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Thread: E46 Android Head Unit Opinions/Intermittent Speaker Wiring Problem

  1. #1
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    E46 Android Head Unit Opinions/Intermittent Speaker Wiring Problem

    Hey guys, so I just recently sold my E36 and got a 2004 E46 330ci. It has a JVC double din in it at the moment that seems to be installed professionally as it has the high-def backup cam and external mic. I have not looked into the wiring deal yet, I am hoping to get a look this weekend. I bought a new ***** GA9150B 8.0 Android OEM look alike head unit. The JVC has some big gawdy adapter that sticks out a ton, and frankly I find it cumbersome to use.

    I went to a shop earlier today that installs aftermarket radios and 1. they spoke poorly of anything android (I felt surprised) and 2. "oh we won't be able to hook this and that back up" and the price quote they gave me seemed pretty high. I've installed single din radios before, never a double. Supposedly this thing is plug n play IF its the stock harness... probably messed with now. I didn't feel like doing it myself but I guess I will try.

    -Has anyone bought one of these or one similar off eBay? https://www.ebay.com/itm/DAB-7-Head-...72.m2749.l2649

    -What did you think about it, better than an outdated JVC? Worth installing?

    -Also! Very often when I'm driving I will lose my right passenger side speakers. They will cut in and out, and stay in or out for decent periods of time until the car hits more bumps or whatever. Is this a very common problem at this age that happens somewhere specific or should I check door jam wiring and what not?

    Hope to hear back, thanks!

    - - - Updated - - -

    Oh, I see the company named is blurted out. Not sure if thats a legal thing or what, if you'd like to see what brand it is, I provided a link to the exact one I bought

  2. #2
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    The difficulty in installing a different head unit is going to depend on the status of the factory wiring harness connectors. If the person who installed the JVC butchered the wiring harness by removing the connectors you’re in for a lot of work. Was it professionally installed?

    Android head units are typically made in China. They don’t have a great reputation for reliability. It has nothing to do with the software but with quality of the components and the assembly work. If you want a reliable double DIN head unit that’s designed for the E46 check out the Dynavin N7. Go to E46Fanatics and go to the audio section. The company that sells it is located in Southern California and it provides outstanding customer service. The N7 is supposed to be very reliable.

    Are you sure you’re not loosing sound from the front passenger speakers only? Are you using the factory amp? The factory amp is a 10 channel amp:
    - front speakers are 3 channels per side
    - the rear speakers are 2 channels per side

    The head unit sends 4 channels of audio signals to the amp: LF, RF, LR, RR. The amp then splits each input into 2 or 3 audio frequency bands. So, loosing the front passenger channels tells me that the RF signal isn’t getting to the amp. The amp was made by Alpine, one if best audio system manufacturers.

  3. #3
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    The wiring I will know by the end of the day, I’ll tear it out and see.

    I have seen the N7 before but to be frank it’s a bit out of my price range. It’s a nice car but I can’t really justify dropping 7-800 on a head unit for a $5k car. Maybe I will check in the classifieds for a used one though...


    Being it happens when I’m driving and things are moving, I can’t quite focus too much on what exact speakers go out. Maybe I can have my father or a friend ride with me and tell me if it’s just the doors speakers.

    I believe it’s the factory amp as well as speakers, I’ll check for that today too.

    Thank you!


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  4. #4
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    Hi,

    The brand name you mention and that you've purchased is auto blocked out on this forum as some years back they were a sponsor. Lots of members purchased and began to get issues/problems with their units and the after sales care/support wasn't good at all. Over time, as more people came forward with problematic units the company didn't do much to help. In the end, the forum owners became fed up with the brand and removed/kicked them off. They then sponsored the other big USA BMW forum and yep, you guessed it, it was a repeat with more unhappy customers, the brand was removed/kicked off. In the UK, the same brand sponsored a forum and, yes the same thing repeated and they were kicked off/removed. They're now over on E46 fanatics ...

    The only reason the Dynavin gets a good response is only down to the fact that Jeff at J&T distributing provides proper after sales care in accordance to US consumer law. The unit's are still using budget electronics for the most part so problems do arise. Jeff then properly supports the customer and plenty do get replacement 2nd and even 3rd units before a consistently reliable unit is with the customer. In the UK Dynavin doesn't have a good, knowledgeable importer that does the same to the extent a couple years ago they were taken to court where it was proved the units are not fit for purpose.

