G.I.G.

To quote the old Marine Corps Rifleman's Creed: "There are many like it, but this one is mine"




I had been talking to Porsche Colorado Springs for several weeks. Since they are a Porsche Classic dealership, they suspected they would get one of the earlier shipments. I called this morning (since it is my last day off for our holiday break) and sure enough, they had just received a shipment of about a 6 PCCM+'s for the 997.1/987.1 and about 5 for the first gen Cayenne. So I made the drive down to Colorado Springs from the Denver area this afternoon to pick it up.

Confirmed. There were no instructions included in the packaging. Only a quick start guide for operating the unit once it's installed. Below is a picture of everything that was included in the box. Regarding the back-up camera, that seems to be one of life's great mysteries at the moment. If you watch the end of the video that was posted earlier from the guys at Friends Green Porsche in the UK, it sure seems as though the unit is designed to function with a reverse camera. I can't understand why a screen would pop-up stating that there is no backup camera installed if it wasn't intended to be used with one to begin with. Not only that, at a very minimum the PCCM+ recognizes when the car is placed in reverse, so that's positive. With all of that said, until someone gets confirmation from Porsche or successfully installs a backup camera with the PCCM+, I'll believe it when I see it. I'll go ahead with the install for now. I can always add a backup camera down the road.




Regarding the microphone, it appears that they want you to mount it to the top of the steering column cover with adhesive tape. There is one screw holding the case together, so I intend to take the top of the case off (as pictured below) and mount it in the original factory location. That shouldn't be hard with a piece of duct tape, as it won't be visible. I think mounting in the factory location won't take much time at all and will help maintain a clean, OE look.




I'll likely start the install in the next few days and will keep you all posted on my progress, and share any best practices that could be useful. Before I start, here are my outstanding questions:

1) Does anyone know yet if these are compatible with a backup camera? I haven't seen anyone here confirm that, but has anyone seen something posted on another forum or somewhere else if it can be used with a backup camera?
2) Do we need to install the new GPS antenna? I think a couple of people here mentioned that the original GPS antenna mounted underneath the wiper cowl could likely be used but I haven't heard that confirmed anywhere. I may just install the new one behind the passenger side A pilar trim piece like the guys at Friends Green Porsche showed in their video. The new GPS antenna has a 1575.42MHz frequency and a 3V-5V voltage range FWIW. Can anyone confirm the OE GPS specs?
3) This is probably a dumb question, but should I disconnect the battery for the install? I removed my factory PCM to install a Tranzit Blu HF bluetooth transceiver several years back without disconnecting my battery and didn't have any problems. It's no big deal to disconnect the battery, I'm just not sure it's necessary.

I'll keep you all posted....

Bxstr

@G.I.G. - thanks so much for the details thus far. I think many of us, myself included, would be grateful if you could document any nuances or as much as you’re willing to throughout the install. I also was wondering about disconnecting the battery. When I had my radio out to send to Becker auto sound, I didn’t disconnect the battery, however I was thinking after the fact that it may have been a good idea.

As you mentioned, I’m curious to hear from someone that installs the unit on whether or not the GPS antenna is needed (sounds like with PCM may not be necessary but without PCM may be necessary). Also curious if we could find an area in the radio compartment where the GPS antenna could mount while still receiving proper signal. I’d guess yes, given my experience with GPS antennas and mounting them in various locations but would be nice to confirm.

As was discussed above, from your pics it doesn’t show the antenna signal boosters which is good.

If you can share pics of how you modify the microphone to fit in the factory location, that would be excellent.

I have the CDR24, so it would also be helpful to hear from someone that installs on there compared with the PCM.

Bavarian 997

@G.I.G. Could you please try if some of these standard USB cables for Android headunits may fit on the backside of the PCCM+? Physically they should plug right in. If they do work and are recognized by the PCCM+ that may be a possibility of getting a clean/invisible wireless Carplay installation.

USB

medicus

IMHO it does not work for CarPlay. you need a special USB cable. CarPlay enabled.

Carfan1

Where would one find the "Carplay" enabled USB cable?

G.I.G.

Absolutely. I'm happy to document the install process and provide some pictures as a reference along the way. Actually, one minor thing came up last night while I was assembling the brackets and the tray. That is, make sure that the little fingers circled below are on the inside of the metal tab that is screwed to the backside of the front of the unit. If you've ever taken your factory PCM out, these are the metal sliders that click into place and keep the unit snug in the frame. If you go to put on the brackets from the side of the PCCM+ (like I accidentally did on the other side), those fingers will be on the outside of the tab and will not allow you to slide it into place. I'm glad I caught that last night before I actually started the install on my car, as it would have been frustrating to have to unplug everything to figure out why it wasn't sliding into place.




