Fully refurbished OEM BMW Alpine CM5907 and CM5908 slider radios, Trunk Amps

[ZeKahr]

3 5908s, 1 5907 and 4 blaupunkt trunk amps available 7/31
Refurbished with a 1 year no BS warranty

• 5907 or 5908 price is $380
• Amps are $175
• I have 2 Cantaloupe MDeck BA2 kits available as well if you don't want to wait for the new BA31 and BA32 offerings. Price is same as always, $220. Install charges are waived if you order them with a radio or trunk amp.
• I'll offer you core credit for your existing 5907, 5908 or trunk amp as well to offset costs.
• All prices are plus shipping and a $2.50-8.00 partial PayPal fee

I’m tempted to get a CM5908 with the BA2. Have a CM5908 core I can send in. Just curious, how much better is the BA31 over the BA2 sound quality wise? Am I going to notice a dramatic difference or will it be minor? I am a casual listener.

[bradnic]

I’m tempted to get a CM5908 with the BA2. Have a CM5908 core I can send in. Just curious, how much better is the BA31 over the BA2 sound quality wise? Am I going to notice a dramatic difference or will it be minor? I am a casual listener.

great question. Is the BA31 better? It absolutely is
- digital signal path for BT and Aux
- upgradeability with Display+ and Amp+
- BA31 and Amp+ is significantly cleaner and more powerful than BMW SOUND SYSTEM / OEM premium.

Is it noticeably quieter than BA2? Yes. It's dead quiet - quieter than the original radio. Will you notice it? An audiophile definitely will. If you combine BA31 with Amp+ and compare it to OEM BMW SOUND SYSTEM / premium, there will absolutely be a noticeable difference at high volume levels.

One more thing - cost. BA31 and Amp+ is going to cost more - it has to. We'll have BA31 pricing from Cantaloupe soon. Amp+ pricing will come later this year when the product's ready for market.

Here's what I can do for the two BA2 buyers - if you buy one of my refurbed radios and add BA2, then decide later to upgrade to BA31 and Amp+ I will give you the choice of a $120 credit towards BA31 and Amp+ in exchange for your BA2. This is on top of any core credit for other radios or amps you send me.

[bradnic]

One 5908, trunk amp and BA2 cantaloupe board sold!

1 BA2 BT board remaining
2 5908s, 1 5907 and 3 trunk amps still available
Refurbished with a 1 year no BS warranty

• 5907 or 5908 price is $380
• Amps are $175
• 1 Cantaloupe MDeck BA2 kits available as well if you don't want to wait for the new BA31 and BA32 offerings. Price is same as always, $220. Install charges are waived if you order them with a radio or trunk amp. You’ll also get a $120 core credit for your BA2 if/when you upgrade to BA31 and Amp+, available later this year.
• I'll offer you core credit for your existing 5907, 5908 or trunk amp as well to offset costs.
• All prices are plus shipping and a $2.50-8.00 partial PayPal fee

So.. is $380 expensive? Can't you get a 5907 or 5908 radio on eBay for less?

eBay 5907 or 5908 radios come in two categories:
- untested radios pulled from a car, requiring service
- super high dollar radios costing anywhere from $450-$700, usually with some sort of BT upgrade.

servicing a 5907 or 5908 costs money - anywhere from $200-350 depending on who you talk to (don’t believe me? Contact doctordons.com or radioman in San Diego). You can try to fix it yourself, but very few folks have the right kind of tools to do that. It's not just grabbing a soldering iron and going to town. you also can't just swap the caps out. that works 2-3 times out of 10 and you run a huge risk of damaging the circuit board.

$380 gets you a fully functional rebuilt radio with a 1 year no BS warranty and my personalized support for your car install. That's a STEAL.