    If you wan to gamble with a cheaper Android unit, you might get a reliable one or you'll most likely end up with one that begins to become problematic over 3,6,12+ months.

    If you want a reliable, high quality head unit then look to some of the latest shallow depth double DIN head units which fit nicely into the dash. Here's the Parrot Smart in an M3 for instance



    The Alpine iLX-007 (in another M3)



    You could save some cash and buy these units second hand as new they'd be beyond the budget limitation you mention. However, you'd get a head unit that's simply far superior to the cheap chinese units.

    You'll need to check for continuity and if speakers are working to begin to pinpoint your intermittent speaker issue.

    Cheers, Dennis!

  5. #5
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    The speaker that seems to be cutting out is the passenger door upper one by the door handle with the Harman Kardon logo. The rest seem to be working... I waited for it to act up, pulled over to the side and got out and listened to them all. Seems to only be that one. I’ll see what’s wrong with it

    I tore the old JVC out and the wirings not great but it could be worse. They bought a BMW harness piece basically and spliced into that so that’s decent.

    So I pulled it out, plugged the new Android by itself and turned it on ..... nothing. Obviously I don’t have the mic or anything plugged in but I just wanted to see if it would start up.

    Haha so I don’t know now! I have 0 faith in any of these. OEM is best. And frankly those ones you sent, I hate them. Any head unit without a volume knob gets a 0/10 off the bat if you ask me. All those touch screens make me want to vomit. Their user interfaces are horrendous. So I guess I’ll try to find a used Dynavin N7


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  6. #6
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    So maybe I was a little aggravated and working in 20* weather lol! I apologize. Anyways, maybe I’m a little biased as I’ve been looking at these for a while hoping when I got one they’d be so great. I take your word for it though...

    So with that said. Are there any other custom fit, OEM look alike stereos with the latest tech? Or is it pretty much just the big name brand double dins with trim pieces?


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  7. #7
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    Don’t apologize. We under stand the frustration.

    If it’s a single speaker going out then it could be a wiring problem at/ near the speaker or the speaker itself. However, as I previously noted each speaker has its own amplifier which is basically a chip. That could have a bad solder joint. Why? Modern electronics are made with lead-free solder. That makes the solder less flexible which results in cracked solder joints. I think I’d check that first.

    You could install a single DIN head unit and relocate the climate control module (IHKA in BMWspeak) up in the dash. You can buy a high quality head unit for less than $150. The head unit can provide Bluetooth connectivity and all the other bells and whistles. Then, just use google maps for nav. My 2018 M240i has nav but I always use google maps.

  8. #8
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    I will check for the solder joints today, I never even got to the speaker last night unfortunately.

    Regarding the radio’s... I stayed up late last night searching for my favorite only to find out supposedly the one I picked “doesn’t fit.” I got really interested in the SONY XAV-AX5000. It’s a single din on the back upper side because there’s not disk rom. So the one I was going to install was like that, and I believe the originals were... and you’re also mentioning putting in a single din on the upper half.

    Would that work for my application? And then I could get a double din adapter for the fit trim look.

    https://www.crutchfield.com/p_158XAV...SABEgL0cfD_BwE

    Here is a link to it if you’re wondering. It got great reviews and had a good amount of the latest tech. Plus I could keep Bluetooth calling and my rear view camera.


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  9. #9
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    Hi Giuseppe,

    As above, no need to apologize ! The E46 is now an old generation and the premium brands tend not to develop for older models. When they do, it's been for mainly VW group cars and in the US, for some of the very popular Fords/Chevrolets etc. Alpine did an E46 specific unit, but it was a 'kit' added to one of their usual double DIN units and didn't 'look like' the OEM monitor that many E46 owners want. So overall, no, there's no high quality unit that has good OEM looks for the E46.

