Hi Everyone,

I am currently a "Volvo guy", but am considering a 955/957 Cayenne with the 3.2 or 3.6 for the relatively economic maintenance compared to the V8s.

One non-negotiable is the desire to have a car with no LCD/colour screen in it. I have been skipping over cars with the PCM 2 / PCM 3 head units for this reason, and wasn't able to find any information about people trying to "downgrade" these units to a CRD-23 for obvious reasons, only upgrade to better/newer touch-screen systems.

Does anyone know if it's feasible to easily swap between these head units? I understand that the CDR-23 I source may need to be unlocked by Becker, however am not sure if it would be a plug and play affair after that. I'm also not sure if it makes a difference whether the car is equipped with the base stereo vs the Bose system.

Alternatively, perhaps it would be easier to replace the system with an aftermarket head unit. I have read about Blaupunkt retrofits, and those certainly look the part, though the cost would likely exceed a used CDR-23, and most appear to include Bluetooth as a standard feature (something else I'm trying to avoid).

Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, from a luddite!

 

Try calling crutchfield?
or eBay might have some 8 tracks ;-)
good luck!

 

I've got some Sticks and Rocks I'll sell. They sound great if you bang them together. But seriously why? I could see not upgrading to something better but if it at least has a PCM 2.1 or PCM 3.0 already, why would you want ot downgrade. I don't really think the V6's are more reliable than the V8's. A little bit better on fuel economy but not much really.

 

Crutchfield is a great idea - thanks! Their online compatibility system seems to show some acceptable options, and they sell the harness adapters, etc.

The styling of aftermarket head units is not exactly enticing, but hopefully I could get a "plainer" option to work, like this no-frills Blaupunkt:

 

I'd like to avoid the bore scoring issues of the 955's 4.5 (I live in a cold climate, and don't want to take the risk), and the purchase price premium, and maintenance/running costs of a turbo would make it impractical for me. I had also read that the cooling systems are more prone to failure on the V8 models (namely the coolant pipes). A 957 4.8/S might be in the cards if the right one came up. I do prefer the styling of the 955s, though, even though I may be in the minority on that front.

 

If you can find a CDR-2?? that has MOST output - they exist - it would be a simple swap for the PCM 2.1. 996 and 986 from 2003-up used MOST and many were originally equipped with the CDR-220 (I think the -220, you should verify) which is the MOST output version.

If you are thinking of an aftermarket radio some Continental units are very simple looking.

 

Thank you for the well informed reply. I'll take a look at the MOST-compatible CDR-220 (or similar) units.

Very nice tip on the Continental radios, too. Those have a nicer look to my eyes, and seem to be a closer match to the factory stereo, than the Blaupunkt units.