CP600BMW CD changer replacement - anyone familiar?

[KevinC]

This is really intriguing...

http://lifestyle.maintronic.de/en/products/cp600bmw-mp3-player.html

Anyone have any experience with it? Very tempted to order ($243 on Ebay out of Germany).

[KevinC]

Bump! About to pull the trigger.. $243 + $16 shipping on Ebay from Germany.

[KevinC]

So.. I finally got this rascal working my my Z4MC. It's a really trick little TINY box. A VERY cool solution to get all your digital tunes into your car, though it only supports mp3 & wmv files, not AAC, which would have been nice as I could have exported my iTunes library directly to it, and AAC files are a bit sonically better than mp3 (or so I hear). But it's working great, sounds great, and supports up to a 32gb SD card, which is a TON of capacity. Cost about $240 from Ebay Germany, and shipping was a very reasonable $14 or so, took about a week to get here.

http://www.kcphotodump.net/Cars/BMW-Z4-M-Coupe/i-W2V9bRr/0/XL/IMG_6254-XL.jpg

http://www.kcphotodump.net/Cars/BMW-Z4-M-Coupe/i-BZH9S6t/0/XL/IMG_6255-XL.jpg

http://www.kcphotodump.net/Cars/BMW-Z4-M-Coupe/i-gpjZKBT/0/XL/IMG_6256-XL.jpg

[cakM3]

did you use all thee connectors or did you leave the third disconnected?

[KevinC]

Ah yes, the connectors. In theory, only one of the audio connections is used - the analog connector if a non-DSP system (such as the HK system on the ZHP), and the little coax connector if for a DSP system (such as the "Carver" system on my Z4MC). But for some reason, mine has both cables. I've read some stuff online that later Carver systems were analog-out to the CD changer. It works fine with both connected, I suspect only one is live, and I haven't bothered to disconnect one at a time to figure out which.

I used to have USA*Spec iPod adapters in both cars. Works GREAT in the ZHP, but sounded muddy and crappy in the Z4MC, which is what prompted me to want to try this solution. None of that muddiness is present, it sounds great.. though my mp3 files are not all that stellar (most are downloaded from Google Play, which was created by uploading my iTunes library, are 192k, and some or all might be compressed twice to get to the final mp3 format?). Still sounds quite acceptable. And it's LIGHTNING-fast.

[ELCID86]

Nice job. Even comes with an SD card. What's the UHF label on the top left? Mounted in the trunk?

[KevinC]

Not sure what that UHF means.. maybe the box was used for something else before picked for this thing? I dunno.

Really pleased with the results. Gotta believe these guys could sell a buttload of these over here if they had a USA distributor of some kind. Was driving the ZHP today and was immediately struck at how sluggish the iPod adapter feels in that car, compared to the CP600BMW in the Z4M, which is just instantaneous in its operation.

[ryankokesh]

Noice!

[Aleong1967]

Funny
I see you have a M5 and 330 ZHP
I recently sold my 03 M5 and just picked up a 04 ZHP

I has a question about the CP600
Did you have to order any additional cables to make it work with the ZHP?

Andrew

[KevinC]

I had it in my Z4MC, and moved it to the M5 when I swapped cars. It never was in the ZHP. The Z4MC was already prewired for a CD changer, so no additional cabling was required. Not sure if our ZHPs are also prewired? If so, you should be good to go.

I had one issue with the CP600, it was skipping occasionally. I thought maybe the intense Arizona summer heat was to blame, then realized one thing I could try easily was swapping the SD card for another. Zing! That was the problem. Works perfectly now, and it's a great addition to the M5. Too bad the overall performance of the M-Audio "upgraded" factory system is so horrendous.

[Aleong1967]

Ok Great
My ZHP has a cd changer in it right now
So hopefully no issues there
I kept the navi head unit and installed the aux cable in front and added Bluetooth for phone and music streaming
Also added a JL Audio 5 channel amp (700 watt) and a 10 inch sub (separate sub control)
Much better sound quality with the stock speakers, which I will eventually change over
My stereo guys say Hertz is a company, which has a drop in kit for the 3 front door speakers, so I will likely try that next
I'll have to order the CP600 soon

[cakM3]

Very tempting to get one of these so if and when my CD changer dies, I can just swap this in it's place...

[Aleong1967]

Just order 1 from eBay
2 vendors available
Mantronics is a pain in the butt to deal with
Difficult to get an answer on shipping to the states

Went with elektronic-idee
They have a better number of satisfied customers
Same pricing as other company
Should get it sometime in the next week or too
Can't wait

[KevinC]

I had mine in my Z4MC, swapped it for an E39 M5 in July. Moved it to the M5. On the drive home from Cincy, it was skipping like crazy (which it had been doing in the other car too, though I didn't remember it being so bad). When I got back home, I tried the easiest fix - swap out the SD card. Voila. That was the problem, other card was bad. Works like a champ now.

You'll like it. Great device. Mine was delivered quickly by same vendor you ordered from. You'll like it!

[Aleong1967]

Cool
I'll pick up a high end memory card so I wont have any issues
32 is the biggest card that can be used correct?

[KevinC]

Yes, 32 is biggest. This is the one I bought that works like a champ...

http://amzn.com/B007BJHEWK

[Aleong1967]

Great
Thanks

[Aleong1967]

Finally got mine
Had it installed yesterday
Plug and Play
I would say that it is 95% compatible with the factory functions
It was nice the it came with a SD card
Not sure what the other flash drive is for
The only thing that they do not tell you is that WMA (Windows Media) and MP4 files (ITunes) cannot be read by the unit
All the songs need to be converted to MP3 files
There are 6 channels, like the 6 CDs from the CD changer and that is where the music needs to be put
This was trial and error for me to figure out
But it is now working great
I now have a database of 1000 songs on my flash drive, compared to what I had with the 6 CDs
Glad I purchased it