zagato27

I'm thinking about replacing my oem Bose on my 97 SE. Lately the radio has had some issues. First and worst is that the cd player will play about 1/2 a cd before it stops and says error. This happens with burned and store-bought cds. Pretty frustrating. As everyone knows the unit is so old that it doesn't have the capability to play mp3s which is sad. Plus no iPod connectivity. I've also had some issues with the display not showing and fading in and out. SO, time to look for a replacement. Here are my requirements for a replacement: it has to fit the oem opening in the center stack; cd & mp3 capability (single disk is fine); BT is optional but would be very nice to take advantage of my SE 850i; plug and play...I don't want to have to run any additional wires; iPod ready. Think that's about it. I was on an Apple forum and one of the guys mentioned this Pioneer FH-P8000BT http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...-P8000BT?tab=B
The price seems right and the unit has what I want. So, does anyone have any experience with this unit? OR, any suggestions regarding another unit? Thanks in advance. Cheers

fat_kid

iTrader: (13)

you can get whatever you want just be sure to get a line balancer( i think that is what its called)

Camfantasy

iTrader: (2)

http://cgi.ebay.com/PANASONIC-CQ-VD6...QQcmdZViewItem

I bought this double-din dvd monitor about 2 months ago and its been awesome. It's got everything you could want with it except navi. and has "expansion" items you can buy as in the ipod reciever,rear view camera,changer, etc. Was reluctant before buying it because it was a refurb, but its worked perfectly so far. For $350 i couldnt beat it. The quality of the pioneer is going to be better than the panasonic but it's a tv! haha

AndrewR2442

iTrader: (1)

I'm sorry but i think that was hideous...

Mxrider52

iTrader: (8)

Might as well just get a single din with all the same options that will be cheaper unless of course you are wanting a double din. Yes I would say it prob would look nicer but for the price I wouldnt spend that but that my opinion.

Also you will have to buy an adapter to power the bose speakers since they contain amps. I dont remember off the top of my head what the adapter is. Search around you will find it.

Also this is the wrong thread for this type of stuff. Try the Audio and electronics forum.
http://forums.maxima.org/forumdispla...ysprune=1&f=21

Bandfan1024

Aslong as you get a good dash kit, whatever's fine, lol

QNO_A32

iTrader: (7)

first post looks too new IMO for the 4th gen idk

maxprivate

iTrader: (12)

From what I the bose speakers play terrible with an aftermarket radio. Might as well get better speakers while your at it, at least the from two.. you could always do the other at another time or just leave them. The pioneer FHP800BT is really sweet though and for the price you cant beat it. If you want navi you can always buy a portable one( the avic s2 looks promising) and it would be cheaper than buying an all in one.

fat_kid

iTrader: (13)

or you could get a 6disc bose from a pathfinder

maximabebe

iTrader: (24)

I paid $155 for a Microvision 7"TFT monitor & paired it up with a JVC single DIN DVD unit which I slapped into the bottom slot under the original Bose location. I got the JVC for $275 new and it has a direct Ipod hookup in the face via cable.

vuiskool

iTrader: (1)

i have a single din pioneer headunit and from what i experienced, my speakers are louder and the bass is just unbelievably thought to be heaven.

Crooper_Hedder

iTrader: (2)

CarPC?

zagato27

Was out with my sons doing some shopping and decided to stop by a couple of car audio places. The first two didn't even carry Pioneer but one suggested a different store. Went there and they had the unit in stock and said it would take them 2 hours to install. Right there I decided to take the plunge. So, tomorrow am having the Pioneer FH-P8000BT installed. Price was about the same as Crutchfield but a bit more than I could have done on ebay. Price is $339 plus $30 for installation. Can't wait to see and hear this new unit. BT and MP3 and iPod connectivity. Should be sweet.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (10)

The correct adapter for the aftermarket stereo to Bose speakers is called a Scosche adapter.

