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Re: Alpine CD Changer

>Thanks for the info!  However, I checked locally and found the same unit by
>Alpine for $350 (actually, the Alpine one is most likely the latest version)...
>I almost went for the $471 until I called the stereo shop...  It seems that
>there is way too much of an overhead by buying from BMW.  This is what we have
>to pay for BMW OEMing their products...
>
>------------------------------

The Alpine is going to be a fairly major chore to install since you can't
use the factory fiber optic connection.  A good stereo shop will charge you
some thing very close to the price difference to install it (unless it is
one of the type that plays through and FM radio frequency, but then you
loose most of the sound quality aspects of a CD and have to deal w/ a
separate control.)  Also, no tax for mail order out of state.    You will
also probably void your warranty on the stereo system and possibly other
electrical components.

If you have it installed for you, you will save little to nothing and cause
warranty problems.  Assuming you do it yourself, you will save < $100
dollars for what will probably be an all day job, AFTER you spend time
figuring out how to interface its wiring w/ the factory head unit.  For
many people it is well worth $100 to avoid all this.

So, you are probably figuring I bought the BMW unit now right?  Well, no, I
haven't used a tape in years so I pulled the factory head unit and
installed an Alpine in dash CD unit.  IMHO I dont understand why anyone
would want to have to stop the car to listen to anything other than 6 CD's.
Many people have abandoned tapes, just look at the selection in "record"
stores.  IMO BMW should offer an in dash CD unit.

Jimmy Shrake
Current: '93 318is
Previous: '85 325e (KIA @ 150k)

jim@domain.elided