Standard Z4 ice

[Hunter]

Not sure about the rest of you guys but i think the standard ICE in the Z4 is totally rubbish. Was in my mates 04 vectra last week and his standard ICE was far superia.Cant believe a premium brand like BMW are out done by a run of the mill Vauxhall!!!. Whats the best way to upgrade whilst still retaining the CD changer, MFSW and screen display ( professional SatNav thingy )? Suggestions guys?

[Hunter]

Anything Guys????

[klarky]

depends on if you have the carver top hifi system or not. there are a few posts on here so probably worth a search, bottom line is forget it if you do have a carver amp.

[Hunter]

No extra amps ect...just basic business system.

[Andy]

soz dude you won't get much response posting this in the how-to section.. or at least that's my interpretation of the how-tos..

im in the process now of upgrading mine, with the restrictions - gotta keep the nav, gotta be stealth..

mine's getting a stonking alpine pdx 4.150 tiny amp, a cleansweep to trim the signal as there's no pre-outs, some focal 3 way polykevlar components and some jl audio rear subs in the oem locations. will cost about 50 quid a side to replace the trim for the subs.

add to that, ive bought an intravee ii, and bought a new 120gb ipod just for the car (shoot me if you ever see me walking with it) and things should be pretty sweet!

i've done a few test setups, with it all in place but not mounted, and it's going to sound great. also got a tv module to go in, with an oem camera to complete the set.

total cost.. £1200 ish ? (inc ipod) should sound a fair bit better than the oem carver, but id love to compare it to one once it's done. un1eash knows his stuff too

[Hunter]

Cheers mate, altho i diddnt understand most of it. I just want it to be louder and my speakers not to give up!!!!

[Andy]

hehe okeee

basically a nice big fat amp, as the basic stereo in the zed will need one. I went for that alpine (google it) coz it's soooo small compared to others, and it's bascially overpowered for the size of the car.

but when you plug an amp in, you generally need a "pre-out".. which is like a signal from the stereo before the original amp gets hold of it, so you don't get any distortion before you new amp takes over.

the stereo doesn't have these, so you can buy a "cleansweep" which is an amazing bit of kit, listens to the sound out of the speakers and bends it so it's back to the original sound (of the CD, Mp3, whatever) then feeds the amp so you get a nice distortion free sound, but still keep your original head unit.

if you get the upgraded stereo on the Zed you'll get subs behind you, you can buy the bits from the dealer to put your own in, then buy some subs and connect them to the same amp.

Replace your front speakers for about £150 and you're set.

I actually find the standard stereo ok, it's just not loud enough when you're 70mph+ with the roof down.

Having the Ipod has made a huge difference too.

[melbs]

any pictures of your upgrades andy?

[Andy]

will be when they're finished, lol.. altho it will all be stealth anyway.

Interestingly the Alpine fits directly into the bracket that's already there for the BMW DSP amp

Speakers all here as of last week, PDX and Cleansweep in and working, just gotta tidy it up a bit and get the speakers in which could be fun.

Might look at getting some OEM electrical connectors and soldering them in, have a feeling it will be unpredictable if I stick with Halfords plug type thingys.