Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[D.Martijn]

Nice little update!

I'm wondering though, what's up with the covering plate under your steering wheel?
Why is there a bump, never seen one like that before.

[mike.bmw]

Wow great find on that head unit! looks great, may have to switch mine to that one day

Do you have any night photos of it?

I would love to hear an update on this head unit once you get used to it and enjoy it. Its the exact same one I was looking at and would love to hear your long term feedback on it!

Thanks! I have updated my post above with a night shot. The screen is always illuminated, but the buttons only illuminate when you turn you on the lights.

I will definitely post more feedback, but so far things are looking good! :D

[Powling]

I would love to hear an update on this head unit once you get used to it and enjoy it. Its the exact same one I was looking at and would love to hear your long term feedback on it!

[Richter]

Wow great find on that head unit! looks great, may have to switch mine to that one day

Do you have any night photos of it?

[mike.bmw]

Hi R3V. It has been a while. I have a couple of small updates!

Hood Roundel Replacement

About a year ago a fellow E30 owner pointed out that my hood roundel wasn't correct. The previous owner had installed new roundels, but installed two trunk roundels. The trunk roundel fits on the hood, but it's not flush. It only took a year for me to get around to ordering the correct hood roundel and installing it (wasn't a huge priority).

Trunk roundel installed on hood:


Hood vs trunk:


Correct hood roundel installed:


VDO/Continental TR7412UB-OR Head Unit

I've been looking for a new head unit that offered some modern conveniences such as hands-free calling and music streaming, yet still looked somewhat OE and matched the rest of the interior. I ordered a VDO/Continental TR7412UB-OR over a month ago and after 3 shipping delays it arrived last week. Also, it arrived without a harness because apparently they don't ship with a harness. After some research I ordered a VDO harness from here.

Installation was straight forward. I opted for crimp caps instead of soldering. I may go back and solder at some point. Whoever installed the previous JVC unit cut the vehicle's wiring harness so I don't have the OEM connectors.

The VDO unit sounds MUCH better than the JVC. The buttons on the VDO match the rest of the interior nicely and provide positive tactile feedback. The bluetooth/phone integration actually works better than in my 2015 328xi wagon.

The VDO unit came with an external microphone, but I read reviews that the internal microphone worked well so I didn't install the external one. After installation, a quick call to my wife proved that to be true. She could hear me just fine with the internal microphone.

I'm very pleased with the result!

JVC unit that was installed prior to my ownership:


Wiring before:


Wiring after:


Installed!


Illuminated buttons and screen are a close match the rest of the interior buttons: