What happened to Becker

    Zitat von NickF;83388

    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.


    Nick


    REVTOR BEAT ME TO IT - bum!


    The model is the OE BMW unit made by becker for BMW, model number BE4769.... it does not have MP3 playback, I have one that is going in my 8 shortly when I have some spare time. Revtor has the later BMW version BE7969 which does support MP3 playback.... this is even rarer than the BE4769 in the UK


    You may be interested in something I have not put on ebay yet:-
    I have a Becker Indianapolis BE7920, nav, cd, radio, MP3 compatible on CD.
    Display is yellow (positive), with code, keys, manuals, GPS aerial, maps disc, good condition... was £699.00 in 2006, looking for £200.00.... PM me if interested. This one can also use the Becker Ipod adaptor available for £60-£100 that allows control of it from the head unit.

    Why have 4 when you can make a V and have 8 and roar


    BMW 840Ci Sport (After 8 Club member now).... BMW X5 4.6is (LPG).... TVR Chimeara 4.0


    Slipped a 6 in......Racing Dynamics K38
    And another 6.....Alpina Roadster 3.4S

    Rob, i'm very interested. I'll send you a PM. When I bought the car it had a vile silver head unit with flashing blue lights :ahhhhh:that was hardwired to a couple of front speakers. I took that out and fitted a US spec OEM unit that a nice bloke from bimmerforums gave me (don't you just love 8er people). Problem is it doesn't pick up lots of UK radio stations, including the banging tunes on Kiss 100 :harhar: (i'm trying to delay middle age - with poor results). It does have a "WB" weather band button though!


    Anyway, put me out of my misery and sell me the Becker!

    Zitat von NickF;83393

    Rob, i'm very interested. I'll send you a PM. When I bought the car it had a vile silver head unit with flashing blue lights :ahhhhh:that was hardwired to a couple of front speakers. I took that out and fitted a US spec OEM unit that a nice bloke from bimmerforums gave me (don't you just love 8er people). Problem is it doesn't pick up lots of UK radio stations, including the banging tunes on Kiss 100 :harhar: (i'm trying to delay middle age - with poor results). It does have a "WB" weather band button though!


    Anyway, put me out of my misery and sell me the Becker!


    PM'd


    Me too, trance nation 1,2 and 3 in the cd changer on repeat!


    No weather band in the UK though! US radios have a slightly different FM band width, and has a different stepping in the search so it actually misses all the even digits and only steps in 2's on the odd frequency lengths.


    A euro one will work perfectly in the US on FM, but miss the odd station at either end of the range, AM does not work very well at all though!


    Rob

    Why have 4 when you can make a V and have 8 and roar


    BMW 840Ci Sport (After 8 Club member now).... BMW X5 4.6is (LPG).... TVR Chimeara 4.0


    Slipped a 6 in......Racing Dynamics K38
    And another 6.....Alpina Roadster 3.4S

    Zitat von Deep;83381

    ....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.


    Well, the Becker units are probaly the best modern alternative to the original business radio-cassette units (and later radio CD) that will blend in reasonably well. However, the navigation is mainly through detailed voice guidance and small pictograms on the display, but not a map display as you might find on a TomTom. But the voice guidance is exceptionally good and clear, and because it also uses the car's speed signal (wheel revolutions) to assist the GPS, the instructions are precisely timed, which is not always the case with a TomTom type unit.


    There are, however, a number of Japanese units with fold-out display panels that can provide map displays. But these may not be a subtle addition to the dash.


    I just wanted to find an updated unit with bluetooth for the phone, MP3/ipod facility and satnav for occasional use so as not to have too many cigarette lighter adapters, suction-cups and wires in the car. Also, the unit should not look too flash as I don't want to worry about possible theft and broken windows (a reason I've left the radio-cassette in up to now.)


    The aftermarket Beckers seem to fit the bill, except that the backlighting is not a perfect match to the car's orange illumination. You can still find the Becker Grand-Prix, the Indianapolis and the Cascade as new units from one or two retailers (used to be very common everywhere up to about last year, but now it's probably down to old and clearance stock.) The GP does not have navigation and the Cascade has a full colour display and it's also possible to get the latter as the Pro version, which has a built in GSM phone that access your mobile's SIM to make calls through its own system and external antenna.

    Zitat von robmarrs;83390

    ....You may be interested in something I have not put on ebay yet:-
    I have a Becker Indianapolis BE7920, nav, cd, radio, MP3 compatible on CD.
    Display is yellow (positive),....




    The OEM (Becker) Mercedes APS-30 is very similar to this, but without the removable, fold-down panel.



    Interesting guys, thanks for sharing. I'm about to do the same exercise, but I'm not sure whether to focus on a regular CD43 rather than going all the way to install a Becker. However, I have seen that it is possible to (heavily) modify the Indianapolis, see further http://forums.roadfly.com/foru…series-e31/8680264-1.html and http://forums.roadfly.com/foru…/forum.php?postid=8743378. Nice job, but I'm not sure if I want to go through all that work.

    Zitat von arnie;83400

    The OEM (Becker) Mercedes APS-30 is very similar to this, but without the removable, fold-down panel.

