Has anyone been successful in installing an aftermarket HU in a 2005 RX8?
I saw a thread on one of the other forums talking about someone having faceplates made, but the last post was Apr. 2004. I guess some of the issues that would need to be addressed are:

-Faceplace replacement
-Mounting hardware
-Wiring interface

 

well... i dont think many have had much success w/it. Just from the looks of it, it appears that it will be a real chore to replace w/an aftermarket model. The things you mentioned are far from being the bottom of the barrel. In order for a clean appearance and good install, you will need to do a lot of fiberglass work. I think you would be further ahead to keep the current setup. You COULD remote mount another head unit. But why? The stock system is capable of accomodating just about any extra toy (with a few mods) that you wish to add... aside from SAT radio. Many people have had success with those (stock HU). One gentlemen in particular has a PC in his car with all sorts of other goodies. I would recommend getting ahold of him and seeing what he did. I can not remember his name. He competes in FL (i believe) and has a WICKED set up.

*EDIT* XM is supported by the new HU PIE upgrade.

 

I am trying to get SAT radio and an MP3 Jukebox to integrate. If I can do that, I will be happy. I am fairly pleased with the system that is in there now, I just want to add a few things. One thing I am concerned about is not having enough ports to hook it all up. I imagine the SAT tuner that you can buy for this HU plugs into the same 16 pin connector that most of the PIE adapters use. It would be nice if they had a 'pass-thru' on them so that they did not tie up your only port. What would really be nice is some kind of converter that will talk Pioneer IP-BUS as I already have a GEX900XM and I hear the NEO Mp3 can be fitted with an adapter that makes it look like a Pioneer CD Changer.

 

http://devoid.mine.nu/

 

dame that is what i wanted to do

 

Sure.
Let us know when you're done. :p

 

I actually have replaced the HU with an aftermarket system without the annoying placement of the stock stereo in the trunk. I removed the old faceplate and then remolded it with fiberglass...then I took the PCB (controls for the factory air and clock) and mounted deep inside the dash. My car is at the shop getting an oil change and an ignition coil replaced (unrelated to the stereo install) so when it gets back today I will post some pics.

:D

 

great thanks

 

Would love to see some pics.. Makes you wonder why Mazda has this head unit besides $$$$

 

If you are referencing me, than I take complete and utter offence! I'm not from the first state to be blamed for electing bush! (I'm from the second!) :p :D

If, however, you are referring to scudrunner, than he is in florida, and also has a D300....but I'm not sure how it was mounted....in place of the NAV screen or the HU?

Anywho...yeah, I replaced the stock HU, and added a full PC, PS2, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc! :D

Here are some teasers...but as already mentioned, my site has the tons of pictures of the install. http://devoid.mine.nu

 

If you dont mind tell all of us how did you work out the a/c and heating controll issue. mine is going in the shop on thursday and any help would be grat so thay dont chage me 3 hours of thinking labor..

 

^^ You need to keep the two main PCB boards. These will end up making a an "L". The reason being is that these 2 main PCB's control all the heating/cooling as well as the display above the HU. Further, you also have to loop the main amp power lead that comes from the HU (if removing the main BOSE amp) This is because power comes back to the HU from the AMP, and thus nothing will work if you just remove the AMP. We have plans to remove the connectors of the 2 main PCBs and wire them directly together, and thus allowing us to lay the 2 PCBs directly flat against one another, giving us further room (not that we need it, but hey, you've seen the pics, any room gained is a good thing!) Also, you will need to likely rewire the PCBs if you are just looking to put in a regular DIN radio....We didn't need to b/c we disassembled the D300 and hard mounted the screen leaving a wide open area being the screen.

Hope this helps!

 

Underbody light kits make baby jesus cry.

 

How much did that whole setup cost you devoid? That looks exactly like what I would want done.

 

Yep, you're that guy!

 

I did not find this to be true in my car. We pulled the amp and all bose speakers out of the car with no negative effect (to my knowledge, they didn't loop anything from the main amp). In wiring up my IVA-D300, the stereo shop simply spliced any wires that needed splicing into the main wiring harness for the stock HU. All of the HVAC controls and the LCD display for them still function properly. Hopefully, I am getting ready to have the stock HU faceplate removed and a custom fiberglass job done up (it depends on how much all the fiberglass in my trunk ends up costing and how much the new faceplate will cost).

 

Has anyone that has replaced the bose HU with an aftermarket unit left the bose amp and speakers in place and interfaced to them from the new head unit? If so, how did you determine which leads are the signal input and 'remote on' going to the bose amp? What signal level converter (unbal --> bal) did you use? The shop manuals make it pretty easy to figure out what leads are what on the outbound side of the bose amp going to the speakers, but say nothing about the inbound leads where it gets the line level signal from.

Thanks,
Carlton

 

For those of you that have removed the factory unit and replaced it with an aftermarket unit, what kinds of problems did you run into mounting the new unit? What is the best way to try and mount it for 1 DIN and 2 DIN?

 

I can see that the middle monitor is blanked out.The monitor thats show your climate control & what's it doing.Is your 8 done.Will the monitor stay blanked out or is there a way to keep it functioning?My 8 is also currently at the audio shop custom installing my trunk & interior.

 

^^^ Check over the 2 sets of pictures again. You'll see what's what. The middle monitor is "blanked out" 'cause it's off. :D As for the climate controls...again, take a look through the pics again, you'll see that they sit bellow the middle monitor.

 

So the small middle red screen is working when it's on?So it'll still show the time & defrosting,& etc?IF so that's great news.My car is being working on right now.I'll have to ask you a few questions later on when I drop by the shop.Thanks for the info

 

^^^ oh dear....you mean that screen. Short answer, yes - it works just like it does for stock (minus displaying radio stations or MP3 tags etc)
As for the long answer...I'd recommend searching for some of my prior posts. I've explained how to get that to function to many people, many times. The short answer is that it will require you to keep and relocate the two main PCB's from the original radio, and loop the power at the BOSE amp. Not to be rude...I just have to run and didn't have time to explain it again. Hope this helps.

 

I'm noobie here but I'll try to search for your prior posts.Btw I'm not using the Bose amp,I'm taking that piece of sh*t out.Using 3 Phoenix Gold Titanium amps.

 

^^^ Sorry, I didn't even realize, I answered this question on page 1 of this thread. So you may want to take a look there!

 

Thanks!Your custom kit looks nice!