I bought myself a new radio for xmas! It's a Pioneer and it matches pretty good with the dash trim.The radio is the same size as the factory unit so it slides right in.I bought a jumper wiring harness that would plug into the German connector and Pioneer radio.I also had to buy an antenna adapter because the germans use a very small antenna wire and connector.About $22 in adapters and wiring.The face of the radio motors out like the rear wing.I think the factory antenna is a weak link because the reception on certain stations isn't any better.The sound is pretty good and has lots of adjustments and digital display features.I put pics in my gallery.

 

I like that headunit a lot. I was originally going to go the fold out nav screen route, because I love navigation, but now I'm not so sure. That headunit just matches so well.

 

Hey crossfiretech, what is the model number of that pioneer?

 

Pioneer DEH-P8500MP Shop around most electronic stores have it for $500..I bought it for $325.Compare prices at www.pricegrabber.com

 

I just don't understand why third party car audio companies don't automatically include an AUX input on everything except the super-cost-conscious lowest-end units. This Pioneer, for example, has pretty much all the features you could want, and even looks nice in the Crossfire dash. But it just bugs me to no end to pay for a good third-party head unit and still have to attach an iPod (or other removable, external source) via the antenna lead.

I notice that this unit will control Pioneer CD changers. Does anyone know enough about car audio to know if that means there's an audio-in somewhere that could be used? Perhaps it's part of a proprietary connector that would also carry the control information for the Pioneer changer if you were using one?

Cheers,

Greg

 

I have a quick question about playing mp3's on this unit...

lets say i make a mp3 cd with the following structure:
root
/Rock
/Country
/Rap
etc...

and inside each root folder i had somethong like this:

/Rock/Group 1
/Rock/Group 2
etc...

Then inside each of those folders i had the albums of that group:

/Rock/Group 1/Album 1
/Rock/Group 1/Album 2
etc...

Then ofcourse the songs for that album would be in the album foder:

/Rock/Group 1/Album 1/Song 1.mp3
/Rock/Group 1/Album 1/Song 2.mp3
etc...

Song 1 off of Album 1 from Group 1 would be three tiers down from root, so i would go there and it will play all of those songs in that folder/directory and then go the Album 2 Song 1 if it existed.

does this unit allow you to select or "drill" down like that OR does it just canvas the whole cd and tell you a TOTAL track count as in all the folders and subs added together and just give you a hiarchy play list based on cd postion vs. alpha/numeric priorty.

 

crossfiretech,
Do you have any part numbers for the additional wiring needed for an aftermarket radio?

 

Sorry I didn't save the part numbers.I took the factory radio down to a local radio install place and they matched up the adapter and harness.Vw and other european cars use the same connectors.You can also try here www.installer.com ( don't hold me to this but EU10 antenna and 1784 smart harness look right)

 

Greg, Pioneer makes an adapter that plugs into the changer port, but will allow you to run audio/video thru your head-unit's AUX setting. I am currently running the same setup in my truck. If you need help, let me know and I will try and get the P/N.

-Hodge