General Stereo upgrade?

[Ollie100]

My daughter has a 2016 500C and I would like to upgrade the stereo to include CarPlay, does anyone have any suggestion about what is on the market and how to go about installation etc. I would like to keep the dashboard looking reasonable OEM looking, don’t want to spend a fortune or do too much major surgery to the wiring etc.

 

[lunchbeers]

Can't speak for the 500C, but most of the systems and the wiring is the same across cars, find a suitable stereo, I would advise going for a a known brand, Alpine, Sony, Pioneer etc. Rather than some of the Aliexpress Android units.

You'll need a fitting kit, which normally includes a wiring harness, stereo fascia plate/adapter, interdace for steering wheel controls, tools to remove the current stereo and an aerial adapter.

You may also need an aerial amplifier as a lot of these cars have the amplifier in the old head unit, but this is only an issue if you use AM/FM.

You may also need to run a new microphone, GPS antenna and DSB antenna if included with your new stereo - these are normally the worst bits of the job.

Check out dymanic sounds who offer fitting kits and all the bits you'll be likely to need.

 

[decappottabile]

2016, so probably a facelift car?
That may complicate things a bit because some functionality is handled by the headunit.
For example, it means that changing the time can't be done with the small buttons next to the speedometer anymore.
You will need MultiEcuScan to do that. (but you will need that anyway because the mileage will start flashing when you remove the old radio and you need MES to do a proxy-alignment to fix that)

 

[lunchbeers]

Is that definitely the case? I can't speak for my 2013, but time setting and other menu items were still functional, and whilst I didn't require a proxi alignment to remove the stereo, I did need to do it when I later isolated the blue&me module.

 

[decappottabile]

The key is Blue&Me . Facelift cars (2016+) use a different system and a lot of functions go through the CAN bus.

 

[Baglady1990]

Late 2015 onwards are “facelift” and is U connect operating system not B&M
Totally different so some research will need to be done!
I know connects2 now do an interface for facelift models (for connecting steering wheel controls to new head unit)
Previously unavailable….
As for a new head unit for a facelift…. I’m not sure but surely there will be …. I’m just not sure if new facias are available yet?

 

[wkdlillaw]

I'm really interested in this topic also.
You're right that it's uconnect, which is horrible and the least intuitive car system out there.

I was looking for a shop that would replace & fit, did wonder how the steering wheel controls etc would be done.
Sent a few emails, but no responses, perhaps because it's not straight forward as I'd hoped.
I haven't reached out to dynamic sounds yet.

If anyone has got airplay / carplay unit fitted 2015 onwards, pls share how it went!

 

[decappottabile]

I have fitted an Atoto S8G2A74-PM in my 2016 car.
- You require an adapter cable for the antenna because it's normally powered from the head unit but the aftermarket unit doesn't supply that.
- Need to run an extra cable for switched 12v. The original headunit is switched on through the CANbus but that doesn't work for aftermarked units. (at least not mine)
- Some functionality is provided by the original unit, for example to set the time and (useless) Eco gauge in the instrument cluster.
- Steeringwheel buttons require a Canbus interface to connect them to the radio. I couldn't find one for less than 90 euro's so I choose to live without those buttons.
- You will need mounting brackets as well as a bezel to fit the radio in the dashboard. Some sellers supply them as a kit for the 500.
I made my own brackets out of .8 mm sheet steel and used a 3D printer to make a bezel.

I also fitted the Atoto surround view camera which works really well. It's very handy because the view behind the car is non existent when the top is down (I have a 500C).