Looking for a new head unit, something that;

-looks stock
-has bluetooth built in (connect to phone) just for music no phone calls needed

Anything good out there for these cars?

 

Hello,

We have these and one for the Gen 1 MINIs.

Gen 1 MINI: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-this-one.html

 

find one from an 07-08 R52.


allmag had this one

 

I did consider the vdo unit. But to me its not a direct hit on the looks

 

good idea sir. did not think of that

assuming it has bluetooth. Is it plug and play or will i need a new harness?

 

Yep the VDO is the closest, the old blaupunkt we dont carry. The bremmen is the full screen updates/carplay.

 

I have a 2006 R52 with a radio that looks just like this and it does not have BT. Do you know know for sure the later (2007-2008) R52s have BT capability? I plugged in a BT receiver to this radio and it works fine through the AUX. I have the BT receiver in the glove box.

 

It’s a stock head unit so yes plug and play, if you had Bluetooth working before and you hooked
everything up correctly, then you should have Bluetooth again. No coding just swap.

 

yes sir the blaupunkt is my fav. do you know why its not carried anymore?

 

I have the stock head unit in now with the grom for bluetooth.

https://gromaudio.com/store/bt3_adap...connector.html

the issue is that I have a whistle / whine. It started after I put in the grom unit. So im thinking I could solve the problem by eliminating the grom unit?

 

Bluebus. I have it in my 01 330Ci Convertible - $199 - excellent product - uses the CD changer cable.

 

They nla'd those retro units. All we have is those vdo ones that are retro.

 

I'll have a look, my car (2005 mcs) does not have the cd changer.

 

Do these Bremmer units work with the OEM Harman Kardon sounds systems (for an 06 Cooper S)?

 

I too had to swap out my old factory 04 pre-facelift head unit for a perfect, factory one ('06 unit) = $25 from a salvage yard. I had installed an AUX input which in turn wound up causing some (static noise).
@deepgrey gave me some valuable advice to source and install an "ground isolator"(?) Which fixed the noise problem.
It might also be a solution to your BT whistle noise?
It wish I still had/ could provide the link to the one I bought/installed.

 

yes i'm thinkng its a grounding issue. that is also what the grom support person was saying. I'll post their replies here if i can dig them up

i'm planning to remove the dash to replace the evaporator. I'll try and do this work on the tail end of that job

 

here are the replies from Grom. And I quote:

"This is called a ground loop and can be occuring for a number of reasons.

Do you have a digital multi meter? You could test for resistence between the ground wires and chassis ground to see how many ohms resistence there is.

Then you could do the same with your negative terminal on your battery and the vehicle chassis.

You should have around 0 ohms resistence.

We also have a noise filter available for this symptom which may help:
https://gromaudio.com/store/accessor...se-filter.html

Thank you,
Sean
GROM Audio

 

"Start with testing the ground wire on the BMWTL harness where it is plugged into the VLine for Ohms/resistence and see while one probe is on GROUND and the other probe is touching a factory ground point, how many ohms of resistence you see.

Then you can test on the black probe at the car battery negative terminal and other probe on the factory ground.

How many ohms of resistence are you seeing at the ground points?

GROUND on the BMWTL cable will be a black wire on the 3-pin connector.

Thank you,
Sean
GROM Audio"

 

"If you did the behind the stereo installaion it may be so and you can try redoing hte P-tap or taking the ground wire directly to the chassis of the vehicle if you have any metal behind the stereo.


Thank you,
Sean
GROM Audio"

 

i may end up buying a new head unit. but i need to find something that looks factory

 

I always prefered the continuity of the stock factory head unit consistent with the looks of the stack.
On the other hand, I do wish the 1st gen units had more of the updated features as with post 2nd gens.
As example; I have an aftermarket AUX input wired in but to make up for the lack of BT I have to use one of those cigarette lighter transmitter / receivers. I thought it worked super well, that is until I'd recently discovered that it interfered with my radio station reception = Causing static and low reception while the ignition is on.

 

I never tried it but on Amazon and Ebay there are these "Bluetooth AUX-in Adapter, Compatible with Mini One Cooper R50, R53, BMW E85, E86, E83, Z4, X3" for around $25. I wonder if those would work better?

 

i like the stock unit looks also, thus the dilemma :/

 

for that price it might be worth a try.

if i could find a head unit that looks like it came with the car and had quality Bluetooth sound I WOULD PAY