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BMW Professional Head unit

19K views 108 replies 32 participants last post by  bodhi 
#1 ·
Hello
Has anyone had any experience with AliExpress, They seem to be selling BMW Professional head units for about £100 shipped.
Do you think they will be able to be coded ? anyone ?
 
#78 ·
Just bought one of these and managed to get it working, the sound quality is much better and I've managed to connect the USB cable.

The only issue I've had is connecting the Bluetooth mic. Have I missed something as most on here have said it's a piece of cake to fit?

Just to clarify, I bought this set:

Car is a '57 130i, which had Bluetooth as standard with the old Business radio, if that makes a difference.
 
#80 ·
bjt said:
Can you post a pic of the mic wiring at the head unit?
Do these photos make it any clearer? Sorry they're the wrong way up :rollseyes:







I should also mention that Bluetooth came with the car as standard but it was just a Business radio previously. Does this mean that the mic is already fitted to the car and therefore this new wire doesn't need to be used?
 
#81 ·
I want to get bluetooth music stream through the BMW Professional Head Unit and be able to control the tracks using the steering wheel (prefer not to use bluetooth aux receiver as I cannot use the steering wheel to change tracks)

I found this. Does anyone have this or installed it with the professional head unit (no iDrive)?

 
#82 ·
ccoates95 said:
bjt said:
Can you post a pic of the mic wiring at the head unit?
Do these photos make it any clearer? Sorry they're the wrong way up :rollseyes:







I should also mention that Bluetooth came with the car as standard but it was just a Business radio previously. Does this mean that the mic is already fitted to the car and therefore this new wire doesn't need to be used?
Can't see from your pics but the mic should be connected to pins 1 and 6 at the head unit end.

Sure your car came with BT from factory? Thought that required pro HU.
 
#83 ·
Finally got round to fitting the aliexpress professional headunit on my E88 1 series, to be used for Bluetooth calls!

I initially had the assumption I could make it work to connect to my phone and use Spotify, but was wrong and I guess the aux gives a good quality sound after all.

Definitely an improvement in sound quality, seems more louder I it out the bass and vocals sound better to the ear. Looks much better too, and finally can use my steering controls!!

 
#84 ·
bjt said:
Sure your car came with BT from factory? Thought that required pro HU.
I've worked out that Bluetooth has been retro-fitted to my car by the previous owner - it had an aftermarket radio which replaced the original Business radio, but the connections for the Bluetooth were different to the new Professional radio I've bought. So it looks like that makes it much more difficult to fit Bluetooth in the car with the new head unit :confused1: - I may well just do without it, but I'm still impressed with the sound quality and the fresher look of the new unit.
 
#85 ·
#86 ·
Carl_120dcab said:
sladoled said:
Is this the right thing (1st link)? I'm seeing a Proffesional HU but it is for sale on dollars and costs more than the £80 to £100 mentioned earlier in the thread?
I also stumbled on that; found the low prices as earlier mentioned but then was charged 70USD for shipping.. So in the end, sucked it up and ordered the headunit. Haven't gotten around to install a mic, but gees the sound is so much better indeed! ^^

Bluetooth works good as well on pairing and sound quality (as far as i could test), but unfortunately haven't gotten to get my HTC android 8 recent calls & missed calls log on the radio. Only the full contactbook, which is also sorted on last name rather then first.
 
#88 ·
doubledot said:
Any of you have any experience with bluetooth adapters like these? They promise to provide a2dp bluetooth audio support on the cd-changer port, but I am not convinced about quality / reliability..
Would love you know what is the quality too if anyone has it or if you do get it.

I also found something similar that plugs into the CD changer port, it will allow you to also put in an memory card or USB.

 
#90 ·
Yes you have to run wires from the head unit to the USB socket. I ended up putting my socket in the glovebox as it was easier, you can see some pics a few pages back.
 
#91 ·
saw what you did there, looks great but i'm afraid i'm not as crafty as you are, so i'm going to check my options with a friend of mine who deals with stuff like this, if he won't be charging a fortune for this i'm going to do it his way. thank you! what's the limit on capacity of the usb sticks?
 
#93 ·
Hi guys,

Just going to hijack this thread.

I've currently got a 2006 130i M Sport which is equipped with the business cd - is it a straight swap to the professional?

I'd really like DAB but I think it'll be a pain in the arse to consider due to the set up.

Bluetooth & USB would be nice though, is that a lot of faffing around?

Currently the car only has an AUX slot under the armrest.

