jury_ca

Here's my experience upgrading the sound system on my '03 996 C4S with the MOST HIFI PCM2.0. My goals for the system are to maintain OEM appearance, improve sound quality, improve power and not add much additional weight.

I installed it at a stereo shop rather than at the dealer who seemed very unsure about the installation. I paid USD$450 for the install. I opted to hide the ugly iphone/USB controller behind the lower cubby in the front dash since I stream most of my music through CarPlay. I can still gain access by removing the carpeted piece in the passenger footwell.

There are 3 software issues to note if communication is through MOST BUS.
1) The clock won't sync through GPS or RDS. You have to set it manually.
2) The turn by turn navigation display on the dash must be activated thru the PIWIS by the Porsche dealer. It only works with the native navigation software. I heard there is a new firmware as of Jan/Feb 2023 that will update to show the turn by turn instructions on the dash even if you're using Apple Maps, Waze or Google Maps.
3) This one is a pretty major issue - Listening to music through my iphone on low volumes (Media vol 1 or 2) 50% of the volume is signal and 50% is distortion/noise/static. Does anyone else with a MOST car have the same issue? At higher volume levels and when the car is running, you would hardly notice it, but it still bothers me. Does anyone with a MOST car NOT have this issue? The benefit of MOST fiber optics is supposed to eliminate this type of noise from the audio source.. From my troubleshooting it seems be generated between the PCCM+/MOST control unit/Amp and is probably due to the GAIN being set way too high.
Under Settings->Volume, you can control the volume of the individual line inputs such as TUNER, Bluetooth, USB but NOT media. Hence, I have not found a way to reduce the gain when listening to CarPlay audio.

Other upgrades I've done to the sound system.:
Replaced the front dash separates with an excellent Focal kit from Rod at CAI. This is a noticeable significant improvement over the OEM speakers even with the stock amp. It is not necessary to replace the woofers on the doors if you have the HIFI/BOSE system as the bass is pretty optimized as it is for the doors. To get down to lower frequencies, you'd need to get a subwoofer installed.. Most people would be happy running this set up using the stock amp; however, I've decided to take it to the next level and will be installing a MOBridge MOST 25 8.1 channel DSP-AMP in a few months and then adding a custom subwoofer in the passenger footwell (that mimics the design of the Porsche sub in the Cabs). This amp is far more powerful than the OEM amp, weighs 1KG and will fit right into the same enclosure in the frunk. I believe I will be the only 996 owner with this specific set up. I'll let you know how that install goes.

pongobaz

I did my own install on my 2003 C4S over a year ago: https://rennlist.com/forums/rennlist...l#post17895792

Can't say I've had your issues. To answer your questions:

1- My clock absolutely syncs from the PCCM+

2-I had my dealership enable the turn by turn in the cluster display when I was in for service; they didn't charge me for this. It only works with the Porsche Map not any of the CarPlay apps - which is my experience with ALL OEM CarPlay integrations. My 2022 MINI JCW only shows the MINI/BMW Map in the HUD. It's true that Apple is updating CarPlay to display into the vehicles native screens.

3- Don't have this issue at all. But mine was a completely stock BOSE system with MOST. Did your installer mess something up? I found the installation into the MOST system pretty much plug n play with very little risk of screwing up.

Only glitch, is that the trip odometer randomly resets to zero. Well documented and apparently there is a software/firmware update coming. It will have to wait for spring once I get the car on the road after it's winter slumber.

mffarrell

I was one of the first installations in the US when the PCCM Plus became available over 2 years ago. I did the installation.

1. I have a 03 Turbo with MOST.

2. The clock on my unit does not synchronized with master GPS system.

3. I coded the navigation feature with my PIWIS and turn-by-turn only works with the Porsche SIM chip.

4. I have the random resetting of the on-board computer which causes the trip odometer to reset to 0.

5. I have no sound quality issues whatsoever.

I hope Porsche makes the software updates available for free, but I doubt it. My local Porsche dealer, Sunset Porsche is totally clueless about how this system works, that’s why I decided to do the installation myself.

jury_ca

Did your car originally have the BOSE or HIFI system?

mffarrell

Yes, Bose.

damage98MO

@mffarrell can you explain what you and the others are referring to when you talk about the native display and turn by turn directions? I have the pccm+ and the Porsche sim. Is there a way to have directions display in the instrument cluster or something? Thanks!

Dranon

I am looking forward to your thoughts and installation of the Mobridge amp. I looked it up and am considering going that route! How is the sound from the stock amp with the Focals? I bought them but did not install yet since they are 4 ohms and not 2 ohms like the OEM speakers. BUT, with the Mobridge amp and the PCCM+ system I feel it is still stock but I do wish it had a backup camera input!

Dranon

IF you had the PCM system in your car the display would give turn by turn directions in the instrument cluster. The PCCM+ can do this but must be turned on with the PIWIS! Not sure if non PCM cars have this ability?

mffarrell

My car was a non PCM 2.0 car. I coded it as a PCM 2.0 with my PIWIS in order to enable the navigation system on the PCCM Plus. If your previous system was a PCM 2.0, you are all set! There is no coding necessary to enable the PCCM Plus navigation so it displays on your instrument cluster.

To enable the turn-by-turn navigation on the PCCM Plus, simply select navigation on your left stalk located on the steering column. Just push down or up on the stalk until you see navigation.

If your previous system was like mine, no PCM 2.0, you will have to code the instrument cluster to enable PCM 2.0.

jury_ca

The stock amp (HIFI) already sounds awesome with the Focals with the exception of the lack of lower frequencies due to the absent subwoofer. The door speakers unfortunately will not go down as low as a proper subwoofer. The 2nd issue is that the stock amp is a Class D amp so the music sounds a little synthetic not warm like a traditional A/B amp. I'm hoping 20 years of advancement in this area will result in a more natural sounding amp.

BTW, the dash speakers are 4 ohm, the door speakers are 2 ohm but they are bridged at the amp to act like 4 ohm speakers. Yes, the MoBridge DSP/AMP seems like the only amp that is plug and play with MOST. With DSP and better amp circuitry, I conjecture it will sound a lot better than the stock amp. Without going this route you'd have to connect to a separate MOST bridge with a digital/analog converter and then connect to an aftermarket amp. I think the MoBridge Amp will also have enough power for a single subwoofer built into the passenger footwell.

jury_ca

Perhaps it is only cars that are either analog systems or MOST HIFI that has the static at very low volumes. Too bad there is no way to control the built-in DSP chip in the head unit like other android units.

jury_ca

Yes, the dash clock does sync with the PCCM+. However, have you set the time to synchronize with GPS time or have you set the time manually? If you set it to sync with GPS time, it reads the wrong time.

pongobaz

I don't have to set the time, it does it automatically.

nordschlief

I am in the US and have the US version of the PCCM plus in my 996.2 turbo that came with PCM 2.0 from factory. I have the time synchronization set to GPS but at random it would get reset to the wrong time. Does this mean I need a software update? If so, is there any source that can provide this update? I did the install myself.

nordschlief

I figured out the time sync issue. I went into the underlying android system by holding down the factory reset button for 10 seconds, then selecting t3launcher. Once in the Android UI go to settings and then time zone. My system was set to Shanghai. I changed it to my time zone and the time in the cluster is now showing the correct time. Hope this helps anyone else facing this issue.