Avic-Z1 Install

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

Okay, so I'm going to return the Circuit City unit because I just bought a new one off of eBay for $700 new in box.

Questions:

1. For the Altima Coupe, is the Car Speed extension cable needed? I'm seeing on the Pioneer parts site that there's a pink extension cable for this. I read the "how to" article on installing the D3 and it seems like the car speed harness on the car is quite far from the head unit.2. Is this kit needed? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...054493. Currently, I have the Bose system with a line out converter hooked up to a MB Quart amp and MB Quart subwoofer. I bought the line out converter from a local stereo shop...prob not the best brand. Should I get the Scorsche one instead? Will this make any difference?4. Which steering wheel module works best? Anyway to wire the bluetooth buttons to the Z1?

Circuit City wants to charge me $80 to get it installed. I'm kinda hesitant because I've read on the forums about people hearing from other people about their horrible installations...however I've never read a bad review from the person directly saying CC was horrible at installs. Should I take this to another shop to get it installed?

Greatly appreciated if someone can answer these questions! *AHEM* Rob... :-D

thanks man!
Modified by ChiLLaXtodaMaX at 10:45 PM 2/2/2008

[Absolute Zero]

I don't know about alot of the questions, but I had a friend that had CC install door speakers in her car and 3 days later 2 of them fell out! I would never let them touch my car if I could help it (I'm not trying to bash CC or anything, I just know from second hand experience).

I would find a reputable car stereo place in your area. I drive an hour away to use a place for things that I am nervous about tackling, but it is much more fun, satisfying, and you learn more if you can do the install yourself with the help of a knowledgeable friend (not to mention cheaper!).

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

thanks for the advice. I'm leaning towards getting it installed elsewhere. It should be about $150-200 installation elsewhere, but that's still not bad. After it's all said and done, it should be under $1000 for everything.

[Absolute Zero]

I would rather pay a little more for the piece of mind if I can afford it at the moment...

[rjdmmfl1]

chilla,I got your email, but that's way too many questions to answer right now. I usually check the forum in between swapping baby duty with my wife. I didn't want to give you a BS response, so I just waited. I'm about to hit the sack, but I'll have detailed answers for you tomorrow morning!!! Rather than respond via email, I'll post the answers on this thread!

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

Rob,thank you so much. I didn't expect you to be on tonight...it is Saturday night :-P

I updated my list of questions. I found an eBay auction for the Z1 for only $700. The unit I bought from CC is 540 after tax...then add on the 50 bux for the GPS wire, 40 for the mic...and it's not much more if I got one brand new.

So...less questions now... still in the first thread.

thanks!
Modified by ChiLLaXtodaMaX at 10:46 PM 2/2/2008

[rjdmmfl1]

Okay, so I'm going to return the Circuit City unit because I just bought a new one off of eBay for $700 new in box.

Questions:

1. For the Altima Coupe, is the Car Speed extension cable needed? I'm seeing on the Pioneer parts site that there's a pink extension cable for this. I read the "how to" article on installing the D3 and it seems like the car speed harness on the car is quite far from the head unit.2. Is this kit needed? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...054493. Currently, I have the Bose system with a line out converter hooked up to a MB Quart amp and MB Quart subwoofer. I bought the line out converter from a local stereo shop...prob not the best brand. Should I get the Scorsche one instead? Will this make any difference?4. Which steering wheel module works best? Anyway to wire the bluetooth buttons to the Z1?

Circuit City wants to charge me $80 to get it installed. I'm kinda hesitant because I've read on the forums about people hearing from other people about their horrible installations...however I've never read a bad review from the person directly saying CC was horrible at installs. Should I take this to another shop to get it installed?

Greatly appreciated if someone can answer these questions! *AHEM* Rob... :-D

thanks man!

Modified by ChiLLaXtodaMaX at 10:45 PM 2/2/2008

1. VSS wire (pink wire on Z1, Z2, D3)... I highly suggest following my tutorial to attach this wire to the vss wire in the car. Although the Avic will function without this, navigation calculation and distance traveled will NOT be as accurate! In addition, you lose a few of the features included in the vehicle dynamics display.

