So school me on those Continental stereos

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
dsw99a
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Joined: Jan 07, 2012 5:22 AM
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Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by dsw99a »

First thing it says in the manual is, "use only in a 12-volt DC negative-ground electrical system."

Is there any hope this will work?
tn535i
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Joined: Jul 14, 2006 1:30 PM
Location: Middle Tennessee

Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by tn535i »

Our cars are 12v negative ground but the manual language may be common, meaning they say 12 v negative ground but mean "whatever voltage specified on the unit" negative ground.

Almost all vehicles since before most of us were born use negative ground and 12v by far most common for the last 5 decades or so.
lswoboda
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Joined: Jun 12, 2018 5:22 PM
Location: Maryland

Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by lswoboda »

Sorry to resurrect an old thread.

When you installed your Continental radio, did you have to splice into your existing radio wiring?

I’m considering replacing my factory radio, but would like to be able to put it back in the car sometime in the future. If I hack into the wiring for the Continental installation, going back wouldn’t be easy to do.

Are there any harnesses that could simply plug into the existing/original radio harness and just be unplugged in the future?

Thanks very much for your help!

LS
e28Sean
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Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by e28Sean »

My stereo wiring was already buggered from a previous Pioneer head unit, so I cleaned it up nicely, and pinned it all to a couple of deutsch connectors (one for power connections, one for speaker connections), and then to the ISO harness required by the radio. Made everything a bit neater, and future-proof'd.

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lswoboda
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Location: Maryland

Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by lswoboda »

e28Sean wrote: Jun 22, 2020 7:27 PM My stereo wiring was already buggered from a previous Pioneer head unit, so I cleaned it up nicely, and pinned it all to a couple of deutsch connectors (one for power connections, one for speaker connections), and then to the ISO harness required by the radio. Made everything a bit neater, and future-proof'd.
Thank you very much!

I’ll check out the harnesses/plugs I have in the car and see if Deutsch has a match that I then can tie to an ISO universal harness.
Shawn D.
Beamter
Beamter
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Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by Shawn D. »

What's everyone's perception of these radios now that they've had them in use for one or two years?
MyE24
Posts: 94
Joined: Apr 16, 2021 10:43 AM
Location: California

Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by MyE24 »

I ve had mine a few years now, still love it.
Sounds good, looks good and has nice modern features.
For $130 brand new, it was a bargain, too.
wkohler
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Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by wkohler »

Shawn D. wrote: Sep 22, 2021 4:24 PM What's everyone's perception of these radios now that they've had them in use for one or two years?
I put the CD version in my 535is and I'm a fan. I felt that unit was higher quality than the one without the CD player. The knobs and buttons just felt better. The bluetooth one wasn't available at the time, and I really don't use it anyway, so it didn't matter to me. I extended the aux input to a blank next to the radio and it works well. The other thing I really like is that like most European radios, the FM tuner will go between frequencies (e.g. 103.15 FM) so if you have a dodgy station or something out of alignment or something really close on the other side, you can get a decent signal (there's a reason I mentioned that frequency in particular).

If you order one, make sure you get the DIN connectors since the radio doesn't come with any. They're the same ones Blaupunkt used on the Torontos and Sydneys. Maybe if you are one of the people still running one of those, you don't even have to rewire anything. :laugh:
Karl Grau
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Location: Sandy Eggo

Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by Karl Grau »

I've had the CD model in the 996 for a few years now and I like it. The Bluetooth works great and all the controls on the head unit work with my phone when streaming. I mostly stream from the phone or use a USB thumb drive. I don't really take calls when driving the P car so I can't speak for the phone integration.




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e28Sean
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Re: So school me on those Continental stereos

Post by e28Sean »

Shawn D. wrote: Sep 22, 2021 4:24 PM What's everyone's perception of these radios now that they've had them in use for one or two years?
Still loving it. As far as I'm concerned, it's the way to go in our cars. All the modern features, in something that looks smart and not out of place in an older interior.

I've got the non-CD version, and I don't regret that decision at all. I don't think I've actually used a CD in around a decade anyway. My phone connects itself to the head unit as soon as I turn it on, and I can music / podcast from there.

Karl Grau wrote: Sep 23, 2021 9:12 PM I don't really take calls when driving the P car so I can't speak for the phone integration.
I can! I don't often take calls in the car, but I have on a few occasions. Calls come through clearly via the vehicles speakers, and using the mic on the head unit, I can be clearly heard, even over engine / wind noise by the person calling me. Answering a call is as easy as pressing the "answer call" button on the HU, and ending the call is s easy as pressing "END" on the HU.

Call handling is solid.
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