What happened to Becker

Zitat von arnie;83428

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.

Revtor is right it will not work with the changer PI even with minor rewiring,

The only Becker radios that will work are the OEM BMW versions of the Traffic Pro BE4769 or the Indianapolis BE7969, these have had the boards and output modified to give the correct I-BUS signals to the cd changer, you also need the modified wiring harness adaptor that came as an extra with the fitting kit to an E46.

On my 840 I have modified the wiring to run a CD43 and a Changer PI so the install looks completely stock BMW, the changer PI fits the same bracket as the changer P, I can make wiring kits for anybody that wants this sort of install, you then get CD headunit RDS tuner with diversity antenna input and 6 cd in the boot!

Thanks for the input guys.

I recon I'll keep the head unit and will try the cassette adapter route.
First off by letting the wire dangle out of the "mouth" to see how it sounds/works.
If all OK I'll route the wires out of the back.

Of course with the various Android tablets coming on stream at good prices I can see a case for investigating a simplified car pc install, with TomTom, etc, etc.

I tried a cassette to iPod connector and it was total rubbish. The sound quality was terrible. It was a long time ago in a different car (Ford Expedition....rubbish but cool....) and an antique series 2 iPod, but i'd guess the problem was the tape thingy. I got better quality through the radio integration iTrip thingy, that's saying something. I wouldn't waste your time.

Update:
Tried the MP3 via cassette-adapter route this morning having borrowed a neighbour's Maplin sourced £12.99 adapter.
First try a produced terrible flat, muffled sound until I realised the head unit has Dolby B+C and other settings for the inadequacies of cassettes.
Turned all those off and the result was much better, but still not CD quality.

Then redid a couple of MP3 tracks at higher bit rate and tried again.

Still not quite as good as CD quality, but very very close and certainly a simple solution. The output level is lower than for the tuner or CD, but not ridiculously so.
Now I know it works and when I get time I'll take things apart and route the cable out the back/side of the unit and through to the storage compartment under the arm rest as I hate trailing wires.

Zitat von ukzero;83489

Update:
Tried the MP3 via cassette-adapter route this morning having borrowed a neighbour's Maplin sourced £12.99 adapter.
First try a produced terrible flat, muffled sound until I realised the head unit has Dolby B+C and other settings for the inadequacies of cassettes.
Turned all those off and the result was much better, but still not CD quality.

Then redid a couple of MP3 tracks at higher bit rate and tried again.

Still not quite as good as CD quality, but very very close and certainly a simple solution. The output level is lower than for the tuner or CD, but not ridiculously so.
Now I know it works and when I get time I'll take things apart and route the cable out the back/side of the unit and through to the storage compartment under the arm rest as I hate trailing wires.

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I can highly recommend dice iPod/iPhone adapter + iphone (mainly due to the music apps available)

Zitat von arnie;83514

Does that work with the standard head-unit (like the Philips Business RDS radio-cassette)?

Arnie, it doesn't work with the Business RDS tape, Jin has a CD43 fitted bought from me I believe, the DICE units only work with I-BUS.

Zitat von robmarrs;83522

Arnie, it doesn't work with the Business RDS tape, Jin has a CD43 fitted bought from me I believe, the DICE units only work with I-BUS.

correct - I thought they would be compatible but it seems not.

Of course all 10 buttons work. However, the Indianapolis and Traffic Pro family have some sort of a split screen mode in which the right most section of the screen (and thus the last three buttons) is reserved to display the compass, navigation instructions or (in case of menus) an image describing the screen you are in. In this situation the last three buttons are indeed inactive. But if you, for example, turn off the compass and are currently not using navigation, the radio stations fill up nine buttons (the tenth is reserved for the next page function).

Anyway, there's no point in comparing to the Cascade. That's an entirely new family running different software. The same goes for the Mercedes APS-30 which is based on a predecessor of the Traffic Pro and runs different software as well.

Zitat von arnie;83777

Tim, have you fitted yours yet?

It's a Christmas present (which I bought - to give to my wife - to give to me at Christmas), so no!

I've also bought the ISO lead which has the reverse and speed signal connectors/wires missing. So, I will buy another ISO lead (it was only £2.50) and mangle it to get the two which are missing.

From the E31 circuit diagram I see that the speed signal is present but the reverse signal isn't. The closest place I can find with the reverse signal is the gong in the kick-panel.

Is this where the signal is usually picked up from? Or the shifter?

Where is the normal place to site the GPS antenna?

Zitat von Timm;83781

From the E31 circuit diagram I see that the speed signal is present but the reverse signal isn't. The closest place I can find with the reverse signal is the gong in the kick-panel. Is this where the signal is usually picked up from? Or the shifter?

X306 in the left hand kick panel is where I took the reverse signal from. I was hoping to find the wiring somewhere in the center console but apparently the transmission switch wiring runs underneath the car and comes nowhere on the interior-side of the center console.

Zitat

Where is the normal place to site the GPS antenna?

I put the GPS antenna on top of the ventilation tubes behind the center vents - directly underneath the dashboard surface. If you want to use the same location, it's best to reach in through the instrument cluster opening as the center vents are quite difficult to remove, prone to breaking and ridiculously expensive to replace... I used strong, thick and somewhat heat-resistant double-sided tape to mount the antenna.

Thanks Revtor, that's exactly the practical information I needed.

I completely agree with the unobstructed view of the sky - that's essential for a good GSP signal reception. The best location would be near the windshield defroster vents in the middle of the car. Too bad that location is nearly impossible to get at without dismantling large portions of the dashboard. The best you can do is somewhere halfway on top of the ventilation tubes I mentioned. It's only a few minutes work to get to and reception quality is still excellent, if not perfect. There is no metal in the dashboard above it, so it should have a more or less clear view of the sky.

All modern Becker units should come with the AG14 GPS antenna which is extremely sensitive (based on the renowned SiRFstar III). It is not required to install the AG14 on a metal plate - it already has its own metal base. You can recognize the antenna by the "AG14" text printed on the antenna cable near the connector. Its metal base is also visible from the back - the adhesive tape on the back is white and about 5 mm smaller on each side revealing the metal base. The older antenna comes with a metal plate (I'm not entirely sure about the Becker version, but the BMW version did).

Anyway, even with the older antenna you should be fine with the location underneath the dashboard. While I still had the BMW Indianapolis in my car (I now have Becker Indianapolis Pro with the BMW Indianapolis front) I had the older antenna in the same location without issues.

The reverse signal is just like the speed signal optional, but it helps improving accuracy at very low speeds or in areas where satellite reception is very bad (tunnels, parking garages,...). Thanks to the speed signal, internal gyroscope and to a lesser extent the reverse signal, the Becker units can still provide reasonably accurate positioning without satellite lock.