AVIC-D1: Questions answered and Review! - BMW M3 Forum.com (E30 M3 | E36 M3 | E46 M3

330pilot · Fri, Nov-18-2005, 03:51:11 AM

First, i would like to apologize for not answering any questions any earlier, i was tracking most of the week, and spent the week before that preping the car!

Because of all the inquiries I decided to start a new thread and answer some questions as well as give a brief review on the AVIC-D1.

Pics:
To see pics of the unit installed visit:
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=89583

What did I purchase?
1. AVIC-D1
2. Double-din Bezel from www.mybimmer.net
3. AC relocating bracket from BMW
4. XM-NAV Traffic unit (optional)
5. Pioneer to digital converter (SWX) which allows perfect control of the unit from the steering wheel (very OEM!) (optional).

The AC bracket is only necessary if you do NOT have an OEM nav unit already in place. I did not have the OEM navi, just the premium sound with the "business" radio.

Price:
Price will vary. But, there are currently two rebates available:
$300 off from the Avic-D1 and an additional $100 on the XM-NAV traffic unit.
The XM-NAV traffic unit requires a subscribtion which is only $3/month in addition to XM service.

Install:
I did not install the unit myself, but from watching the installer, it does not seem like too bad of an installation. The hardest part is building an enclosure to hold the navi unit in place inside the dash. this can be built from fiberglass or bondo. Mine was fiberglass.
Moving the AC unit is pretty straight forward. It slips right into the OEM brackets purchased from any BMW dealer (~40 with CCA discount).
The install took a total of 5 hours, which included about 1.5 hours of wiring to get the XM antenna to the rear of the car.
Also, the speed sensor was bypassed by using instructions that can be found in a link posted by a user in the thread which containst the photos (http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=89583).

Review:
The unit has been in place for almost 1 month now, and so far I am VERY happy with it. It does everything a nav system should do, and does it very well.

Pros:
1. The navigation is very accurate and very detailed.
2. TONS of POIs, many more than other units i've tried.
3. Sound quality (compared to OEM premium) is amazing, though probably not up to par to Eclipse units.
4. A/V controls are very nice.
5. Very OEM looking, especially with Bezel from mybimmer and the SWX digital adaptor.
6. Vibrant screen.
7. Detailed maps are very cool. Looks kinda like google maps, but with building and topological detail.
7. XM-traffic is awesome.
8. Unit allows you to store favorite songs and anytime they are played on any station, it asks you if you would like to tune.
9. navigation, navigation, navigation, i cannot stress what a great navi unit this is.
10. PRICE!!! ok the unit itself (AVIC-D1 only) cost me under $1k, the traffic unit $50 (after rebates on both)... thats WAAAYYY cheap.

Cons:
1. When looking for POI in the "vicinity" it gives you a list of gas stations for example, sorted by distance, BUT it does not give you an arrow in the direction of the station. You have to press a "preview" button for each one which then brings up a map and shows you where the station is. I think this is retarded, in the eclipse units, it has a small directional arrow next to each entry on the list. That way even if there is a station 0.5 miles away, it might make more sense to travel 2.0 miles to the next station if it is in your direction... this is very annoying in my opinion.

2. the intrusion level of the voice cannot be adjusted. sometimes i feel like she is talking too much, there is no way to control how much direction she should give.

3. no way to mute the voice once its on, except by going to the setup menu > volume > lower volume a bunch of times until it is at zero. This is sooo retarded, when you are on the phone for example and the voice comes on, there is no way to mute or decrease the volume rapidly.

4. Sound quality of the voice is pretty crappy when the OEM HK sub is on.

this is my short review of the unit. feel free to ask more q's!

sonic40 · Fri, Nov-18-2005, 04:12:46 AM

Thanks. Good right up. Headin to Circuit City tomorrow.

carbon_e46 · Fri, Nov-18-2005, 06:42:38 AM

How advanced are the audio control options in comparison to the avic-N2? I really like the oem look of the D2 but don't want to sacrafice sound quality..do you know if it is pretty comparable as far as being able to fine tune your audio settings?

330pilot · Fri, Nov-18-2005, 01:52:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbon_e46

How advanced are the audio control options in comparison to the avic-N2? I really like the oem look of the D2 but don't want to sacrafice sound quality..do you know if it is pretty comparable as far as being able to fine tune your audio settings?

