What happened to Becker

Through history Becker put itself on the (European) map as reference in car radio. Many European car manufacturers chose Becker head units for their top models. In those days there were two kinds of head units: Becker... and the rest. Later Becker also began manufacturing custom OEM in-dash/integrated solutions. The whole "Professional" line from BMW has been manufactured by Becker for ages and still is up to today. Becker became more and more an OEM manufacturer. Especially during the nineties when Becker was pushed aside on the aftermarket by the invasion of Asian car hifi manufacturers like Pioneer, Alpine,... beating Becker with aggressive pricing strategy. In 1995 Becker was acquired by US based Harman Kardon (Harman International Industries). The Becker brand name was retained, but used less frequently. The aftermarket head units are still sold under the Becker brand name, but the OEM solutions are usually branded as Harman Becker Automotive Systems or even simply Harman Kardon. Harman Becker Automotive Systems is still very active in todays automotive industry, but less visible to us end users.

In these days the aftermarket Becker head units serve only a small niche market. The class of cars Becker is targetting at, is usually already equipped with integrated OEM solutions. Single DIN slots become rarer and rarer. Of course there are people like us who want a period-correct head unit in their old car, but that's not really category a company can survive from. So what's happening with Becker? There haven't been any new Becker head units since 2006, navigation maps lag years behind, technical support is only provided through external companies (although I must admit support by Audio Service in the Netherlands is excellent),... I can't help but think Harman Kardon wants to withdraw from this market and focus on OEM solutions.

I have a Becker Cascade in my CSi. It looks better (and is much better) than the Traffic pro and integrates very well (almost as good as the Traffic pro). I bought it used for EUR350 on eBay.

I was thinking of getting another one for my Audi S8, its got the same want to match interior appeal as the E31.

Are there any cheaper modern alternatives to becker that still look OK in our cars?

Zitat von NickF;83321

Are there any cheaper modern alternatives to becker that still look OK in our cars?

Not really, you have the discussed Becker units or the Blaupunkt CD43 (BMW Business CD) that was offered as an option, at least both of these units can be made to function with an I-Pod with various adaptors or cables that are about, but neither will control the factory CD changer fitted to the E31.

The CD43 can be used with a later changer (Changer PI from an E38) and with some rewiring modifications works a treat, I have this set up running in my 840 at the moment,

Zitat von robmarrs;83322

Not really, you have the discussed Becker units or the Blaupunkt CD43 (BMW Business CD) that was offered as an option, at least both of these units can be made to function with an I-Pod with various adaptors or cables that are about, but neither will control the factory CD changer fitted to the E31.

The CD43 can be used with a later changer (Changer PI from an E38) and with some rewiring modifications works a treat, I have this set up running in my 840 at the moment,

I now have the following setup in my car:

CD43 + Dice iphone connector

Iphone 4G, which gives me:

Ipod music
Spotify premium service streaming music over 3G (also downloadable playlists)
Radio apps which do high quality streaming over 3G
Co-pilot Satnav app - which is excellent and works nicely with other music apps

So the fact that my FM antenna doesn't work doesn't matter anymore! Not bad for a single device

Zitat von arnie;83358

Ok, supposing I decide to fit a Becker unit; I think these have two tuners but only a single antenna input, so what happens with the diversity antenna?

I think on later BMW models the diversity antenna system was modified with a switching unit and a single antenna feed. So, those of you who have fitted other, more modern radios, have you updated the diversity antenna system or just only used the main feed?

Arnie

You are partly right, the 4720 series and 7820 series all had one aerial input, but the dedicated BMW Traffic Pro BE 4769 has two inputs, diversity and std aerial and of course the correct illumination..... I know as I have one sitting in my cupboard waiting to go into my 8!

The Indianapolis 7920 series, which looks better in the dash, is the same with possibly the exception of the BMW BE 7969 which might have diversity... but I don't know as I have never seen one... Revtor does it have a diversity antenna input?

I like the OE look as silver with flashing lights, graphics etc don't do it for me, I hated the Pioneer one I got with my TVR, and I replaced that with a more subdued pioneer item (pioneer was OE in the TVR), but I can't read a dam thing on the display or what the buttons do when I am driving, they are so small!

robmarrs: Only the Becker units manufactured for BMW (and a few other manufacturers) have the antenna diversity input. For BMW that's the Traffic Pro 4769 [Europe], 4771 [USA] and Indianapolis 7969 [Europe]. The aftermarket units do not have the antenna diversity input. Actually their PCB is ready for the antenna diversity system but the necessary components are not mounted. The BMW units on the other hand lack certain functionality the aftermarket units do have. The Becker Indianapolis 792x/795x series, for example, have five line outputs (front left, front right, rear left, rear right and subwoofer). The BMW Indianapolis 7969 on the hand seemingly offers the same outputs but the subwoofer output doesn't work. You can adjust its settings in the Indianapolis menu, but you'll get no sound from it for the simple reason the whole subwoofer preamplifier stage is not mounted on the PCB... Also, the BMW Indianapolis has a different cd changer interface to be able to work with (later) BMW cd changers. It is not compatible with Becker's own line of cd changers.

