Continental RADIO USB MP3 WMA BLUETOOTH 12V TR7412UB

[franan]

Anyone ever use it in the E30 with the original power amp just wonder before purchased.

[richardodn]

I think there is another thread from a few years back covering this or another Continental model.

There's a few. Search this forum on the model number.

[jamespaleo]

I'm not in my e30 today, but I'm nearly certain that is the model I have in mine. I know it's a Continental with mo3 and bluetooth. I did not have to do anything special to mine (other than remove some spaghetti tangle of wires from a previous owners radio change).

[franan]

This is the model. https://www.ebay.com/itm/133473092337

[jamespaleo]

Sure looks like the same model as mine. I'm about 98% sure without actually having the car and radio with me today.

FYI, I also upgraded my speakers at the same time. I discovered that if you put an even moderately powerful modern speaker in the hole in the rear deck where the oem ones are located, it cannot move enough air. The space below the deck opening is not large enough to allow the speaker cone to displace as much air as it needs to. It sounded muffled. So I found some hard black plastic tubing - I think I used pex from the hardware store because it's cheap. Cut sections about 3/8 inch long, put one under each screw so it lifted the speaker up and allowed air flow. Sounds much better.

- - - Updated - - -

Sure looks like the same model as mine. I'm about 98% sure without actually having the car and radio with me today.

FYI, I also upgraded my speakers at the same time. I discovered that if you put an even moderately powerful modern speaker in the hole in the rear deck where the oem ones are located, it cannot move enough air. The space below the deck opening is not large enough to allow the speaker cone to displace as much air as it needs to. It sounded muffled. So I found some hard black plastic tubing - I think I used pex from the hardware store because it's cheap. Cut sections about 3/8 inch long, put one under each screw so it lifted the speaker up and allowed air flow. Sounds much better.

[richardodn]

@jamespaleo
What I've done on my old bimmers is to use the premium sound speaker housings and retrofit 5.25" components in them. This has the same effect of raising them up plus angles the tweeters a bit.

@franan
You'll still have to make some kind of decision about dealing with the OE premium sound amp. The new system is 41W/ch max so about 20W/ch RMS which will drive the factory amp too hard. I think the factory radio is somewhere around 8W/ch RMS. Also, between the radio and the amp wiring uses a common ground. In other words 4 signal (+) wires and one common (-) wire tied to ground. Also if you have an in dash fader, you would probably want to eliminate that. I personally think the best way to deal with all of that is to run 4 new pairs from the radio to the amp location, disconnect the amp, and connect the new pairs to the speaker leads.

[franan]

Thank you Richardodn for the answer I was looking for a radio plug and play and keep it original and simple.

[foxvalleyrunner]

I installed that exact radio in my 1991 318i last fall. Works and sounds great. I also had to deal with unscrambling the previous owners wire spaghetti. I paired it with Rockford Fosgate R1525X2's. For the money it is a decent sound set-up. I may eventually run a dedicated amp and sub at a later date, but other priorities exist at the moment.

[maxg765]

Hello

Although more costly check out the following radio, Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. New remake of an old popular model with Bluetooth and media card slot behind the faux cassette door. I think this is as close to a period correct look you can get with a new modern radio. I feel the color of the lighting matches the dash more accurately than the Continental. Also feel the style of the buttons closer matches the design of the E30 appearing closer to a factory unit. Several online resellers stock the unit, but advise that Amazon prices them too high so look elsewhere. I considered both the Continental and the Blaupunkt ultimately choosing the Blaupunkt for the OEM look and color match for my current E30 restoration. Installed the radio plus new speakers iall around n original sizes and slots.

Max

[Mikealwa]

Alternatively, they sell a lot of cassettes on ebay still 🙂

[franan]

Not going spend $ on used electronic.