Aftermarket single DIN car stereo install... Yes, I Googled it.

[pimpbot]

Heya,

I'm trying to put an aftermarket Pioneer head unit in my 99.0 Avant. It has (had) a Concert Non-Bose stereo.

I'm not so much looking for better sound (although, I'm sure it will be an improvement). I'm sticking with the factory speakers, at least for now. I'm mostly after iPhone handsfree and integration with iHeartRadio and apps like that. I had a kludge of RF FM adapters and charging cables running all over the place, and was trying to neaten that junk up. The factory tape deck died, so it would not work with a cassette adapter anymore.

I got the wiring worked out, except for the rear speakers. No problem, I can fix that issue now that I see what I did wrong there.

The immediate issue is how it fits in the dash. I got an American Somethingorother brand trim ring, and it fits like krapp. I started trimming it trying to get it to fit. The stereo went right in with no issues itself, but the trim ring looks terrible, with weird bends and such. There is no way this thing fits in the factory bezel without trimming, so I started by snipping off some of the tabs on the trim ring. That didn't help much. The Pioneer stereo cage won't fit in the trim ring, so all I can figure is that it goes over the stereo once it's in the dash.

With the stereo in and the trim ring on (as bad as it fits) you can still see a big hole in the dash around the stereo, even with or without the Pioneer bezel ring. It just doesn't fit. Well... they got the texture right, but that's it.

So, WTF am I doing wrong here? I probably need to find a different trim ring, but I have a hard time believing they F'ed up the design of this thing so badly. It did say on the package that it fits 96-2009 A4s, TTs, A6s etc (assuming single DIN size stereos, I'm sure). I mean, there are a zillion B5s out there with single DIN stereos.

Can I ask a big favor of the Audi community to post pics of successful installations, and what worked, what didn't?

[jd4311]

Hey man I think I have what you need.
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142AU23...er-reviews-tab

First you need the bigger piece of plastic that goes around the outer frame on the headunit to fill in the gap on the sides


then it should sit pretty flush but there is that white metal around the edges, the smaller plastic frame will cover that up.


and with it all on. Mine doesn't seem to sit flush on the passenger side, i've tried taking the unit out and moving it more to that side but it doesn't do much


and if you're looking at the headunit and wondering how old it is, its cassette only about to swap it out next week. Luckily whoever installed it did it professionally and there's already rca's to the back for my amp/sub and they used a wiring harness I can use again.


just realized my ashtray doesn't line up nearly as good as my hazard piece trim when I wrapped it in di noc :(

[pimpbot]

Thanks for the quick reply,

Yeah, I have a trim piece from American International, but it is junk. I bought it because somebody else gave it a good review. I probably need to buy another one form Schoche or something... a trim ring that is a bit more simple.

Anyway, I think I'm just going to install it without the ring for now, then get another one.... I just hate the ugly dash. Grrrr.....

[jd4311]

It doesn't make much sense on audi's part, the din unit slides in very snug. Mine isn't even screwed in or anything so I don't need din tools remove it. I just realized that a few days ago and I've had my car for two days. But without that solid black plastic piece there would be a 1/2 inch of space on either side not covered up. But the actual area it slides into isnt that big.

They probably got the piece at walmart, pretty sure when I was there picking up a sub box I saw a couple things similar to that, check there first probably cost ya $7 bucks

[pimpbot]

I think Audi was getting at a non-standard stereo that would not fit any other car, to deter theft. In Europe (and many parts of the US as well), the H junkies (or Meth heads in the US) will steal anything they think they can fence for $10.

What kills me is I already bought that stupid trim ring like 4 years ago when I bought this car. My first project was going to be a stereo replacement, but never got around to it. The stock stereo was gawd awful, but that was in comparison to the one in the GTi I was driving at the time. I bought the parts, never installed them, and stored them somewhere in my messy-ass garage. I've looked up and down for them for hours with no luck.

Anyway... whine whine whine.... I'll man up and spend the ten bucks agan. Watch this... I'll find it the day after I install it.

At least it's in and working. The rears are super low in volume, beyond the usable gain I can get from the Front/Rear fader. Does anybody know if there is a gain trim on the rear amp?

BTW, I highly recommend the Pioneer DEH-P9400BH.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-DEH-P9...eer+car+stereo

It does bluetooth, iPhone, USB (two USB ports, actually) line in on the front and the back with the adapter cable, HD Radio.. all for the low low price of $176 shipped from Amazon. It's a bit of a PITA to get around on, I'm finding, but I'm figuring it out. It's amazing how cheap this stuff is getting lately. I remember back when I sold car stereo, a Pioneer in-dash CD player went for $400... and it didn't do anything interesting. Just CD and Radio. If somebody bought one of those from us, we would high-five each other for the rest of the day.

[defrag010]

Eskips 5440 (circa 2002) with no trim ring and this kit. Very slight almost unnoticeable bowing at the bottom center. I've had it in for about a month and am satisfied.

[Aarony92]

Here are my two single din's the older car used the stock setup 100%, the newer one just needed the spacers to compensate for a HU that isn't as wide as the factory.

[pimpbot]

Eskips 5440 (circa 2002) with no trim ring and this kit. Very slight almost unnoticeable bowing at the bottom center. I've had it in for about a month and am satisfied.

That is the exact trim ring I bought. I'm surprised you got it to work as well as you did.