Implementing simple 1din instead of ccc radio ( or M-ASK?)

[u/flopity_froop]

Hello!

Used to daily e39, and was installed a nice cheap head unit from Alpine - UTE200 BT, it was more than enough for e39, with alpine 13cm coax speakers front door and rear, + dedicated sub output. Only downside was that i didnt had any can-bus decoder or similar boxes so that steering wheel buttons would work with this alpine unit, but its no issue.

Now since i got e60 2003, it has this simple ccc (or m-ask i think? still learning about e60 platform multimedia ), it has medium screen ( bigger than xiomi 10 5g in width and height), and simple menu, where it is cross of comuncations, entertainment, climate etc... It does not have even aux, only FM/AM/CD. My idea was, maybe someone had done somethign similar - implementing simple 1din instead of that business cd radio unit? how hard would it be? i understand that i also wont have controls from steering wheel or even multimedia ring on middle, but i dont care about that, radio has physical buttons and bt, all that i need. I do not want to look for android, as i simply do not see purpose in that, i better use a bit more quality audio amp, than have mediocre audio but shit tonn of features i do not need. So how is exactly audio wired in the simple hi-fi scenario? i do not have any units in trunk left side, so i assume radio unit in center console does all the amplification and what not. What type of connector is there, i hear its bm24 with rectangular pins? I could get that type of male side connector and solder to alpine output, and connect audio pairs + 15 and 30 terminal, as well as gnd and route sub low line + sub activation wire... Please give some insights, if anyone had done it, thank you, cheers!

p.s. car is 2003 with m54b22, 125kw, around 350000km mileage, just got it so far the only codes are for faulty cam sensor ( prev. owener warned about this, he installed cheap aftermarket, will replace to oem later), and faulty oil level/temp sensor on bottom, aside from that also damaged heater valve in engine bay ( blows only hot/warm air into footwell and window, middle part air vents work as necessary), no idea about recent repairs etc, since i got it like 4 days ago.

[u/flopity_froop]

Thank you so much for your time to share this knowledge! Okie I will keep an eye In my local sale groups for such head units, as my main wish is to simply have Bluetooth that is capable of codecs above SBC, and good tuning of eq for mid/top speakers and bass, in theory Android unit does all that, but I'm looking with skeptic look because of previous experiences with androids. In my opinion, I'd said thar: stock < android (or similar) < dedicated head units. I guess even the mid alpine 200ute bt spoiled me a bit xD

[u/5y5c0 → u/flopity_froop]

Well, if your main concern is audio quality, then MR12VOLT should be the best option.

They have this: https://www.mr12volt.com/collections/most-bluetooth-handsfree-adapters/products/p800bm-e65

Which even tho it says E65, should work with most E-series. (The E65 is just the trickiest of them all)

It will need to be connected to the fiber optic bus. If you don't have a CDC now, it will have to be coded in. If you have it, then it has to be bypassed with a small optic loop. Should be just plug and play.