Anyone fitted alpine h/u with interface

[Frasers Cup]

Im thinking about buying the Alpine 9853R, the ipod interface KCA420i and the interface cables for the dash display and the steering wheel remote in my 172 cup. How hard would this job be to do? Would I have to take the whole car to bits to fit it?

Here is the product im thinking about.

http://www.cel-direct.com/detail.asp?ProductID=3843http://www.cel-direct.com/detail.asp?ProductID=3843

If anyone has done this and could give me some advice it would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

Fraser

 

[Lee]

I installed that Headunit in mine the other day. Unfortunately there isnt a dash display or stalk remote adaptor avaiable for the more recent 05 Clios.

Fitting the head unit and adaptor is easy, the hardest part is tucking all the extra cable out of hte way. You can get most of that behind the dash below the head unit though if you have small hands.

http://www.leemather.plus.com/stuff/alpine2.jpgPic of it in

 

[Frasers Cup]

Cheers Lee. Is that the same h/u im looking at? And what about the ipod interface? How hard will that be to fit? Also my cup 172 is a 53 plate so id hope they would have some interface cables for the dash and steering wheel remote.

 

[Lee]

Yeah, its the same head unit. I cant help with the iPod stuff Im afraid as I dont have one.

Fitting it really easy. If you dont get the adaptor for the remote and display then the cables it comes with plug straight into the existing loom.

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ do the adaptors.

 

[Frasers Cup]

Thanks thats brill. Did you notice a big improvement in sound quality over the renault head unit, without changing any speakers?

 

[Lee]

Definitely a noticeable improvement even with the standard speakers. Although it is rattling one of the rear panels now, so I need to sort that at the weekend.

Im not big into ICE, I just got it so I could play MP3s but its a really nice head unit and doesnt look over the top.

 

[Frasers Cup]

Im not into ice really either, just want a nice h/u with ipod adapter! If you got a ipod you would never need a cd again! I was sick of my cds getting scratched and broken in the car.

 

[mr sheep]

ipod interface is easy to fit and works well, only bad point is with 300 albums if you want one in the middle it takes forever to scroll to it.

 

[jimiariss]

I have that h/u with the ipod adapter. Its easy to fit, the renault wiring just plugs straight into the h/u iso blocks. I fitted my ipod interface in the glove box and fed the wires through the hole where the glove box lid locks into, the ipod can then be plugged in and hidden away in the glove box.

Alpine do an interface for the display and remote control. Its £60 from Cel-direct, you need parts KCE-940B and KWE-942E. There is yellow iso plug that connects to this interface behind the h/u. As already said this does not work with recent 05 models. There are other interfaces that are cheaper (about £30 but they show much less info on the display that the apline one). The buttons react slightly differently from renault markings on the remote with alpine adaptor, but you get all the functions you need. There is also an older version of the apline interface which requires the dash to be taken off to fit, not the one you want unless you fancy it.

The only problem i have found which has been mentioned is that it takes a while to scroll through the songs and the adapter will only show a certain number entries in the ipod menus. Usually not a problem when searching from the album menu but if you go to song or artist you can loose the last entries if you have too many. I find it best to make playlists as its much faster and just put it on shuffle.

A friend brough an adapter from Cel-Direct that changes the Alpine CD changer lead into a headphone input so you can just plug that into the ipod. Much faster and you can skip through tracks much more easily, only the ipod cannot be controlled from the h/u. Cost £22 rather than £70 though.

 

[jimiariss]

Oh yeah, if you do get the display and remote interface. Each part has a remote power lead which both need connecting to the blue and white wire on the back of the h/u. The two interface leads will conect together and then join onto the alpine lead.

Dont let any of this put you off, you can do the whole install in about 10mins and are just pushing connectors together. No need for any cutting or re wiring. Hardest thing is making the birds nest of wires fit behind the dash. There is lots of room behind on the left hand side below the hole for the h/u though to stuff everything.

 

[zippyy]

the only thing i cant get used to is the glidetouch control

 

[KDF]

I have the same HU in my 172 aswell. It took less than 5 minutes to fit and that included fitting the stalk and screen adapter.

Its a quality unit but you deffinatly need a sub to get the most out of it.