Alpine 9887 headunit fitted.....

[gIzzE]

Not many threads with aftermarket decks fitted so thought I would add a pic of this, Alpine 9887r which I modded the white biolite display to amber so it matched the interior.......

[Addict...Nah Im A Junkie!]

Sweet!! Have more pictures??

[gIzzE]

Hmm, no not really.

Have this one....

[JimD]

Any difficulties in the installation? Are you happy you did it? Any dealer help required?

Jim

[_dopehead_]

Does it integrate with steering wheel ?

[MadMan77]

+1 to what all the others have said.

Also, did you relocate the original head unit? If not the dealer will not be able to run certain checks if there are problems. You cannot get software updates for the entire car either.

[gIzzE]

I bought a PDC adapter and a steering wheel adpater, this also gave my switched ignition, speed pulse, illumination and a reverse signal (that is not needed for thsi head unit obviously) this made it all plug and play.

It was so quick to fit, around 10 minutes, that I didn't bother relocating my oem head unit, just thought I would pop it back in when going in for warranty work.
Also, cause my car is remapped I thought when taking it in for a service it would stop them from over writing the remap too, they wouldn't be able to update the car without me wanting them to.


No regrets, other than it has got me looking at the new Pioneer P99RS at 4x the price.

[JimD]

Will this head unit support Alpines system to equalize your car? I saw what appears to be a pretty slick setup of a microphone and test disk but it only works for certain Alpine head units. You hook the microphone to the head unit and play the disk and then the head unit adjusts the output so that you have flat frequency response in your car. Seems quite slick.

Jim

[gIzzE]

Yeah the 9887 works with 'Imprint' which is what Alpine call it.

However, I was not that impressed with it, it locks down all settings and Alpines tend to be quite bright by default and you then have no way to overcome this.

It has a 7 band parametric EQ which works superbly and only takes a few days of adjusting and then you leave it alone.

Plus the Time alignment is a doddle to do manually, you don't need a mic.

You measure the furthest speaker from your head, normally passenger side rear and use that as a starting point, Speaker A.

You then measure the rear drivers side speaker distance (from your head again) Speaker B.

Then passenger side front, Speaker C

Finally drivers side front. Speaker D.


Say they are...

A = 220cm away
B = 180cm away
c = 120cm away
D = 70cm away

You start with the furthest speaker, A, with no delay, so you enter in A = 0cm.

Then to work out B you do the math...

A - B = 40cm

So for B you add 40cm of delay.

Then for C you do

A - C = 100cm

So for C you add 100cm of delay.

For D you do...

A - D = 150cm


So for the drivers side you add 150cm delay.

You can do this on the fly and as you adjust the drivers side speaker you will hear the beat move across the dash, when it is in the middle you know it is right.


It takes 10 minutes and you will get it exactly how you like it, some like the soundstage centred in front of them, others like it centred in the middle of the dash. If you use the software you have to go with its results, better to do it manually imho.

[gIzzE]

Oh, if you have a sub in the trunk you can use this as speaker A as it is probably the furthest from you.
Using time alignment on a sub is incredible, you can get the beat up on the hood of the car, it also allows you to cross it over a lot higher too as it no longer matters that it is directional.

[wkndracr]

So what exactly do you lose by removing the stock head unit? I just got my car and am extremely disappointed with the base sound system. I figured I would just change the HU and run my old Soundstream 5ch amp and Morel components, but now I see there's other stuff controlled by the factory HU (gong, trip comp, configuration settings) not to mention lack of a place to mount 6.5" components. I suppose I could always relocate the factory HU and run a separate speaker for the gong.

[gIzzE]

Easiest was to do it is to buy a Parrot sound on top cable, you can then run power and canbus from your oem head unit and put a small speaker under the dash, there is a mount for it as some Euro cars have it on the basic radio set up for PDC.

If you buy a steering wheel adapter with can bus signals and a PDC adapter you will loose nothing, you can still control the OBC through the stalk, the only thing that disapears is the warning gong, you still get the warnings in the cluster flashing at you, you just loose that gong, which I actually like.



The BMW doesn't need 6" components as you have the subs under the seat, so use decent 4" mids and put some 8" in the sub enclosue, if mounted properly you will get them going down to 28hz.




However.....I am not sure if the US cars start with the hi-fi system?? Do you have an amp as standard??

