Help! What to do with my audio!?

RemarkLima · Post by **RemarkLima** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 11:09

Hi all,

Bit of a dilema at the moment, my car came with a Pioneer AVIC-X1 installed, so is plugged into the speed wire, GPS receiver attached etc... It's a single DIN unit with a motorised screen.

Now, the sat nav on it isn't too bad, and I'd probably go with it most of the time and have the TomTom in the boot just in case!

Here's the problem, my wife and I are planning a bit of a road trip, and so being cunning that I am, I saw there was a USB adaptor available for this, however having ordered it 5 weeks ago (I know!) and being told it'll still be a number of weeks away... Maybe, if I'm lucky...

The plan was to fit this, and recover some precious boot space however this has been scuppered, and have all my music on MP3 / WMA and all be good.

Now that's no longer an option, I'm a bit stuck...

1) Do I pull out the AVIC-X1, and fit a cheapo / cheapish MP3 headunit and just use the TomTom (then sell the AVIC)?

2) Attach an aux cable to the AVIC, meaning I can use my (non iPod) MP3 player and hope it doesn't keep running flat

3) Just have the fun of swapping 1 CD with the Navigation DVD en route?

4) Something else...???

Any advise appreciated!

Mark

RemarkLima · Post by **RemarkLima** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 11:36

Is this any good:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65474#dtab

Halfords I know, but does mean I can just pick it up rather than be at the mercy of random deliveries

XVar · Post by **XVar** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 12:01

I've always thought Sony's headunits seem a bit flimsy and not that well built. The Alpine CDE-9881R that I've got at the moment has survived 5 years without so much as a scratch, so personally I'd go with Alpine over Sony. The current equivalent model is 20 quid more expensive though - CLICKY.

RemarkLima · Post by **RemarkLima** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 12:23

Cheers for that, never had Sony but then the old Alpine I used to have yonks ago never thrilled me either...

I'm wondering if to go for Bluetooth as well, as so much wiring will be coming out!

msassoon · Post by **msassoon** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 15:49

I would go for option two and keep the MP3 player charged. I guess it connects with mini USB, so you could get a two device USB charger and charge that and your phone. Will probably cost you about £10 total.

RemarkLima · Post by **RemarkLima** » Fri 19 Aug, 2011 17:18

msassoon, you're probably right there... But impaitence has got the better of me, and I went and picked up a Sony MEXBT3900U, bluetooth handsfree and USB stuff.

I'm thinking I should be able to sell all the AVIC gubbins (there's a lot of it!) to cover the costs, and the CD changer as well so should eaily be able to cover it.

The amount of stuff under there was shocking tho', and old Nokia handsfree kit, that had been chopped off! Extra aerial for that etc... Then the gammy cheapo Sony-Erikson bluetooth unit, which was pants... The a ton of wiring for the AVIC, plus it's brain box, all madness I say!

So nice to have got that all out and just have a simple headunit with some extra bells.

Now I just need to work out where to mount the TomTom, as we usuall mount it on the centre vents in the 330d but I can't see that working somehow!

msassoon · Post by **msassoon** » Sat 20 Aug, 2011 08:59

The MEX are ok, the microphone wasn't great on the one I had though. You needed to shout, and forget it if the roof is down! Anyway, probably a good idea, and the car will be faster with all that weight saving!

RemarkLima · Post by **RemarkLima** » Sat 20 Aug, 2011 09:04

Cool, it's more just in case / may as well with the bluetooth

So far, it can pick up XFM which the old head unit couldn't ever do, not even close which is cool, and it sounds quite a lot better all round compared to the old head unit.

Luckily I kept the mic from the old BT unit, which fitted stright in so should hopefully allow it to pickup a bit better... We'll see