[Vandy]

Had a new Alpine head unit fitted by my local car audio shop. Collected the car and was shocked at the gap between the top of the unit and the fascia panel slot. Chap said the X Trail Din slot is not standard so the trim piece that should clip around the removable face won't go on, "it's too long and too high -sorry". Got home and thought this really looks naff. Looked at the trim and thought it can be done, so cut the bottom out, leaving sides at full size, then trimmed approx. 3mm off each end, filed off the top by about 2mm or so and rounded off all the corners to match slot shape and in it went - gap filled and looks great. Hope this makes sense? The Alpine unit is bluetooth and comes with a mic - it's fitted at top of windscreen behind the mirror) so have hands free phone working through car speakers. Ipod is plugged into rear of unit (also charges it) rather than the front so no messy plugs or cables hanging around and the cable is routed into the central armrest box. Next job is to replace the speakers as don't find them too good - a bit hollow sounding even with the dash tweeters as they lack mid-range, more noticable with speech but not too clever with music either! Any tips or advice for speaker choice would be greatly received, would be changing fronts and rears but not a sub woofer.
Pics show the unit fitted plus the Ipod in centre box - roughly lined this with rubber but will be re-doing more neatly later!
Have also shown pic of dashboard storage box - lined in felt to stop things rolling around - done same in glovebox but too dark to show in a photo - hope this helps someone?

 

[Vandy]

Pics missing from last post.

First pic shows standard stereo fit - not very good fit actually - gaps all around.

 

[Vandy]

Dash storage box lined with felt

 

[Cliffy]

im liking the dash box lined with felt looks cool

 

[Vandy]

Thanks Cliffy - forgot to say that I've done the same in the glovebox and centre cubby hole (above the ashtray) A fiddle to get in there and fix but does stop things knocking around against the plastic. Also fitted a small "stop bar" at the base/front of it to stop things flying out (if the roller doors are open) when you accelerate - maybe this was just me but always seemed to be looking for packets of extra strong mints under the seats! Will be making a better job of the ipod box as had to rip some off when it was fitted - cover over ipod means I can still keep a bottle of water in there and not worry flooding the ipod!

 

[saxosim]

Cheers for the helpful advice and info, I am not a fan of the standard single CD head unit either which came in my 04 SE, luckily I have got a Ripspeed Ipod headunit to put in. I had it in my Land Rover and it was great to be able to dock the Ipod. Good tip re putting the ipod lead in the centre console I was going to put it into the pull down door type storage box which is directly below my CD player, I think it will be better where you put yours.

Glad you mentioned about the outer trim peice as I just assumed the din slots were all the same size.

I don't suppose you know how to remove the main silver dash trim cover do you so I can gain access to change the headunit over?

Also does anyone know if an X trail uses a standard ISO connector or will I need to buy an adapter?

Finally I also would like to change the door speakers as I would like something better, do the grills come off without having to remove the door trims? Does anyone know what size the standard speakers are so I buy the correct ones?

I am pretty handy at fitting ICE from my younger car owning years before they all started coming with integrated dash systems and other none standard units so it will be nice to get my hands dirty again so to speak

Cheers
Simon

 

[Vandy]

The silver dash trim just pulls off. Grip the base of it and gently pull - there are no screws/bolts, etc, - it just pulls off. I had a iso watsit foo-foo fitted so have steering wheel controls working with this unit. As for speakers, in same position as you - want to upgrade but not sure what to use. I've seen an the Australian site that the speakers are an integral part of the housing (grill is on door card - not removable) and a couple of guys there have made MDF spacer rings to house the speakers - think they are 165mm jobbies front and rear. I will be poking around mine and see what I can come up with - will keep you informed of progress. I have a couple of 125mm 2 way speakers that I may fit onto MDF and fit these - know they are smaller but the extra soundboard from the MDF may help with mid range - there again, may be talking rubbish!

 

[saxosim]

Thanks for the info yes please if you can let me know what you find regarding the speakers that will be a great help

cheers
simon

 

[Vandy]

Hi Saxosim - have a look at the post from Cliffy (changing stock speakers) - he's showing the Australian link I mentioned re: speaker mounts - good pics and shows exactly what's in there.

