stock headunit sold to public?

[Brendon <brendon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Folks:

My stock headunit in my '96 328i is starting to
show it's age: the "eye" readout is dim once
in a while and then gets bright again.
I had the car into the dealer for something
else and their diagnosis was "get a new headunit".
At around $900 with labor, I decided that was too
much and held off. The unit still works as far
as playing tapes and controlling the CD changer.

My question: is it possible to buy a stereo headunit
as an individual? Or must they be bought from a dealer
because of the anti-theft code? 

TIA,
- -B

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