    The Sony XAV-5000 is the lastest unit from them and it's design doesn't have a rotary control knob so it's a 'flat' faced unit and when added to an aftermarket fascia, will look like the two unit's I posted the pictures of. It does have the single DIN rear chassis at the 'top' of the screen leaving space underneath it, similar to how the low quality chinese units do it. The Parrot Smart and Alpine iLX-007 have shallow depth chassis and are essentially the same thing as they leave room behind them for wires etc to tuck into. So overall, it's another unit to add to the list of premium brand units that are shorter body and which fit into the E46 without having to cut/alter the heater pipes/airbox.

    It won't connect to the OEM bluetooth module, and if you've 'added' onto the OEM system a reverse camera, you could 'undo' that and connect the camera to the Sony.

    Lastly, I have an E39 and the frustration that you and many other BMW owners have for wanting a premium, high quality head unit with OEM looks led me to develop a fascia/fitting kit with close to OEM looks of the 16:9 monitor. The E46 version is in early development

    Cheers, Dennis!

  10. #10
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    Thank you thank thank you! It feels good to know I’m not the only one that has been frustrated searching for the clean crisp OEM look with premium quality. I do understand these cars are getting older though now, so the aftermarket world is probably moving on/limited.

    I couldn’t find a new ILX-007, and the Parrot is a bit more than I wanted to spend but both do look solid. The knob is a pet peeve of mine, but the one solid display looks sharp and I could trade it out for Apple CarPlay. I like that feature. It sounds like the SONY will work for me and sit flush with an adapter and all stay under the $500 mark.

    What did you mean exactly about the Bluetooth? I don’t have the steering wheel controls at the moment, they would be nice but if that’s what you mean I can get passed that. I would like to wire in my own external mic and have hands-free calling though. I thought it was capable, is it not?


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  11. #11
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    Does anyone have an address for this company? I’m trying to return it and I’m having problems doing that. I would prefer not to eat $300 for a radio that’s junk.


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  12. #12
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    Hi Guiseppe,

    Where was the unit purchased from? if from a Ebay or Amazon seller, go through their buyer protection schemes perhaps? if you purchased directly, contact their support and 'hopefully' they'll refund you. That said, they'll perhaps only do that once you send the unit back ... to China.

    Many owners have purchased these low quality chinese units and then ended up with a faulty unit and no support etc - if you do go for another, make sure it's the Dynavin one sold by Jeff as he's the only reseller supporting them properly.

    Alpine have just recently announced a new shallow depth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto head unit that'll be out March/April 19 and expected to be 'around $500'. It'll be another quality head unit that'll fit easily into E46/E39's etc - I'm hoping they do release here in the UK too !

    Modern head units with Bluetooth will have their own microphone you can wire in and place in the interior of the car where you want it to be. The premiun brands will do an interface you can purchase and which will allow the head unit to be controlled via the steering wheel. Many have this and it suits them well. For me, I don't mind moving my hand a few inches from the steering wheel !

    Good luck !

    Cheers, Dennis!

  13. #13
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    I bought it through eBay, fortunately after enough messaging back and forth they have agreed to accepting my return and have sent me the shipping label.

    As far as the radio, I was going to pull the trigger on that SONY but my friend fell in love with my new E46 so I sold it to him! Now I have bought an E39 at a great deal. It’s not beautiful so I probably won’t dump tons into it in the modification sense. Just maintenance as my daily.

    However, I’ve seen there are OEM aux hookups for the E39 but my radio is unfortunately just a couple months off from the deadline!!! I need a September ‘02 and later on CD player... being you are the E39 radio guy, or so I assume, do you have any idea where I could get one of these for cheaper that the steep price tags on eBay? It’s funny you can literally spot which are aux compatible just by price. They’re not even in the same ballpark. And again I haven’t purchased this car for much so if it was more long term, I would spend more... but this car was fairly cheap.


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  14. #14
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    Hi Giuseppe,

    Count yourself lucky you'll be getting your money back !

    There's literally thousands of 'which wired aux in' threads on this and all other BMW's, so have a look through to see which one you want/need. I don't bother keeping up with which Aux In as I never used it due to various aspects. Just be careful if a copper sees you holding a device plugged in via a wired connection, if you cause an accident whilst distracted, you'll be up for the high jump!

    Cheers, Dennis!

  15. #15
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    This is true! I guess I better start some playlists lol.

    Fun fact, I just found out my new E39 was produced on my birthday. What’re the chances??

    Thanks for all the help though!


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