Hi, Im looking for a single din stereo unit for my R53. needs to have Bluetooth capabilities for phone and music. stock looking.


having a lot of trouble here trying to find the right look.

 

Check to make sure you don't have the Harmon Kardon system first.
If you do, you'll either need to gut the whole system, or get yourself an H/K enabler.

There's plenty of choices out there, my only recommendation is to find one that allows you to change the colours so you can match your interior red colour.

 

I went with a Kenwood Excelon KDC - X995 (years ago). The newest single din is the KDC - X 998 and I think the major differences are in the display. I put a X996 in my truck and would like a newer unit now as I listen to Pandora more than Sirius XM.

Having the bluetooth, and the steering controls work was really nice. Not exactly stock looking but not a bad way to go.

 

Pioneer makes a nice media receiver (no cd player.) Has bluetooth, usb, and aux inputs, as well as hands free for your phone. I'll get the model number in a bit, but it was less than 100. And you can change the illumination color to match the factory color.

 

Here's where I bought it


Pioneer MVHX560BT Digital Media Receiver https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GS80OQ8..._HDe6wb1EQ3XC8


Kinda blurry but here's a night shot.

 

Pretty close match to the MINI colors/

 

It's a lot closer in person, can't really tell the difference. But it's a tad brighter than the factory lights so in the pic it looks a different shade.

 

Oh, ok. Then its looks like a match Hard to find a stereo with the BMW / MINI amber-red color.

 

Took me almost a month to decide on what stereo to get, it had to be black to match the hvac and switches below but had to be able to adjust the button color as well. And had to do everything wireless, but still have aux and usb ports. The only thing I didn't care about was a cd slot. So it's just a "media" receiver.

I gave up on owning cds, every time I buy a new one my mom steals them whenever she rides with me. :-/

 

Now, that's one thing I wish my Pioneer head unit did, match the Mini dash lighting, it looks very cool!

 

yea, used to be a list somewhere back in 2005 of the stereo that match, but most of them a NLA now when single DIN radios where the thing.

 

This is what I installed in my R53:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_158GS81...X-GS810BH.html

And this is how it looks:



The illumination color can be changed, I set mine as close as possible to the OEM amber hue. This is a great head unit, powering my JBL components in the doors and JBL 6x9s and sounds fantastic.