2003 - 2004 Boxster AVIC D3 Install with MOST Bus

[rahlstrom]

2003 - 2004 Boxster AVIC D3 Install with MOST Bus

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Thanks again to all of those contributors that helped me while I went through this upgrade. This topic appears to be a common one and one that doesn't appear to have a complete solution for contending with the MOST bus. Hopefully my DIY will help owners with the MOST bus successfully upgrade their factory stereo system as I have with mine. Also note that the wiring and process described should work with any system (Kenwood, Alpine, etc.), not just the AVIC D3 as the signal requirements and facto

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• Author
  rahlstrom
• Category
  Boxster (986) - Accessories
• Submitted
  05/24/2008 07:46 AM
• Updated
  10/24/2016 10:05 AM

 

Edited February 20, 2010 by rahlstrom

[70Sixter]

Nice job. I'm even more convinced that this is over my DIY head! :thankyou:

[rahlstrom]

Nice job. I'm even more convinced that this is over my DIY head! :thankyou:

Give the wiring diagram to your installer. Much simpler ;)

[kbrandsma]

Ralstrom,

I mounted my mic, GPS antenna, and CD-BTB200 in exactly the same locations as you have done. My microphone however, sounds like it is in a tunnel. Did you do anything speacial like foam around the mic or some type of packing behind? How does yours sound?

Edited May 27, 2008 by kbrandsma

[rahlstrom]

Ralstrom,

I mounted my mic, GPS antenna, and CD-BTB200 in exactly the same locations as you have done. My microphone however, sounds like it is in a tunnel. Did you do anything speacial like foam around the mic or some type of packing behind? How does yours sound?

Great minds think alike. I've asked callers and with the top up, volume levels are fine, although there is a bit of a hollow sound. I've never been on the receiving end of a call. To answer the question, no, I haven't tried foam insulation behind the mic, although it's a great idea and definitely worth a try. If you have any success be sure to post the results.

Thanks.

[kbrandsma]

I tried calling my voicemail at home and at work and they both sound very tinny and like I'm calling from a tunnel. I'll try a few different things and may end up mounting the mic where the console and the dash meet directly below the present location. If you find out anything let me know as well.

[softail]

Rahlstrom,

what did you do with the MOST harness ?

At the back of my CDR23, there are the yellow and black harness (discribed in treullionniare DIY), and a third little harness with two orange wire (most bus).

The MOST seems to link my BOSE amp and CD charger, so I suppose I can't just get rid of it...

Any idea ?

Thanks again.

[rahlstrom]

Rahlstrom,

what did you do with the MOST harness ?

At the back of my CDR23, there are the yellow and black harness (discribed in described by treullionniare DIY), and a third little harness with two orange wire (most bus).

The MOST seems to link my BOSE amp and CD charger, so I suppose I can't just get rid of it...

Any idea ?

Thanks again.

I taped over the end of the MOST but connector and left it in place. If you are moving to a new head unit, unfortunately you will need to replace all the other components using the MOST bus. The reason is that the MOST but carries the pre-amp signals digitally to the amplifier. I didn't have the CD changer but did have to remove my factory AMP. You are dealing with a Porsche proprietary system that is virtually impossible to make work with a non Porsche head unit. My DIY is most useful for the harness wiring as this is different than the pinnouts described by treullionniare for a non MOST bus harness.

[ody]

Thanks Rahlstrom,

nice work and excellent write-up! I was looking for such an answer for my 03'Boxster about a year ago and could not find nothing. Now that its been proven, i will take up the challange!

[rahlstrom]

Thanks Rahlstrom,

nice work and excellent write-up! I was looking for such an answer for my 03'Boxster about a year ago and could not find nothing. Now that its been proven, i will take up the challange!

Sure thing Ody. Good luck with the job. I'm still very happy with my install and the sound.

[jademade]

HI, Rahlstrom

Do you mind telling me how you attach the ACC wire? The stereo system is still on when I take out my key. It seems like the receiver is always on. I check the black harness, it always has 12V.

Thank you.

[rahlstrom]

HI, Rahlstrom

Do you mind telling me how you attach the ACC wire? The stereo system is still on when I take out my key. It seems like the receiver is always on. I check the black harness, it always has 12V.

Thank you.

Only unswitched (continuous) power is available on the factory radio harness. The switched power is available on the "phone prep" connector as noted in the DIY:

"Note that only un-switched power is available in the factory radio harness. I used the phone prep cable in the console to get switched power for both the radio and as you’ll see, power for the bluetooth module. Note that the wiring diagram on the previous page lists the fuse locations that will now correspond to your radio and bluetooth module if you install one. The picture to the left shows what the phone prep cable looks like and where to find it...".

The AVIC has two power connections, one for switched and one for unswitched. If you use unswitched power for both the radio power connections it will stay on and drain your battery.

[alex30]

hello,

i m alex from france sorry for language, i m learning again.... :lol:

I've a question , i ve to buy the kit for 2din, and a ALPINE W505, my BOxster is 2003 with option M490 ( ampli Harman and cdc4)

i think there is a fiber optik who give me problems.

Its possible to use the ampli with my alpine, please? MANY PEOPLE SAY ME NO :huh:

and can i use the option 617 ( phone preparation) with?

how i can do please, i don't understand every

thank you

best regard

alex

Edited September 13, 2008 by alex30

[rahlstrom]

hello,

i m alex from france sorry for language, i m learning again.... :lol:

I've a question , i ve to buy the kit for 2din, and a ALPINE W505, my BOxster is 2003 with option M490 ( ampli Harman and cdc4)

i think there is a fiber optik who give me problems.

