Hey all, I'm moving my head unit out of the center rack and want to fill the space with a DIN panel to hold gauges. I've seen a lot of plates for this purpose but none that were cooper-specific. Its my understanding though that the DIN was a universally-sized compartment, so I don't know what would be vehicle specific about it. This is just a panel, not like the full Defi unit. Anybody have any insights? Anybody done this?

 

Okay folks... So since nobody replied to my initial inquiry I was forced to wing it and do things through trial and error. Fortunately, It all worked quite well. I'm attaching a picture, if there's any interest, I have some more that I can add.

 

I think thats pretty awesome!.. so no radio!? I'd fall asleep! ha

 

The Radio has been moved to the glove box. I couldn't make it with no radio. Accompanying it is the Harmon Kardon Drive and Play control unit. I don't listen to local radio at all anymore. What I do have is a Sirius Sportster 5 and iPod. Since I can control the volume on the steering wheel there's not much need to be able to access the head unit. The Drive and Play controls allow for quick changing through songs on the iPod, and switching between the Sirius and iPod. It also displays the track info on a screen which I mounted in place of the clock.

It was out of my lack of use of the head unit that this whole project began. The lower switch panel was done a few months ago, but also rewired to accommodate the new gauges.

 

FWIW you could have put the gauges into this :-

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...=65&fg=05&hl=1

and as the OE radio is NOT true DIN size, put a standard DIN blanking plate like this :-

http://car-vision.co.uk/product_info...roducts_id=216

into a MINI to DIN adaptor plate like this :-

http://www.car-vision.co.uk/product_...c8f431uq3tfp90

you can also put standard DIN gauges like these :-

http://www.defi-shop.com/product/din/din_top.html

Good work anyway.!

Cheers

Chris

 

Well...
There were a few options. And while what you point out is both useful and beneficial, the truth is that using a blank piece of ABS allowed for a bit more versatility and gave me the chance to do exactly what I wanted. It also came from the same run as the ABS used in the switch panel. The uniformity of it all pays off in the end.