View Poll Results: Another Poll-GROMM or Dice

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Thread: Another Poll GROM or Dice

  1. #1
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    Question Another Poll GROM or Dice

    My next project for the Coupe is to find a good Bluetooth audio solution for my factory radio. I'm looking for a Bluetooth device to connect to the CD Changer connector by the factory amp. I think my only options are GROM or Dice.

    Does anyone have any success or horror stories

    Thanks for all replies....
    Last edited by Mach Tuck; 06-21-2018 at 06:32 PM.
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  2. #2
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    I've owned the Dice for several years now. Dice makes quality units, and everything is good except the audio quality of BT streaming (which is my only complain). In contrary with Grom, I've only heard positive comments in regards. FWIW, they are both quality units though.
    2000 Z3 M Titanium Silver / Imola Red+Black Nappa
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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by nevan View Post
    I've owned the Dice for several years now. Dice makes quality units, and everything is good except the audio quality of BT streaming (which is my only complain). In contrary with Grom, I've only heard positive comments in regards. FWIW, they are both quality units though.
    Thanks for the reply. Bluetooth quality is my priority.
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  4. #4
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    There's a guy on eBay with the handle bimmmercrazy who sells a OEM CD23 radio that has the AM tuner replaced with a bluetooth receiver. It uses the factory connectors and mounts, he even includes the wrench needed to tighten the mounts. So far the audio quality seems pretty good to me. They're a bit over $400 and ship from Latvia. Very happy with mine.

    Marty

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by MartyBtoo View Post
    There's a guy on eBay with the handle bimmmercrazy who sells a OEM CD23 radio that has the AM tuner replaced with a bluetooth receiver.

    Marty
    High power CD43 or (unknown) CD23?



    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by bluptgm3 View Post
    High power CD43 or (unknown) CD23?

    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    It's not a CD43, it's an earlier model. Can't say about power, as mine feeds the OEM amplifier and speaker system.

    Marty

  7. #7
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    Thanks, My in the HK factory unit and I really don't want to get away from that. Is the GROM BT audio better than the Dice?
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mach Tuck View Post
    Thanks, My in the HK factory unit and I really don't want to get away from that. Is the GROM BT audio better than the Dice?
    Hi, I went for one of the cheap eBay alternatives you can find rather than GROM or Dice. It has worked perfectly and was only around $65 USD, which is very good considering it comes with the harness adapter and external mic. Connects to Bluetooth very quickly. The only downside to these units is they don't provide display information on your cd43. This I can live without as I can always look at album art etc on my phone if I need to. With Siri, the ability to answer and hang up a call and to go forward and go back a song track with the cd43 buttons is good enough for me.
    Last edited by mobilenet; 06-22-2018 at 08:21 AM.

  9. #9
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    I'm going to second the eBay alternative. You yank the CD43 out, plug in the harness and stuff it all back in there, easy as that. The bluetooth listening quality is great in my opinion, and pairs with the phone easily. It doesn't display data on the screen like mobilenet has said, but you can go forward and backwards with the songs with the left and right arrows on the deck.

    I've got one in my M coupe and Non-M coupe with no complaints.
    1999 M Coupe Evergreen | 2008 E90 M3


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  10. #10
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    Another note for Dice is that the text display is somewhat limited in the BT streaming mode.

    While BT streaming (e.g., Google Music or any internet radio app), it sometimes shows song+artist, but it also randomly shows name of app instead.
    I would be curious how Grom handles similar usecase since I can only speak for Dice

    But text diplay works really well with incoming call mode. I do like this feature a lot eventhough it can only show numbers (no contact names) which is still helpful...
    Last edited by nevan; 06-22-2018 at 03:02 PM.
    2000 Z3 M Titanium Silver / Imola Red+Black Nappa
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  11. #11
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    The ebay unit works quite well in my e46 m3. For the $60ish it cost, it is good enough. I wasn't going to pay Grom $200 just so I could see track info on a screen for songs I already know...

    Also, most people absolutely hated the DICE/mediabridge whatever junk when it was really popular years ago. Idk if anything changed, but those units caused some electrical issues and all kinds of stuff. There is a reason that product isn't a thing anymore.

