'02 Q45 no nav - stereo questions

[nchopp]

So I'm finding some serious problems with considering an upgrade to the car stereo on my F50. I can't find jack for information online - the only good NICO thread lost its pictures, and I can't even find anything at the other sites, or Googling. Does anyone know if this harness would work? I haven't taken a look at the guts of the stereo yet.

http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio ... -7551.aspx

At this point, I'm resigned to having to leave the stock screen in place for the climate controls, and just running a new headunit for an amp and speakers. Any advice anyone can offer would be great.

[djwarner]

I doubt the unit would work unless someone with technical specs knew they would.

First question is what is your goal? The Bose amplifier is located in the trunk where you could tap in a second audio source.

Are you looking to add another screen, perhaps in place of the cassette deck or are you thinking about replacing the amp and speaker aka a ghetto box on wheels?

[Euphoricsoul]

I feel your pain. I just bought an '05 Q and my only gripe is the proprietary stereo in it. It would be nice to be able to install a touchscreen CD/DVD player that I can bluetooth my phone to. I've searched high and low for a DIY install for aftermarket head units, but haven't found any.

[nchopp]

I doubt the unit would work unless someone with technical specs knew they would.

First question is what is your goal? The Bose amplifier is located in the trunk where you could tap in a second audio source.

Are you looking to add another screen, perhaps in place of the cassette deck or are you thinking about replacing the amp and speaker aka a ghetto box on wheels?

Ghetto box on wheels? Not sure what your experience in car stereos is, but there are a few more reasons for an aftermarket stereo than to have a "ghetto box on wheels". At this point I was planning on possibly just replacing the tape deck with a headunit, replacing the stock Bose speakers with good component sets, and a small amp and maybe a 12".

I feel your pain. I just bought an '05 Q and my only gripe is the proprietary stereo in it. It would be nice to be able to install a touchscreen CD/DVD player that I can bluetooth my phone to. I've searched high and low for a DIY install for aftermarket head units, but haven't found any.

I don't think there's much of any way to replace the screen, short of doing a LOT of exploring\experimenting\splicing of wires back there.

[djwarner]

Thanks for the additional information, and yes I understand there are reasons to upgrade other than shaking up the neighborhood, but needed to know where YOU were comng from.

So from what I'm hearing, you would like to dump the Bose amp, tuner/tape player, CD player, and speakers while leaving the control head and voice command intact.

These units talk to each other via a CANBUS - sort of a LAN but with a very specific data format. The control head talks on this LAN and the body control LAN for AC control, mileage computer etc. I would think the first thing you would want to do is to see how the control head reacts to removing the targeted devices by unplugging the units for a few days.

If the rest of the systems are happy, rip out the Bose and go.

There was a recent post about a new '02 q buyer whose radio functions did not function. He ended up replacing the radio/tape player, but it might give you an idea of how your system might work with the Bose system removed.

One thing I would suspect is that you would lose the voice command function.

Most 02-06 q owners have not been this ambitious seeking only to add nav or ipod inputs.

I have seen a few pro-shops interface other systems through a video switch but I belief the car had a nav system already.

I'm sure there are others interested in upgrading their systems, please keep us informed on your progress.

[nchopp]

Thanks - that points me in the right direction. I'll check out that thread you mentioned. I don't care about the voice recognition, just climate controls and trip computer.