I'm honestly not sure how comparable to the N2 it is. As far as I am concerned, there are waaay too many adjustments. In the EQ menu you can adjust the level and frequency for highs, mids and lows individually. There is also a curve adjstument for each.

There is an individual subwoofer menu with a few settings, and 3 other settings which i have no clue what they do lol.

tubsy3 · Fri, Nov-18-2005, 03:52:43 PM

If you dont mind me asking, where were you able to get the unit for under 1k and able to use the rebate? I seen on ebay for aroudn 1050 shipped but I doubt u can use the rebate from those vendors. The pioneer site says they have to be pioneer approved merchants or you cant use the rebate? Thanks for the info

Also I see we need to amke somehting to hold the unit in place? Isnt that what the bezel does? I have seen directions on installing it but I never saw we had to make somehting to hold it in.

Chris

carbon_e46 · Sat, Nov-19-2005, 05:37:35 AM

I'm getting mine for $899 before the $300 mail in rebate, so $599 after rebate..not bad but the $250 mounting kit is going to make up for the savings..

lthsa · Sun, Nov-20-2005, 02:49:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbon_e46

I'm getting mine for $899 before the $300 mail in rebate, so $599 after rebate..not bad but the $250 mounting kit is going to make up for the savings..

Where're you getting it @that hack of low price?
Are you sure you can get the rebate with that kind of purchase price?

330pilot · Sun, Nov-20-2005, 02:51:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lthsa

Where're you getting it @that hack of low price?
Are you sure you can get the rebate with that kind of purchase price?

Seriously! He might know a distributor, because I believe that is the distributor price.

carbon_e46 · Tue, Nov-22-2005, 05:36:46 AM

Best Buy employee price is $899, and I believe the rebate still is valid because it's a pioneer rebate and not a Best Buy rebate.

330pilot · Tue, Nov-22-2005, 07:00:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carbon_e46

Best Buy employee price is $899, and I believe the rebate still is valid because it's a pioneer rebate and not a Best Buy rebate.

This is directly from the rebate:

"Not available to employees of Pioneer or any Pioneer or Pioneer Premier dealer or distributor."

just a heads up. i'm sure there's a way around this though.

Fri, Nov-18-2005, 03:51:11 AM	#1
330pilot '04 M3 Join Date: Sep 2004 Age: 30 Posts: 35 iTrader: (0) Reputation: 0 Location: Malibu	AVIC-D1: Questions answered and Review! First, i would like to apologize for not answering any questions any earlier, i was tracking most of the week, and spent the week before that preping the car! Because of all the inquiries I decided to start a new thread and answer some questions as well as give a brief review on the AVIC-D1. Pics: To see pics of the unit installed visit: http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=89583 What did I purchase? 1. AVIC-D1 2. Double-din Bezel from www.mybimmer.net 3. AC relocating bracket from BMW 4. XM-NAV Traffic unit (optional) 5. Pioneer to digital converter (SWX) which allows perfect control of the unit from the steering wheel (very OEM!) (optional). The AC bracket is only necessary if you do NOT have an OEM nav unit already in place. I did not have the OEM navi, just the premium sound with the "business" radio. Price: Price will vary. But, there are currently two rebates available: $300 off from the Avic-D1 and an additional $100 on the XM-NAV traffic unit. The XM-NAV traffic unit requires a subscribtion which is only $3/month in addition to XM service. Install: I did not install the unit myself, but from watching the installer, it does not seem like too bad of an installation. The hardest part is building an enclosure to hold the navi unit in place inside the dash. this can be built from fiberglass or bondo. Mine was fiberglass. Moving the AC unit is pretty straight forward. It slips right into the OEM brackets purchased from any BMW dealer (~40 with CCA discount). The install took a total of 5 hours, which included about 1.5 hours of wiring to get the XM antenna to the rear of the car. Also, the speed sensor was bypassed by using instructions that can be found in a link posted by a user in the thread which containst the photos (http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=89583). Review: The unit has been in place for almost 1 month now, and so far I am VERY happy with it. It does everything a nav system should do, and does it very well. Pros: 1. The navigation is very accurate and very detailed. 2. TONS of POIs, many more than other units i've tried. 3. Sound quality (compared to OEM premium) is amazing, though probably not up to par to Eclipse units. 4. A/V controls are very nice. 5. Very OEM looking, especially with Bezel from mybimmer and the SWX digital adaptor. 6. Vibrant screen. 7. Detailed maps are very cool. Looks kinda like google maps, but with building and topological detail. 7. XM-traffic is awesome. 8. Unit allows you to store favorite songs and anytime they are played on any station, it asks you if you would like to tune. 9. navigation, navigation, navigation, i cannot stress what a great navi unit this is. 10. PRICE!!! ok the unit itself (AVIC-D1 only) cost me under $1k, the traffic unit $50 (after rebates on both)... thats WAAAYYY cheap. Cons: 1. When looking for POI in the "vicinity" it gives you a list of gas stations for example, sorted by distance, BUT it does not give you an arrow in the direction of the station. You have to press a "preview" button for each one which then brings up a map and shows you where the station is. I think this is retarded, in the eclipse units, it has a small directional arrow next to each entry on the list. That way even if there is a station 0.5 miles away, it might make more sense to travel 2.0 miles to the next station if it is in your direction... this is very annoying in my opinion. 2. the intrusion level of the voice cannot be adjusted. sometimes i feel like she is talking too much, there is no way to control how much direction she should give. 3. no way to mute the voice once its on, except by going to the setup menu > volume > lower volume a bunch of times until it is at zero. This is sooo retarded, when you are on the phone for example and the voice comes on, there is no way to mute or decrease the volume rapidly. 4. Sound quality of the voice is pretty crappy when the OEM HK sub is on. this is my short review of the unit. feel free to ask more q's!