One of the advantages of the Indianapolis over the Traffic Pro is mp3 playback support (from cd). The Becker Remote Kit allows you to connect an Apple iPod mp3 player and control it from the head unit. Very nice integration. Please note the Becker Remote Kit does not work with the Traffic Pro (too old), nor with the BMW Indianapolis 7969 (incompatible cd changer interface)!

In my opinion the Indianapolis has the best looks - I never really liked the Traffic Pro's design. The problem with the Indianapolis however is its display. Whereas the BMW Traffic Pro has a correct negative display (dark/black background with BMW orange illuminated text), the Indianapolis has a positive display (black text on a BMW orange illuminated background) which doesn't match very well with the other negative displays in BMW vehicles. Furthermore the Indianpolis' backlight is rather weak. In bright daylight the display is rather black text on an grey background than on an orange background. The picture of the BMW indianapolis earlier in this topic is a heavily modified version (more info). Here's the original on top of the modified unit:

arnie: As written in my previous post only the BMW units are equipped with the antenna diversity system. The aftermarket Beckers are not. In theory you should replace the antenna amplifier in the C pillar with a newer version if you wish to use a head unit without antenna diversity system. The newer antenna amplifiers have the antenna diversity controller in the amplifier itself instead of the head unit. That makes the antenna diversity system independent from the head unit.

When I changed my BMW Indianapolis 7969 (with antenna diversity system) to a Becker Indianapolis Pro 795x (without antenna diversity system) I did not bother changing the antenna amplifier. I can't say I did notice a loss of reception quality. I have the same list of stations as before and all come in well. The loss is probably there, but the Becker dual tuners live up to their reputation. Your experience may differ in areas that are less well covered, though. Belgium is quite dense and radio reception is rarely an issue.

So to answer your question: Just use the regular antenna plug and ignore the diversity plug. Only think about replacing the antenna amplifier if your new head unit (without antenna diversity system) shows a considerable loss in reception quality.

I never have any issue with my Becker Cascade reception either.

Zitat von arnie;83373

. I'm not sure why Becker removed the diplay reversal function from the aftermarket range, or even never produced a proper orange display, but otherwise, the Becker Grand-Prix, which resembles the Indianapolis (with MP3 and BT, but no satnav), can still be found at a good price.

They didnt!? The Cascade and Cascade Pro have a load of different OEM colour themes preloaded, including Red-Orange and Orange-Red.

Zitat von arnie;83377

Yes, but the Cascade uses an OLED colour display. The rest use LCD with fixed colours and backlighting (according to exact model purchased). The colours are Red, Yellow, Green or Blue, but no BMW orange, although Red or Yellow may be close enough.

I just found that on my unit the actual menus don't match with what's in the user manual. For instance, in the settings menu, there is no setting for any Subwoofer, but there is a menu for a microphone (?) and day/night design only has the one option for interval and not the three options that are described in the manual. Also, the External Device menu includes hands-free telephone, which is not in the manual.

Mybe the software has been changed or updated?

Well, you didnt specify no "LCD units"! OLED displays are great.

Their site has SW updates, some are paid for though. Maybe it detects whats plugged in and adjusts the options?

Hi Arnie,

I eagerly await to see what you come up with, I have the old tape deck with a malfunctioning CD changer in the boot. I have tried to find appropriate units but not found anything that looks orginal and has the functions I want (mainly sat nav, mp3 compatibility). Are the Becker units able to display maps when using the sat nav functions? If they can this may sway me to look at other models.

Zitat von arnie;83380

...and they apparently have good contrast with deep blacks and bright, saturated colours.

OLEDs also have near infinite view angles, you can place them flat on a desk and they almost look like paper. I worked in an MP3 Player company and I remember "selling" OLED to Press at the time. We though OLED would be on everything by now, but apparently they just arent cost effective on large displays.

Note that LED Backlit and "LED Display" are not OLED.

I bought this one ages ago...

Really happy with it. Great sound over stock.....

Hi Schnitz, do you know what model that is? I don't want sat nav as the new TomToms are just too good to live without, but I'd like MP3 playback.