Best looking after market deck?

[snowboard]

Well the cd player in my e46 is fucked, and instead of paying a ton for the stock radio, i might as well just upgrade my whole system.. does anyone have any ideas what the best looking after market deck would be? cleanest, closest colors?

[BrknFngrs]

Do a flush mounted lcd from alpine or pioneer, those always look wicked and they dont seem out of place like the flip up style.

[snowboard]

thats a good idea actually, but how would i know if it would fit?

the alpine IVA-W205 looks pretty sick? i can isntall decks, but i've never installed a flat screen in a dash... shit haha

[Weapon_R]

Theres a bezel you can buy that will allow you to mount an LCD screen in the dash. If you have to change the stock stereo, at least do it cleanly. Theres NOTHING that looks worse in an E46 interior than an aftermarket sony type headunit.

[snowboard]

thats why im asking :)
the stock stereo is so wicked looking, but i think a flush mount like brknfngrs said would be sick..

[snowboard]

also, how easy is moving the heater down to accomodate the double din lcd?
i found one im buying, the alpine IVA-W205 i think..
lemme know if you know where to get a bezel :)

[funkedelic]

all you care about is how it looks?

[snowboard]

no, i know the iva-w205 is good, my buddy has last years model, i just want to make sure it looks sick.

[snowboard]

alright, FORGET double din, too much work, for a car i know i wont keep that long.

anyway too hook subs up to the stock deck?!

[Hash_man]

Yes... you can hook up subs to a deck numerous ways. you can get an amp with high level inputs, get a high level converter... or if you plan on running a full system, go with something like the audio control LC6

Also, if you dont want to go with a double din screen but still want a better deck that will look and and sound good maybe too?... lol then I'd go with something like an Eclipse deck.

[snowboard]

Originally posted by Hash_man
Yes... you can hook up subs to a deck numerous ways. you can get an amp with high level inputs, get a high level converter... or if you plan on running a full system, go with something like the audio control LC6

Also, if you dont want to go with a double din screen but still want a better deck that will look and and sound good maybe too?... lol then I'd go with something like an Eclipse deck.

Double din requires lots of mods, like to the AC duct and the things that hold the deck in. So maybe ill look into an audio controller or something like you said than, because i would like to throw a sub in, just something simple.
the speakers are good, but i dunno.. im pickyy..

[Mibz]

JVC KD-AVX33 if you want single DIN.

[Hash_man]

^^^ IMO, I have never been impressed with JVC for sound quality... for that kind of money you can get a nice deck too without a 3.5" screen, which IMO is useless in a car.

Also, one thing to keep in mind, is i'm guessing your e46 has steering wheel controls for audio?... you would need another module to make those work with an aftermarket deck.

[97'Scort]

It's hard to match the colours. If you're solely after looks, the JVC, but make sure you sink some bucks into an Audiocontrol DQXS as I wouldn't trust the EQ or crossover setup on that thing. All it does at that point is play a CD and look cool, the Audiocontrol does all the real work.

[2m0a0x2]

If you want to do a double din:

http://www.mybimmer.net/

Otherwise, I would try a Nakamichi CD-400 or CD-500 if you want sound quality and an amberish yellow kind of display with no swimming dolphins or F1 cars :)

PS. If you want to just add a sub to your OEM stereo, you'll need a line output converter that takes the speaker level signal from your deck, and converts it to line level (with RCA's) to go into your amp.

I have a Stinger SALOC for you if you want, got it from Futureshop for $40, used for 2 months, then got an aftermarket deck. $15 and it's yours.
http://members.shaw.ca/tennis_ace/loc.jpg