E46 double DIN headunit, move climate controls ?

hi there,

was thinking of possibly upgrading the entertainment system in my 318ci to a double DIN unit (perhaps even one with Apple's Carplay)

I can see the fascia and harness here:
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/CT23BM07-BMW-3-Series-E46-1998-05-Car-Stereo-Double-Din-Fascia-ISO-Aerial-Kit-/251474645305?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a8d0e9139

in that listing the seller says that you need an additional part from your BMW dealer in order to move the climate controls.

It seems that this may be only available to those with automatic climate controls, my car has the old fashioned dials.

my question is , can i move my climate controls down a slot, to the now empty slot above the ashtray? even if they are the manual (dial) controls ?

Cables are the same at the back for dials and digital air con so should be no problem

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nigzcurran

Cables are the same at the back for dials and digital air con so should be no problem

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oh really ? cool.

I'm not really bothered about the digitial air con unit (in fact I think i prefer the dials) this raises the next question, will my current aircon unit fit down there? the slot looks smaller.

thanks

Not sure on that but the newer air con units are a lot slimmer on the back so are an easier fit, the earlier e46 with the dial air con are totally different to the newer ones and are operated by steel cables rather than electronic

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nigzcurran

Not sure on that but the newer air con units are a lot slimmer on the back so are an easier fit, the earlier e46 with the dial air con are totally different to the newer ones and are operated by steel cables rather than electronic

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So what you're saying is that they are totally interchangeable in their original slots but you're just not sure if the dials will fit the lower slot?

All depends on what year your car is, if it's the older model with the steel cable type controls I doubt you can move it, anything else and your laughing, the unit will slide out very easily and you can have a look, electric cables =good. Steel cables =bad. Hope that helps

hi there again,

sorry to bother you, but i found some seemingly contradictory information here:
http://www.bmwhaus.ie/forum/showthread.php?tid=4519&highlight=hvac

according to this thread, ALL of the manual HVAC units (Dials) are cable controlled and therefore not swappable with the Digital ones and therefore not moveable

can you offer any thoughts on this?

Yep i had dials and swapped for digital, I lost control of direction though so mine just blows on the windscreen but everything else is fine