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I had bad luck the Blaupunkt Bremen SQR 46 DAB. The controls on the unit would not respond to anything. It would work somewhat with the remote. I inquired about repair and the vendor told me they weren’t serviceable and to throw it away. This was after about 8 months. They only have a 4 month warranty. Ditched it for an Alpine CDE-175BT with a CD player. The Alpine is of a much better quality and sound.
Last edited by gbgastowers; 04-22-2024 at 02:08 PM.
Installed the unit today. Overall, I am very happy to have CarPlay in the car and so far it works great!
One thing to know before deciding is even though the width and height should fit the opening, the corners of the head unit prevent it from sitting flush inside. It does not interfere with the ***** on top.
So almost perfect…
Two things that really bug me about the whole small-screen DIN radios are:
1. Why can't a "name brand" company (Kenwood, Alpine, Sony, etc) make something like this? I guess they figure the market is just too small (and to be fair to them, the vintage Porsche dash is kind of unique in the way the radio is on a strip of dash that's totally sunk in so a flip-out screen won't work).
2. If someone is going to bother making this, then why not just make it DIN size instead of "a tiny bit larger than DIN, but we call it DIN"? This is the one that really has me scratching my head!
Honestly though, I do think it's pretty cool, and if you have it going to an external amp, the lack of brand-name electronics is probably not an issue.
As someone who frequently needs to parallel park in suburbia, having a camera input is a huge bonus that phone + bluetooth can't do.
Here's a video of a guy putting one in a 924, and you can see the screen in action...
I think the best solution for Carplay would be for someone to start remaking the batphone center console, and then fit the double din Porsche classic (the 996/997 one). The single din is really just terrible, regardless of manufacturer because it is positioned in such a way that it is impossible to see the screen because of the glare in even ****ty dark UK weather. FWIW I have a RHD so dont know if seating position would have made a difference.
Love the song selection. Does the back of the face sit flush against the dash?
It sits flush and you can see how close it comes to fitting. I ended up just using the sleeve from the old radio instead of the one that came with it. Since it doesn’t go in the opening the sleeve sits further and the head unit won’t engage the side tabs. My old one held it in just with friction. I drove it for an hour and it doesn’t move at all. I can still remove with a good tug but it’s in there well!
For $140 and 1.5 hour time to swap wires, I’d do it again. Even if this thing doesn’t last as long as an Alpine or Pioneer, I’ll probably grab the same unit and swap it out.
It’s all reversible if I decide to go with a Becker Cassette with Bluetooth in the future. But I like the CarPlay option a lot and it looks nice.
It looks like it has pre amp outputs for 4 channels, Front right and left and rear right and left, but the documentation online suggests a different configuration. Are the pre amp outputs front and rear?
It looks like it has pre amp outputs for 4 channels, Front right and left and rear right and left, but the documentation online suggests a different configuration. Are the pre amp outputs front and rear?
Based on the layout and color of the back panel RCA jacks, I would bet that there's only one line-level stereo pair. The two yellow jacks are probably video inputs (front/rear), don't know about the orange and green jacks.
edit: Derf - brain fart, those are RCA jacks, you would think it's 4-channel... but according to the manual (BOBOYDDS post below) - it's not!
Some of these features of these are funny to me. I'd love to know the percentage of people who use an IR remote in the car, SD-card-based audio files (or even USB stick), or line-level rear inputs!
Where did you find a manual online? - I don't see one
Last edited by CosmosMoon; 04-22-2024 at 02:39 PM.
It looks like it has pre amp outputs for 4 channels, Front right and left and rear right and left, but the documentation online suggests a different configuration. Are the pre amp outputs front and rear?
I found a posted pic online of what @BOBOYDDS posted. The audio line in confused me as well given the actual jacks appear to be standard FR, FL, RR, and RL. This is a deal killer as I use the fader in my cab especially with the top down.
So what are the downsides?
1. No volume ****. This sucks. I'm going to try one or two of the bluetooth-based volumes ***** that are available and see if I can overcome this. I'm a volume-**** junky, for others it might not be a big deal. Honestly, I'd take no **** over no bluetooth carplay any day.
2. Screen gets a bit grey off-angle. Viewing angle will be fixed with my V2 mount... It's not terrible though.
3. For some a screen simply does not belong in an air-cooled car
4. I wished the screen were not so thick, when I was installing it, but you never it see it from the side when you are driving or riding as a passenger, so no big deal
My planned version 2.0 - once I develop my 3d printing abilities - is to make some 3D-printed parts and will screw into the ashtray with the ash-tray in place using 2 the ashtray hold-down screws, and it will have a push-tab so the screen can be pulled out and stored and the ashtray will close and look totally stock. I plan to make 3 pieces - one for screwing into the ashtray, one to screw onto the back of the screen, and an interface piece that I can keep refining to get the position of the screen and the viewing angle tipped to the drivers seat and tipped up just right.
Love your install and finally ready to get started on something similar.
Any updates on volume *****, viewing angles, or version 2 ashtray mounting bracket? Personally, I'd be happy to pay for your 3d prints on shapeways or something if you've got something working!
I think the best solution for Carplay would be for someone to start remaking the batphone center console, and then fit the double din Porsche classic (the 996/997 one). The single din is really just terrible, regardless of manufacturer because it is positioned in such a way that it is impossible to see the screen because of the glare in even ****ty dark UK weather. FWIW I have a RHD so dont know if seating position would have made a difference.
is there a short list of good double DIN CarPlay units since I have a factory batphone console? Not real interested in the Porsche classic version since I assume it is as overpriced and shirty as the single DIN version I currently have
04-19-2024, 04:29 PM
