I just bought a used 2002 Mini Cooper (US model) and I'm looking to make a couple of upgrades.


What I have now:

Stock cd player. I'm fairly certain it's not the HK one, since no upgrade option for it shows up on the option list I found with the manual, and nothing anywhere says HK (and it doesn't sound very good either).

Stock navigation unit. This thing sucks: No touch screen, no spiffy POI data, no traffic data, annoying interface, and it doesn't have much map data (looks like you have to swap out different CDs for different states, which didn't come with the car anyway).

A shark-fin type of antenna on the top of the roof (no obvious place where the FM antenna is, I'm guessing it's in one of the windows). Since this is a 2002 which I don't think has the sat radio option, I'm guessing all it has in it is the GPS antenna.


What I want:

Satellite radio, with the ability to change stations and volume using the steering wheel controls.

Better sound quality, with maybe a bit more volume for when the windows are down.

Better navigation with POI data, traffic feed, and touch screen.

Bluetooth interface to make/receive cell phone calls when I'm on the road.

All modifications to look as stock as possible, to minimize theft risk.


What I'm thinking about doing:

Getting a xm adaptor for my factory stereo. I believe the Blitzsafe BMW/XM DMX CMD V.1 (or MINI/XM DMX CMD V.1, are they different?) should connect via the cd changer interface to allow changing of channels via the stock head unit. It looks like the cheapest place to get one is here:
http://www.autotoys.com/x/product.php?productid=175

The problem with this approach is that I can't seem to find a lot of documentation, and I don't know which XM receiver unit I need to get with it. Also I don't know if there are any negative effects on sound quality using this type of setup. For example if the output of the XM receiver is analog (which it appears to be) and it is analog all the way to the head unit, there's a lot more opportunity for noise to get in there. It appears that an alternative approach is to get a 2005 model head unit off ebay (which also plays MP3's) with the built-in sirius interface, then to get a different type of XM kit which uses that interface (I'd probly go that route instead of using a factory sirius tuner since I don't know how to get one, and from what I understand XM has more music channels). I would like to spend less and use the existing head unit, but if the sound quality would be higher by getting the newer head unit, I'd probably sprint for it.

For the antenna, I would like to get some sort of dual-function xm/gps antenna to replace the stock shark-fin one. This seems to be difficult too as it seems that there are references to such devices but I haven't found one that I could buy. It looks like most people just use 2 separate antennas, but I don't want to do that unless somehow the second one can be truly hidden, as I don't want any give-aways that things aren't stock. If I had to go with separate antennas, then I would definitely want the one on the top of the roof (the most optimal) to be for the satellite radio, as I hear if you don't mount it at the highest part in the vehicle it's much more likely to drop out.

For the GPS, I would like to remove the factory nav screen and put in an aftermarket GPS with bluetooth, maybe the Garmin nüvi 1490T since it has a fairly large screen. I realize I probably won't be able to get something with the exact same size screen, so I'd probably have to do a little fab work with some plastic. I'm hoping there won't be any bad things coming from removing the factory screen, I know it does slightly more than GPS (like displaying gas mileage), but the stuff I've seen on it I can live without. I then plan to get some sort of kit which will mute the radio when the GPS is speaking directions, or when it's being used for bluetooth with my cell phone. I don't know which kit to get with this, so far I've only found these two:
http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop...uctshow&id=188
http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop...ductshow&id=57
If possible I'd like to order something local (I'm guessing there would be more shipping costs from another country) and with advertised prices in US $. I'm thinking even though that GPS doesn't have an audio output I can hopefully just use the speaker output (maybe with some resistors if necessary), and that somehow I can make an external antenna work. I'm guessing that having the GPS mounted inside the dash would render the onboard antenna useless.

I had also thought about getting one of those GPS/sat radio 1 din units with a fold out screen. While that would be easier (less connection/adapter kits needed, and good pre-outs), the problem is that it wouldn't look stock and would therefore increase the theft potential. I thought about just doing it and making a fake faceplate out of the old head unit that I could place on it when I leave the car, but I think it would be hard to make it believable due to the fact it would stick out so much.

