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Hey guys. I am close to getting my pcar. Will he test driving a black .1 4s coupe and a .2 2s cab next weekend (earliest I can do due to my hectic schedule). I am leaning on the 4s even if it's .1 as it's an 08 model. The .2 is 09 and has had an accident per carfax.
Anyway, regarsing the head unit on the 4s, is it easy to replace? Do you lose functionality when replacing the head unit? Also will the buttons on the steering wheel be able to map to the aftermarket headunit?
What headunit would you guys recommend. I want something flush and looks oem. Some of the 2din units I see don't blend well with center console.
Search the forum. Tons of information here on replacing head unit. Lots of options and the multifunction steering wheel can work with proper accessories.
Search the forum. Tons of information here on replacing head unit. Lots of options and the multifunction steering wheel can work with proper accessories.
Thanks. I actually did but mostly found aftermarket 2 dins that really don't blend like oem. Also found an ipad mini hack but would prefer a 10 inch screen.
Tons of info here about getting it done. My car had the Bose system with subwoofer and the PO installed an Alpine iLX-207, replace the factory amp with a 6 channel JL 600/6, and never reconnected the sub, which it desperately needs...
The headunit looks pretty good in the car, most people wouldn't even guess it isn't stock, even the small buttons kind of match the rest of the dash and you can change the colors to suit your preference. The installer used a grey bezel which would probably stand out in other cars but I have a meteor gray painted console so it matches pretty well, lucky I guess. I do wish the radio had a volume **** instead of up/down buttons but otherwise it's a fantastic head unit.
The subwoofer has it's own amp (built in), just needs power and signal - that's next on my list of things to do (and isn't a huge job). It will make a considerable difference in the sound even if it isn't up to the standard of some audiophiles around these parts.
Tons of info here about getting it done. My car had the Bose system with subwoofer and the PO installed an Alpine iLX-207, replace the factory amp with a 6 channel JL 600/6, and never reconnected the sub, which it desperately needs...
The headunit looks pretty good in the car, most people wouldn't even guess it isn't stock, even the small buttons kind of match the rest of the dash and you can change the colors to suit your preference. The installer used a grey bezel which would probably stand out in other cars but I have a meteor gray painted console so it matches pretty well, lucky I guess. I do wish the radio had a volume **** instead of up/down buttons but otherwise it's a fantastic head unit.
The subwoofer has it's own amp (built in), just needs power and signal - that's next on my list of things to do (and isn't a huge job). It will make a considerable difference in the sound even if it isn't up to the standard of some audiophiles around these parts.
Thanks. Any pics on how it looks like on your car?
I don't believe anyone has figured out how to make the center dash display work with an aftermarket head unit so if your car has nav that you actually use and like the nav directions in the center lcd, you'd lose that and the audio track information displaying there as well, but if your like me, the nav on phones is so much better than built into the cars, why anyone orders a new car with nav nowadays is beyond me.
I just did this in my non-bose 997.1 without steering wheel controls. Very simple. The hardest part, which isn't hard, is that you need to tap a switched 12v and illumination source as there is none in the oem harness.
Petza is correct. The only thing you are able to display is avg mph, avg mpg, and dist to empty.
Originally Posted by Petza914
I don't believe anyone has figured out how to make the center dash display work with an aftermarket head unit so if your car has nav that you actually use and like the nav directions in the center lcd, you'd lose that and the audio track information displaying there as well, but if your like me, the nav on phones is so much better than built into the cars, why anyone orders a new car with nav nowadays is beyond me.
I had a professional shop do a Pioneer AVIC 5200NEX unit in my 997.1 non bose. sleek touch screen with 5 buttons on one side, silver trim matched the silver trim in the car perfectly. looks amazing, and they also hooked it into a custom parcel-shelf sub box that matches the carpet (two 8" Subs) - kind of wish I went with 10s but they would've taken much more effort to get a good fit. sounds pretty dang good. oh and it has GPS but not quite as good as google maps - I find myself using google more for anything local, but on longer trips the pioneer does fine. Pic attached is pretty much the same head unit, not my car (I've got the silver surround on mine). don't have any interior pictures of my own right now
Last edited by Milo2361; 03-08-2019 at 06:00 PM.
Reason: adding pic (not my car)
I had a professional shop do a Pioneer AVIC 5200NEX unit in my 997.1 non bose. sleek touch screen with 5 buttons on one side, silver trim matched the silver trim in the car perfectly. looks amazing, and they also hooked it into a custom parcel-shelf sub box that matches the carpet (two 8" Subs) - kind of wish I went with 10s but they would've taken much more effort to get a good fit. sounds pretty dang good. oh and it has GPS but not quite as good as google maps - I find myself using google more for anything local, but on longer trips the pioneer does fine.
Would a bose speaker setup he harder to integrate? The 4s ill be testdriving next week has bose setup.
Would a bose speaker setup he harder to integrate? The 4s ill be testdriving next week has bose setup.
I do believe the Bose system is harder to integrate- the fiber optic connections that it utilizes I don't think work as a direct hookup to the AVIC system (maybe a newer AVIC, like the 8200NEX may be able to). I'm not sure if there's any type of adapters that could be used, or maybe the bose system could be rewired to use regular lines instead of fiber optic.
Having done head unit replacement multiple times in cars with BOSE fiber optic systems, I can say that the effort is pretty much the same. You still have to splice wires knowing what you're doing.
While it is true that there are a couple of extra modules needed to convert the signals from the head unit to fiber optic data that the BOSE amplifier can understand, in terms of labor it is not that much extra.
I don't think there is any head unit that is a drop-in replacement, at least not by the brands that folks prefer normally..
03-06-2019, 06:12 PM
Replacing stock head unit