2. That kit, or one like it, is needed to install the avic, or any other aftermarket unit for that matter. Some folks have gone with the scosche kit, and many say that the scosche kit has a better aesthetic appearance. That didn't matter to me because as you can see from my signature, I installed a carbon fiber dash kit on my A/C. Regardless of whether or not you go with metra vs scosche, you will needa.stereo bracketb. antenna adapterc. wiring harness adapter (all of this is included in the kit on the link)

3. usually, any line out converter will do. If you already have one, no need to get another one...wait, on second thought, maybe you should. The beauty of the schoshe one is that it allows you to dial down andfine tune the volume level leaving your aftermarket deck (when you get it) going to your Bose amplifier. This becomes necessary because, without it, the volume on your system will peak too early, and volumes higher than 10 will give you bad distortion. So yes, I would get it. **someone else on this forum asked if they should get it, I told them yes, their idiot of an installer told them they didn't need it, and they had the same problem I just described to you. they ended up having to take it to a second installer. So, even if your installer tells you you don't need it, make them install it anyway!

4. The PAC-SWI PS is the one you will need for your setup. PAC-Steering Wheel Interface Pioneer Sony... make sure you get this exact one!

And no, you will lose the bluetooth function on the steering wheel! Cicuit city sucks, go to another install shop that you trust!

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

thank you sir!I just bought the Scosche dash kit, harness and adapter. now trying to find a cheap deal for the steering wheel module. I'm going to check to see if my line out converter has the volume adjust feature. hopefully that'll save me a few bux.

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

Rob, I reread your article again but couldn't find any mentions of the VSS extension cable that Pioneer offers. Were you able to install the VSS line without using any extensions? Basically, was the stock Pioneer cable long enough to connect to the VSS wire?

I looked at my line out converter and it has 2 knobs for adjusting the volume levels. I think I should be fine and don't need to spend the extra money for a Scosche one.

I also bought a Toshiba hdd so I can image the drive with the Z2 software. I don't understand how Pioneer can sell the Z2 when the only difference is in the software...and you can download the Z2 software.

[AltimaJoe]

Yeah, that was me with the line out converter problem... I guess I should come clean and tell everyone I went to Tweeter. If you're on the east coast, you know. My mistake... growing up on the west coast and starting a new life on the east coast, it was convenient because everything was right there. Live and learn I guess. One thing's for sure, I definitely miss the west coast! Tweeter is one of many things that rubs me the wrong way about the DC area.

I would be careful about choosing an installer... the second guy I went to was MUCH better, operating out of a specialty shop instead of a home/car audio warehouse. I would definitely recommend a specialty shop over your Circuit City/Best Buy/Tweeter type shops.

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

yea, I'm going through a shop that does only car audio to install my parts. No Circuit City!

[rjdmmfl1]

Rob, I reread your article again but couldn't find any mentions of the VSS extension cable that Pioneer offers. Were you able to install the VSS line without using any extensions? Basically, was the stock Pioneer cable long enough to connect to the VSS wire?

I looked at my line out converter and it has 2 knobs for adjusting the volume levels. I think I should be fine and don't need to spend the extra money for a Scosche one.

I also bought a Toshiba hdd so I can image the drive with the Z2 software. I don't understand how Pioneer can sell the Z2 when the only difference is in the software...and you can download the Z2 software.

yes, the pink wire is extremely long... it reaches the tach behind the speedometer with no problems...

see the pink wire in the pic... this should have come with your unit... that's the extension wire that comes with the unit... if you don't have one of these, just purchase some wire from pepboys, kragen, autozone, etc.

[ChiLLaXtodaMaX]

oh wow.When I bought the open boxed Z1 from Circuit City, it didnt come with that wire. So I thought it was an extremely short wire. Hopefully in a few weeks I'll receive my Z1 and I can start building!!!!!

anyone in the metro Detroit area been to CarTunes? How are they for an installer?