When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
(Sorry for the length) I racked my brain over the decision to buy this unit from Seicane and eventually decided that the original headunit in all of its glory was just not enough for me. I received the new head unit and at first glance was very pleased with the overall appearance and original look.
I got everything set up on a Saturday morning to install it and after removing center console and many of the molding pieces to remove the stereo I thought “ok it is all or nothing at this point”. I removed the original head unit with relative ease and when I looked at the connectors from the original unit and tried to match them up with the cables provided by Seicane I was underwhelmed at best. The only one that looked to be a fit was the one that provides power, ground, and ac power. At further review I saw the connector for the CANBUS adapter was good from a pin alighnment perspective however the casing was just a bit small in some areas to fit the original plug. I am not one to be defeated very easily so I grabbed my file and went to town a bit on the original connector which took me 10 min to make it fit properly. (Can provide drawing if anyone needs it).
Ok now I had power, CANBUS, and antena connections I was ready to tackle speakers. As mentioned already d2b fiber was only in the early models of the SL R230 line (I think 2002 through 2004). As luck would have it there is no plug and play module available so I knew I was in for replacing or bipassubg the original amp. Of course the long 6 foot cable that Seicane sent with the unit was meant for this purpose however none of the connectors they put on matched up with anything in the car so once again I was stuck with having to figure out a solution. After many hours testing options I settled on running my own fabricated 14gage wire for all 8 speaker outputs. I found that the connector for the speakers on the Seicane had prongs that fit a small female Alison connector really well so I bought a bunch of those and put 8 of them on that end to connect my speaker wire to the head unit (sounds ghetto but trust me it actually is pretty good and after connecting them all up and running cables I taped it up to ensure nothing came lose). So after temporarily connecting the other ends of the speaker wires to the connector that once went in the original amp (behind drivers seat under cubby) I was able to test and see what it sounded like. Not terrible but certainly not what we are used to as the original Bose system sounded pretty good but only powering 4 of the 8 speakers (one being the sub). I decided to get a 4 channel amp from Best Buy (kicker was the brand). I tested by connecting power off of the power wire on the original amp plug ( I will add an attachment of the port map of that connector.. not a great picture but can type it up if anyone needs it), once I was able to test with the amp and the sound was fantastic I ran the 5 rca cables from the head unit to the amp location and then connected everything up so that the amp would reside in the little cubby now that the 10disc CD player was no longer needed. I essentially powered the two door tweeters, the front center speaker, and the rear speakers (which are tied to gether so only one cable) from the head unit and then tied the sub and two door mid speakers to the amp. After all of that and running the cables nice it is AWESOME.
The head unit itself is really great as it is completely customizable and since I purchased both the car play USB adapter and the ODBII connector I also have CarPlay for my iPhone and real-time engine stats dials as needed.
I would encourage anyone who is a DYI’er to give it a shot and I don’t mind offering any help I can to assist you in your journey. I was quoted $3500 to have this done and it cost me a weekend (some undue stress because I had to figure it all out as there are no real instructions anywhere) but it ended up costing me abou $700 for everything. Ping me if you need asssistance and we can arrange to talk off line.
Your post was very helpful and informative! Thank you for posting. Do you happen to know if the Seicane can work with a 2007 or 2008 R230? I have received both yes and no answers so I am confused. I am not worried about radio reception but do need Apple CarPlay (Seicane unit is supposed to have it integrated) and XM SAT
Looks like this died in the delivery room. Too bad. I, too, don’t like any of the upgrade options especially with that blank looking installation kit you need to add a modern radio to the ‘07 console. This picture with the glass touch screen and that all-in-one look is the RIGHT idea.
Looks like this died in the delivery room. Too bad. I, too, don’t like any of the upgrade options especially with that blank looking installation kit you need to add a modern radio to the ‘07 console. This picture with the glass touch screen and that all-in-one look is the RIGHT idea.
When will Chinese friends make all-in-one for R230 FL?
Here is one I finally like for the ‘06-‘07 group. The larger screen makes it look more stock which appeals to me. I see the cup holders have to be removed to fit it in. I contacted the seller to see if they had video of it being demonstrated and they didn’t. He said he would try. Told him without that I wouldn’t buy it, but I sure want to. Your thought?
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
lol yea it looks like they are marking the price up $500 and adding a MOST adapter (less than $100 and readily available numerous places) and a trim ring. pretty expensive trim ring.
08-27-2019, 06:15 AM