Regarding the antenna boosters, that is correct. They do not come with the unit that is shipped to the US, so it's one less thing to worry about. If you have the standard radio (no Bose, no Sat Nav), then I can guarantee that you will need to install the GPS antenna. I'll likely go ahead and install the included GPS antenna regardless unless it is clear once I get in there that the original GPS antenna connector will fit. Based on the video from FGP, it looks like it is pretty simple to mount the GPS antenna in the passenger side A pillar. Unfortunately, Porsche Co Springs didn't have the MicroSD map card for this, so I'll need to source that somewhere else. Hopefully I can get my hands on one soon so I can test the nav functionality, so stay tuned on that.

Based on what I am seeing, I don't believe that cable will work. If you look at the picture of the back of the PCCM+ below, there is only one, 4-pin receptacle which will be accounted for with the mic cable (also pictured below). Once I get my old unit out and have a look to see what is back there, and which of the new cables will be needed, I might have a better idea of if there is a possibility to install another cable for rear USB capabilities.







It's still pretty cold here in Colorado (my garage is insulated, but not heated), but hopefully I can get my old PCM out in the next day or two, and the new PCCM+ installed by this weekend. I might even swing by Car Toys to pick up a cheap backup camera to see if it will work with the PCCM+ before I button everything up.

Bavarian 997

@G.I.G. There are also 6-pin USB cables available. It might be worth a try.

medicus

In my opinion, the Media Box of 996 is the only way that could work to have a rear USB port

bhag meister

The one and only install video from UK shows a pretty straightforward install: Use included adapter cables to install new receiver and fibre amp, replace old FM signal amps, bypass old FM amp, install included microphone, and (optionally) install new GPS antenna.

G.I.G.

So after rewatching the FGP video on YouTube, I think I'm pretty clear on what goes where but have two outstanding questions. First, the cable pictured below was not included in the PCCM+ they received over in the UK. It looks like a MIDI cable on one end. When I search the part number, 911.642.313.00, the part description is "Connecting Line" on most sites, but one Porsche dealership has it as a "SiriusXM Adaptor Cable". I've never installed SiriusXM or used it in any of my cars, so I'm assuming this is just an extra cable for when/if you add SiriusXM? I don't even see where either end could plug into the PCCM+. Perhaps someone with SiriusXM or familiarity with other aftermarket head units can shed some light on this. For now, I'm just going to set it aside.

EDIT: It appears that the blue connector on this cable can slide underneath the yellow and green connection on the main wiring harness in the same receptacle. However, I still don't know where the round, 10-pin female end plugs into. Perhaps I'll find out once I get my old PCM out.





Second, and back to the backup camera, does anyone happen to know if the connector in the pic below is compatible with a backup camera. This is the extra connection that they mention in the video that doesn't seem to plug into anything on the car, and that they suspect might be for a backup camera. From doing a search and looking at Car Toys website, it appears as though most backup cameras use an RCA jack, not this style. Anyone here know if this can be used for a backup camera?

irnnr

I've seen such a connector (or similar) when I installed a backup camera on my W204 Mercedes, there are adaptors available for RCA, so this *could* be the video input. I'm just not sure about whether the notch is in the correct place. A quick search brought up this adaptor on Aliexpress https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255800621142295.html

CBRich

Searching some other threads, I believe it's called a Fakra connector. And a google search for "Fakra to RCA" appears to bring up exactly the type of adapter irnnr linked.

Hecklerstan

The 10pin female connector should be connected to the SiriusXM tuner. Something like this.

Hootsama

Is that the sort of connector a factory-installed camera from Porsche might use (other gen or model perhaps)?

G.I.G.

Thanks for the tips regarding the connector/adaptor. I'm going to swing by Car Toys today to possibly grab a backup camera and see if they have a Fakra to RCA adaptor. Something tells me they won't carry something like that, but it's worth checking. Amazon carries them but estimated delivery times are all a week plus out. I may try to tackle the backup camera experiment down the road, but I'm not willing to throw in the towel just yet.

OK, good to know. Thanks! That confirms what I was thinking. I don't intend on installing SiriusXM so I'll just set that cable aside for now.