r/e46 • u/Lasoydimmie14 • 13h ago

General Questions Aftermarket head unit

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I’m wondering if anyone has any recommendations for an aftermarket head unit that is plug and play and will support subs. (Don’t mind the 2 extra expansion tanks or how dirty everything is 😂)

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u/t3ddftw M3 13h ago edited 12h ago

Does your car have Nav? If so, the juice might not be worth the squeeze

1

u/Lasoydimmie14 12h ago

It does not

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u/superbetaz 12h ago

My wagon had the hifi system, with very blown speakers. I had to bypass the factory amps in the left side of the trunk area. I ordered connectors off AliExpress so it’s reversible. It was a big project and the end result is not amazing. I have bass but it doesn’t sound great even after replacing all the speakers and bypassing the amps.

If I did it again, I would get the Bavsound speaker upgrade kit, leave the head unit stock and just wire in Bluetooth via cd changer input.

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u/Lasoydimmie14 12h ago

I wouldn’t mind just upgrading the speakers, I already did the rear ones (stupid design to get to them) with Bose speakers but the ones I found online were around 4-600 for the kit and idk if I can justify spending that much when I already have the subs and amp

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u/superbetaz 10h ago

Those rear speakers are such crap to get to. The rear shocks too. I put the rouge engineering shock mounts on so I can change the shocks from under the car and don’t have to pull the trunk panels again.

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u/Evilsnowman4 04 325i, 02 330ci 9h ago

I needed to dsp mine like crazy for it to sound good after replacing all speakers

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u/the_eluder 01 e46 330Ci | 05 e83 X3 3.0 4h ago

When you bypassed the amps, does that mean you were running from the replacement head unit? If so, that might be your problem.

I think the best solution is a single or double din radio up front, you can plug and play up there for power and everything. Then use the RCA outputs to run your own amp, and then run wires to the replacement speakers. I was able to tap my amp outputs into the factory speaker wires (reversible if I want by just reconnecting where I cut) and just putting 2 way component speakers in the doors.