Well after a bit of fiddling I made it work. I had gone through countless options in deciding how to upgrade the stock Sat Nav system. I originally wanted to just replace it with a newer double din Pioneer unit. Fortunately I took heed of many opinions on here of keeping the interior of the ZHP looking as stock as possible. I saw that someone on E46 Fanatics had successfully extended the faceplate of a Pioneer DEH-80 so I knew it could be done. My needs were quite simple. I wanted bluetooth streaming and HD radio. I got the bluetooth streaming but found out later that the DEH-80 is just about the only unit in Pioneer's new lineup that doesn't have HD Radio. They have taken the IP bus away on the new units as well, so no way to add another module.
The good news is that I can plug the Sat Nav into the Aux on the DEH-80. So I can still have audio from the stock unit. The sound from the Pioneer is very very good. I am able to dial in the sound with modern DSP, and I finally have control over the EQ. I am pretty sure the stock head unit adjusts the EQ while you are driving and lowers the bass and increases the mids to adapt to road noise. That was driving me crazy as the stock unit sounded fine when the car was off but when I started driving the sound would change. However that could just be the ZHP exhaust cancelling bass frequencies. Anyways I now have my LOUDNESS button and I have the punchy bass I was missing. If my car didn't come with the Sat Nav option I might have considered the Dynavin. But this option proved a better solution for me as I use Tomtom on my iPhone anyways. So the faceplate is in the ashtray and the stereo is in the trunk. I even managed to keep the cigarette lighter for charging. Everything is working well, but the stereo still has to be mounted into the storage compartment. Not the best pic as it has a fisheye effect and it looks crooked. But I will try to get some better photos in daylight.
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Originally Posted by danewilson77
