CD Storage - What's YOUR solution?
 

So as I'm getting used to my MINI's ins and outs, I'm realizing the lack of storage space in the MINI that everyone talked about is really quite true.

So, what do you guys do for CD storage? Right now I'm just switching out one for another whenever I want to change cds. I don't have a sunvisor cd holder... Never much been a fan of those. So are there any ideas on where I can store cds in my MINI?

I have the notebook style cd book (2 column) and i put it inside the door. it fits really snug! :thumbsup:

Or just create a MP3 and put about 7-10 albums on 1 CD ;)

For storage, add the parcel shelf under the steering wheel. Or, rip all your cds, dump them to a hard drive MP3 player, install the aux input and leave the cds at home.

A hard drive! :lol::lol::lol:

I've gone from a few dozen CD's scattered about the car to an iPod and haven't looked back! As much as Dension's IceLink+ irritates the heck out of me, I swear the sound quality is as good as any CD in my collection.

I have a 24 CD holder that fits nicely in the mesh behind the passenger seat. Would probably also fit in the door.
Best bet is to do as Agro says. CDs are SO 90's. :wink:

I mainly use my iPod now (which sits on the parcel shelf, where I installed the jack), but for CDs I just stack them in the space below the A/C controls. You can fit 6 or 7 down there easy, and they stay in place between the vertical tubes even if you don't have any kind of extra storage tray down there.

I'd love to have an iPod, but can't justify the expense. My 05 head unit plays MP3 discs, which makes "need" for the iPod a bit less pressing.

My daughter bought me a CD case that says "Kenneth Cole - Reaction" on it. I think she bought it at TJ Maxx, a discount clothing/clearance store, about a year ago (Father's Day gift). So it may not be available any longer. But I would imagine there are a lot of similar cases available.

Mine is roughly 11-5/8" high by 6-1/2" wide by 2-1/8" thick and has a zipper with an easily gripped pulltab (nice when you're driving!). It has 12 pages, each page holds two discs on a side, for a total of 48 discs. (Did that make sense?)

Two things I particularly like - it's black (and therefore difficult to see from outside the car against my black floor mats) and it's small enough that I can reach around behind the passenger seat and slide it under the seat. (My car's an 05, if that makes any difference.) IOW - it holds a lot of discs, it's easy for me to get to, and easy to hide.

When I have people in the back seat, I stand it up one of the little pocket thingies in the rear seat area, in front of the "armrests," below the rear speakers. (Do earlier cars have the same pockets?)

I also second Agro's suggestion for the parcel shelf. I often keep a few of my most listened-to discs there. The rubber surface is grippy enough to keep them from sliding around, even under *ahem* spirited driving.

("Sorry officer - I was just testing my new parcel shelf!") :wink:

I'll also vouch for an MP3 player. I have a 1.5Gb player that holds about 25 complete CDs (at 128kb/s). That's good enough for me. I actually do keep a small zipper case for the occasional CD or MP3 CD I want to take with me. That case holds up to 20 CDs and fits under the seat or in the door easily.

You can get a small (5Gb or less) MP3 player for "cheap" nowadays so it's kind of hard to argue against it.

I started out with a CD case that mini sells. it's a hard shell case that comes in a few colors. it's costs a bit much, but it keeps the CD protected. (i had on just like it a long time ago and actually ran it over with my car once and it was just fine, as was all the cd's). it also fits right into the storage spot on the back of the seats. mine was in the pass. seat all the time, as it was easy to get to and replace while driving. i have now moved up to the i-Pod and have enough music to drive across country and not hear the saem song twice! good luck:smile:

Mmmm, an ipod. Problem solved, no more CD storage needed.
Seriously though, before I had the ipod I bought one of those visor CD holders. Too big for the visor but it fit snug between the seat and the ebrake console.

iPod + Aux input. CD's only make it into the player on the way home from the music store. Then they report directly to my computer for mp3 encoding, and are stored away forever (or, at least until I have a massive hardware failure at home).

iPod's aren't the final word in MP3 Players
 

Just to clarify, while I may have mentioned an iPod... They're hardly the final word in MP3 players.

You can find perfectly adequate MP3 players out there for much less than the iPod... You just loose some street cred!:lol:

Even a lesser priced iPod alternative and the Aux jack will get many more CD's in your car, in a smaller space, and sound just as well...

A CD notebook...
 

(1 CD square) and a couple or so inches thick will fit in the center console below the toggles. I put the little dual shelf insert in and I can still fit a notebook of about an 1.5" thick. Fits like it was made for it.

A Fischer Universal C-Box fits in the center cubby of pre-2005 models ...

http://www.mini2.com/gallery/persona...7322_thumb.jpg

Fischer C-Box - a solution for CD storage

No CDs
 

XM Direct!

Couldn't agree more. As a computer geek, I take pride in the "no Apple product" status of my home and car. I have a MediaGear Songbank MP3 player. Comes without a hard drive and takes any laptop size HD. I have a 60gb drive in mine, paid under $200 all up.
There are a number of HD based MP3 players out there with MUCH better value than the iPods. Creative's units seem to have pretty good reviews.

Indeed: I had an RCA Lyra 40GB for a while, and it cost the same as my 20GB iPod. It played well, and didn't have the annoying gap between songs. However, it's sorting and scrolling sucked, and the controls were clumsy. You couldn't pause a song for more than 10 seconds without losing your place, and it was really slow to boot up. But it did hold twice as much for the same price (oh, yeah: it was easily 3 times the size of the iPod, too).

i put my CD's in the CD changer in the boot.

I hate carrying CDs in the car, so I have the iPod plus the MINI iPod adaptor. Problem solved!

It is nice that the '05+ head units play MP3s but you still have to carry some sort of CD.

I am also happy with the factory Homelink remote gate opener. I still can't believe I don't have to carry a brick sized remote in the car.


Less clutter = Better motoring.:grin:

Or buy an iPOD...we just spent 50 hours in the car and never listened to the same song twice.... except when it was one on my wife's songs...y'kno the kind. Ones she put on just to torture me!

Even with the iPod I still have CDs everywhere. :roll: Parcel shelf is almost exactly 3 cds wide, so you can stuff a few there. I hesitate to stack upwards because I think they'll fly out. The glovebox is good for a few more, but its easy to fill it. When push comes to shove I make my co-pilot attend to them. I have a very well trained co-pilot. :lol:

I am just curious but has anyone put a mac or a pc into their mini for this purpose? Then all you do is hardwire the audio out to aux in... and you can make a small LCD to display whatever you want.... this won't be cheap but its an alternative.

(just bring a monitor close to it when you want to add more songs other wise just run monitorless)

-Josh

There have been lots of people asking about doing this over the past several years, but I don't think I've seen it actually done in a MINI yet...

Well, when my mini arrives I have my mac mini...(i love the pun) that I can easily drop in, thats why I was curious. Maybe I can be the first!

-Josh

My solution...
 

I was all set to get the 6CD changer. Then I looked at the boot and realized two things: one, the boot is about the size of my actual boot and two, I'd have to pull over during a long trip to swap out the CDs. I considered the aux/input, but hate the look of wires dangling about. So I went with the iPod adaptor. I had to actually buy myself an iPod for the sake of the MINI! I am delighted. I control off the MFSW. There are no wires, the iPod is invisible (we mounted it to the side of the glove box), I have more than 24 hours worth of music already....very sweet system.