Without it, any aftermarket headunit will sound like crap on the Bose speakers because it's destroying them. Read up and learn on the audio section.

zagato27

Yes, I'm aware of that. Will ensure that it gets installed. Cheers

arrocha87

thats just the brand name... but when u go on cruthfield it tells u to buy the adapter. i ordered my radio and also two pairs of 4-way pioneers from ebay and they were suppose to get here on tues. and im still waiting cause they're "out of stock". im got the same unit so let me know how u like it.

zagato27

WOOOOOOOEEEEEEE! Just got back from having the Pioneer installed. First, it looks great! Fits in the same "hole" as the oem Bose, no adjustments needed. Second, looks really good. Not quite as understated as the oem Bose but it doesn't jump in your face either. Looks good. Sound is wonderful. I had the usb cord for the ipod run to the armrest box and it works great. The BT phone pairs easily with my SE 810i and has downloaded all my phone numbers and it works. Get into the car and the phone pairs and I'm ready to go. Bout the only thing I haven't tried yet is the cd/mp3 player. Oh yes, mike for the phone is installed just above the rearview mirror....pretty unobtrusive. I really didn't need a new radio w/ touchscreen and nav and all that, just one that hooked up to my iPod and played cd/mp3's and had BT for my phone. Really happy so far with the purchase. This is a very slick radio. About my only complaint is that the main manual is on cd and that the radio seems to have a bit of a steep learning curve. Interesting feature: blackout. You can black out the screen is you like. Anyway, I'll try to get a couple of pictures to post. Cheers

arrocha87

ILL BE WAITING FOR YOUR PICS! IM DESPERATE FOR MINE TO GET HERE!

zagato27 JR

Pics of the setup:

zagato27

Asked my son to take some pictures. E Voila! He takes some nice shots. THKS. One of these days I'm gonna clean those mats. Actually I need some new ones. OEM would be nice, as mine are pretty worn out. Maybe some WeatherTech in grey would work. Suggestions???

arrocha87

man that is classy right there. i cant wait for mine! and idk bout ur mats cause i had to throw my OEM ones away. they were literally falling apart... but the radio looks real good.

dvpatel99se

iTrader: (1)

You have one clean car dude. Good job maintaining the interior.

Question: Did they break your panel by the Ash tray? I see a crack there.

PS I broke the image links on purpose to redue the long quote.

zagato27

Thanks. Not as clean as I'd like it. Oem mats need replacing badly and the driver's seat has a pretty good cut on the seat but otherwise not too bad for an 11 yr old car. As to the crack in the trim near the ashtray.....I confess, broke it there and another place when my son and I installed the B&M short shifter. Was a bit impatient and broke it. Have to see if I can find another piece in a junk yard.
I'm really liking this radio. For some reason my son had to borrow Max this evening.

zagato27 JR

Hey, Max gets better mileage than the Legend. Plus, taking the Max was a good excuse for using your gas!!

Digitized

iTrader: (9)

wow that looks great! I was going to invest in an Aftermarket Double din unit since my original BOSE radio is on thre fritz ( CD error, no display, sound fades in and out).. but bought a 97-99 radio and now using the USAspec Ipod interface..


but for sure if I am looking to replace the unit with an aftermarket Double din unit, I'm considering the Pioneer.. wow that looks clean and like you said it does Jump out at you..
and blackout.. what do you mean black out?


also, nice to see son and dad on the max forums.. wish my dad liked cars the way I do

zagato27

It has a feature where you can basically turn off the display while in use...ie no blue light from the unit. Might be a nice feature during the night but haven't tried it yet. As I said, the iPod feature works well and you can either control the iPod using the head unit or the iPod. I've been using the head unit as I had them route the usb cable and iPod interface to the storage area underneath the center arm rest. Works well. You can play your iPod stuff by playlist or artist etc. Pretty slick. As to "jump out", the unit itself blends in pretty well. The plastic face is black gloss so it does stand out a bit from the center stack but I think it looks really good. BT for phone works well too. You can hear it when it pairs plus the display will light up a blue phone in the lower right. Unit automatically mutes during calls, I'd guess that's pretty much standard with these type of units. One thing you probably need to look at is iPod compatibility. I've got a new Nano so there wasn't a problem but if you've got an older gen it may/may not work. Says something in the manual...on cd and a pain in my opinion....regarding this. So check it out.
Yes, my son and I do share a passion for cars. That's a good thing and we mainly agree. FYI, test drove a Pontiac G8 GT(both of us). This is one sweet car, unfortunately it's about 5 years too late IMHO. Cheers

KyleFort32

iTrader: (3)

wow that looks beautiful

deadmax96

man that is slick as ***k. Kinda jealous now....looks like i will be upgrading my pioneer soon!! is this the deck where the face turns itself over (i guess for anti-theft) or is it open like that. Im tryin to come up with a shroud cover so it looks like there is no radio when the car is sitting either at work or at night......my car is not flashy but i guess ppl just like breaking into it (4 times this year so far) I mean for cryin out loud i park right next to a 00 lexus and not once has his car been broken into like mine. (I only get the 150 or less head units FYI). but like i said that is just damn B-E-A-utiful!!!!