    The Mercedes APS-30 is a Becker 4700, 4705 or 4715 (depending on the software version). It is somewhat related to the old Traffic Pro. Like I said earlier in this thread I never really liked the design of the old Traffic Pro, but the APS-30 makes the Traffic Pro look like the winner of a beauty contest :mrgreen:...

    That's not a Traffic Pro but a much older and less advanced model - I believe from the Becker Mexico CD series. It doesn't have GPS navigation and it doesn't have a graphic LCD display like the later Traffic Pro, Indianapolis and Grand Prix series. Don't be fooled by the design. Most Becker units from that era had the same design.

    I think that if you swap the standard e31 CD changer P for a Pi version, (like the ones in the e38) then the interface will work with minor rewiring. However, most of these Beckers play mp3 discs and some come with a CF memory slot, and most have an i-pod kit available, so perhaps the cd changer is no longer necessary (?)

    As for fitting the head-unit, the Beckers have standard ISO connectors so, for a plug-'n'-play approach, you will need to buy a BMW (17 round pin) to ISO adapter cable (they are about £10). However, these adapters tend not to have telephone-mute and speed-sensor pins/sockets not populated (Robmarrs). But these two missing wires can be added. The brown ISO connector (usually labelled B) has the 4 speaker connections and the black ISO-connector (A) has the power and other signals (illumination, mute, speed sensor, antenna power etc). The CD changer wiring goes to a third ISO connector (C1, C2, C3), not shown




    Example connections (these will vary slightly between manufaturers, so check sticker on actual head-unit)

    Thanks Arnie - I feel a Christmas present coming on!


    I take it that the version numbers (7920...7922...7923...7925) refer to the display colour like it does on the other models?

    Yes. The Indianaoplis is probably the last version to have coloured LCD display. The later ones switched to OLED, but again fixed colours (although now with grey-scale), except for the multicolour Cascade.


    If you go for the Indianapolis, (which have black text on coloured backgound) there are some reports that the yellow backlight, which washes-out to white in sunlight is much better than the red-backlight, which can go pink in sunlight.

    You lot have cost me! I'm now the proud owner of a Becker Indianapolis 7922 (red display). It seems the perfect way to get Nav and MP3-CD capability that suits the E31.

    I've long considered upgrading the factory head unit in my car, mainly for MP3 playback. I too am a TomTom fan and have it on my phone.

    However, since I upgraded the rest of the sound system (extra amp, sub, etc) the stock head unit can produce some fantastic sounds, so I am wary of an "upgrade" being a backward step in terms of sound quality.

    I don't have the Business head unit, but a "Professional" unit (fitted from new). Is this Blaupunkt or Becker?

    See below:



    Sorry it's not the best picture and was taken before I changed the steering wheel.

    Q1. Is the Professional unit actually any better quality than the Business unit in terms of sound quality?

    Q2. To get MP3 playback, I'm considering a cheat by routing the lead from a dummy cassette-mp3 adapter out the back of the unit (with enough slack in case of accidental eject!). Is there an obvious flaw in this plan? (never played a cassette since I bought the car).

    Timm & arnie: Wish I could reply a bit sooner, but I don't think the (non-BMW) Becker units will work with any BMW cd changer. Becker has its own proprietary protocol for their own Silverstone series cd changers. These Becker Silverstone cd changers do not work on the BMW versions of the Becker head units, nor does the Becker Remote Kit. So there's little reason to assume the other way around will work. You could of course replace the E31 cd changer with a Becker Silverstone...


    Anyway, who needs a cd changer when you can play mp3 cds, or even better attach a large music library through an iPod and Becker Remote Kit?

    Don't worry Revtor, I'd already decided to ditch the CD changer. Not much point when you have an MP3 CD-player in the dash, as it is so much more user-friendly. It's too cold to fiddle with the CD-Changer in the boot!

    Zitat von ukzero;83433

    I don't have the Business head unit, but a "Professional" unit (fitted from new). Is this Blaupunkt or Becker?

    BMW Professional head units are manufactured by Becker. Your head unit is the BMW Professional RDS (Becker BE2450), probably the best head unit available for the E31 (back the days). It's the single-unit successor of the Becker Bavaria C Professional RDS (Becker BE1801). If only BMW had asked Becker to make a cd player version of the BMW Professional RDS instead of the prehistoric cassette player...

    Zitat

    Q1. Is the Professional unit actually any better quality than the Business unit in terms of sound quality?

    The sound quality of the BMW Professional RDS is way better than the Business radio-cassette players of the time, but then again those were very mediocre head units. The Business line was much improved with the coming of radio-cd players. The BMW Business CD (Blaupunkt CD43) probably sounds just as good as the BMW Professional RDS. The BMW Professional RDS has a far better tuner, though. You can't beat the Becker dual RDS tuners... Of course, if you rarely listen to radio that is of no importance at all and it's not like the BMW Business CD tuner is bad.


    Can't help with the cassette line-in adapter - I've never used one. I've read some are quite good, but many are crap. So best lookup (good) reviews before buying.

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