And a Pioneer unit like this can be had for not a lot of money, either. An add-on Garmin or Tom-Tom is far cheaper and easier to update. If you can find one used on eBay, of course, it can be a stellar deal (I paid less than 1/3 the retail price, and as I noted, it ended up costing me nothing).įrankly, I am not sure I would opt for a factory navigation system ever again. If you want a built-in GPS system and media center in your car, and the manufacturer wants a ton of money for this option, I would explore a Pioneer unit like this.
PIONER AVIC Z2 HOW TO
Learning how to use the system took some time, but with a day, I was navigating with it and using it, and within a month, I had most features figured out.
PIONER AVIC Z2 MANUAL
I took this, and the installation manual (very thorough) and put them all in a big honking binder. The system had a users manual I was able to download, online, which was 300 pages long. And it sounds better than the stock system, in my opinion. I was able to retain the stock Harman-Karman amplifier and speakers, so it was a pretty easy install. A small loss, however, given the advantages of the system. I did lose the ability to reset the display on the odometer which displays miles-per-gallon and the time. BMW offers a cellphone interface, but it is an option - and an expensive one at that.īetter yet, I was able to find, online, a interface for the steering wheel controls, so I can use those to select input source, volume, and track.
PIONER AVIC Z2 BLUETOOTH
But wait, there's more! It has a bluetooth interface so I can plug in my phone. In addition to a DVD player (which can play while you are driving, if you defeat the safety overrides - not recommended, of course!) it has a superior nav system and a built in hard drive which will "rip" CDs when you play them, so it is like having a built-in iPod.Īnd speaking of iPod, it came with an iPod interface (an option) so I can plug in my iPod or Nano and play songs through that as well. I have had this unit for about a year now, and it is so much better than the original BMW Navigation system, and even better than the newer BMW navigation systems (which have tape decks if you can believe that!). How hard is that? There is an interface to the anti-lock brake system (for wheel rotation counting) but I never used that and the system works fine without it, once I hit "recalibrate" on it. Defeating the DSP system was pathetically easy - if you have the wiring diagram from the Bentley manual, which you should have before attempting this.įor a regular car, it is even easier - four speaker outputs, a power and a ground. However, I am am an Electrical Engineer, so I have God-like powers. Installing this in a BMW is not easy - given BMW's proprietary DSP electrical architecture. Of course, I spend $40 on wire and solder. So, in effect, not only was this free, it actually paid me $40.
But better yet, I took out the five modules that came with this car (navigation CD player, radio module, Display headend, CD collection and case) and sold them on eBay for $520. I bought this unit for $480 used on eBay. I recently installed a Pioneer Avic Z2 in my 2002 BMW X5.
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