Aftermarket Headunits in Facelifted B5's

[andy110m]

I'm fancing an Alpine CD headunit (for the sake of interest the 9887R) in my 2000 S4 but I don't want something that doesn't look right. I know that sounds crap and you'll all tell me if you want something that looks factory leave the factory unit where it is but I'm sure some of you fellow B5 owners will have aftermarket Pioneers, kenwoods and whatever else sat in the dash. Some of them will look good, some not so good and some fantastic.

I hope you guys that have taken the plunge into the world of aftermarket car audio will post some pictures, if any big installs exist in B5's I'd love to see them, I suppose I'm interested in what can be done in a facelifted B5 (Avants mainly interest me but saloons also)

I've tried posting something similar in the ICE section but nothing. It was suggested I give it another try in this forum. I know people put alot of hard work into getting good sound into cars so come on. Lets see em.

Thanks Guys.

 

[phoenixv6quattro]

Hello mate. IMO for a unit to look OEM on a b5 the screen has to be red like the rest of the illumination on the dash. If its not it sticks out like a sore thumb! I opted for a Sony unit. Its very basic but the display matches the dash red perfectly. Its plain black like the rest of the dash. All it has is an ipod link up and nothing else fancy. Cost me 80 quid from halfords. Plug and play. All thats needed is the facia adapters for the dash. To complement it I removed all the front and rear speakers/tweeters and treated it to some decent alpine components for thr front only. Sounds pretty good(I made custom door mounts out of fibreglass and used dynamat). Sub-woofer wise, your best off talking to aragorn. He did an awesome avant boot sub install! Looks almost factory quality! The thread is knocking around here somewhere, you would have to search for it.

Ollie

 

[adamss24]

Here is mine fitted with a Blaupunkt Queens head unit. Plug and play with no other adaptors needed as the stock stereo is made by Blaupunkt and all the plugs arethe same. Pity the cd changer in the boot does not work ! Mine is absolutely stock Bose wich sounds ok but a bit flat for my liking, have a whole stack of audiobahn goodies i bought a few years ago but never found the right car to use them...

 

[Oranoco]

Becker make some great units that blend in well. I just went for an Alpine 9812RB as to be honest I wasn't all that fussed with how it looked, I just wanted it to sound nice.

 

[voteforpedro]

I've got a Sony headunit with red LEDs.

It looks the nuts when the dash is lit.

 

[rasA4]

If i was to go aftermarket id look at becker as well, Andymac knows his sh*t on sounds he has done a custom install sub etc..

 

[aragorn]

TBH people rave about the beckers, but i dont like them.

They're massively overpriced because your paying for a unit thats supposed to blend in, but in reality its not actually going to blend in because it looks completely different to the rest of the trim and switchgear, and you've also got the little ISO adaptors at the side clearly indicating its not OEM.

I've got a pioneer P3630MP in mine, its an old model now, but its reasonably plain, and the illumination is red with white text, which fits in pretty well with the dash.

I think as long as you dont go for something superbling and stick to red illumination, it will look just fine.

 

[AndyMac]

They are not massively overpriced unless you are comparing them with the shyte Halfords sell. You are looking at £250 for a quality MP3, iPOD capable HU, similar quality would be around £200 from Alpine etc so £50 OTT maybe, hardly massive. People are paying £100 for a Concert HU which is a piece of crap. You will also save a few quid on wiring adapters as you don't need any and the Becker will work with Bose with no inherrent popping problems suffered by most aftermarket units.

 

[andy110m]

Thanks for the replies guys, Any chance of more pictures, interested to see what the Becker unit looks like.

 

[Oranoco]

My uber subtle Alpine. pmsl