T350 build quality - and DAB first impressions

[jerrytlr]

Hi all

Just spent the last couple of hours fitting a Blaupunkt DAB radio into my 350T. I used the Blaupunkt DAB aerial, fitted to the windscreen behind the rear view mirror (as suggested in the instructions).

Initial impressions trying it out in the garage are very positive - slightly better sound quality overall than the Pioneer standard unit (which is pretty good anyway IMO), loads of DAB stations being pulled in, DAB sound quality definitely better than FM.

Big test will be when I take the car out for a run - needs to be a bit drier before I do that!! - FM reception was almost unlistenable to before, v. annoying. Hopefully the DAB will be better.

Anyway main reason for this post - it's the first time I've had to fiddle around with the interior trim etc. of my car - I am hugely impressed with the overall quality of materials used and how well it is all put together. It's very satisfying to own such a well made car.

I also discovered the hot air outlets for the footwells, and the passenger's knees - for the first time :-) I had been thinking that the heater was not that great at keeping feet/legs warm. Doh.....

Cheers,

Jerry

[jerrytlr]

Just to add - have now used the car a bit since fitting the DAB and it seems to work really well, no more hopeless FM reception.

Having said that, the FM reception also seems to have improved, I guess the Blaupunkt unit has a more sensitive tuner than the OEM Pioneer.

I used the Woodstock DAB54 head unit BTW, £200 from eBay including DAB antenna - great value

Cheers

Jerry

[purpleperil]

jerrytlr said:

I used the Woodstock DAB54 head unit BTW,

Got one in the Lotus as standard - get yourself a 1GB MMC card (£15 of the net) and you can load about 13 albums onto it - no need for a cd changer and it wont skip in the corners

[jerrytlr]

purpleperil said:

jerrytlr said:

I used the Woodstock DAB54 head unit BTW,

Got one in the Lotus as standard - get yourself a 1GB MMC card (£15 of the net) and you can load about 13 albums onto it - no need for a cd changer and it wont skip in the corners

Already ordered :-)

[t40ora]

jerrytlr said:

Just to add - have now used the car a bit since fitting the DAB and it seems to work really well, no more hopeless FM reception.

Having said that, the FM reception also seems to have improved, I guess the Blaupunkt unit has a more sensitive tuner than the OEM Pioneer.

I used the Woodstock DAB54 head unit BTW, £200 from eBay including DAB antenna - great value

Cheers

Jerry

Is this a replacement unit, or a piggy back add-on?

[targarama]

My brother has this headunit, I think it is a UK dealer option on Lotus and Skodas (yes). I think it is brilliant. Incidentally, we used a cheapo std DAB antenna which came with the unit and laid it along the bottom of the screen below the tax disc and it works great (BMW 3 series Coupe, not a TVR BTW).

[jerrytlr]

t40ora said:

Is this a replacement unit, or a piggy back add-on?

This is complete replacement for the OEM Pioneer unit - which is going to be doing sterling duty in our Horse Lorry from now on :-)

And as already mentioned, there is no need for a CD Changer at all, as the Head Unit can read SD cards which will store many CD's worth of music...

BTW one other neat feature of the Blaupunkt unit is that you can tweak the colour and brightness of the display to exactly match the rest of the instruments = v. cool

Cheers

Jerry