New stereo install w/ BMW C43 head unit.

[blalor]

Well, you don't know unless you ask…

[AndrewBird]

He hasn't even been on R3v since march of this year.

[trackjunkie21]

The pictures are all gone; any chance the OP could fix it?

The thread is like 3 years old, I doubt he even has them.

[blalor]

The pictures are all gone; any chance the OP could fix it?

[87Blue325iC]

The center gauge cluster came from Parker Performance

[alchera]

Instrument cluster

Great instrument cluster replacing the ashtray & lighter. Where did you find that unit?

cheers

C43 Stereo & 6 disc CD changer install into my E30

I have a C43 headunit that I bought off of eBay and a BMW OEM CD changer (Alpine) part #82 11 1 469 404 that I wanted to install in my 'vert to upgrade the stereo but still give a stock BMW look. Speakers are Polk dB's and the amp is an Alpine 40w x 4 channel. Not looking for huge sound - just something nicer than stock with CD.

The CD Changer needs cable #82 11 1 469 404 to connect audio from the headunit to the changer, and you need to wire up the little three pin plug that provides constant 12v, ground, and what I thought was remote turn on lead. The third wire ended up not being a remote turn on lead, but was the I-bus data wire. It needs to go to pin #7 on the rear of the headunit. If you are using an aftermarket wiring harness (mine was by "Best") it may not have a connection provided for pin #7. I took one of the female pin connectors from the original E30 stereo wiring harness and plugged it into the empty #7 spot on the C43 headunit harness (all the pins are labeled on the aftermarket harness) and it worked great!

Here are some install pictures:

The head unit...that wavy gap on the trim panel right above the stereo was there before...it is really starting to bug me!



The former location of the factory amp seemed like a good spot to stick the crossovers...



The rear speakers were hitting the car chassis and distorting (grounding out??) so I glued in these insulation strips. Problem solved!



The tweeters on the rear speakers stuck out too far...I ended up having to cut out all the plastic over the speaker holes on the trim panels - this allowed the leather to flex out around the speakers, but the trim panels would still fit flush in the car. This is the only place the car doesn't look 100% stock on the speakers.





Here is the original dash trim panel around the stereo - the inner plastic lip needs to be entirely removed to allow the C43 head unit to mount flush in the dash like the original:



Here is the spare trim panel I bought on eBay to modify - notice the lip from the picture above has been removed, and a new lip has been made further back along the sides the head unit set screws will "grab" a hold of. Sorry for the blurry picture.



The car ready for the wires to be run...



Here is the tweeter pods - the old tweeters and all the plastic ring in the back that they were glued to was cut out, then the new Polk tweeters were glued in with JB Weld and superglue. The Polk emblem was painted black and the original grills put back on for the stock look:







While the car was torn apart I ran the wiring harness for the heated seats I am going to retrofit!



...and I added these eBay "Alpina" pedals...a 20hp boost in performance at least!

[ldsbeaker]

bump for ease of location. I looked forever!

[87Blue325iC]

What the difference between the C43 from E36 and E46?
I'm finding some(e46 ones) on ebay that are cheaper,but dont if it matters.

The e46 one is not a standard DIN stereo headunit size. It is too long and too short to fit the E30 dash. The e36 was the last of the BMWs that you could add an aftermarket headunit too with major modifications.

[E30_pilot]

What the difference between the C43 from E36 and E46?
I'm finding some(e46 ones) on ebay that are cheaper,but dont if it matters.

[///M42 sport]

No, I have some blaupunkt odx542 series that fit without modification.

hows the sound quality with the blaupunkt's? Good range?

[87Blue325iC]

were the polks the only speakers thin enough that could be fitted in the rear mounting area?

Not sure - and they really didn't fit that well without some modifications. They happened to be 1/2 price at Crutchfield when purchased with the Polk componets I used up front - that is the only reason I went with them.

[Mike 91 318ic]

No, I have some blaupunkt odx542 series that fit without modification.

were the polks the only speakers thin enough that could be fitted in the rear mounting area?

[///M42 sport]

were the polks the only speakers thin enough that could be fitted in the rear mounting area?

[87Blue325iC]

what's the sound quality like compared to a high end aftermarket head unit?

Don't know or care, really. It sound good enough for the purpose I want it for! :)

[87Blue325iC]

Dude, I was trying to quote your post, and accidentally hit "Edit" and changed your post all to shit. I'm sorry about that! I didn't realize I did it until I hit "Submit".

I tried to go back and fix it, but there was no way. Sorry.

Oops...

No problem - fixed now.

Eurospeed's comments were that the wavy trim bezel is due to the way the bezel mounts to the dash. There is a screw right behind where the bezel is wavy. I may try to loosen the screw a little and see if that helps.