For the sound quality/volume issue I plan on adding a new set of components (6.5" midrange + tweeter) for the front, and either a single 10" sub in a custom ported enclosure or 2 6x9's in the rears crossed over reasonably low. I think the sub would be a better bet, but if I think I can get enough low response from a couple of 6x9's then I might go for that as well. I plan on getting a 4 channel amp for all of it (maybe 50x4 or 100x4), with 2 channels for the fronts and the other two for either the 6x9's or bridged for a 10" sub. I'm considering a newer Class G/H amplifier since they should be more efficient and generate less heat, maybe enough less that it could be mounted under the passenger seat where the stock nav cdrom is currently. I'm guessing I won't be able to easily find suitable pre-amp outputs (if I could that would be great), so I would probably take some stranded cat-6 cable from the head and splice into the speaker outputs and lead that back to the amp. Most amps have high level inputs so this should work, although I'd much rather have something "proper" if I could manage it. Seems like the sound quality can take a hit when going through that conversion process. Also I would need to find some sort of turn-on lead on the head unit for the amp (powering it on with the car itself would likely cause a thump whenever the radio is powered on), but I'm hoping that would be possible since there should be something for the cars with the HK amp'd setup (hopefully they use the same head unit).

I realize that's a lot of text and if you're still with me that's pretty good I have thought about this a lot to come up with some ideas, but I'd really like input of those who have done this sort of thing before and who know more about the Mini. While I've put in a fair amount of systems in my day, it's been several years since I've exercised those brain muscles.

 

1 din flipouts do not stick out a lot and if you got a black one it would blend just fine. I like the 1 din flip out option, as the other stuff is confusing me...so many different components to accomplish the task that a 1 din would have built in...

If you are worried about sound quality, I don't know how you can justify keeping the stock head unit. If your foundation is not quality, you can't force quality out by throwing money at your other components.

Theft aversion, tint those windows! I'm guessing you've had problems with theft before since you're so worried about it. Sorry about that.

I'd like to comment more but have to go. Gimme some feedback on the above suggestions and I'll post again.

 

Actually I've never gotten my car broken in to, but I've had plenty of friends that have. I guess it really comes down to the worrying factor. To me there are 2 costs associated with buying something. The first is the obvious monetary cost of acquiring the item. The second is the cost of keeping/maintaining the item, which may not be monetary at all. For me the "worrying" cost is quite high with some things. For example I didn't want to buy a brand new car, in part because of the up front cost, but largely because then I worry about what might happen to it (door dings, etc). For the same reason, I really don't want to have anything that appears to be non-stock and theft friendly. I think for me the cost of the uncomfortable "worrying" is not worth the extra sound quality (and easier installation) that would be gained by going the simple route. So unless I can find some way of sufficiently hiding any aftermarket receiver, I really don't want to get one. Also most likely to get what I want in one of those 1din receivers will probably end up costing more than all the little kits and mods I would do.

As far as tint goes most of the car is already tinted from the previous owner -- and I hate it. I really do _love_ the light (I especially liked it when I had a sunroof in the car I had a few years ago, because it let in more light), and plan on removing at least the front part of the tint (and probably the rest, depending on how well I can remove it). I just need to get some sort of modified/aftermarket sun visors to deal with the sun coming in on the side windows (the factory ones are horrible, they don't even cover half of the side window).

 

I have a blitzsafe interface + XM Direct receiver + antenna for sale in the Marketplace...$120 for everything.

Any questions, please ask. All I received was the demo station since I don't subscribe, but the quality was really good. It is analog, but I heard no noise or hiss. Installation is a snap (took 5 minutes to remove all), and you can control the whole thing through your stock stereo. Plus...it's cheap!!

 

My car audio religion and yours don't seem to mesh well. I don't think I have anything to offer you. Good luck though.

 

I have a 2005 mini cooper base convertible and I would like to have installed a in-dash single din touch screen any brand suggestions that will work?