    Edit: To clarify, my ire is not toward Grom. They appear to make a product that works fine according to friends and family who have used that product for ages now.
    Last edited by neopolymath; 06-22-2018 at 03:42 PM.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by neopolymath View Post
    The ebay unit works quite well in my e46 m3. For the $60ish it cost, it is good enough. I wasn't going to pay Grom $200 just so I could see track info on a screen for songs I already know...

    Also, most people absolutely hated the DICE/mediabridge whatever junk when it was really popular years ago. Idk if anything changed, but those units caused some electrical issues and all kinds of stuff.
    Ouch, there some strong words in there... I do agree with you that both Dice or Grom are outdated. And I certainly wouldn't pay the same amount of money today for them. But I also wanted to let OP know based on the experience of everyday use.

    Happy Friday!
    2000 Z3 M Titanium Silver / Imola Red+Black Nappa
    2011 328i E92 Space Gray Metallic / Leder Dakota+Oyster
    Since 1987 12 euros / 2 kdms / 2 jdms
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  13. #13
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    Thanks for the replies. I have the Factory HK unit with the amp in the small deck behind the seat. It has provisions for a CD Changer and was hoping to mount it where the CD Changer will go. Can the Grom, Dice, or Ebay solutions be mounted where the CD Changer would go in the Coupe?
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  14. #14
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    Having owned, or tried to own both, I wouldn't recommend either. The Dice just flat wouldn't work and had horrible bluetooth quality. It's sort of an iPod era device that has a lot of unnecessary and unusable features (unless they updated it). Grom sort of works for what you need it to, but I've had a really good experience with two different versions of this thing in my M5 and my M Coupe.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    Tons of tricks on how to wire that up correctly. I guess one key thing is you need a headunit with an AUX or RCA input...oem radio doesn't. I have a traffic pro which works well.

  15. #15
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    Had a grom unit in my e46 for years. Like the above poster said, the bluetooth quality really isn't top notch, but it's better than nothing. Although at the pricepoint of the grom, idk if it is worth it. I get a lot of use out of the 3.5mm attachement as well as the usb charging port. I am probably going to go with grom again tbh because (unless things have changed) their customer support is incredibly good. Back in my e46 I was emailing them weekly with bug reports and they would push out firmware updates almost exclusively becuase of me

  16. #16
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    For OP,
    DICE connects through CD changer cable from either the trunk or behind the head unit but you would have to choose and select one from how I recall.

    As for Grom, I don't have a hands-on experience on z3 cars, only on old Audis and VWs from early 2000 since that is when I went through Audi/Porsche-phase. And they used to connect via head unit or CD changer as well. But like DICE, you had to choose one over another, not both. And for CD changer, I had to get some sort of adapter for them. But I am sure those methods are prehistoric in today's standard.

    Reading this post made me curious about what options are available now. It would be nice to improve BT streaming or recognize mobile USB as storage (e.g., Android) so I can play music as I do with a flash card. But my MIC is hard-wired to rear view mirror (inside of clown nose with bottom open to cabin), so connector would need to be compatitble... ;-)
    2000 Z3 M Titanium Silver / Imola Red+Black Nappa
    2011 328i E92 Space Gray Metallic / Leder Dakota+Oyster
    Since 1987 12 euros / 2 kdms / 2 jdms
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  17. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by nevan View Post
    For OP,
    DICE connects through CD changer cable from either the trunk or behind the head unit but you would have to choose and select one from how I recall.

    As for Grom, I don't have a hands-on experience on z3 cars, only on old Audis and VWs from early 2000 since that is when I went through Audi/Porsche-phase. And they used to connect via head unit or CD changer as well. But like DICE, you had to choose one over another, not both. And for CD changer, I had to get some sort of adapter for them. But I am sure those methods are prehistoric in today's standard.

    Reading this post made me curious about what options are available now. It would be nice to improve BT streaming or recognize mobile USB as storage (e.g., Android) so I can play music as I do with a flash card. But my MIC is hard-wired to rear view mirror (inside of clown nose with bottom open to cabin), so connector would need to be compatitble... ;-)
    The key to good bluetooth streaming quality now is to find a product that follows the A2DP protocol. That is the most important thing.

