Fitting After Market Stereo.

[Brandane]

Have only recently bought a 2006 Corolla, and I am thinking about fitting an Alpine CDE 9882Ri head unit which I rescued from the Golf I traded in.

A few questions though!

Obviously I will need some sort of new facia panel to take the new unit, complete with blower vents (I have had the standard unit out for a wee reccie), so where can I get a new panel??

Will I lose the use of steering wheel controls??

Are the standard Speakers of decent quality? (Obviously no point wiring a good head unit to Speakers that aren't up to the job). They sound ok with the standard unit.

Cheers for any info..

Al.

[jonnnnnnnnnnnno]

you can take the bit inside the vents surround out so you keep the same fit.

is it a 2din or single din? unit

look online for a facia.

[man-bing]

Obviously I will need some sort of new facia panel to take the new unit, complete with blower vents (I have had the standard unit out for a wee reccie), so where can I get a new panel??

All you need to get, is a facia adaptor to hold the H/U, an Toyota to ISO loom, and prob a ariel adaptor.

Linky

Will I lose the use of steering wheel controls??

YES!!

There are third party adaptors that might be able to help to interface with the steering wheel control, but won't be cheap.

Are the standard speakers of decent quality? (Obviously no point wiring a good head unit to speakers that aren't up to the job). They sound ok with the standard unit.

It would be better if you can change the Speakers at a later date for something better, but they should be adequate.

If you need a guide (providing the dash hasn't changed too much in my car) to get the H/U out and stuff, look at my signature for a link in how do it.

Bing

[Brandane]

Thanks Jonnnnnnnno and man-bing. Think I'm having second thoughts now, as I quite like the steering wheel controls and the standard unit aint so bad!

Also, I remember the Alpine unit lighting was a bit too bright, even at its dimmest setting. It was quite distracting even on the Golf where it was much lower down and not right in your line of sight as it would be on the Corolla.

Looks like the girlfriend might just have got herself an Alpine CDE9882Ri for her car. That'll be the value of her Renault Scenic doubled then :P .

Al.

[nrgizerbunny]

bare in mind your radio won't work properly.

[Brandane]

bare in mind your radio won't work properly.

??? In the Renault, or Corolla?? Why not?

[nrgizerbunny]

in the corolla,

the FM range will be shortened and reception won't be as good as the original radio. AM won't work at all.

[Brandane]

in the corolla,

the FM range will be shortened and reception won't be as good as the original radio. AM won't work at all.

Thanks for that. I think there is some sort of adaptor you have to fit; it was the same in the Golf. It allows AM reception...not that I listen to it, ever!

One more question... Once you have the head unit out with the facia panel, how do you separate the unit from the panel?? Looks like 2 plastic clips on top, and another 2 on bottom, but they dont come off easy and I don't want to force it.

[tonkit]

With regard to steering controls, mine work perfectly fine with my headunit (kenwood) and i only paid £30 for the adapter which basically is a toyota harness with an extra plug to connect the steering controls. Very simple and does the job fine.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toyota-All-Models-St...34.c0.m14.l1262

As for removing the facia panel what exactly do you mean, if you mean the surround including fans vents etc this should come off fairly easily although i seem to recall mine usually comes off before removing the headunit from the car.

[clangnuts]

Thanks Jonnnnnnnno and man-bing. Think I'm having second thoughts now, as I quite like the steering wheel controls and the standard unit aint so bad!

Also, I remember the Alpine unit lighting was a bit too bright, even at its dimmest setting. It was quite distracting even on the Golf where it was much lower down and not right in your line of sight as it would be on the Corolla.

Looks like the girlfriend might just have got herself an Alpine CDE9882Ri for her car. That'll be the value of her Renault Scenic doubled then :P .

Al.

Unbelievable. I have a Corolla, and my wife has a Scenic.

(she hates her Scenic, and loves my Corolla BTW).

[man-bing]

Once you have the head unit out with the facia panel, how do you separate the unit from the panel?? Looks like 2 plastic clips on top, and another 2 on bottom, but they dont come off easy and I don't want to force it.

I took some pics of this, as a few other members asked me about this too.

It comes out very easily and just clicks back in as well.

Linky

[Brandane]

Thanks for the helpful pics Bing. Must be getting a bit thick in my old age though, I still don't understand how to separate the head unit from the facia panel, so that you are left with only the outer panel (the bit with vents either side) and the space for the facia adaptor. Is it something to do with those locating pins (red squares in your pics)? I assume they have to come out to remove the head unit?

Tonkit; thanks for that link. Once I get the Alpine unit fitted I will see how I get on with the bright lighting. If I decide to leave it in, I will order one of those kits.

Now I am waiting for the facia adaptor to be delivered. I already have the wiring and aerial adaptors. I had the unit out today (trying to cure a very annoying buzz which I think is to do with the head unit being too heavy for the plastic mounts, another reason why I want to change it) and wired up the Alpine unit to see how it sounded. Sooo much better, and it means I can use my i-pod in the car again.

Thanks for all the help so far; more stupid questions to follow!!

Al.