What head unit was the Z3M shiped with?

Renaud · Post by **Renaud** » Mon 26 Mar, 2012 23:21

Hello All,

Would any of you know what model head unit a facelift Z3M would of been shipped with?

At the moment, the zed has a crappy old Sony unit that looks like it replaced the original some years ago. Ideally, I would like to get hold of whatever the original unit was, then install a Dice unit with it. Giving the appearance of being original, but a bit more up to date behind the scenes, including some new speakers behind the existing grills .

Thanks,

R.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Mon 26 Mar, 2012 23:35

I would have thought it would have come with the standard bmw head unit with a cd changer in the boot.
One thing though, you said a Z3M facelift I thought the M was never facelifted & stayed the old shape

Heath on Tapatalk

Renaud · Post by **Renaud** » Tue 27 Mar, 2012 09:22

Thanks Heath,

I think the face lift was only cosmetic, with the addition of lining to the hood, central locking and alarm control integrated into the key instead of on a separate fob and probably more that are to subtle for me to notice! So I wasn't sure if there was also a change to the stereo.

Looking on ebay and previous forum threads, people seem to have fitted both E46 and E36 single CD head units, but wasn't sure if either would of ever been shipped with the zed off the production line.

Heath · Post by **Heath** » Tue 27 Mar, 2012 13:42

There was a thread on one of the forums about changing stereos & some had got nice alternatives to the original, a few of them were back lit the same colour as the rest of the dash & looked original but with all the modern extras.

Heath on Tapatalk

Del · Post by **Del** » Tue 27 Mar, 2012 14:26

You can request an original "vehicle specification enquiry" from your local BMW dealer. This will be a print-out that shows what it was supplied with when it was new eg "BMW business RDS" or "smoker package" etc Like you I had a rubbish non-OEM 1990s Sony unit in mine which I have replaced with a modern bluetooth, USB etc one

Geoff H · Post by **Geoff H** » Tue 27 Mar, 2012 16:25

It depends on how the car specification was from new. A Business Radio/Cassette was standard, with maybe a CD changer in the boot as a option, or another option was a Business CD/Radio which I have in mine (Option number 658 on my spec sheet) As said you can get a printout from the Main Dealer to see how yours was supplied

Jonttt · Post by **Jonttt** » Tue 27 Mar, 2012 20:53

As stated above they came with a cassette BMW unit as standard with boot mounted CD changer as an option. I think the option of a CD unit came in later in the production run (maybe around the time of the facelift).

Most of the BMW range at the time shared the same units (eg you can pick up an e36 unit which was the same).

They where also identical units and connections fitted to Rovers at the time.

On ebay you will find rover units < £100 and the same units with a BMW badge on for double the price. In between are the fake ///M units which are the rover units with the little ///M badges you get for alloys stuck over the Rover badge and sold as BMW units

The Becker range (eg traffic pro) where the very early BMW top of the range optional equipment offering sat nav (I've only ever seen one fitted to a Z3 from factory) and so Becker units (sometimes badged as Ferrari as the same units where fitted to Ferraris) are considered the best OEM looking upgrade. The later Beckers such as the cascade retain the OEM looks but offer bluetooth, sat nav and the best iPod integration I've ever seen. They are like hens teeth though and costly.

Renaud · Post by **Renaud** » Wed 18 Apr, 2012 21:20

Thanks for all of the advice chaps, and sorry its taken a while to reply.

I actually managed to pick up a CD43 from Hornell today, just starting to look at fitting it now.

However, I have just posted another question about the wiring loom. I guess the time will come, one day, when I stop posting questions and start posting nuggets of information!!

Thanks again,

R

chrisp_1 · Post by **chrisp_1** » Tue 12 Jun, 2012 19:18

Only 2 months late but I have the original Blaupunkt business CD that came in my car here to hand and thought I'd help tidy up the thread for anyone browsing.

Part number was 6512-8 374 978.

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