[bradnic]

2 5908s, 1 5907, 1 amp and 1 BA2 board sold

I have 1 additional Cantaloupe BA2 BT board remaining
3 additional 5908s, 1 5907 and 7 trunk amps still available
Refurbished with a 1 year no BS warranty

• 5907 or 5908 price is $380
• Amps are $175
• 1 Cantaloupe MDeck BA2 kits available as well if you don't want to wait for the new BA31 and BA32 offerings. Price is same as always, $220. Install charges are waived if you order them with a radio or trunk amp. You’ll also get a $120 core credit for your BA2 if/when you upgrade to BA31 and Amp+, available later this year.
• I'll offer you core credit for your existing 5907, 5908 or trunk amp as well to offset costs.
• All prices are plus shipping and a $2.50-8.00 partial PayPal fee

So.. is $380 expensive? Can't you get a 5907 or 5908 radio on eBay for less?

eBay 5907 or 5908 radios come in two categories:
- untested radios pulled from a car, requiring service
- super high dollar radios costing anywhere from $450-$700, usually with some sort of BT upgrade.

servicing a 5907 or 5908 costs money - anywhere from $200-350 depending on who you talk to (don’t believe me? Contact doctordons.com or radioman in San Diego). You can try to fix it yourself, but very few folks have the right kind of tools to do that. It's not just grabbing a soldering iron and going to town. you also can't just swap the caps out. that works 2-3 times out of 10 and you run a huge risk of damaging the circuit board.

$380 gets you a fully functional rebuilt radio with a 1 year no BS warranty and my personalized support for your car install. That's a STEAL.

[bradnic]

CANTALOUPE BA30 (5907) and BA31 (5908) boards available AUG 31!

https://cantalouperadio.com

[thanh15tran]

Will you be doing installs for the new BA31 + LCD upgrade? If so please add me on list, I have a working core

[bradnic]

Cantaloupe Radio have announced Aug 31 availability and pricing for the new Bluetooth products for 5907 (BA32) and 5908 (BA31 and Display+)!
Click on the link in the sentence above for the details.

Pricing

BA32 Bluetooth Kit (CM5905/CM5907/AJ8700)	$399
BA31 Bluetooth Kit (CM5908)	$449
CM5908 Display+	$179
(Bundle) BA31 Kit & Display+	$599 (save $30)

Jay has also confirmed end of year availability for Amp+, the game changer low-noise, high-power built in amplifier upgrade for the 5908.

Will you be doing installs for the new BA31 + LCD upgrade? If so please add me on list, I have a working core

absolutely. Already have 6 customers that have refurbished their radios and will have their BA32 and BA31 boards installed before shipping out.

[bradnic]

More 5907s, 5908s and trunk amps available
BA2 BT boards are sold out now, but the new BA31 and BA32 boards are out end of the month! If you intend to DIY install, please order directly from Jay at cantalouperadio.com
Also offering customized OEM radio wiring repair harnesses. Just reach out.

[phreshkid]

Great updates, thanks.

[bradnic]

website is up! click on the pic to surf there.
Jay at cantalouperadio.com is also updating his site. new BT products Thursday!

[dadsbmw]

The new Cantaloupe BA31 product family for the 5908 includes a new. friggin amazing power amp board that DOES include pre-outs. It won't be available until later this year though.

So I've looked at your page and the Cataloupe page and am not seeing the option for preamp outputs for front/rear/sub. Is this something that's still on it's way? Also, looking at prices, a CM5908 + BA31 + display is $980?

[bradnic]

So I've looked at your page and the Cataloupe page and am not seeing the option for preamp outputs for front/rear/sub. Is this something that's still on its hat's the way? Also, looking at prices, a CM5908 + BA31 + display is $980?

That's the last piece of the puzzle, the Amp+ module. Once that's ready you'll have built in clean high power, preouts and a sub-out. When you get the 3 Cantaloupe Radio products together you will have EQ and spectrum display as well.
Here's a screenshot of CM5908 Display+ Enhanced LCD


Jay published a page detailing the product capabilities a while back. It's a great read.

