I've had My '04 G35 Coupe for over a year and I think i have finally decided to put in an aftermarket head unit. I have a few questions:

I think i've settled on the Pioneer Premier F90BT. This thing basically looks awesome, and the voice commands put it over the top for me. Anyone have any experience with this product?

My other question revolves around the install. I have the bose premium package with the 6 disc changer. I know i'll probably lose the 6 disc ability, but I have also heard rumors that hooking an aftermarket unit to the bose system is a nightmare. The guy at my local "professional shop" said its no issue, but he also wants to sell me the radio for 1200 bucks when I can get it online for about $700

Any insight at all into this would be greatly appreciated, I'm kind of nervous about putting so much money into something and not having it go smoothly.

 

well, just for starters, have you gotten yourself the jdm double din kit? (the finisher and the ac control unit?) has the installer ever done a g35 before?

 

I dont have the 90bt but I do have the 500bt. I plan on taking pics soon and posting here. I would recommend you research the unit a little more here, avic411.com. They have loads of information there.

I dont know if I am much help because the 500bt is very different from the rest of the avic units. Since its portable, the wire harness is different. I had to buy a PAC AA1NS2 to add an auxillary input.

The voice recognition is badass and so is the bluetooth. It works great. I have managed to hack into mine and fix some of the bugs they initially had. Today, I figured out how to bypass the 500bt. Definately go to the website I recommended they have lots of useful insight.

 

I haven't purchased anything yet, but this is the radio that I've most likely settled on. I know NOTHING about installs, so i'm going to get it done at Auto-Image. The guy there seemed to know plenty about installing in the G35, so I guess I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed.

Anyone with insight on this radio at all, or any of the new pioneers that are similar, I def wanna hear any and all feedback.

 

The F-series in general is pretty slow. Sometimes there is a lag when you touch the display to perform an operation. At times, you have to press the same button twice. This has been the case with both updated and non-updated F700BT's, F900BT's, and F90BT's.

 

I'm glad you told me about that, because that sounds like a total nightmare. I guess my next question would be, what are the comparable head units out there from Kenwood, Alpine, etc? I'm even willing to get something without Nav, since I already have a handheld Garmin, but I definitely want the full ipod integration, DVD, and especially the voice commands, which seems completely awesome.

 

Check out avic411.com before you go with the F90BT. There are several kinks to work out, and if you have a blackberry, the bluetooth integration is spotty, and the unit is generally slow to boot (up to 2 minutes).

I really had my heart set on this unit, but due to the issues reported, I went with an Alpine unit. It's integrated with the Bose amp, and my installer had no problem getting it all working.

 

Yup... Startup time has always sucked on Pioneers but its pretty damn bad on the F series.

The Kenwood DNX5120 would be a unit to consider however it does not have built in bluetooth or voice commands.

 

Which competing units do have voice commands? This is a big sticking point for me. I have a friend who has Sync in his crappy little ford focus, and I've been insanely jealous of it...I must have voice commands The pioneer really does look awesome but these issues you guys are mentioning are really scaring me off. Between the long boot time, the unresponsive touch screen, blackberry bluetooth problems (i have a blackberry), and everything else, I guess I finally want to check out some competing units.

 

I think they may be the only one with voice commands right now. Maybe more manufactures will pick up that feature for 09. I am 90% sure Alpine will not however.

 

The Alpine DD units don't have voice commands.

 

I am aware of that. I'm just saying that next years model probably wont have it either. I have discussed this in length with my Alpine rep.

 

Does anyone have experience with the voice command on the F90? I find it odd that no other competing companies have integrated this into any of their units yet, and it makes me think maybe its not a perfected technology yet. I've used SYNC and was very impressed, so I was hoping this would be comparable.

 

i was leaning towards the F90BT but i just got back from al&ed's where they had a F700BT on display and man that thing is frustratingly slow! i think my computer boots up quicker if you can believe that... well maybe not but pretty close.. so now im leaning towrads either the z series or kenwood..

 

Yeah, I've been browsing a pioneer message board and it basically convinced me to keep looking for something else. The F-series owners have a million complaints, from the ridiculous boot up time to the touch screen not being responsive. It's really a shame, because I am dying to have voice control over my ipod. This appears to be the only head unit that does it from any company, and it is flawed. I guess I'll wait for other companies to start developing the same technology.