Fri, Nov-18-2005, 06:42:38 AM	#3
carbon_e46 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 58 iTrader: (0) Reputation: 0	How advanced are the audio control options in comparison to the avic-N2? I really like the oem look of the D2 but don't want to sacrafice sound quality..do you know if it is pretty comparable as far as being able to fine tune your audio settings? __________________ 2003 ///M3 Coupe 6MT \| Carbon Black \| Black Nappa \| HK \| 19" OEM \| Prolumen 6000k Xenon Fogs \| D2S 6000k Xenon \| Predator Chromium DDE Halos \| Hardwired Valentine1 \| Pioneer Avic-D1 Navi

Sat, Nov-19-2005, 05:37:35 AM	#6
carbon_e46 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 58 iTrader: (0) Reputation: 0	I'm getting mine for $899 before the $300 mail in rebate, so $599 after rebate..not bad but the $250 mounting kit is going to make up for the savings.. __________________ 2003 ///M3 Coupe 6MT \| Carbon Black \| Black Nappa \| HK \| 19" OEM \| Prolumen 6000k Xenon Fogs \| D2S 6000k Xenon \| Predator Chromium DDE Halos \| Hardwired Valentine1 \| Pioneer Avic-D1 Navi

Tue, Nov-22-2005, 05:36:46 AM	#9
carbon_e46 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 58 iTrader: (0) Reputation: 0	Best Buy employee price is $899, and I believe the rebate still is valid because it's a pioneer rebate and not a Best Buy rebate. __________________ 2003 ///M3 Coupe 6MT \| Carbon Black \| Black Nappa \| HK \| 19" OEM \| Prolumen 6000k Xenon Fogs \| D2S 6000k Xenon \| Predator Chromium DDE Halos \| Hardwired Valentine1 \| Pioneer Avic-D1 Navi

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Fri, Nov-18-2005, 04:12:46 AM	#2
sonic40 kumite fighter Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 83 iTrader: (0) Reputation: 0 Location: Bear, De	Thanks. Good right up. Headin to Circuit City tomorrow.

Fri, Nov-18-2005, 03:52:43 PM	#5
tubsy3 Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 39 iTrader: (1) Reputation: 0 Location: malden, MA	If you dont mind me asking, where were you able to get the unit for under 1k and able to use the rebate? I seen on ebay for aroudn 1050 shipped but I doubt u can use the rebate from those vendors. The pioneer site says they have to be pioneer approved merchants or you cant use the rebate? Thanks for the info Also I see we need to amke somehting to hold the unit in place? Isnt that what the bezel does? I have seen directions on installing it but I never saw we had to make somehting to hold it in. Chris

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