[bradnic]

So I've looked at your page and the Cataloupe page and am not seeing the option for preamp outputs for front/rear/sub. Is this something that's still on it's way? Also, looking at prices, a CM5908 + BA31 + display is $980?

The all-in 5908+BA31/Display setup is absolutely expensive. no argument there. Amp+ will be expensive too - as much as the BA31 and Display+ bundle, possibly more. So let's break down the pricing because we're talking about audiophile money here for the whole system. What should you compare it to?

tl;dr

• a refurbed 5908 with BA31 and Display+ is exactly what an OEM+ solution should look like. You can't get more OEM than possibly a PCCM single DIN, which will at that point get you CarPlay too - for $1200+
• a refurbed 5908 with BA31, Display+ and Amp+ cannot be compared directly to a radio alone
• the closest alternatives are all aftermarket and won't mount flush to an E30 HVAC panel without mods, and won't match lighting
• you can still add aftermarket amplification as well at any point after Amp+ is in place

OEM Head Unit
the 5908 itself comes refurbished and with a 1 year warranty. For that you get roughly 4-5 watts per channel, 4 channels and a cassette deck, and a perfect match to your dash and lighting

• you can't compare the price of that radio to a 5908 on eBay, because you would need to professionally service the radio to compare apples to apples. Talk to the doctordons and the radio mans and they'll quote you $250-$350 for the service, guaranteed. I've seen their work and it's quality. I'd say doctordons is closer to what I do though.

The BT kit is state of the art. crazy clean audio, better than the BA2 that preceded it. upgradeable if you have a 5908
There are three comparisons I can think of that could come close to a BA31 equipped 5908, listed least to most expensive

• The Blaupunkt SQR46 DAB
• The BT RDS radio offered by @bmwradios on Instagram
• a Porsche PCCM single DIN unit

Neither of these flush mount, original, or have weatherband if you care about that. The DAB on the SQR46 does not work in the US, and the lighting is off. it can be modded for sure, but you're gonna tear into a $500+ radio. It also has a very busy aesthetic and sometimes spotty BT.
The biggest advantage I see in the BT RDS radio is keeping the cassette. This is the one thing a 5908 with Cantaloupe Radio BA31 just can't match.

Amp+
It's hard to explain what a game changer this thing is. But it's going to be expensive. Details are in Jay's post which I shared a couple of posts up and earlier as well.
Benefits: super clean high power audio built into the head unit. As good or better than any modern head unit today, no doubt about it.

You can stop right there with Amp+, or you can go deeper down the rabbit hole.
If you stop right there
-you don't need to buy any type of 4 channel trunk amplification. That's a MAJOR savings right there.
-you can add a powered sub or a passive sub and monoblock amp.

the cool thing about all this: PERSONAL CHOICE. I think all three alternatives I listed above are pretty darn great. But my OCD would DEMAND I flush mount period, and modify the SQR46 lighting.

This should get the conversation going.

[EyeEsss]

I installed my BA31 board and Display+ this afternoon in my CM5908. I'm just loving this thing! Works as advertised, pairs immediately, no hiccups in the A2DP stream. My 318 is a time capsule that has 100% original stereo with the 5908, so the thought of snipping wires has always made me cringe...I missed the boat on the first run of BA2 board from Cantaloupe so I vowed not to touch the audio until either something broke or Cantaloupe came back.

The installation is not difficult, although handling some of the ribbon connectors requires a level of care that can be nerve-wracking...I definitely held my breath when I turned the key for the first time after putting the radio back in. But, Jay's tutorial video is very good and he covers everything you need to know.

[bradnic]

Glad to hear it went well! Yes the Display+ installation is more involved than the BA2 for sure, because you need to tap into the slider board ribbon cable.

Folks doing the DIY should also make absolutely sure they disconnect their radio completely and NOT turn it on until all internal connections are in place and the board is fastened down at all three locations.