Its possible to use the ampli with my alpine, please? MANY PEOPLE SAY ME NO :huh:

and can i use the option 617 ( phone preparation) with?

how i can do please, i don't understand every

thank you

best regard

alex

The old amp will not work with the Alpine stereo. The Alpine PDX-5 is what I used to upgrade the factory amp and it sounds great.

The phone prep cable only carries power and a signal wire that goes back to the stereo. It's only useful for power, unless you actually buy the Porsche phone module to plug into the harness. I would suggest the Alpine bluetooth adapter instead.

[rahlstrom]

I tried calling my voicemail at home and at work and they both sound very tinny and like I'm calling from a tunnel. I'll try a few different things and may end up mounting the mic where the console and the dash meet directly below the present location. If you find out anything let me know as well.

I finally got around to pulling out the dash again and I installed foam insulation behind the mic and in the gauge cluster cavity behind the mic. What a difference! It still sounds like a speaker phone to callers on the other end but the clarity is much better. It made hands free calling usable where before, no one could understand me.

[kbrandsma]

rahlstrom

Tell me more about the foam installation in the gauge cluster cavity. What type of foam did you use?

[alex30]

The old amp will not work with the Alpine stereo. The Alpine PDX-5 is what I used to upgrade the factory amp and it sounds great.

The phone prep cable only carries power and a signal wire that goes back to the stereo. It's only useful for power, unless you actually buy the Porsche phone module to plug into the harness. I would suggest the Alpine bluetooth adapter instead.

thanks,

with the alpine pdx 5 i can use the original fiber optic of porsche?? please

in your pic of microphone, you put the new. in my cover microphone there is the old or factory micro with my option phone prep cable, how can i put off this old mic please i dont understand what you have to do in your nice DIY

THANKS

Alex

[rahlstrom]

rahlstrom

Tell me more about the foam installation in the gauge cluster cavity. What type of foam did you use?

Nothing special. Believe it or not, I just pulled apart one of those pool "splash balls" that has a foam core. I would imagine that anything pliable enough that effectively fills the cavity would work fine.

[petrucci]

Thanks again to all of those contributors that helped me while I went through this upgrade. This topic appears to be a common one and one that doesn't appear to have a complete solution for contending with the MOST bus. Hopefully my DIY will help owners with the MOST bus successfully upgrade their factory stereo system as I have with mine. Also note that the wiring and process described should work with any system (Kenwood, Alpine, etc.), not just the AVIC D3 as the signal requirements and factory harness wiring is detailed here.

Also note that this upgrade also covers the iPod interface, Sirius satellite radio and Bluetooth module install.

Good luck!

Hi,

I just installed this unit in my 98 porsche boxster. The problem is that it seems that the unit does not receive constant power so my settings will go back to factory settings every time I stop the car. I have noticed that my old gps that I used through the sigarette lighter stays on even if I turn of the car.

Is this normal? Maybe someone has switched the cables so the sigarette lighter gets the cable that the avic-d3 is supposed to get

Best Regards

Kay form Norway

[atta]

Hi,

I just installed this unit in my 98 porsche boxster. The problem is that it seems that the unit does not receive constant power so my settings will go back to factory settings every time I stop the car. I have noticed that my old gps that I used through the sigarette lighter stays on even if I turn of the car.

Is this normal? Maybe someone has switched the cables so the sigarette lighter gets the cable that the avic-d3 is supposed to get

Best Regards

Kay form Norway

Kay.

In the Boxster the cigarette lighter has constant power. You probably have a red and an orange wire going from the ISO-connector into the AVIC. If you look at the wiring diagram one should say constant power and the other would be switched power. Try swapping them around.

Atle

(also in Norway)

[bilabonic]

I want to do this and have MOST and cd23, where can i get the fascia kit from ? Also why do you have 2 amps fitted ?

Cheers

[00boxster]

see below

Edited January 3, 2011 by 00boxster

[00boxster]

I tried calling my voicemail at home and at work and they both sound very tinny and like I'm calling from a tunnel. I'll try a few different things and may end up mounting the mic where the console and the dash meet directly below the present location. If you find out anything let me know as well.

I finally got around to pulling out the dash again and I installed foam insulation behind the mic and in the gauge cluster cavity behind the mic. What a difference! It still sounds like a speaker phone to callers on the other end but the clarity is much better. It made hands free calling usable where before, no one could understand me.

I got my installer put mine (the phone microphone) up near the rear view mirror so it was protected from the wind, there is a gap for the wire to pass out from hidden under the plastic. I drive alot with the roof down and don't have problems with calls on the road, its a parrot system that I had added when I removed the Motorola "thing" that was factory fitted.

Would be great to get rid of the black bit that is attached to the LHS where the parrot is currently placed when I put in a new 2 din touch screen.

I have also ordered other bits such as buttons to fill in the 3 black one on either side of my new screen.

Has anyone worked out if any of the new model touch screens with hard drives can be wired up to 1 or 2 of those blank rocker type buttons either side of the radio like the soft top up/down one ?

Edited January 3, 2011 by 00boxster

[cayvman]

Thanks for the diy. Question about glare. How is the on screen visibility with the top down and on a sunny day?