If you do I would just swap the factory amp out for a decent amp that can take a hi level differential input and see what you think then.
The stock head unit is actually pretty good, it is the amps that let the system down.

[wkndracr]

My system has no amp, and the lack of volume proves it. I took the dash apart today and it seems that there may be room underneath the stock HU to install another din radio and relocate the climate controls down below. Metra now has a double din kit that does just that. with a little modification, this setup should work quite well. I almost considered keeping the stock Hu and using a JL Cleansweep, but I'm not too crazy about the functionality of it, especially the ipod control and how it doesnt allow you to display artist or track info by default with the HD and Sat radio.

I was thinking a nice 3 way component set up front and use the midbass drivers in place of the oem subs, but if 8's will fit, that could eliminate the need for a trunk mounted sub. I'll also look into the PDC piece. If the gong is eliminated anyway, what is the purpose of the speaker? (I have no PDC)

[gIzzE]

The gong is for warnings, low fuel, flat tyre, empty washer fluid etc. etc.

You wire the speaker to the oem head unit and so you still hear the wanrings. You just wire up power, ground, can hi and lo and then the speaker.
I would just run the radio to the trunk.


The Metra fascia needs you to remove the factory cage that holds the radio in place, you then get a bracket to hold your new unit in place, this would not hold two single din units, and the oem radio is not the standard iso size either so forget that.

Also, I found the Metra fascia falls about 2" short of the dash, it isn't tall enough for the 1 series, it looked stupid.
I went to buy a Pioneer F910BT and the Metra last week, but it just looked crap so didn't bother.

I have sold the Alpine ready to buy the Pioneer P99RS, however now thinking maybe a bitone and OEM radio maybe a better better???

[wkndracr]

If the oem radio just needs pwr, grnd, and can high and low, that may not be a big deal. I thought I remember reading somewhere there was fiber optics back there as well. I'm thinking about the DEX-P99RS as well, but its pretty pricey. I work as an installer so I need to see what "my" price would be on that thing. Too bad about the F910bt. I have the US "X" version in my other car and love it, although it is lacking some of the higher end audio features i would like to have.

[parv.dj]

hi fellas, im new to the forum just bought my 116i sport, ive still got my alpine and jlaudio sound system.

intruigued as to how to modify the biolite to amber to match the bmw... how is this done??

[gIzzE]

Cherry and tangerine coloured PVC sheets from Midwest Plastics. In the UK get from here...

http://www.spmodels.co.uk/Modelling-...523/index.html

Take off faceplate, remove the 3 screws and take apart, cut a piece from each and put over the display, use a little selotape to keep in place and put back together.

Job done!!

[etang789]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

Not many threads with aftermarket decks fitted so thought I would add a pic of this, Alpine 9887r which I modded the white biolite display to amber so it matched the interior.......

oh wow one of the best installs i have seen! How did you mode the biolite display? can you show us how?

[driftdriven]

+1 on more details!

[gIzzE]

As I said above.....

Cherry and tangerine coloured PVC sheets from Midwest Plastics. In the UK get from here...

http://www.spmodels.co.uk/Modelling-...523/index.html

Take off faceplate, remove the 3 screws and take apart, cut a piece from each and put over the display, use a little selotape to keep in place and put back together.

Job done!!

[chrisfromalbany]

does anyone else have aftermarket deck in there car here in the states? What if any negatives are there..

[flinchy]

Originally Posted by gIzzE

The Metra fascia needs you to remove the factory cage that holds the radio in place, you then get a bracket to hold your new unit in place, this would not hold two single din units, and the oem radio is not the standard iso size either so forget that.

Also, I found the Metra fascia falls about 2" short of the dash, it isn't tall enough for the 1 series, it looked stupid.
I went to buy a Pioneer F910BT and the Metra last week, but it just looked crap so didn't bother.

I have sold the Alpine ready to buy the Pioneer P99RS, however now thinking maybe a bitone and OEM radio maybe a better better???

... where do you get the brackets to hold in in then? they don't come in any kit?

and what fascia did you use if not the metra?

the one in the pics in the top posts looks 100% like the metra one i have?

ED: and did you use anything for illumination (switched 12v?) i can't seem to find anything... a fuse for headlights, or license plate illumination maybe?