changing faceplate color?

Right now, I have the red faceplate to match my BMW. Indeed, the color looks great, but the screen is quite difficult to read during the day. At night, at 100% illumination, it's roughly the same as the built-in gauges (which dim when you turn on the headlights).

Taking advantage of the free upgrade offer for new faceplates with the anti-reflective coating, I'm toying with switching to a blue faceplate, primarily for the increased brightness. Has anybody put a blue faceplate into a car with red illumination (e.g., Audi, BMW)? Is the contrasting color garish or tollerable? Is the extra brightness significant?

Thanks,

Dan

Well I worked the other way around ... I bought my unit with a blue faceplate. And now I have a red one on order. It is hard to compensate for differences in taste as far as this is concerned but the blue faceplace imho looks out of place in a BMW. Perhaps a little because it is more cyanisch then blue. It would be a different thing if the blue was really the kind of blue you see in say the latest models VW ... You know the electric dark blue (whatever ya call it). That would indeed look better, but the blue faceplate as it is now is not blue enough to achieve that effect imho. Btw, where did you put the empeg in your BMW ? Still have to do my install and am wondering if removing the factory headunit has had any adverse effects/results for you either with the onboard computer (clock ?) or the BMW service/dealer ?

Cheers,
Hans


Mk2 - Blue - 080000431

just when you thought life was easy along come these two.

I have got a BM and contemplating an empeg but i thought the blue was the coolest back to the drawing board

No one here lives in scotland do they

Just to confuse you even more...
I have a BMW and a blue Mk1 and think the blue is pretty cool. Of course, Mk2 blue is different than Mk1 blue, so maybe I'll change my mind when I get around to installing the Mk2 (still hoping to wait for the tuner module before doing that - I think I'd miss the radio too much, I'm a bit of a news junkie first thing in the morning)

Geoff
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Got one of the first Mark 2 empegs...

Has anyone got any photos of different faceplate/dash lighting combinations, so people can do a subjective check?


Roger - not necessarily speaking for empeg

You know the electric dark blue (whatever ya call it)

Sonic?

Peter

I don't want to imply anything, but maybe the empeg folks could tell us. Is what he's describing normal for the red faceplate? That was how bright my display was when it was broken. Of course, my display was green so I know it was supposed to be bright, but still I wonder...

DiGNAN

Btw, where did you put the empeg in your BMW ? Still have to do my install and am wondering if removing the factory headunit has had any adverse effects/results for you either with the onboard computer (clock ?) or the BMW service/dealer ?

I replaced the in-dash tape deck, since it was clearly not very useful to me. At least in the Z3, you've got a nice single-DIN slot in the dash. I wouldn't know what to do in the newer cars that have that over-sized stereo.

I don't have an on-board computer, just a clock, and it's still ticking along fine. I can't imagine the stereo getting too wrapped up in the rest of the car. As to BMW service, that's an interesting question. I haven't had the car to the dealership since changing stereos. I also removed that awful decal in the upper-left of the front window saying, effectively, "if you dare install any non-BMW electronics in your car, the economy of your country will collapse and your face will be covered with acne."

Meanwhile, Roger asks if anybody has pictures. I have a poor one that will give you the gist of the red display: http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dwallach/empeg1.html. Note: in this picture, the illumination looks almost orange-ish. It's really more red-ish. BMW-heads should look at the clock and other gauges and pretend they look like a normal BMW.

Hey Roger, maybe we can do a deal. empeg sends me two of the new AR faceplates (red and blue). I'll photograph them properly for all to see (i.e., not with a hand-held crappy digital camera) and send back the faceplate I don't want.

In reply to:

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Has anyone got any photos of different faceplate/dash lighting combinations, so people can do a subjective check?

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Ask and ye shall receive. I've just taken the attached pics (albeit with a "crappy handheld digital camera") from my VW Golf. First two are Empeg and Dash individually, the third is one shot with both in. As you can see, the Empeg is quite a bit lighter than the in-dash blue. Shame really, I'd quite happily sacrifice a bit of brightness for a closer match.

Nick.

PS - The clock's an hour fast cos I've only driven the car once since the clocks changed and I didn't have anything to stick in the hole to change the time.

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18Gb blue - s/n 080000299 (original queue position 8724)

PS - The clock's an hour fast cos I've only driven the car once since the clocks changed and I didn't have anything to stick in the hole to change the time

It doesn't matter it's a photograph


But what the hell i think that blue is probably the coolest colour and it will look good with my BMW with it's orange dash lighting

( The old ones are orange not red )

In reply to:

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It doesn't matter it's a photograph

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Quite. I only mentioned it just in case some pedantic bugger asked why, if I had just taken the picture, did the displayed time not bear this out.

Nick.


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18Gb blue - s/n 080000299 (original queue position 8724)

Okay, well now I've done it. I replaced the red faceplate (original, non-anti-reflective) on my EMPEG with a blue one (anti-reflective). I took before and after photos. So, for any BMW owners wondering whether they want a red or a blue faceplate, my current recommendation is to go with blue. Even though it doesn't match the BMW colors, the difference in brightness is quite dramatic.

Digital photos are here:
http://www.cs.rice.edu/~dwallach/empeg1.html