Can Aftermarket BMW E46 Navigation Support 6 CD Changer?

Sometimes during installation of an aftermarket BMW E46 navigation, you may don't know how to make the CD changer working, even doubt if the unit supports factory 6 CD changer?

BMW E46 usually comes with a factory Alpine 6 CD changer, for those who want to upgrade the factory BMW E46 radio, they may have a doubt that if the aftermarket BMW E46 navigation can support the factory 6 CDC, the answer is yes. If your new BMW E46 navigation is the same as this:

Then you are able to use the factory Alpine 6 CD changer. However, please make sure your CDC is original Alpine, other brands or not original Alpine can not be supported! Besides, you should make sure your original Alpine 6 CD changer works well before the installation.

For BMW E46 after year 2002, the car should be with 40 pins flat plug, and before year 2002, it's with round 17 pins  plug. If there's a wide screen in the dashboard, the 17 pins or 40 pins plug is in the trunk, then you will need a long cable which runs from the front dash to the back in the trunk. By the way, this BMW E46 head unit also supports steering wheel control.

No matter which cable you use, the short or long one, you will always need to connect a CDC plug or CDC wires with your factory CDC wires. 

• For BMW E46 after 2002 year, there's a small 4 pins black plug to connect, below is a pic for your reference: 

You just need to connect the above 2 plugs together, so that you can use the original Alpine 6 CD changer. If not, CDC will not work after installation of a BMW E46 navigation head unit. 

• For BMW E46 before year 2002, the car is most probably comes with 17pins round plug, the aftermarket 17pins cable does not have the CDC plugs as 40pins cable. But there are 3 loose CDC wires including CDC-L, CDC-R, CDC-GND. If you want to use the Alpine 6 CDC, then you will need to connect these 3 wires with your car's CDC wires. You can check the wiring diagram from the factory unit, so that you can find out the factory CDC wires: CDC-L, CDC-R, and CDC-GND. CDC-L means left audio for CDC, CDC-R means right audio for CDC, and CDC-GND is the ground wire.
  
  
  
  

Conclusion:

The aftermarket BMW E46 navigation unit can support original Alpine 6 CD changer, as long as you have done the right things as above. If you use the flat 40 pins plug cable, then you just need to connect the CDC plugs, if you use the round 17 pins plug cable, then you will also need to connect CDC wires(CDC-L, CDC-R, CDC-GND) directly with the factory ones.

Check this post to learn more about installation of BMW E46 navigation.

BMW E46 Radio Removal + BMW E46 Navigation Installation

BMW E46 is the classic BMW 3 series which produced by BMW from year 1998 to 2006. For the base model BMW E46 radio in the dashboard it does not have navigation system, just FM/AM car radio and a CD player. The old BMW E46 radio may be defective after a few years, now you are able to replace it with an aftermarket quality double din 7 inch touch screen BMW E46 navigation head unit in good price, we provide some pictures showing the old BMW E46 radio removal and installing new BMW E46 navigation unit.

The first thing you will need to do is prying up the decorative bars near the BMW E46 radio, you can use special installation tools to pry up the trims carefully, these installation tools kit is cheap and should be available in a car stereo shop.

After removed the trims you can see the screws which fixed the E46 radio, use a cross screwdriver to take out screws on both side.

Remove CD player:

Remove climate control:

Install new BMW E46 navigation:

Relocate the climate control/air conditioning system in the storage compartment below the new e46 navigation.

All wires/ cables connection from rear of the new BMW E46 navigation:

You can download a full installation instruction manual via this link, including more pics showing how to remove the factory BMW E46 radio and how to install new BMW E46 navigation system.

Note: If your BMW E46 has a 16:9 or 4:3 screen in the dashboard, you will need to use a 6m long cable with 17pins or 40pins plug to connect your 17pins or 40pins plug in the trunk, see pic below:

There’s also a long radio antenna included in the package to connect your radio antenna in the trunk.

Frequently asked questions about this touch screen 7″ BMW E46 navigation.

Q: How can I know if it fits my car?
A: As long as your car is BMW E46, this BMW E46 radio fits your car.

Q: Can this unit support my steering wheel controls?
A: Yes, this BMW E46 radio supports steering wheel controls through a CAN-BUS decoder.

Q: Do you offer GPS maps for my country?
A: We offer free navigation maps for nearly all over the world, including USA, Canada, South America, Europe, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, UAE, Middle East, Asia, South Africa, etc.

Q: Can this BMW E46 radio support CD changer?
A: This e46 radio supports original Alpine 6 CD changer. However, you have more choices to listen to quality music through SD card, USB, iPod, Bluetooth phone, DVD, CD.

Q: Can I connect a rear view camera with it?
A: Yes, it can connect a rear view camera, automatically work, you can check this post on how to install a rear view camera.

If you are interested in this BMW E46 navigation, you can learn more features and buy it on this page: https://www.dvdgpsnav.com/car-dvd-bmw-e46-navigation-system-e46-dvd-gps-navi.html

We also offer technical support for installation, if you have any questions during installing, you can contact us freely, we are more than happy to assist you.