was dreadful(Business CD), the whole sound was on par with my Escort GTi I had 12 years ago. Also I was missing having bluetooth, and as my phone is one of my main work tools now, I was getting annoyed with having to pull over everytime someone called.

I started looking at the different options, the most obvious was taking the stuff out of my written off convertible and retrofitting the whole lot, screen, nav, tv, bluetooth, BM54 amp etc. The thing is, i’ve had the factory nav in both my E46 Vert and E39 Saloon, and even though its the best looking in terms of OEM stuff, the technology is getting on, and it shows.

I then started looking at the Ersin units, as I had read some good things about them, and they look relatively OEM. So the first thing I ordered was the climate control relocation panel. Now I know some people just shove the CC unit into the sunglasses holder. But it doesn't sit right, and if I couldn’t do the job properly then I didn't want to do it at all. I have got the single buttons, so its the 18mm version. I promptly ordered this from Elms, and had it delivered a few days later;

I then was on the verge of buying the Erisin, and I saw a review about it and the rubbish sound. I wasn't overly keen going with a Chinese branded unit, purely due to if you get stuck with a bad one, then its entirely possible you’ll end up throwing £300 down the toilet. I didn't want to take the risk, so upped my budget and started looking at the more ‘Premium’ brands.

Problem here is the fact E46’s were never built to take double din units. So to fit them the heater box needs cutting, which usually results in having the footwell vents permanently open or permanently shut. There was no way I was going down this road, as I didn't want to lose any functionality of the blowers.

This leads me onto Alpine’s iLx-700 shallow depth unit, a high quality unit no doubt, but crippled by the fact its very much an ‘Apple Carplay’ unit. Now while i’m an Apple fan, I could not handle only being able to use their Maps app as the navigation tool.

The only other shallow depth unit I could find was the Parrot Asteroid Smart, and it appeared to tick all the boxes on paper. Its based on the Android platform, and as a result is abit more customisable. It seems like Parrot have gone for the simplicity of Apple’s GUI but if you dig abit deeper you can add Widgets, change backgrounds, etc. It also comes with the ability to ‘Sideload’ and app. Basically this means that any android app can be installed via an SD Card. This was the winning feature for me, as I love Co-Pilot as my Nav, and I could load it onto the Parrot relatively easy.

So I ordered everything I would need from Dynamic Sounds website;

Parrot Asteroid Smart

E46 ISO adaptor(With steering wheel feature)

E46 Ariel Adaptor

Unika Cable(Steering wheel controls)

E46 Double Din Facia

Then from eBay i bought a few small bits;

3x Right Angle USB adaptors

Bluetooth OBD Adaptor(for Torque)

Metal Banding(for fitment)

I ordered the stuff on Monday and by Tuesday it was all here;

So I decided to make a start, and started off with this;

The first port of call was to fit the HVAC relocation panel, so in order do this first the radio was removed;

The Window switch surround then needed to be removed;

Removing this and the sunglasses holder allowed access to the screws holding the current panel in place which then just pulled out;

I could then fit the new relocation panel and relocate the HVAC into its now home;

Now it was on to the hard part, actually fitting the unit and securing it in the dash. I had read online that you could modify the original radio cage to hold the parrot in place. Unfortunately apart from a couple of pictures there was nothing step by step, so it was a case of making it up as I went along. Luckily I’ve got a whole workshop of tools at my disposal, so it made life easier, but you could achieve the same results with a dremel. Here are some pictures to show what was done;

With the cage adapted, I used some metal banding to hold the unit in place. Unfortunately i’ve got no pictures of that part, because time was running on, and I had plenty more to be cracking on with, like stripping the car to run the microphone, GPS, USB cables, and iPhone dock lead;

Another hour of putting everything back together, and lots of cursing trying to get the bloody thing to fit with all the cables behind it, and I was left with this;

In my opinion it suits the E46 dash very well. After using the unit for nearly 2 months now, i can report the pros and cons.

Pro’s;

Handsfree is spot on, as can be expected from Parrot.

Voice control for everything from selecting songs to apps.

Simple interface.

Based on Android, so lots of apps.

Music player is fantastic

Sound quality is brilliant, far in excess of the standard unit

Con’s;

Only Asteroid market apps are ‘supported’, but you can sideload apps via SD Card.

A few minor bugs, such as sometimes the steering wheel controls stop working until you turn off the ignition, but this is like 1 times out of 50.

Over all it was worth the £500 investment. I needed handsfree, i needed a music player, and I needed sat-nav. This unit delivered all that and more, so I’m very pleased and would recommend it to everyone.

[gaz-777]

Nice update buddy, it looks similar to a tablet dash install. Glad it does what you want and thanks for the review on it ?

[FAB_BMW]

Nice update buddy, it looks similar to a tablet dash install. Glad it does what you want and thanks for the review on it [emoji106]

Cheers mate, yea it's like a tablet in a few respects, especially the completely buttonless layout of it(expect a power button obviously). Fantastic piece of kit.

[JasonK]

Good work, Fred, looking good! Maybe you should take her on a trip to the pod in September so we can get a closer look ;-)