New Porsche, How Do I Upgrade my Stereo?

[Kid_A]

Hows it going im very new to porsches I use to be a complete BMW fanatic, my car transmission broke down on my 2000 323i and I was getting ready to buy another 3 series when I came across a great deal on a 2003 Porsche Boxster with a 5sp transmission, it was a stroke of luck because i had been looking for a manual car for months and when i finally settled on a tiptronic I came across this car. So I have been driving it and am completely in love with it, all I have to say is u get some extra attention when u drive a porsche. I can go on about the performance and handling but im sure u all already know so here is my question.

I just bought a Alpine CDA-9886, I got to the point where i really needed ipod connectivity and I really didnt want a fm transmitter. I know that my car uses the MOST system, will i need anything special to install this, are there any tutorials out there, will my speakers need to be rewired, and i read about the MOST system being wired in with the alarm system.

If anyone else has done this before and can tell me all the things that set this install apart from most other radio swaps I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance. :D

btw, I do not have the Bose system, I only have the two speakers on the dashboard.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Kid_A

[CMiYC]

btw, I do not have the Bose system, I only have the two speakers on the dashboard.

Do your speakers run to the head unit or a seperate amp?

I just replaced the head unit on my 2004 996. My speakers ran to a separate amp (I did not have the bose upgrade.) So I had to run speaker wires to the trunk, to connect where the factory amplifier was.

I'm just sure about your alarm comment/concern. I'm not really sure what the point of factory alarms are, so I didn't worry about losing its "functionality."

[usaf-lt-g]

Hows it going im very new to porsches I use to be a complete BMW fanatic, my car transmission broke down on my 2000 323i and I was getting ready to buy another 3 series when I came across a great deal on a 2003 Porsche Boxster with a 5sp transmission, it was a stroke of luck because i had been looking for a manual car for months and when i finally settled on a tiptronic I came across this car. So I have been driving it and am completely in love with it, all I have to say is u get some extra attention when u drive a porsche. I can go on about the performance and handling but im sure u all already know so here is my question.

I just bought a Alpine CDA-9886, I got to the point where i really needed ipod connectivity and I really didnt want a fm transmitter. I know that my car uses the MOST system, will i need anything special to install this, are there any tutorials out there, will my speakers need to be rewired, and i read about the MOST system being wired in with the alarm system.

If anyone else has done this before and can tell me all the things that set this install apart from most other radio swaps I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you in advance. :D

btw, I do not have the Bose system, I only have the two speakers on the dashboard.

Kid_A,

Search around the forums, there's TONS of information on upgrading your Head Unit, Amplifiers, Speakers in this forum. In fact I just got done writing up an article on everything I replaced. Even though I did not have the MOST Bus system installed in my car, there shouldn't be any reason you could not do a re-wire to make this work. If I were you, I would first work on replacing the "speakers and head unit" first. Then if you want to add a subwoofer, or fine tune your car audio, purchase amps and re-wire like I did.

Alpine IVA-W203 with P1 Navigation

Wiring Diagram I drew up to visualize my installation

Door speakers Upgraded

Amps and crossovers installed

Cheers. :cheers:

[usaf-lt-g]

Also,

Here's a picture where you can see that i used the factory porsche amp harness to tie into the factory wiring for all the speakers / remote connection to the factory amp etc. FYI... if you haven't done so already, I HIGHLY recommend getting yourself the Bentley Porsche Service Manual. Loren has an amazon store you can access from here that has a link to it. It has all the electrical wiring diagrams / pinouts necessary to help you as well as a ton of other information and helpful photos to do a lot of work yourself.

[Kid_A]

Thanks for the input. I am pretty sure I do not have an amp in my car, I only have two speakers that seem to be directly wired to the head unit. I am taking everything apart monday and taking a look with one of my friends who is going to be installing it. So i just wanted to know of any common issues that set a porsche radio swap apart from many other cars out there.

Thanks again

[pvaughan]

I replaced my whole system. It wasn't that tricky. I would highly recommend not trying to run new wire to the doors. It's impossible. Just tap into the existing wiring. Even if you don't have door speakers now, most likely, the wiring harness at the door has all the wiring in place. Typically, it is done that way so that if you want the upgraded stereo system the dealer can add it quickly by adding the speakers to the doors because the wiring is already in place.

One thing to note: when you open the door there is corrugated rubber sleeve that houses all the wiring running from the car into the door. It attaches at the body side. Undo a bolt and slide the retaining clip and work it off. This assembly houses a junction block which connects the door wiring to the car wiring. On my right-hand side the wiring colors changed for the speakers. Meaning, the wire color from the amp block to the door junction block was accurate to the manual. But the wire color used from the door side of the door junction block to the speakers was different. Just wanted to let you know.

Here is a tip. To test your speaker wiring before you hook your system into it, get a 9V battery and touch your speaker wire to it. When you touch the positive and negative terminals you should see the speaker push out if you have in phase. If is sucks in, then just switch the positive and negative and the speaker will push out. The simplest thing to do is us the existing wiring that is in the wiring block on the factory amp.

Anyway, I started this to tell you that you will need an antenna connector. Check your head unit installation instructions. You can pick one up at BestBuy or someplace like that. Just walk into the install bay and they’ll get you want you need.

Good luck with your project.

-pvaughan