Sensible price Z3 radio

[Zebbo]

Evening all, when I bought my Z3 it had a rather nasty looking JVC radio/CD with removable front. I thought I'd just look on E-bay and pick up an oem unit for a few quid, how wrong was I ! £300 for the cassette version and £400+ for the CD, mad. Decided to try and find something that looks fairly factory but not silly money and found this Blaupunkt unit on Amazon for £125. Very happy with the way it looks and the black matches the centre console perfectly.

 

[AntStark]

I got the Bluetooth/DAB version..no CD. As you say it’s an excellent bit of kit and suits the car well. Dead easy to fit too.

 

[Jam03]

I went for the cheaper one. Radio reception isn’t great, but the BT streaming and phone operation is surprisingly good. One problem I had fitting it was that there didn’t seem to be enough tabs in the right place to bend back to get the metal support bracket to fit as tightly as I would have liked.

 

[DrWong]

Blaupunkt provided the same unit to Rover as the MG CD43 and they go on eBay for around £110 for the CD version. Only problem is they have a rather conspicuous MG logo where the BMW business CD text normally is

You'd have to be perverse to get that though when the DAB/BT upgrade above is available for about the same money

 

[Zebbo]

I got the Bluetooth/DAB version..no CD. As you say it’s an excellent bit of kit and suits the car well. Dead easy to fit too.
View attachment 245705

Mine is also DAB / DAB+ but says NO SERVICE when I tried it. I guess I need to replace the aerial?

 

[AntStark]

Min is also DAB / DAB+ but says NO SERVICE when I tried it. I guess I need to replace the aerial?

You need a DAB aerial. They are easy to install too.

 

[137699]

Blaupunkt provided the same unit to Rover as the MG CD43 and they go on eBay for around £110 for the CD version. Only problem is they have a rather conspicuous MG logo where the BMW business CD text normally is

You'd have to be perverse to get that though when the DAB/BT upgrade above is available for about the same money

If you have the HK audio, then it's 100% worth putting in the CD43 unit (whether badged as Rover, MG or BMW) as it will make the HK system amps work properly and aftermarket ones generally don't - so the sound quality is significantly improved.
And it's very easy to add bluetooth streaming to the CD43 with an add-on module.

 

[DrWong]

If you have the HK audio, then it's 100% worth putting in the CD43 unit (whether badged as Rover, MG or BMW) as it will make the HK system amps work properly and aftermarket ones generally don't - so the sound quality is significantly improved.
And it's very easy to add bluetooth streaming to the CD43 with an add-on module.

That's a fair point, wasn't aware of that

 

[RickyBobby]

If you have the HK audio, then it's 100% worth putting in the CD43.

Very interesting - I was fortunate enough to persuade the seller of my newly aquired Z3 to include the original CD43 unit when I bought the car with the intention of taking it back to stock. It has the HK system so this sounds like something worth doing not just from an original originality perspective

 

[Zephyr]

Wow!
Prices are way high over there!
250€ for a cassette player over here and around 350 for an HK. “Purity” is not a thing and we can find them dirt cheap if we source them from scrapyards (internet ads are always priced high).

 

[Witchsilver]

Wow! Crazy prices!!

I have a business cassette player I took out of my 1998 1.9 z3 if anyone is interested. £100 plus postage from Cambridge.

 

[Witchsilver]

Wow! Crazy prices!!

I have a business cassette player I took out of my 1998 1.9 z3 if anyone is interested. £100 plus postage from Cambridge UK.

 

[Andyjames]

I’m also looking at upgrading to the Blaupunkt - out of interest does anyone know if it’s worth upgrading the z3 speakers with new ones, like these ones? JBL from Amazon

 

[MuttyMax]

I’m also looking at upgrading to the Blaupunkt - out of interest does anyone know if it’s worth upgrading the z3 speakers with new ones, like these ones? JBL from Amazon

The footwell ones are easy enough but the ones behind the seats are a weird size. Some people (not me) put in oversize ones by cutting a larger hole behind the seats. Each to their I own guess. There's articles on here about this or just google it and you get plenty of opinions ...

 

[bombur]

ebay has 15% off today and CEN automotive are in this deal. They sell Blaupunkts at decent price.

 

[Jam03]

Found on social media somewhere a while back.

 

[Zebbo]

I agree! I hardly ever have the radio on while driving but it has to look right.

 

[Dxbolton]

Which is best? Valencia or Madrid?
I can’t see much difference between them

 

[AntStark]

Valencia has DAB radio but you obviously need a DAB antenna too..again 10 mins to fit and totally worth it IMO. Neither have a CD

 

[IanA]

I bought a Blaupunkt Milano for the Z300S (to continue the Italian theme) but the face-off unit stays in its case. I bought a cheapie radio/USB set for the TFS (and fitted an adhesive aerial on the windscreen) and used it once. I found that it didn't add to the experience. Listening to the exhaust in either car is far more entertaining.