..disc changer cartridge..

[Ecc0]

..hi guys..Im looking for new disc changer cartridge for sound system, but i have no clue where i could get one ?? ..

 

[Crazy Dave]

..hi guys..Im looking for new disc changer cartridge for sound system, but i have no clue where i could get one ?? ..

What year is your car? Normally Alpine units fit (well they do on E39s)

 

[Ecc0]

..i believe any from Z4 will fit, as it looking same as one on my 2004 Z4 i have had. Im also thinking to completely scrap original CD changer, but Im not sure what are alternatives in terms of been controlled by existing control panel. Aux cables/power for CD changer are rather easy to get out (just unscrew CD changer and pull out and thats it), but new MP3 player is a bit tricky..

EDIT:
Just found exactly what I was looking for..excellent..

http://www.maintronic.de/en/products/cp600bmw-mp3-player.html

 

[525i]

The Maintronic unit is very good. Small and full featured. Not sure about the Z4 but it works very well on the E39 and E53. You get to retain all the steering wheel controls and the id tag is visible either at the MID or the Instrument cluster. I got mine last week and so far I'm impressed.

 

[Ecc0]

..yup..its looking like that..it says that long as car has IBus it should work, so does my coupe (even not listed in support page)..anyway, to make sure, i sent them email, so lets see how is it going to be..fingers crossed..

 

[Ecc0]

..it seems that problems with CD changer are over..just 'discovered' that MediaBridge is already installed in vehicle and allow me to plug in just about anything, and it works with ori system/display..yay

..product linky..
http://diceelectronics.com/media-bridge-features

 

[Ecc0]

..ok, here is the latest and final update about this, as i have got it all work, after few hours of frustration..it could be all finished much faster, but learning curve is a must ..

So, initially, whole thing was dead..i mean..dead..nothing works..after reading some documentation about CD changer, and following wire by wire from MediaBridge, I realized that, it was not wired properly. So i wired it properly, according to the book. All my excitement went down the drain, when i realized that nothing wrong again..so, came back, read a bit more, and realized that DIP switches, are at wrong position.

So, there are 2 DIP switches. Proper setup for 16:9 Nav BMW display/system is LEFT-DOWN, RIGHT-UP. I did that, plugged in USB stick, and poof..doesnt work...

I thought it has to be maybe some kind of 'special' USB stick with some sort of firmware...unfortunatelly, I was unable to find any information what would help situation..so I plugged USB stick in to my laptop, and then some lil thing caught my attention..USB stick was formatted as NTFS, what is common format type for 64-Bit systems newdays. Since i know computer systems in cars living in era of 16-Bit stoneage, I reformated USB, plain out of curiosity, in to FAT format system(16/32Bit), created small folder, throw in all music files (MP3's), plugged back USB stick...NOT WORKING..aaaahhh...then, I realized that, while I did reformat on to FAT, it was QUICK format mode selected, what is basically nothing but reschedule sectors on memory stacks, while headers are pretty much NTFS (as it is higher on Bit scale)..so I reformated again, and repeated whole process, but this time, full format (it took several minutes to complete, contrary to quick one for few seconds)..plugged back USB stick, and pooofff...it works like a champ..fully controllable from ori BMW controls. YAY..plentyy of music will rolll nowww...so here it is..

So, summary:
1) Do wiring and DIP switch setup as it should be for your vehicle
2) Any USB stick will work just fine, even im not sure about capacity limit (mine I tested has 16GB, what is more than enough for days and days of music)
3) Format USB stick with FAT file system, and NOT in QUICK FORMAT mode
4) Create at leas ONE folder where your music will go, otherwise it refuse to work (in my case it was not working until i created individual folders)
5) Enjoy, and I hope this help to someone and saved some time.

 

[M3kid]

hmm..it this original from BMW?