I've come across this with new stuff - the supplier wants to use a courier
from the US to UK for something that could go letter post so costs nearly
the same as the part. My solution was to have it sent to a pal in the US
who then posted it on to me.

As regards your amp, if it is the problem, surely it could be repaired?

Hi,

I've recently picked up a K reg (Jan 93 registered) BMW E36 320i from a
friend with the 10 speaker Blaupunkt powered audio system, and it appears
that the amplifier is knackered. While I can get audio out of it, I have to
turn the volume up so high on my Pioneer head unit that there is clipping
occurring and if there's any bass it sounds like the someone is farting in
the footwells. The head unit is fine in my L reg 320i (sadly huge rust holes
in the interior wings and a shoddy body mean it's not much use now except
for spares) which has the 6 speaker system without an amp, and my friend has
told me that it used to be fine up till recently with his JVC head unit but
a few months ago suddenly went quiet.

I'm pretty sure the amp is damaged/dying, so I'm after a replacement. I'm
not interested in replacing the entire audio system in the car, I'd just
like something I can listen to when driving (on a motorway trip I have to
turn the volume up almost to the max limit on the head unit and the sound is
awful). I've dug around eBay and Google looking for a reasonably priced
second hand unit, but I can find a few in the US and while the unit
themselves are priced ok the postage quotes are ridiculous (£75+, yet I've
sent a large box of stuff to a friend in the US and it only cost me £8). I'm
in the UK, Birmingham/Solihull area, so I'm hoping someone over here might
have one sitting around from an audio system upgrade that they haven't
gotten around to selling yet.

If you have one available for a reasonable price I'd be interested, just
post a reply or email me at altbmwtemp@ageofstrife.com