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Wed Apr 29, 2015 3:48 am

GArBa wrote: afaik it's the OE one. my car is one year younger than yours.

I thought that the plastic ashtrays were newer than the '97s. Oh well; I have a plastic ashtray like yours in my pile of unused parts as I thought that they were a direct swap. (I had Antonio include one in an order). Alas, they don't fit without changing the receiving part :oops: .

As mentioned before, your car looks great. You can tell the condition and care taken when you look 'behind' the scenes at the wiring and general cleanliness behind the dash. I love the radio, and have thought of a change, but I like having the Pioneer as it was never sold here and is from the era of the car. (I do wish it had some inputs, but I'm happy listening to my massive collection of '70s and '80s compilation CD's [which includes the entire Italy only 'One Shot' series (even the 'Swiffer' edition)].

(I used to collect music before I bought my car, now I collect car parts :roll: ).

Thu Apr 30, 2015 2:22 am

concerning the ashtray, it may have been swapped by the PO but I'd doubt that since everything around its mounts looks factory and unmolested. note that my bug may be a "transition" car. its VIN is '97 MY, but the color is Tornado red (identified by an inspection label in the trunk reading "Rojo T.") which in literature is a '98 color.

Sun May 03, 2015 7:35 am

According to the parts list the new ashtrays (1BM 857 329) were used starting at VIN #11-T-021 851 (that's how it's written in the parts list).

Which means that the new ashtray was introduced in late '96 model year:
VIN range for the 1996 model year:
11-T-000 001 to 11-T-029 035

(You may see a '5' in place of the '0' in your VIN. I'm not sure why, according the VW VIN guide a '5' in that position indicates a 'New' Beetle).

Sun May 03, 2015 9:23 am

concerning the ashtray, I have a "V" VIN (97), so it makes sense. also, my progressive starts with "5", not sure what you intend with "new" beetle.

Sun May 03, 2015 12:05 pm

Oh No! ... thread hi-jack :roll:

Here's my logic on why I said new Beetle in my last post.

The VW VIN Guide is a bit misleading, according to it the production serial numbers (digits 12-17) have this meaning:
Table 8 – Production serial numbers
9M = 000001 – 300000
1Y = 300001 – 400000
1C = 400001 – 600000
9C = 600001 – 750000
9G = 750001 – 800000
1V = 800001 – 900000
1B = 900001 – 999999

Further it says this for digits 7-8:
Table 5 – Model description
11 = Beetle Type 1 (for Europe)
1B = Sedán - Type 1 ( 2003)
1C = New Beetle (NAR)
1J = Golf 4
1K = Golf 5
1V = Golf Cabrio
1Y = New Beetle Cabrio
9C = New Beetle (Europe)
9G = New Beetle RSi

My VIN (and I suspect yours, has '11' in digits 7-8 ). In table 5, model 1C is the New Beetle for North America. I don't see anything in Table 8 for our cars, so maybe they just used the '5' series but left the parts list showing a '0'.

From what I found in a quick google search, model 9M is 98+ Golf or Jetta.

Also, the new ashtray was introduced ~700 cars after my car.

Sun May 03, 2015 12:45 pm

I see now. but you seem to forget that both our cars predate the "new" beetle, that was introduced in late '97 as a '98 MY. So in '96 and '97 there was no "1C" or "1B", but just "11".

edit: ok, let's stop the hijack here 8)

Fri Jun 12, 2015 1:59 pm

Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:01 pm

GArBa wrote:

(the antenna cable needs a jack-to-iso adaptor)

Anyone have more description/resource of where to get one of those adapters? I found this radio, but I'm having trouble finding exactly that type of adapter for the unit to plug into the antenna.

Mon Nov 06, 2017 1:39 pm

you need a "DIN to ISO" adapter. do a search with those terms on amazon, ebay, etc, a lot show up.

examples:

https://www.amazon.com/Jili-Online-Antenna-Interfa...so+adapter

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC5-55-CAR-CD-STEREO-RADI...Sw0oBZ0573

these are just the first two that show up. I had mine for free from a car audio shop as they probably tought I was nuts.

Mon Nov 06, 2017 2:06 pm

GArBa wrote: you need a "DIN to ISO" adapter. do a search with those terms on amazon, ebay, etc, a lot show up.

examples:

https://www.amazon.com/Jili-Online-Antenna-Interfa...so+adapter

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC5-55-CAR-CD-STEREO-RADI...Sw0oBZ0573

these are just the first two that show up. I had mine for free from a car audio shop as they probably tought I was nuts.

