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Aftermarket radio

13K views 14 replies 9 participants last post by  gunz4me 
#1 ·
I want to install an aftermarket radio in my 2011 wrx. I want to keep my steering controls, usb and aux port, bluetooth steering controls and mic. Anyone have any ideas how i can keep all those factory options with an aftermarket unit? I heard something about an adapter for the volume controls but didnt really any info abou it.
 
#4 ·
I just bought an alpine INA-W910 from crutchfield. I also got the metra axxess automatic steering wheel control adapter. The head unit has built in navigation and Bluetooth. I believe the factory Bluetooth is in the head unit, therefor removing it removes factory Bluetooth. this would also remove the connection to the media hub.

with an aftermarket head unit you will have to have replacement usb/ipod/aux connections, and Bluetooth system. presumably an all in one head unit like the alpine i selected, and the above solution, would have this. there is an adapter for the steering wheel controls, i can let you know how well it works. looks like the above solution would not need this adapter.

to put it short, replacing the headunit means you need replacement bluetooth/aux/usb, and a steering wheel control adapter.

i think this is all correct, but i just got my WRX on friday so im trying to learn fast. someone please correct me if anything is wrongly stated.
 
#5 ·
And it looks like the bluetooth controls are also sent on the canbus therefore the aftermarket steering wheel control adapter will pick it it up. You then have to make sure you can program the adapter so your headunit receives them correctly.

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#8 ·
How big is the flash drive you are using? I had a similar problem with a different Alpine and fixed it by lowering the amount of memory on the flash drive. For reference it was 16 gig flash and right now I have about 9 gig or so full and it banks much faster. Also had a flash drive that wouldn't work because of how hot it got inside the car in the summer. That one would bank then error.
 
#7 ·
I ordered the unit Sunday night. Comes in tomorrow. Ill let you know when I get it installed.

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#9 ·
I want to install an aftermarket radio in my 2011 wrx. I want to keep my steering controls, usb and aux port, bluetooth steering controls and mic. Anyone have any ideas how i can keep all those factory options with an aftermarket unit?
See my post here.

Your steering wheel phone/Bluetooth buttons don't use CAN bus. All of the SWC buttons have a simple network of resistors. But yes, the Metra Axxess ASWC interface module will let you retain use of all of the buttons with an aftermarket HU.
 
#10 ·
Yeah sorry my bad. I was reading something wrong before.

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#11 ·
Alpine

I did the 900BT in my car with DavidSVX's wire harness. I am switchg out to the 910 next week. I was not able to retain the BT bottons on the steering wheel last time, but bought the Axxcess from David to do it this time. That said, i also used the Forester in console USB connection to connect to the alpine, it has a regular USB connection and I used it to plug into the alpine. Very stealth, also got from David.

I cant wait to install the 910 and get the BT buttons back. Everything else works on the steering wheel with the PAC-SWI.
 
#13 ·
I did the 900BT in my car with DavidSVX's wire harness. I am switchg out to the 910 next week. I was not able to retain the BT bottons on the steering wheel last time, but bought the Axxcess from David to do it this time. That said, i also used the Forester in console USB connection to connect to the alpine, it has a regular USB connection and I used it to plug into the alpine. Very stealth, also got from David.

I cant wait to install the 910 and get the BT buttons back. Everything else works on the steering wheel with the PAC-SWI.
Did you ever swap out for the 910? I just got the Axxess from David and installed it with my W910. I was not able to retain steering wheel bluetooth controls.

Auto program had the bluetooth buttons performing other functions so I did a manual reprogram but it did not enable the steering wheel bluetooth buttons to operate the W910 bluetooth.

If you got it to work, that means I did something incorrect, but my wiring seems to make sense since the bt buttons were doing something else before.
 
#12 ·
I'm probably going to end up doing the Alpine INA-W910 with the imprint processor for my active crossover and time alignment. As I currently understand it, the factory USB plug and factory blue tooth microphone is proprietary technology with no way to interface it with the aftermarket gear.

Of course, with CES around the corner, I am going to hold off just in case a newer, more exciting, double din hits the market this year.
 
#14 ·
Did you go with the W910 with the PXA-H100 processor? If so, do you run all external amps? If you run your highs off of the headunit amp, I found out over the past few days that you can't feed the H100 signal back into the W910 like you could on previous Alpine headunits so be careful. If you run your highs off of amps though, I think you'd be ok. I guess the 910 is really designed to work with the newer H800 processor...but the nice thing is, just about all of the manual tuning functions the H100 enabled in my X305 headunit, are included standard with the W910.
 
#15 ·
Actually, I changed my mind and am going with a Mosconi DSP 6to8 and have yet to choose a head unit. As fate would have it, I came across a great deal on a set of unused Soundstream Reference RF3.6c speakers, so my plans have since changed. Also, my audio project ended up getting put on hold due to the fact that the wife and I are buying a new house and I am knee deep in tax returns at my part-time CPA practice. May can't get here soon enough!
 
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