zagato27

Sorry to hear bout the break ins. That hurts! To answer your question, this hu doesn't do any "flip" tricks etc. What u see is what you get. When I was looking for it I did come across some Pioneer single din units that did have detachable faceplates but wasn't interested in a single din unit. Come to think of it, they might have fit in the storage bin beneath the radio though. They did have the same basic design theme though...blue lighting and a large "do everything" ****. Don't know if they could do all the things that this one does though. Good luck with the search and try to find a better parking space. Cheers

UGAd13

Yo... thinking of installing this in my 5th gen. How has it held up so far? Still like it? Any other pros/cons? Is it as bright at night as other reviews I've read?

UGAd13

Me again.... do you know what harness the installers used?

zagato27

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond. No problems with the unit. Yes, still like it. Someone else on a "Mac" forum where I post talked about using his iPhone with the unit. He uses the iPhone instead of the hu to navigate through his mp3s....cover flow is pretty sweet. When I think of the three line digital display on this unit and compare it to my nano...full color and coverflow....I wish it had the same display. Guess if I wanted that I should have gotten a touch screen w/ nav. I'm happy with what I got. My nano is hidden in the center armrest and I don't have to think about disconnecting it and taking it with me when I exit the car. The BT phone works well with my SE 810i. Incoming calls stops the music and it goes to phone. After the call it resumes playing. Oh yeah, it downloaded my phone book from the phone so that's available to scroll through and call "whoever". It also comes up with the recent call list so you can choose from that. Sound is good from the oem speakers. Was listening to Santanna....Black Magic Woman...and it sounded great. Every speaker was playing a little something different...ie instruments. The hu will accept up to 3 different BT phones (we, son, wife and daughter and me all have the same SE but only my son and I drive "Max") but really haven't investigated that yet. Also would like to update my phone book but haven't looked it up yet. Gosh, I'm lazy. The unit IS bright at night. It does have a feature to turn off the lighting if you want. Wish there was an option to change the color of the display to match my center stack lighting....green. Oh well. As to the harness...I have no idea. Hope this helps. BTW, another guy (on the Mac forum) installed this in his Mazada Tribute....he likes. Hope this helps. Cheers

HM_Motorsports

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking about this same HU for awhile now, and had never seen one in a Max, you convinced me. Awesome. Love the way it looks.

maxx0831

iTrader: (2)

damn dat setup looks beautiful zagato

UGAd13

Thanks! I just had some issues installing it using the Metra 70-7551 in my ‘03, so we had to use the 70-7550 that doesn't use the preamp outs. Also, the HD Radio is not as HD as I thought it would be. My brother has the Pioneer AVIC D3 and his reception is not that great either. Maybe something to do with the Bose and aftermarket FM reception or just the adaptor I'm using. It does look AWESOME installed though. I probably got it for the same reason as you did. I had Pink Floyd The Wall in and it sounded great. The preset EQ is pretty easy to use as well. I haven't messed around with it to its fullest capabilities yet but so far it's a great HU.

So far the only con I have is I wish you could change the LED color to match. That'd be a whole lot easier than changing the LED in the climate control.

arrocha87

well its pretty much easy to put blue led bulbs in ur dash and some plastic wrap to tint ur clock to blue.

zagato27

UGAd13
Did I mention that my son will be a freshman @ UGA this Fall? My youngest daughter is a junior @ UGA and eldest daughter is a UGA grad. Must be something in the water

arrocha87

hey zagato i was thinking we could paint our dash gloss black so that they match our radios, wat do u think? im goin to try it and let u know how they come out. lol first i should install my radio b4 getn any ideas, but still missing the speakers and broke! lol

2da mizzax

iTrader: (4)

Zaga, that radio is fkin beautiful! makes me want to sell my pioneer indash and get that instead.

OK.Eric

I'm interested in the FH-P800BT but I'm wondering if you're able to use your steering wheel controls with it. I'm guessing you would have to buy an adapter or something. Anyone done this?

Also, which adapter do you need to make this work with the stock bose speakers (in my 5th gen max)? Any recommendations on a good one?