DAB Upgrade

[Avtar]

Hi,

Has anyone done the BMW DAB retrofit, is it any good and are there better options out there?

Thanks

[X5Sport]

If it's the same as the one offered on other BMW cars then I think it adds a module and a separate aerial and sends it's signal to the existing radio head unit via an FM VHF link so you tune your car radio to one channel and then tune the DAB separately.  I think it's actually made by Autodab, or something similar.

That always struck me as a rather amateurish way of doing it, especially as it was £300 at the time.

PURE used to do an add-on which connected via the aux port, but whether that is still available I don't know.  They also did a VHF-FM linked option which basically did the same as the BMW retrofit, but for less money.

Richard

[Bomber]

[quote="Avtar"]
Hi,

Has anyone done the BMW DAB retrofit, is it any good and are there better options out there?

Thanks
[/quote]

What year is your car?

[Avtar]

2008

[Bomber]

[quote="Avtar"]
2008
[/quote]

So CCC Idrive, yes it is difficult and expensive for OEM, the reason I asked your date as some later CIC units already have DAB so you only need a cable and new diversity unit.

[Bob1098R]

[quote="Avtar"]
Hi,

Has anyone done the BMW DAB retrofit, is it any good and are there better options out there?

Thanks
[/quote]

I've had the BMW retroft , cost £300 , a small ariel module is fitted to the left hand upper area of your windscreen  and as X5 sport advised you tune through FM, for the money its a good mod , one drawback is the way you have to search for stations , you get a small hand held controller and you have to scroll through all your saved stations to get to the one you want, I only listen to a couple of stations so for me it's not really an issue but its definitely not user friendly,

Now my father got the same fitted to his 09 plate X3, he had issues with the signal cutting out driving on roads where i would have no problems listening to the same stations, he's just changed out for a new X3 with factory DAB and its like night and day , In fact the quality of his standard SE sound system is very impressive and the electronics package make's my motor look pretty prehistoric.

[pvr]

DAB is useless on my car. Driving to LHR today and on the M25 it is just on/off, very annoying. Never have managed t receive anything on it that lasted more than a couple of minutes.

Back to FM for me ... much more stable.

[sramsay]

That's definitely not my experience and I drive round the M25 a fair bit.  I usually only get dropouts when driving through my town centre which is at the bottom of a valley and FM and Medium Wave don't fair much better.  Usually if FM equivalent is available it automatically switches across - doesn't work for BBC Radio 5 obviously.

[X5Sport]

+1 for no issues with mine either.  Reception seems pretty good, except when I'm in the valleys of Wales.

Richard

[pvr]

Do you have to select a local DAB station? Yesterday I drove to Eastbourne and I tried Capital first - no reception (why on the list ...), then tried Heart and it dropped every 5 seconds on the A22 so I switched back to FM.

Perhaps I am not using it right, but what do you have to select to get a channel that works?

[X5Sport]

If you've got the right 'multiplex' tuned in, it should stay tuned as the national stations either operate on a common channel nationally (Single Frequency Network - SFN) or change channel automatically to follow the signal (Enhanced Other Network - EON).  Local stations will come and go as you come in and out of range.

Richard

[Bomber]

Mine is rubbish in London, I have had my diversity box changed over and its no better apart from my FM is now worse  >:( once i've finished doing my own upgrades I'm going to look at it myself, can someone confirm that  the aerials in the rear windows and also where are the amplifiers or are they built into diversity?