Will an Alpine fold-down headunit fit in a BMW

[iPlod]

I've got an E46 3-Series coupe with an old Sony minidisc headunit that's started playing up after several years of sterling service. I'm quite tempted to swap it with an Alpine CDE-9881R so I can use a CD full of AAC files, plus have decent iPod control.

However, something that's come to light is that the Alpine unit has to have the face folded down to remove it, or to insert a disc (not simply detach straight-on). The thing with the BMW surround is that there's a 15mm lip at the base of where the unit frame sits, and I don't know if that'll allow enough room for the face to come down far enough.

Anybody out there got something similar installed in an E46?

Thanks.

[martUK]

Yes, the front panels do not drop lower than the bottom of the unit

[iPlod]

Eeeeexcellent. My plan is coming together nicely.

Cheers for that - big weight off my mind!