Thank you garba! I had found some of those before but I'm not very good with the official technical names of things sometimes. Now I know what exactly I'm looking for! I'll post back some pics once I get a chance to install my radio in my '73 standard.

Fri Apr 06, 2018 3:35 pm

Dont know if Garba is still around, but wondering, after 3 years, how this radio is working out. Are the speakers still good? Have you found that they have enough power to hear on the highway? I would appreciate your thoughts.
Thanks in advance.

Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:38 pm

Of course I'm still around... :lol:
I have no significant update on the radio other than that I'm still quite satisfied with it. I mostly use just the USB input mode and listen to mp3s so I don't have to deploy the antenna all the time, however even with the antenna down if I switch to radio mode I can still pick up major national stations.
As I reported three years ago, I find the power at motorway speeds to be adequate, i.e. if I turn up the volume enough I can hear music and voice quite clearly. Of course is is not the same as having a full stereo speakers set up in that the sound never "fills" the cabin.

Fri Apr 06, 2018 11:52 pm

mandatory updated picture of the radio (still playing A-ha...)

Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:00 am

I see model number 253100328929 is available. Any idea what the difference is with the model discussed above?

Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:49 am

It seems 253100328929 is just the ebay item number of an ad for a Baupunkt Casablanca 2012 radio like mine from an UK vendor. someone may be using it as model number.

Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:03 am

GArBa wrote:

xBigDx408x wrote: Does it have any sort of audio output?

Nope, it's a very basic unit output-wise. It just has the two channels for the built in speakers, it cannot drive other speakers or feed an amp.

This is not technically correct. I have the same radio in my curved window Super Beetle and I added speakers to mine by opening up the radio and soldering additional leads to the connections for the speakers.

If you open the radio there is a pad with brown wires and a pad with orange wires that go to the small internal speakers. Seeing as how small the internal speakers are, adding additional speakers won't harm anything.

I know most here are going to tear me apart and say I defeated the purpose of the radio, but the small speakers are very tinny sounding at high volume (highway speed), adding speakers means I don't have to turn the sound all the way up.

Sat Apr 07, 2018 9:14 am

Fiddlestyx wrote: This is not technically correct.

it is. proof is, you had to open up yours and solder connections to the board. :lol:

seriously, that question and answer was referring to the out-of the box configuration, as I didn't open mine up, and there is not so much literature around on these units (also, the fact blaupunkt itself got sold a couple of times since launching this and is now bust isn't of help).

I don't know what impedance the circuitry can actually drive, it is entirely possible they used the internal amp out of a regular head unit and thus it can take the additional load, as your mod proves.

Sat Apr 07, 2018 4:42 pm

Thanks for the update. Might pick one up from ebay.

Sun Apr 08, 2018 6:23 am

Before you grab that one on ebay, check out this web retailer who is selling them for $43.99. Their address is www.spot-reach.top. I've never heard of them. Worth looking into.

Sun Apr 08, 2018 7:28 am

Fiddlestyx wrote: GArBa wrote:

xBigDx408x wrote: Does it have any sort of audio output?

Nope, it's a very basic unit output-wise. It just has the two channels for the built in speakers, it cannot drive other speakers or feed an amp.

This is not technically correct. I have the same radio in my curved window Super Beetle and I added speakers to mine by opening up the radio and soldering additional leads to the connections for the speakers.

If you open the radio there is a pad with brown wires and a pad with orange wires that go to the small internal speakers. Seeing as how small the internal speakers are, adding additional speakers won't harm anything.

I know most here are going to tear me apart and say I defeated the purpose of the radio, but the small speakers are very tinny sounding at high volume (highway speed), adding speakers means I don't have to turn the sound all the way up.

You have to be careful adding speakers like that, you are essentially connecting speakers in parallel with the internal speakers and lowering the impedance on the amplifier. Since the radio was designed without an external speaker connection, the internal speakers may already be near the minimal impedance for the amplifier, the fact that the speakers are physically small has little to do with it.

(edit)
Looking at the manual, the amplifier is listed as 16 watts per channel into 4 ohm load (with a maximum output of 40 watts per channel), and the rear connector has connections for headphones, although that is listed as "Available as option", not sure whether that implies an internal option, or merely an optional connector with the headphone jack wiring.

https://www.blaupunkt.com/fileadmin/user_upload/Se..._BA_GB.pdf