Help choosing new ICE

I have a Becker Grand Prix, it has built in Bluetooth for hands free phone, and you can get an interface cable for an iPod that gives full control through the head unit, so you can leave the iPod in the glovebox or similar. Charges it while connected too, and the interface is excellent thanks to it having two scroll wheels -- one for volume and the other for changing track/artist etc.

Best of all it looks as close to original as you're going to get an aftermarket unit. Only thing that gives it away is the illumination colour doesn't match. Saying that, if you've got the skills of Revtor even that can be fixed, and you'll have a unit that looks totally factory, just much much better than anything BMW ever fitted to the 8!

Should have said, it won't work with the BMW CD changer unfortunately, but I don't miss it in the slightest. With an iPod connected you have all the music you want at your fingertips, and for the odd time you want to play a CD just use the slot in the front. If you're concerned about quality (in reality you're unlikely to notice the difference in a car compared to high bitrate AAC) just buy a large iPod and store everything in lossless format -- as good as CD, just much more convenient :).

Here's another vote for Becker. Interesting models:

Becker/BMW Radio Navigation Traffic Pro 4769/4771 (4769 = Europe, 4771 = USA) (link)

The Traffic Pro is an older unit, but it's a very popular upgrade amongts BMW owners. It's got BMW printed on the front and features a correct negative display with BMW orange illumination which matches the other displays in the car.

+ Matching negative BMW orange display color
+ GPS navigation including USA
+ BMW printed on the unit instead of Becker
- No mp3 cd support
- Becker Remote Kit (iPod interface) cannot be used
- Design not as pleasing as the Grand Prix and Indianapolis series

Becker Grand Prix 799x series (link)

The Becker Grand Prix and Indianapolis series all share the same design. It's typically German: clean, functional and integrates seamlessly in our cars. I really love it. The Grand Prix series are the same units as the Indianapolis, but without GPS navigation support. Build and sound quality is typically Becker: top notch. Just like the Traffic Pro the unit has a flip down front which hides the cd player which also supports mp3 cds (sadly no mp3 dvds). If a single mp3 cd doesn't contain enough songs for you, there's always the possibility to attach an iPod through the optional Becker Remote Kit - you can control the iPod from the head unit. The biggest drawback however is in the illumination. The Grand Prix (and Indianapolis) is available in 4 display and button illumination colors: red (7992), yellow (7990), green (7993) and blue (7995) (the last digit in the model number indicates the color). None really matches BMW orange. Even worse is that the display is positive (black text on colored background) instead of negative (colored text on black background) as in the rest of the E31. The older Traffic Pro could be switched from positive to negative - I really don't get why they dumped this option. The display illumination is also much dimmer than with the Traffic Pro. With a bit of direct sunlight it looks as if it has no colored backlight.

+ Mp3 cd support
+ iPod support through Becker Remote Kit
+ Looks very OEM
+ Bluetooth
- Positive display with no BMW orange (closest are red or yellow)

Becker Indianapolis 792x or Becker Indianapolis Pro 795x series (link)

See the Grand Prix 799x series for an overall description. The Indianapolis adds GPS navigation, although only for Europe (no maps available for the USA). Note that only the newer 795x series have Bluetooth support.

+ Mp3 cd support
+ iPod support through Becker Remote Kit
+ Looks very OEM
+ Bluetooth (only for the 795x series)
+ GPS navigation
- Positive display with no BMW orange (closest are red or yellow)
- No navigation maps for the USA

Becker/BMW Radio Navigation Indianapolis 7969 (BMW # 65 90 0 393 718)

This unit is a Becker Indianapolis 792x (thus without Bluetooth) made for BMW. It's got 'BMW' printed on the front instead of 'Becker Indianapolis', has a BMW startup screen, and has matching BMW orange illumination, but - sadly - still a positive display. Thanks to the BMW print and BMW orange illumination this is as close to OEM look you can get. The Becker Indianapolis and Grand Prix series have five line outputs (front left, front right, rear left, rear right and subwoofer). The BMW version however does not have the subwoofer output! Also, the BMW version does not work with the Becker Remote Kit which allows you to connect an Apple iPod and control it from the head unit.

+ Mp3 cd support
+ BMW printed on the unit instead of Becker
+ Looks very OEM
+ GPS navigation
+ Display in BMW orange
- Becker Remote Kit (iPod interface) cannot be used
- No subwoofer line output
- Positive display
- No navigation maps for the USA

To me the 7969 was the ideal upgrade for my E31. However I got annoyed by the positive display so I decided to do something about it...



In the picture above you see the original Becker/BMW Radio Navigation Indianapolis 7969 on top and my modified unit below.



Here you can see what the modified unit looks like mounted in my car. The display is now a near perfect match with the OBC/MID (in both color and brightness). The Becker is set at almost minimum brightness (1). Needless to say I'm very happy with the result.

If you want more information about my modification, read Becker/BMW Radio Navigation Indianapolis display mod II.

If you don't care about OEM looks there's a whole array of other head unit manufacturers you can choose from...