    As for your mic comment, it is very easy to retrofit almost any mic. For example, all oem mics are a shielding wire plus the two stereo wires. It has been documented on many forums, but the one I remember is an M5board thread. I have personally done it as well. (If that smilie at the end was to indicate that the mic comment was in jest, apologies).
    Last edited by neopolymath; 06-25-2018 at 07:01 PM.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by neopolymath View Post
    The key to good bluetooth streaming quality now is to find a product that follows the A2DP protocol. That is the most important thing.

    As for your mic comment, it is very easy to retrofit almost any mic. For example, all oem mics are a shielding wire plus the two stereo wires. It has been documented on many forums, but the one I remember is an M5board thread. I have personally done it as well. (If that smilie at the end was to indicate that the might comment was in jest, apologies).
    As you may be able to tell, I don't fully understand the modern technology on how things work. I only know things based on the experience (as amateur) with playing and wrenching things. So I really appreciate your sharing what I don't know. Happy Monday!

    [Added]
    Neopolymath, I think that communicating on internet can be misleading sometimes, and my writing probably worsen the confusion also. For that, I also apologize. - Zach
    Last edited by nevan; 06-25-2018 at 12:57 PM.
    2000 Z3 M Titanium Silver / Imola Red+Black Nappa
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  19. #19
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    Thanks for the replies. Really good information...
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by fmcfad01 View Post
    Having owned, or tried to own both, I wouldn't recommend either. The Dice just flat wouldn't work and had horrible bluetooth quality. It's sort of an iPod era device that has a lot of unnecessary and unusable features (unless they updated it). Grom sort of works for what you need it to, but I've had a really good experience with two different versions of this thing in my M5 and my M Coupe.

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1



    Tons of tricks on how to wire that up correctly. I guess one key thing is you need a headunit with an AUX or RCA input...oem radio doesn't. I have a traffic pro which works well.

    I guess I need to find a Traffic Pro.....
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  21. #21
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    or really any nice headunit that doesn't look like it belongs in a teenager's car with all kinds of blinky lights. I like the traffic pro, improved sound over stock, but it's a really old/antiquated stereo at this point...probably lots of other options that just have BT built in these days. Edit, and come to think of it, from recent rental car experiences, there are android auto and apple carplay options as well.
    Last edited by fmcfad01; 06-29-2018 at 06:22 PM.

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by fmcfad01 View Post
    or really any nice headunit that doesn't look like it belongs in a teenager's car with all kinds of blinky lights. I like the traffic pro, improved sound over stock, but it's a really old/antiquated stereo at this point...probably lots of other options that just have BT built in these days. Edit, and come to think of it, from recent rental car experiences, there are android auto and apple carplay options as well.
    Thanks Scott. Exactly, I don't want to have a video game in my dashboard. I've had mixed success with rental cars and apple play but that's what out there now. In Italy and France till the 11th, I'll start the search for a new radio when I get back.

    I'll search the threads here for ideas first.
    01 M S54 Estoril Coupe (Fun)16 Mini Clubman S(Daily)03 325i (Wifes Car)Your never further away from oblivion than a distracted soccer mom in a SUV.

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mach Tuck View Post
    I guess I need to find a Traffic Pro.....
    That's gonna cost you. Look for a used Landrover one on Fleabay or I can sell you a genuine BMW Traffic Pro for an arm and a leg.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by fmcfad01 View Post
    or really any nice headunit that doesn't look like it belongs in a teenager's car with all kinds of blinky lights. I like the traffic pro, improved sound over stock, but it's a really old/antiquated stereo at this point...probably lots of other options that just have BT built in these days. Edit, and come to think of it, from recent rental car experiences, there are android auto and apple carplay options as well.
    I have resorted to putting an inexpensive Sony headunit in the Press car. My only to concerns were pre-amp out and BT. So far it connects to my phone when I crank the car automatically. So that's all I really need. It also controls spotify from the head unit, and I don't use anything else.

    Get a spacer for the faceplate so it fits flush and its good enough.

    The TP looks best in the museum garage queens, but to DD I like the Sony interface best because I'm used to it. YMMV

    - - - Updated - - -

    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    This is what works the best for me. It does require sanding to fit into our opening, but it spaces out the head unit to look flush and that's a huge improvement.

    Sand it until it fits nicely, then spray it with some flat black spray paint and you won't notice it. The plastic is too shiny otherwise, but I'm probably pickier than you are.
    White is Right, Steel Grey is OK, but Estoril is the only color that truly matters.

    I like Coupes.

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