Bluetooth Install

Who likes Alpine's bluetooth anyway? To date, Alpine has the best IPod integration and the worst bluetooth. Never mind the fact that it's sold separately as one more thing to plug in. Since I'm plugging things in I might as well go with Parrot who is known for being the best in Bluetooth. After all bluetooth was invented in Europe and this European company seems to be leading the way in bluetooth. Parrot supplies many major auto, GPS, and stereo manufacturers as well.

This is why it was worth taking the time to reverse engineer Alpines mediocre bluetoothe set up. Which is a lot simpler than it would seem. First I turned the "AI-Net" connection into a pair of RCAs and wired up the "mute" wire on the head unit. When the "mute" signal is received the head unit switches the input to "AI-Net" connection in addition to muting the music. Thus when the Parrot blutooth sends the mute signal, the head unit mutes the radio and receive the audio throughte RCAed "AI-Net".

NOTE about Satellite radio: the 2005 version of the Terk XM to Alpine adapter box did not work with the pass through feature. This feature is needed for bluetooth to work when the satellite radio is on since it occupies the "AI-Net" connection. The Parrot audio actually goes through the sat radio adapter box and if you are listening to sat radio that adapter box has to swich from sat radio to allowing the Parrot audio to "pass through". Of course I could not find compatible 2006 box anywhere and Audiovox (TERK) had not released their new adapter capable of being programmed over the Internet. I finally got the newly released box from Terk, downloaded the firmware update and guess what, pass through still didn't work. Audiovox, did not offer any promise to fix this at all and certainly no date.

So I decided to switch to Sirius radio since Alpine actually makes the adapter box, I knew it would work. The drawback was that I had to rip out the XM antenna in favor of the Sirius. But if all finally works well and I do like Sirius better.

Underdrive Pulleys

What a difference!! Once the computer had about a week to get used to these pulleys the increase was considerably noticeable. Not only do they turn your accessories less, but they are much lighter. The reduction in "rotating mass" is where the real gain in acceleration came from. Getting smaller belts that were "just right" was a bit of a pain. Also had to tighten them up a bit after about 6 months. The picture does not due justice to how much smaller and lighter these are.

Double Din Stereo/NAV

Factory set up with Bose in dash 6 disc changer.
Double Din panel installed with Alpine IVA-W200 (2006)

The Large circuit baord was originally required and used for both the stereo and climate controls. So you can see why a new climate controls had to be purchased. Unfortunatley the new controls did not have the "dual zone" button, so I removed a button from the facotory board and transfered it to the new one. This is a very small switch.

Here you can see the SWI (Steering Wheel Interface) wired up to the factory steering wheel controls. Also I have only about 50% of the total wires hooked here :)


Running the wires along factory paths.

Sound Deadening

Sound Deadening material added to metal to reduce ressonance and vibrations. (labor intensive for door)
Sound absorbing Foam installed on top of sounddeadening. This foam was also installed on the inside of the interior door panel

New Infinity Kappa Component speakers for the fron door. Sound great, but the highs are a bit harsh. 1" MDF spacer added to give the speaker more depth. Sealed with silicone and painted.

New Wheels 18"

Just got new wheels and love them! I always liked the upgraded factory wheels. After searching through different wheel advertisements I finally decided on these factory replicas.

They are not exact replicas they have improved them as well.
All four are 18" x 8" as apposed to the factory staggered set up (8" in the back and 7.5" in front). It will be nice to have the ability to rotate my wheels as well. The center is powder coated "Hyper Silver" and the lip is polished aluminum.

After Market Sound Quality

If you have added an aftermarket head unit to your "G-35 W/Bose" you probably noticed a significant decrease in sound quality. The weak link in the system is the amp. After adding this 5 channel PDX-5 Alpine amp my stock speakers sound awesome and better than factory for sure!!!