• JDM + DD = Almost a grand $.

• Ship off the factory HU to have it fixed = around $300 and it's still going to break again.

This blows.

I don't care about high-tech upgrade awesomeness, I just want my radio to work. I've done lots of research and nobody seems to be as pissed off as me. Or at least bitter enough to find another option. Without worrying about looks, is it even possible to use a regular single din head unit? Like... say I wanted to throw it in the glove box and use a remote. Can I even do that and have the factory HVAC work?

(2003 Bose, FWIW)

Maybe I'll just put one of these in the back seat:

 

Careful with one of those in the back seat, they start to smell after a day or two.

JDM is $300, so unless you're spending $700 on a navigation-equipped unit - in which case you're definitely upgrading, not replacing - you can get double dins that are more like replacements for about $200 - [http://www.buy.com/prod/clarion-cx201-car-cd-mp3-player-88-w-lcd-double-din-1-x-disc-cd-r-mp3/q/sellerid/21155744/loc/111/219605414.html"]Clarion CX201[/URL], ... Either way, you can do JDM with a double-din replacement for about $500, half of your $1k. Upgrades are all as expensive as you want them to be. Single-din replacements, well you can get them for like $50, so like $400 to do one of those.

Single din is a fine option:
I don't know where they got the filler on this one -



Metra Kit and a single-din cubby:



Double single dins:

 

Awesome post, Wrathernaut. But we've all learned to expect that from you.

I had figured closer to $1K on the JDM stuff because your stickied resource thread showed the kit for $325 + another hundred for various add-on wiring/interface stuff + the cost of the head unit itself. Clearly anything worth doing is worth over-doing, and it'd be easy to spend more, but I do see your point: about $400 + the cost of the HU. It should come in significantly less than $1K if I did it right.

I don't prefer the single din, I was just persuing that angle in an effort to avoid replacing the trim and AC controls.

Just to be clear, I know that the stock AC and radio are intimately tied together, but there's no way to keep the factory AC and ditch the stock radio? (dash logistics not withstanding)

Thanks a lot for your help.

 

Utilize the market place my friend. I'm pretty sure you could get a decent double din and dash kit for 500.00 shipped or less.

 

You can't separate the stock controls, but the JDM a/c controls will work in the OEM faceplate, so you could put a DDin in the glove box, arm rest, or in the trunk and just false up the faceplate in the center console so it looks like the stock radio's still in there.

The problem with that, of course, is that you're still having to pay the $150 or so for the a/c controls so you might as well pay the other $150 to save the trouble from custom-mounting the headunit elsewhere.

However, it would be a great way to go aftermarket without having an aftermarket headunit in the dash tempting nefarious individuals.

 

are there any issue with aftermarket head units working with OEM bose amp?

 

^none that I've heard of.

 

Solid point. Thank you, sir!

Roger that. You get extra points for taking the time to type "nefarious individuals". Know-how and style. Thanks for the help.

 

Yes. The workaround is to use the PAC ROEM-NIS2 in place of the standard wiring harness.

 

You must not hang out here often.

Bose headunit outputs a differential-balanced signal. If the amp gets something other than that, you get very low sound with hardly any bass.

 

I'v got a double din touch screen for sale in the marketplace that is within your price range