mr_man12

Last week I ripped out the crappy factory radio and the useless tape holder, and installed a Pioneer DEH-P5500MP CD/MP3 player and a "coin tray." The new CD player rocks, I can fit around 100 MP3 songs on a single CD. Pics below, thanks guys for helping me with this.

If anybody wants to do this to their car, here's what I needed:

-Radio Removal Tool (part # 963 589 01 05 00) $1.19 from BMA
-Audi Wire Harness and Antenna Adaptor was around $30 at Best Buy
-Wire connectors to join the bare ends of the Audi wire harness to the wire harness for my stereo (I used two kinds, screw-types and crimp types)
-Coin Tray (part # 202 683 00 91) $17 from BMA

Job took about 1 hour, not tough to do but it took a little electrical know how. The old tape holder was supposed to just slide out after removing the 2 screws holding it in ... mine was stubborn though and took a little force to come out.

DMXtremeZ

hey on thursday im doing a similar install, except its a deh-p7500. does it make a difference in sound?? i almost got the 5500... enjoy!

DMXtremeZ

also, whats BMA?? i need a coin tray too. does the old tape holder come out easily??

mr_man12

BMA is BMA auto parts, they have good prices, they are in Burbank, CA but they do a lot of mail-order sales.
http://www.bmaautoparts.com/

My tape holder was a little tough to get out. Once I had the factory stereo removed, I could reach inside the dash and get a hand on the back of the tape holder thing. A bit of a pull and it popped out.

I would guess your stereo would sound pretty good ... about anything is better than the factory one.

scorchie

Want to sell the tape holder?

-s-

alhang

Did your car come with a Bose system? If so did you add any amps/speakers to replace the stock amplified bose units?

mr_man12

I don't know if my speakers are bose or not, there aren't any bose stickers on anything. And I wasn't sure if my car had amplifiers between the head unit and speakers. I decided to just install the head unit and see what happened -- if the sound was distorted or way too loud for the head unit's volume setting then that would indicate I had extra amps and I would have to find and bypass these amps. But everything sounded fine. I don't think my car has extra amps, but if I do have them they are very weak and not worth bypassing.

One other thing ... I noticed before install that the factory radio volume would automatically increase with car road speed. I thought this meant there was a secondary amp somewhere (this is what the circuit city guys told me). But when I installed the new radio, the volume didn't automatically increase anymore.

nazrat

If you could, pull the trunk liner back a little bit on the driver's side near the power antenna. If there is an AMP, it will be mounted to the fender right there.

Thanks,
Tad

scorchie

Even if you had a Bose amp and installed the speaker output into the amp, the sound would not be too loud or distorted. On some model years, you might get excessive hiss. But not excessively distorted sound.

The speed sensitive volume is a function of the radio, not the amp. The radio has a speed signal going in on pin A1. The amp receives no such signal.

So do you want to sell your old tape holder or not?

-s-

alhang

sounds like you lucked out and had a standard system. every bose system i have had upgraded required a total gutting of the stock system. the vehicle speed adjustment for your volume was probably built into the stock head unit, so there's probably no other amps in your system.

edit: scorchie beat me to it.

mr_man12

How much for my tape holder?

scorchie

Well, it's "useless" as you put... how about $10 which includes the $2 for shipping? They're about $25 new.

-s-

davis449

So do you have a Bose system or not? I'm curious cause I want to put my Sony head unit in my car but I have a Bose and I believe that it requires a signal adjuster or something. Also, how's the sound?

mr_man12

I don't see bose written on anything in the car, including the rear speakers that are visible through the trunk. I've got 8 speakers, I would guess they aren't bose. The sound is great, although the stereo is a little too powerful for the speakers I think. Sometimes with the volume cranked there is some bass distortion. This would be solved by a subwoofer, I don't want one now tho.

I would say just install the head unit and see what happens. Keep the volume real low when you test the radio out so you don't blow any amps if you do have them. Worst case, you have a hiss or distortion or something and then you have to probably find the amp and use a little wire to bypass it.

ONTARIOC280

Don't mean to threadjack but did your factory cd unit cut out when you hit the brakes or the gas? mine does and i don't really like the 6-pack in the trunk anyways but I am waiting 2 more months before the alpine DVD goes in...so I'm stuck wit it.


anyways..nice system!!

blackmercedes

Nice install. I would've soldered the harness in, but I'm sure the crimps will work okay. If it's working, you probably don't have the Bose, as I recall it needs an amp bypass harness too, but I my memory might be fuzzy on that one.

thegentleMAN

I got one for sale, space tray.

robs

Hey mr_man12,

What Audi wire harness did you use? Is there a specific model # I should get?

I want to install a Clarion cd player they have at Crutchfield, but they are unable to figure out what type of wire harness / antenna adaptor I need. They have a wiring option for a Audi V8 sedan w/ Bose system...is this the correct one?

-Robs

nazrat

2 days ago I got my harness from Crutchfield. 1998 VW Passat sedan. It came with the right radio removal tools, antenna adaptor, and harness adaptor.

-Tad

robs

Thanks, Tad. I appreciate the info.

I'm also going to install a retractable single cord for my ipod that will act as both a charger and a feed to the receiver. Should be an interesting project.

DougandhisC280

If you only have 8 speakers, it is not Bose. Bose systems have 9. I will never replace my Bose speakers. I think they sound damn good.

Alex_UA

d o you think i can add an extra cd/mp3 in the little extra space where your remote is in your picture with out having to rmove the original one and having them both work i have a 2000 C280

alrefai

hi folks,

I called BMA today to order the OEM coin tray p/n - 202 683 00 91 but the sale rep. coudn't find this number in his computer. Could anyone tells me the correct part #.

My local Benz dealer asking for $31.50 for the tray and its special order.

Thanks,

cschilderink

I unscrewed to two screw where the built in car phone is or for you all the tape holder. I tried to pry the built in car phone thing out but it wouldn't really move. What do I do with that?

Is there an installation manual or disassembly forum for the radio removal?

robs

You just have to push / pull on it pretty hard. I remember that a friend and I did it after we took the stock stereo out, so I pulled on the tape holder while he reached into the stero space and pushed from the back as I pulled. That's how we did it. If you don't have someone to help you, just reach from behind through the stereo space ( you'll have to take the stereo out ) and push. That should do it.