I have a 94 gxe with the Bose radio thats not working anymore, no sound. From what year to what year maxima can I get another 1 from that will plug and fit right in.

Thanks,
George

 

Check the 3rd gen FS section, some may have it for sale. With that said, I think that most here would recommend that you get an after market system, since the BOSE that are on our max does not really perform that much better. You simply need to purchase a harness adapter so that you do not have to cut the original plugs, and by pass the stock bose amps.

 

I appreciate the reply but that still doesnt answer my question? Does anyone else know.

Thanks,
George

 

i can see no reason why any 3rd gen BOSE anything would not work on your bose 3rd gen. if the car looks like yours, and has bose, it's game.

 

up until 94 on the max

 

The reason I ask is that there seems to be a lot of them for 95-99 for sale, cheaper than what the 89-94's are goin for.

Thanks again for any input,
George

 

To let you know. Most, if not all 3rd gen BOSE head units have either already died out, or will die out within the next few years if the car was religiously preserved. Though you may be able to FIND a BOSE head unit for a 1989-1994 Maxima, you will be spending more money in the long run. The stock audio system on these car's is prone to fail, including the head units, and amps. Once either of those is gone, the BOSE speakers will not work on a newer head unit.

The most logical and common solution would be to purchase a new or used aftermarket headunit and speakers, use the existing wiring, while bypassing the amps.

Also, I've seen 95-99 Head units in 3rd gens, but it is NOT plug and play. Good luck.

 

95 up uses a different connector than 94 down
you CAN make an adapter harness if you want

 

Thanks everyone for your time and info. Has anyone made this harness adapter before, if so where can I get 1?

 

If you are set on doing this, you can buy an adaptor plug for $12-15 specific for your max at AutoZone or Advance. Then go to a j/y and purchase a stereo plug harness for a 4th gen Max, if you can find one. Wire the two together and you're done; there's your harness adaptor. There is no "ready buy" adaptor for what you want. YOU have to make it.

Now, all you need to worry about is whether you have to make any adjustments or modifications to make the 4th gen unit fit right in the hole. I can't personally say whether it will or not. But, I do know that there are two different stereo brackets used even with the 3rd gen cars. One sets the stereo further back, the other further forward. This was due to the change they made to their stereo trims in the newer 3rd gens.

IMO: With all the Christmas sales, you should be able to get a good low end unit from any steroe dealer, Best Buy, Walmart, etc for around $150. Especially if you install it yourself. Again, an aftermarket plug costs $15 tops. If you are running Bose speakers and amps, I have a high/low converter you can have for $5 plus shipping. All less than $200.

My point here is that going aftermarket at this point is going to be less of a hassle than trying to wire in a 4th gen unit. If money is an issue, even if the 3rd gen bose units are a bit higher, I'd go with one of those for simplicity. That way you avoid tracking down and buying a 4th gen harness, tracking down color codes, buying everything you need to wire it up (wire nuts/tools/whatever), and trying to make sure the stereo mounts properly in your dash. I believe you'd find that after all that, a little more for a 3rd gen unit would be worth it cost and time wise. When your finances look better, aftermarket is the way to go. Remember, as good as a perfectly working Bose system may sound, you are still talking about technology that is over 10 years old. Upgrading to anything aftermarket would be an improvement at this stage.

 

I'd just pick up a couple of harnesses at the local stereo shop they have both sides available.
their harnesses are typically marked both sides
http://internetautomart.com/maxima/3rdgen/audio.html <- pics of both harnesses

 

Has anyone found that there are absolute crap speakers in the SE's if they didnt come with a BOSE system? (canadian ones anyway) I managed to blow all my speakers shortly after hooking up an aftermarket radio (without amps and rear amp bypassed) I took the rear board out to change them, and they were some cheap clarion garbage that looked like they were made with toilet paper tubes and playdough.

 

Really,it's not that they are absolute crap(as far as stock speaker systems are concerned),the issue with our stock speakers are they are 13+ years old,most stock speakers in most cars don't last much beyond the 8-10 year mark without failing,they are simply not designed to last past that mark...

 

yeah, they were very good sounding for stock stereos when they came out.

I don't think the stuff was really built all that well, though.

Honestly, I would recommend just putting in something aftermarket once your stock radio is through. You can get CD/mp3 players so cheap, I don't see the bother in buying something old that will likely conk out, too.

 

Big+1

Don't bother trying to keep the oem system going,it's just not worth it(ask me how i know),especially when you can hit up fleabay,invest $200-$400 on an nice aftermarket HU/speakers/amp/sub and have a much better sounding system then the oem system sounded brand new..

 

im getting a 1994 maxima Brougham and im going to put in an aftermarket head unit.. do i need a different adapter because i have 6 speakers instead of 4?

thanks so much ..i know nothing

i was looking at the sorche OEA-4.. can that hook up a 6 speaker system??

 

are you referring to 6 full range speakers or 4 full range and 2 tweeters?

 

the 1994 maxima brougham Is the most fully loaded .. My question is when it says 6 speaker premium bose system... HOW many connections will there be on the wiring harness? or when they say 6 speaker does this just mean there are tweaters or actualy 2 extra speakers on the rear door panels?

 

I doubt that there is more than 4 speaker connections on the HU.

 

I don't know all that much about Canadian trims (Brougham), but I'm going to guess your car probably only has 4 speakers. I doubt the Bose system was redesigned simply for a Canadian-only system. (Standard U.S. Bose only has four speakers.) My front bose speakers have what appears to be tweeters (doubt they actually are) ,but that could be what you are referring to... But to answer your question about the wires. search maxima wiring harness on google, or search for radio harness ground here on this site and you will get my thread about screwing up my ground (it has the diagrams in it).


For fun, there actually is no fully loaded 3rd gen maxima. The VE is an option, but when it is chosen, you can't get keypad, digital dash, digital climate... They only come with VG's. Would be really cool to have a fully loaded one though... I believe someone put a HUD and Digital climate into their VE, could be the closest to a loaded max...

 

not all 3rd gen BOSE is the same!!! 89-90 had different connectors than the 91-94. Even if the 91-94 is spliced it still wont work.

 

you were able to buy a VE with automatic climate control.....















































in canada

 

if i were you i would change that radio out and get something better. With new technology comes better equipment. That Radio is 15 years old. Imagine what better stuff you can get now. I changed my radio. That was the first mod i did to my car.

 

newer does not equal better

 

In the case of the Bose system...

ANYTHING = better

 

not really. if you had a perfectly functional bose system it sounds pretty dam good.
sadly they are all 14+ years old at this point, and unless it was stored in a hermetically sealed and climate controlled enclosure, the speakers are shot.

 

ya. it's just not worth the money to fix the bose system. but the parts car had bose, and it was nice, for the five seconds it lasted. then the humming and buzzing kicked in and took over.

 

i am well aware of the fact that it aint a 3rd gen, but my sister's 99 SE sounds awesome. if i could get one of those to work in my car, i'd say **** all the subs and amps and ****, and just have the bose. (of course, im rockin' the wally-world cheap stuff right now.)

 

from a 92 to 94 3rd gen maxima