Blaupunkt Tokyo installed! Review...

[JBravoM3]

Well, last night I recieved my Blau Tokyo and being the impatient person I am when it comes to my car, I decided to install it right away. First of all, I ordered it from Crutchfield. Good price and I knew I would be getting everything I needed for the install. Then it was time to take out the stock head unit. I didn't have the correct tools so I used an allen key which seemed to work just fine. The unit came out easily. Then it was time to start hooking the new Tokyo up to the new harness. This was fairly easy with a soldering iron and some wire strippers. Also, Crutchfield sent me some sort of Soundgate line level box that I needed to place inline with the speaker wires because I have the factory HK amp. The only nice thing about this piece was that the wires were clamped in with set screws, no soldering. Then I hooked up the rest of the wires to the harnes and connected the new harnes to the stock BMW harness. Very easy to do. So far this had only taken me about 1.5 hours and 3 Coronas. Got the harnesses plugged in and powered it up. YEAH, it worked. So now I am thinking the hard part is over. WRONG!!! I start to try and dress the wires in the dash so I can push the Tokyo all the way in. It won't budge. That little Soundgate box just won't fit anywhere. After about an hour of cutting my hand up trying to find a place for it, I decide that I need to pull everything out and extend some wires for more play. Well, long story a little bit shorter, I extend the wires and I finally get it all tucked in behind the radio. Damn, I just ran out of beer. Oh well, now that I finally got it in, I will give you my impressions.

The unit itself looks very good in the dash. Almost stock looking and no too flashy. The display doesn't match the orange lights but it isn't green or blue so it doesn't look that bad. The lights are more of a really dull orange. Now for the sound test. DAMN!!! I neve realized just replaceing the head unit could make that much of a difference. There doesn't seem to be that much more power, but the sound is sooooo much cleaner. The bass has really tightened up and the highs are very crisp. Now, all I need to do is replace the stock components and get some Stealthboxes. I guess that will have to wait until after I get my coilovers.

Sorry for the long post. Just excited about the new upgrade.

[C.Yang]

Sounds cool. how bout some pics if you get the chance

[jon]

What type of components are you thinking about. Everyone here talks about the mb quarts, and boston acoustics. I just bought infinty kappas, and the q forms kick panels. I'm very impressed. I know the only thing I have to compare it to is the stock crap, but it sounds preety damn good to me!

[Russell328is]

Infinity doesn't make a 3 way component set -- did you install a 52.1i coaxial kick panel speaker, or did you put in a 2 way component set and leave the midrange? Reason i ask is that I have a pair of 52.1i's sitting in my hall waiting to get shipped back to Crutchfield because everyone told me that I need an amp and 3-way component speakers...

[jon]

2 way components. Everything fit like a charm. The only part I don't like is the how the q-forms take up a bit of foot space. If you're a clumsy oaf like me, you might find yourself knocking the grills with your feet once in a while! I would reccomend adding an amp though. They were VERY clear, but a small amp really made the difference.

[aaronsdropzone]

:

I've been looking at the Blau's for a while too, do you have any pictures?

Thanks!

/ / / Aaron

[JBravoM3]

Aaron,

I don't have any pics yet. I need to buy a digital camera first, but I just spent that money on some Koni Coilovers. I will hopefully be able to take some pice with a friends camera this weekend and I will post under this Audio board. BTW, the Blau has been great so far. I still can't believe how much better it sounds than the stock without even upgrading my speakers.

L8R

[aaronsdropzone]

Do you have the Harmon Kardon stereo system? What about the BMW cd changer? I would like to upgrade my head unit, but I'm afraid it wont work with my HK amp and my cd changer, so I'll have to upgrade the whole system.

Thanks!
Aaron

:p

[JBravoM3]

Aaron,

I do have the HK system. But, I couldn't use the factory CD changer with the new head unit. So, I am planning on getting an in-dash Blau changer to go along with my Blau head unit. Personally, I never liked the changer in the trunk to begin with and now the new head unit sounds so much better that I don't mind manually changing a CD once it's over. So, in answer to your question, you can still use your HK amp but not your CD changer. Let me know if you have any more Q's.

L8