AndyJH Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Hi Ive just bought a 318 Ti Compact - 2004. Great little car. The first thing i want to do is put in a double din / sat nav / dvd / radio head unit, I believe i have to relocate and move down the air/con heater control panel - remove the existing radio panel, then the double din unit slots into the two top slots. Seems fairly simple. I dont have an existing satnav stuff or autochangers in the boot i dont think. My main question is this - Am i better off getting a second hand BMW double din head unit that does all this ? - or am i better off buying a new unit from a 3rd party brand, ive seen ones that seem to run almost like an android or windows tablet with a touch screen - if i do get one of these is it better to get a windows one or android ? I will be using the sat nav regularly, and also wanting to play CDs and audiobooks as MP3s via a USB stick, i also listen to TalkSport a lot so if it had a DAB radio that would be good. If anyone has done this and has any advice on what model to get, what to steer away from and where to get things please let me know - any advice welcome. Im also planning on fitting it myself to keep any costs down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 If you don't already have Nav then I wouldn't bother with a retrofit, you'd have to run wiring looms from the front to the back, install the nav computer in the boot - it's a royal pain in the arse. I run an Android unit with no current issues, though Dennis will be along shortly to provide the other side of the Chinese headunit argument. Installation is easy as pie, remove old head unit, move heater controls down, plug in new wiring harnesses, slot in new headunit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJH Posted October 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 that sounds like what i want, i can manage to fit that myself im sure. I just want to make sure the satnav bit in it is decent (what maps do they use ?) and also that i can connect my phone via bluetooth. Id also like some advice on which brand is best or any to stay away from - and which type is best, a windows unit or an android one ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dontpannic Posted October 25, 2016 Report Share Posted October 25, 2016 Do as much research as you can. I'm an advocate of the Android units but there are users here who think they're not good. Maps - whatever you want to use. They run Android. Some of them come with Sygic, some of them come with iGo, but you can install and download maps for any sat-nav app in the App Store. Hook it up to mobile wifi either phone or separate device, you can use Waze, Google Maps, download TomTom and maps onto the unit, Garmin I think has an app, CoPilot is there. Bluetooth - the internal built in microphone is apparently quite bad - I haven't used it myself. I cannibalised my old Parrot dual head microphone and placed it in the OEM microphone grille next to the sunroof controls. No complaints over call quality, people can hear me on the phone no problem at all. As for which brand is best, none of them have "brands" as such. Erisin, Eonon, Joying, Pumpkin, Xtrons etc are all resellers. The units come out of six known factories and three or four unknown factories (JY/KGL/KLD/GS/KYD/HA/RM/YZ/BN/MZ) with identical hardware and production techniques. Mine was sold by Erisin and is a HuiFei/Kai Ge Le manufactured unit and I've had no problems with it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim-Ci Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 I've got one of the Android units too, it does a lot that I like, but they do have the occasional bug. I've spent a couple of days playing around with different software to try and fix a Wifi bug, it was stopping the Waze navigation working properly after a while. In summary they've got lots of features, but have a few bugs from time to time. Sound quality is perhaps 7/10, probably on a par with a low end factory unit. As for DAB, for any stereo, you need to get a decent aerial fitted, the factory system filters most of the DAB signal out. There is one member on here who has a screen mount DAB aerial he is happy with, I am trying to find out what type this is. Currently I have a loft aerial poking out from above my rear seats and reception is great, doesn't look too bad either, it's like this (I removed the pole): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAB-Omni-Aerial-digtial-radio-caravan-house-loft-antenna-/272225613146?hash=item3f61e9355a:g:nfQAAOSwiYFXIHrM. There is probably more space in the boot of the compact to hide this type of aerial a bit better. I've got an external DAB box on mine, it runs an app. in Android. I'm very happy with the performance and user interface for the DAB. It is the Navall DAB+ system, and works on any Android with USB and Aux-in connections: http://75andzt.com/Optional_Addons/DAB-DAB-External-receiver-for-Android-Head-units Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJH Posted October 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 thanks - some of the stuff surrounding the sat navs on them sounds a bit complicated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim-Ci Posted October 29, 2016 Report Share Posted October 29, 2016 It shouldn't be but Tomtom and Waze have caused problems for some in certain circumstances as detailed in this post. Wifi is still dropping on mine with Waze running, on Android Lollipop very frustrating. I will try a new MCU I think to see if that solves it. I bought a cheap USB Wifi stick but couldn't get that to work with it. At least I can reboot the unit now using the app. I found without turning the engine off for 30s to force a cold boot, which sorts the Wifi out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
