magrillz Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Right then, Have a bit of a dilema and wondered if you could help. I was lucky enough to get a new Pioneer AVH-P4100DVD Headunit for Christmas which I'm very excited about . Now I am considering changing this for the Alpine iXA-W407BT as it has built in bluetooth and comes with the iPod/iPhone cable but not sure what to do. Pros/Cons are: Alpine - Comes with built in bluetooth and Ipod cable and can be hooked up to an Alpine Nav unit at a later date. However thinking of getting Nurrish's Sat Nav for this car. Down side is no CD Drive built in so Radio and Ipod only. Pioneer - Does have built in CD/DVD Drive, I already have it sat here and it looks rather tasty! Down side is I have to pay out another £130 for the bluetooth and ipod cable and can't be linked to a NAV unit If ever needed in another car. Planning on keeping the zed for as long as possible mind you. Just wondered if I'm missing anything with regards installation and one might be easier than the other. E.g. gaps around the the headunit or compatibility with steering wheel controls. It seems the Pioneer has been used by a few on here but not usre if anyone has the alpine? Any advice more than welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokomo Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 firstly id try and get the BT adaptor used as it sonly £100 new and ive seen the odd one floating about on flebay for half that re ipod have you thought about using a laptop hdd instead as unless your using a full ipod classic thenyoud get more space with the drive. also re sat nav pioneer do sell add on nav units that must surely be linkable id be suprised it wasnt. the alpine looks like a good unit too(considerd it myself) but for the price i wasnt that boatherd about the nav add in and went for another jvc and my iphone nav. thers a thread on here about the pioneer and i dint seea bad word about the unit so it must be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 If you have an iPod for use in the car, you'll never need a CD anyway. I've got an Alpine iPod-only unit in mine and it's the greatest thing I've ever done to the car (well, almost) and I wouldn't go back to using those horrible shiny discs ever again. Get the right lead and it'll connect with the steering controls perfectly as well. I <3 my Alpine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 If you have an iPod for use in the car, you'll never need a CD anyway. I've got an Alpine iPod-only unit in mine and it's the greatest thing I've ever done to the car (well, almost) and I wouldn't go back to using those horrible shiny discs ever again. Get the right lead and it'll connect with the steering controls perfectly as well. I <3 my Alpine. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 i like the pioneer units. you can get a USB link cable for them for alot less and just plug in an external harddrive. much more space than an ipod and you can have it wired in all the time. i have the standalone Pioneer avic f500 satnav hardwired into my car in the cubby. its double din sized but only as thick as 1 and a half fingers. if they can hardwire that into my bose then it should be the same for the 4100 unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 As soon as I got my 350 I took out the Bose cd changer (had experience of them in my 03 Mazda 6) and replaced with a Pioneer F900BT. I am VERY happy with it, its not perfect and just found out it's going to cost £150 to upgrade software properly too! Sound quality is superb even without a booster and with OEM speakers. I thought I was going to have to change the speakers but they seem very good to my ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacW Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 If money is no object then go with the Alpine. I bought the Pioneer F710BT (because money was an object) which is great but the Alpine is better and the sat nav module you get for it is the best I've ever seen (no offense Nurrish ). You'll not regret the Pioneer if you stick with it but the Alpine is definitely a step up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magrillz Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Thanks for the advice everyone, as always some really good comments and views that I hadn’t thought about. I’m going to speak to Nurrish about his Nav module today hopefully as for this car I think I’d like the Sat Nav up on the upper screen. I think I may go for the Alpine as it ticks most of the boxes and like the look of it. Does anyone know if I’ll definitely need a double din face plate adapter to give a proper fit in the dash. I noticed people were buying them for the Pioneer unit but don’t know if this is model specific. I have noticed that both ICT and Autoleads do them on Sextons Direct. I’ve had Autoleads stuff in the past but never seen the ICT stuff. Anyway, so far, after looking at previous posts the things I think I need are: Autoleads or ICT Facia Adapter - http://www.sextonsdirect.co.uk/autolead ... html?cat=0 Bose Loom ICT 29-674 - http://www.sextonsdirect.co.uk/ict/p~29-674.html?cat=0 Will this convert the signal for the Bose amps as the link seems to focus on the Steerign Wheel controls. Steering Wheel Control ICT 29-001 - http://www.sextonsdirect.co.uk/ict/p~29-001.html?cat=0 to work with the above loom. If anyone would mind letting me know if this looks OK that would be great. Thanks again for your help. PS – The car is a 2008 Model GT with Bose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokomo Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 the leads right , as for the front facia i just went double din last night and needed the new one (came with themain kit from my single din so was ok). the one that came with left a small gap round the out side and new one was a little small to allow the face to fold over so i had to grind it back a bit , if the alpine has no cd then does it need to fold ? if it wasnt such a pita to do id say just try it with out but as its a pain to do and the facia wont be in every local audio shop id say order it to be safe and if its not needed ebay it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magrillz Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Cheers Yokomo at least I am getting there with the leads then. I don't think the Alpine uinit does slide so that might make things easier. Sorry to be a dumb a$$ but are you saying that that facia kit looks OK then? As you say I'd rather have it left over than have to take the dash apart again after! Cheer mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nurrish Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Cheers Yokomo at least I am getting there with the leads then. I don't think the Alpine uinit does slide so that might make things easier. Sorry to be a dumb a$$ but are you saying that that facia kit looks OK then? As you say I'd rather have it left over than have to take the dash apart again after! Cheer mate. If you were to get my system we could hit it all in one go and get it setup properly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokomo Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Cheers Yokomo at least I am getting there with the leads then. I don't think the Alpine uinit does slide so that might make things easier. Sorry to be a dumb a$$ but are you saying that that facia kit looks OK then? As you say I'd rather have it left over than have to take the dash apart again after! Cheer mate. If you were to get my system we could hit it all in one go and get it setup properly he works fast too ! here mine with the adaptor plate but you might not need it viewtopic.php?f=27&t=28706&start=15 looks pretty well sorted with just the plate that came with the HU. i gues sit just brand ot brand how lucky you get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magrillz Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Cheers Yokomo at least I am getting there with the leads then. I don't think the Alpine uinit does slide so that might make things easier. Sorry to be a dumb a$$ but are you saying that that facia kit looks OK then? As you say I'd rather have it left over than have to take the dash apart again after! Cheer mate. If you were to get my system we could hit it all in one go and get it setup properly he works fast too ! here mine with the adaptor plate but you might not need it viewtopic.php?f=27&t=28706&start=15 looks pretty well sorted with just the plate that came with the HU. Thanks Yokomo, will get the facia plate ordered then I've got all bases covered. Looks like a nice headunit there! i gues sit just brand ot brand how lucky you get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magrillz Posted December 29, 2009 Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 Cheers Yokomo at least I am getting there with the leads then. I don't think the Alpine uinit does slide so that might make things easier. Sorry to be a dumb a$$ but are you saying that that facia kit looks OK then? As you say I'd rather have it left over than have to take the dash apart again after! Cheer mate. If you were to get my system we could hit it all in one go and get it setup properly Thanks Nurrish, I will get all the parts ordered for the stereo and once I know I have everything and I'm ready to go ahead I'll contact you to arange one of your Custom Nav units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yokomo Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 do it all together if you can as the dash is a PITA to stuff back in especiialy on your own ! also if your planning on or think you mihgt to run a sub or anything else additional for that matter run the cables while its all out. good start would be the subwoofer rca and the amp signal wire to the glove bo/ space wher the sub is and might aswell rub a single coax to the boot for reversing camera too , then if you do go for upgrades there no rip it apart and strugle just for a rcas lead ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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