Here is my double din from Clarion, model NX700, bought from Ebay for a fair price.
Still waiting on the Metra dash and the steering wheel integration kit, should be here by Thursday.
Iam quite faced out with the cables though ... not sure if it is as straight forward as I think it is...Iam just clipping all the colours to the Mini cables ?

Bought a rear camera with the wireless module, however it is gonna take two weeks to get here...I doubt I would want to dismantle the dash twice to plug the camera

 

I'm new to the mini community and was wondering if this solution is still working out good. -Thanks

 

Welcome, I am new as you are, but today I placed my orders for the ribbon cable and the metra double din install kit. So I think this solution still works

As all of my items are complete, I will write a complete guide with lots of pictures and instructions for other fellow MINI drivers.

I believe the install kit will arrive in 2-3 days, but the ribbon cable will take about 2-3 weeks.

And I wanted to ask again, what did you do with the blue clips for the ribbon cable?

 

No one seems to answer this question ... been waiting on an answer before I open up the dash.
Would be nice if someone add a step by step on the din install

 

I found this, maybe it will help.

 

Looks like we can reuse the clips then ... I guess there are like 4ppl who did this mod and posted here and no one had confirmed this yet
I guess I ll learned the hard way

 

That's not the type of ribbon cable mine had. There were no clips. Its plugs into a tension socket on the boards.

 

I think the blue clips you are talking about are the stiffening tape on the ends of the ribbon cable. The new cable will already have that on The ends.

 

We are talking about this part right here:

 

Yes, that is the stiffening tape and is part of the ribbon cable.

 

Oh ok, that's a relief. Thank you.

 

+1
thanks to ppl who are comin back to this thread to help those who wants to do it now

 

I have ALL the goodies I ordered in, but just won't have the time to even consider starting this task until a week from saturday unfortunately. I even got both the 32 pin and the 40 pin ribbon cable just to make sure I don't get into it realizing i'm missing something.

I'll take pictures and report back when I tackle the install. I want to set a whole day aside because I know it'll take the good part of a day. (replacing the ENTIRE audio system(headunit JVC XR810), speakers, wires, amp, everything...plus installing sound deadening)

EDIT: Still making sketches of how i'm going to lay everything out and i'm stumped...need the amp someplace i can get to it to change settings, and need the crossovers someplace I can get to them easily too.

So the Amp will probably be in the boot in the sub enclosure...and the crossovers too?! I hate to have to run 6 wires from the boot all the way up to the doors and tweeters though...blegh.

 

You're gonna want to set aside a lot more than one day. I've been installing for over 20 years and I couldn't do all that, correctly, in a day.

My amps are under the seats, no passives. Running one wire or three down each side is no different. The wires aren't big enough to worry about them making life a pain because of their size.

 

Iam still not sure if I need to cut the factory wires and tap them to the double din unit.
would this adapter save me headaches ??

 

It depends on if you want to keep the OEM radio hidden behind the tach. If you DO, then I'd run all new power, ground, and accessory power leads. The only thing you'd need to use from the OEM HU would be the antenna. Then you feed signal to the amps via RCA cables and from there run new wiring for the speakers. I don't see a reason to use the OEM wiring at all.

 

I finished the installation today. It took nearly 9 hours. All I can say is that it was worth the wait. But I have minor problems, such as front window heater key, seat heater keys, and the wheel that controls the speed of the fan are kind of stuck. They can move but not as they were. It really pissed me off, since I controlled everything before tucking the dash in. Now I will have to take everything apart again. Did any of you have this problem?

I will add pictures later.

 

Sweet
can't wait to see that.

 

I've been thinking about installing an aftermarket radio instead of feeding my speaker-level signals to my MS-8... I've done a complete set of measurements and have concluded that even the MS-8 is incapable of "fixing" the stock head unit signal.

The problem is, I am entering my car in the Spring Break Nationals IASCA Rookie and MECA Street sound quality competitions on the 24th and 25th of this month, which doesn't give me enough time to order the ribbon cables and perform the stock head unit relocation. That's less than two weeks away, and my car is still torn apart

So my question is, assuming that I don't care about the on-board computer display mounted in the speedo, and I'm not worried about my warranty since it's already been voided six ways to Sunday, could I go a few weeks without the ribbon cable? Will the car drive? Will I get nagging computer codes coming up on the tach info display? Oh yea, I'm not worried about the "bongs" either, well not for the purpose of the two competitions I'm entering.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

The factory signal, at least on the front outputs, assuming you have the base audio, is flat and full-range. If you have HK I think it might be as well. I'd have to look at Kevin's sticky to double-check.

The only thing you need the ribbon cable for is keeping that ONE display functional. As long as the OEM radio is tucked behind the speedo and connected via it's quadlock connector, you won't get any codes and the dealer will be able to perform updates. I'm actually thinking about NOT using my ribbon cable because the D800 screen might block it anyway. I'll have to see when I get the dash apart and make the decision then.

But short answer, no, you won't lose anything except that display. The computer functions in the tach WILL still work as normal so you're really NOT losing anything.

If the radio is tucked behind the speedo, you won't lose the gongs either. The only thing I'd do, and this is just me, I'd run new power, ground, and accessory wiring for the new radio leaving the OEM wiring 100% completely intact.

What I HAVE thought about was using the OEM HU's remote turn-on lead as my accessory power for the HU. Kind of like a kill switch. If I don't want anyone using the Alpine, turn off the OEM radio and the Alpine won't power up. This would also have the benefit of allowing the Alpine to be used with the car off. Just turn the OEM radio on and the Alpine will fire up too. Might be useful for competitions.

Hmmm.....

 

Thanks Paul!

That definitely sounds encouraging. Do you think I could skip the relocation of the radio, leave the quadlock connector un-connected, until after SBN on the 24th? I'm pretty sure I won't get any codes?

Second question.. (hopefully not off topic) Which wire are you using as a remote turn-on lead? I'm currently using the pin 13 (SW/black wire) of the X13812 connector at the back of the head unit, but it seems to "turn on" every time a door opens or closes. This results in some annoying pops during engine start, as the MS-8 gets all confused and doesn't disable it's output remote turnon to the amps as it should. I'm fearing one of these days I'm going to blow a set of $600 tweeters if I don't get this fixed. I seem to remember that the trunk cigarette lighter was more reliable, but it's raining out so can't investigate at the moment.

Which lead are you thinking about using as a kill switch? That could come in very handy, I believe IASCA has a rule about being able to shut off the entire system which I believe includes any amps and DSP's.

 

You'll get some temp codes, nothing major. If you're going to do that though, you might as well get a Metra harness (70-9003 IIRC, I have a spare or two you can have) and not worry about hardwiring later when you re-install the OEM behind the speedo.

I haven't gotten my D800 yet so I haven't looked for an accessory power lead yet but a lot of people use the cigarette lighter. I'm going to try and use the HU amp turn-on lead and see how that works out. It would be the lead from the HU to turn the OEM amp on. I forget which wire it is specifically but it's in a write-up or sticky here. I'll see if I can find it.

 

If anyone's interested in seeing the measurements I've taken (showing just how bad the factory head unit is), they're posted here:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...ml#post1577316

 

Very interested in this thread. I have an MS8 sitting on the shelf at home for my '08 clubman with the base stereo. Was thinking this summer to start finishing the build.

 

Pictures please