 

[SVE25BLACK]

Hi Vandy

Have to say that looks like a graet job!

What is the model number of the Alpine unit as I would like to change mine and the spec of your unit sounds just the ticket.

Cheers :thumbs:

 

[Vandy]

Hi SVE25Black. The Alpine unit is a CDE-113BT. Has CD (MP3 too) player IPOD connection at rear plus front USB and 3.5mm line in & built-in Parrot Bluetooth so does the lot (brings up your phone book in screen + all ipod tunes - great for distracting you when you're meant to be concentrating on driving! As said previously, you need an interface (seperate order) to keep steering wheel controls working. Sure to get a better deal online and fit yourself but mine was £295.00 fitted inc. interface which I thought wasn't bad. Go on, go on. go on, you know you want one!
PS, no I don't work for Alpine!

 

[dodgyken]

I am looking to pick up a double-din unit when I am back in the UK in a couple of weeks. The plan is to take out the current piece of - I mean hi-tech brilliance - and replace it with something modern - and include Sat-Nav.

I am hoping it is not a complete ball ache to do

 

[saxosim]

Cheers Vandy, I have had a read of the speaker guide, seems straight forward.

I am just wondering and hoping that my iphone 3g will be compatible with my Ripspeed CMR-I3000 head unit. It says in the headunit instructions that it supports ipod 3g, mini, ipod 4g and ipod 5g (video). Does anyone know what technology the iphone 3g uses? The headunit is a few years old now, I am sure that iphones are backwards compatible with older technology.

Does anyone have a Ripspeed CMR-i3000 that they use with their iphone, does it work?

Cheers, regards
Simon

 

[Rob]

Looks good Vandy, I;ve just bought myself an alpine HU, you wouldn't happen to know the make and model of the interface you had installed for steerign wheels controls?

Also when you talk about filing down the fascia trim I assume you mean the alpine but not the x trail bit.

Was it just a file you used or did you use any other bits?

 

[Vandy]

Hi Rob. Yes - file down the trim that comes with the HU - don't file the dash trim as it scratches easily enough as it is. Must admit I used a craft knife to trim off about 2mm from each side and then filed it. The top and corners were just filed.
Little tip for you though - there are little lugs on the trim piece (offset slightly differenty on top and bottom) that locate into the HU. When these clip in you cannot get them out again if the HU is in situ (which it has to be to line up the trim)
I turned the trim upside down and cut what was really the top off and then turned it upside down again so that the lugs didn't locate with the HU (as it took a few suck it and see trys to get it to fit) and when I was happy with the fit, I trimmed a bit off (what were the bottom) lugs to allow them to locate into the top. Now if you understood that you are a better man than me - and I wrote it! (Will post a sketch for you)
Didn't get to know what the interface number was - will contact the fitter next week and get details for you but he certainly had no problem getting one - came the next day. If you're still reading this I hope it helped! Vandy.

 

[Vandy]

This is what I was trying to explain about the lugs - may make sense now?

 

[Rob]

Thanks for taking the time to explain that, I think I get your drift, we'll see when I get to fit the new HU next week at some point.

I did have an aborted attempt this weekend, but the interface I bought didn't marry up to the car's loom, despite it saying it was compatible with an X trail on the box. The brand was "In Car Tec". I'm going to try the Autoleads version hopefully that will fit.

Did you have any issues with functionality of the steering wheels buttons, my ICE dealer claimed that some times you may not get all the original functions of the steering wheel button?

 

[Vandy]

Hi Rob. All the functions on the steering wheel controls work so no problem there. I remember the shop needed to know if I had factory fitted sat nav or not - this makes a difference as apparently there are 2 different interface models. As the sat nav mutes the the right hand speaker I guess it's to do with that.

 

[Rob]

I've just ordered this:

http://www.caraudiodirect.co.uk/ict-29- ... aptor.html

Lets hope it works :biggrin:

 

[Vandy]

Hi Rob. Thought I would juist ask if you got your unit up and running with the steering wheel controls? Hope all went well and you're enjoying good sounds. Vandy.