Hi

I just picked up my 2005 MR in San Francisco and with only 24k on the clock i'm very happy. However I spend a lot of time listening to BBC Podcasts on my iPod when I drive to work, so i'm going to replace the stereo for something a little more functional.

So can someone please give me some advice? These are the things i'm thinking of.

• Something around $250 uninstalled
• I want something nice and simple, no flashy bling bling interface
• I don't want to be splicing into wires, is there a harness I can buy for whatever unit someone recommends?
• I would love an iPod dock so I charge the iPod at the same time

I also want to fit myself, i've done radios in the past and it hasn't been that hard. However looking at the unit myself I can't see any screws or even access holes at the side of the radio. How on earth do I get the old one out?

Thanks in advance for your replies

 

best bet is to hop on crutchfield.com and see all what you want out of the uunti and compare them. They give you the harness for free when you order a head unit from them.

 

Nice site, I found this which seems to fit the bill perfectly.

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...DA9884&tp=5684

 

crutchfield is pricey. Try ebay for cheaper
http://cgi.ebay.com/ALPINE-CDA-9884-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Ok, so any comments on the Alpine? How easy will it be to pull the old unit and put this one in? I had another look and I still cannot figure out how the factory unit is actually removed.

 

The new alpine line up is not to bad very nice interface as compared to previous models! The 9884 from alpine is available at your local BestBuy and comes with the ipod cable at no extra charge $199.99 Plus 70 for install and wiring harness. or just 20 for the wiring harness. Removal is very easy all you need to do is remove the knobs for the ac controls and there are two philips head screws behind the two outside knobs then you just PULL and you reveal the 4 philips head screws holding that actual radio in. Then whatever radio you get just put the surround back on and cage mount the new unit if you ISO mount the radio with the stock brackets you will have a gap!

 

I got the Alpine 9885 on sale from Crutchfield a couple of months ago and it's a nice headunit. Crutchfield also supplied a wiring harness to make it a plug and play install. The head unit was very easy to install.

 

What do you mean by this? If I purchase the Alpine 9884 will it come with a "cage" that I can use to mount the radio in the existing hole?

 

pioneer 7900bt

 

Out of budget...

 

Correct, that is what he is saying. But when I had my alpine stereo, I iso-mounted it (re-used factory brackets) and did not have a gap. So I have no idea why that guy mentioned that.

 

I just replaced my head unit this weekend. Pioneer 5900. It is not hard at all. I bought the wiring harness for 12.99 and reused all the other factory brackets. No gap or fitment issues. It looks pretty good and it is really easy to do.

 

I also have no gap on my Alpine head unit.

 

I would recomend the alpine ida-x200 which is made specially for the ipod (it does not play cd's). I have the one above that which is the ida-x100 with a color screen but thats more pricey. Alpine makes the best HU. As for the installation look at this link:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...=stereo+remove

 

Alpine 9885 installed in 10 minutes and very happy indeed. Thanks for the advice everyone! Now I just need to map this baby for 1.5 bar