If I just buy the professional cd without having Bluetooth/usb is it just a straight swap & will work as the business cd does currently?

Thanks
 
#94 ·
J0sephx said:
Hi guys,

Just going to hijack this thread.

I've currently got a 2006 130i M Sport which is equipped with the business cd - is it a straight swap to the professional?

I'd really like DAB but I think it'll be a pain in the arse to consider due to the set up.

Bluetooth & USB would be nice though, is that a lot of faffing around?

Currently the car only has an AUX slot under the armrest.

If I just buy the professional cd without having Bluetooth/usb is it just a straight swap & will work as the business cd does currently?

Thanks
Yep, on my car (2004 116i business cd) it was a 5minuten swap-job. No wiring issues, no problems.
In theory you can pop out the aux-outletbox and insert an aux+usb under the armrest and add the extra usb wire under the center console. Some fiddling, but nothing fancy has to be done.
Bluetooth depends on where you source your radio from; Originally the beamers have the combox, an additional unit in the trunk of the car which controls connectivity (bluetooth calls, newer models also extending phone-antenna with the phone-dock). Now some pro radios have bluetooth build in (recognizable with the bluetooth logo on the stickers on top of the radio) and are a straight swap. This is what I have done.

Now for the coding that is mentioned earlier; yes the radio works sublime. Yes you have no errors. However, in the vehicle order (list of all options on the onboard computer) it is stated that a different radio is fitted. So whenever you end up with a firmware flash for some technical reason at the dealer, the car will protest and say it has been tampered with. This is why you can either keep your old radio in your garage (and swap back if this ever occurs) or get the car coded so it 'accepts' the pro radio as its own.
 
#95 ·
doubledot said:
J0sephx said:
Hi guys,

Just going to hijack this thread.

I've currently got a 2006 130i M Sport which is equipped with the business cd - is it a straight swap to the professional?

I'd really like DAB but I think it'll be a pain in the arse to consider due to the set up.

Bluetooth & USB would be nice though, is that a lot of faffing around?

Currently the car only has an AUX slot under the armrest.

If I just buy the professional cd without having Bluetooth/usb is it just a straight swap & will work as the business cd does currently?

Thanks
Yep, on my car (2004 116i business cd) it was a 5minuten swap-job. No wiring issues, no problems.
In theory you can pop out the aux-outletbox and insert an aux+usb under the armrest and add the extra usb wire under the center console. Some fiddling, but nothing fancy has to be done.
Bluetooth depends on where you source your radio from; Originally the beamers have the combox, an additional unit in the trunk of the car which controls connectivity (bluetooth calls, newer models also extending phone-antenna with the phone-dock). Now some pro radios have bluetooth build in (recognizable with the bluetooth logo on the stickers on top of the radio) and are a straight swap. This is what I have done.

Now for the coding that is mentioned earlier; yes the radio works sublime. Yes you have no errors. However, in the vehicle order (list of all options on the onboard computer) it is stated that a different radio is fitted. So whenever you end up with a firmware flash for some technical reason at the dealer, the car will protest and say it has been tampered with. This is why you can either keep your old radio in your garage (and swap back if this ever occurs) or get the car coded so it 'accepts' the pro radio as its own.
Great. Thanks for the detailed response.

How do you remove the business cd from the pre facelift?

Had a look online but most cars had the heated seats option that mine doesn't have & they just pulled straight from the bottom.
 
#96 ·
Check YouTube, start from the bottom by popping out the climate control unit. Behind that are two T20 or T25 screws that hold the radio in place. When these are loose you can pull the whole radio towards you. Cables are a straight swap, only the mic and usb are additional wires can / should hide away behind the dash to whereever you want them.
 
#98 ·
I'd be interested but as a new member I can post replies in the for sale section.

I'm also not sure what features work with which audio set ups. I have a pre-LCI professional head unit and the following upgrades:

S663A Radio BMW Professional
S672A CD changer for 6 CDs
S677A HiFi System Professional DSP

So would your head unit be a like for like swap. Or would it also add USB?

Asking because mine seems to mute itself after it's been on for a while. Although the audio mutes, the parking sensors still work.

Thanks
S
 
#100 ·
My HU keeps throwing me error codes caused by the ebay-mic, besides that I have issues with fitting the ebay-bought USB/AUX inlet in the center console since the footprint doesn't match (these are VW as it seems..)

the mic should be a 84 31 6 938 762, but ofcourse also the wiring is needed, anyone who knows where to source that? Also, looking in RealOEM I cannot find the original usb/aux inlet, any thoughts on that?
 
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