E86 stereo upgrade to Apple carplay

[Dr. Minimus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTiLGlCh21w&t=213s

This is the story of how I got my Alpine head unit to work. I bought the head unit thinking I had the basic stereo since I didn’t have an amplifier in the trunk by the battery. That was my first mistake. I bought the double din fascia from William Grant Designs on Facebook. After wiring it up, it powered on but I couldn’t get any sound. I talked to the nice folks at crutchfield and after wiring up a random speaker I had laying around that worked I realized I had a bigger problem. After more research I discovered my amp on the bulkhead in the trunk and that I actually had a Hifi system. My understanding is that the signal from the radio to the amp is actually sent over the Canbus, so no way to replicate that signal from an aftermarket head unit. So, I bought an 8 channel JBL amp. There have been some other posts of people using a 5 or 6 channel amp and wiring some of the speakers in series and parallel. The biggest PITA of the whole project was stripping out the trunk and the center and rear console to get access to everything. I listed all the components I had to buy to make it work below.

Alpine iLX-W670
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_500ILXW670/Alpine-iLX-W670.html

JBL DSP4086
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_109DSP4086/JBL-DSP4086.html

Metra 40-EU10 Antenna Adapter
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_12040EU10/Metra-40-EU10-Antenna-Adapter.html

Metra 70-9003 Receiver Wiring Harness
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_120709003/Metra-70-9003-Receiver-Wiring-Harness.html
Crutchfield CK8 Amp Wiring Kit
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_007CK8/Crutchfield-CK8-Amp-Wiring-Kit.html

Amazon Basics 2 RCA Audio Cable
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D5H8PQ0?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

 

[caius]

Nice, I'd been wondering if a double-din fascia to re-route the vent airflow was possible. Hadn't come across William Grant Designs doing one, pricy but looks pretty good.

 

[Dr. Minimus]

Ya I bought mine unfinished for 100, which I think is fair. 200 for the finished one does seem steep

 

[.adam.]

How easy was the fascia to finish? Was it just a bit of a sand, then prime and paint? It's the best fascia I've seen for a double din conversion.

 

[Dr. Minimus]

Finishing the fascia wasn't bad. There was one small void that I had to put plastic filler in, otherwise just sanding, primer and paint.

 

[.adam.]

I've ordered one, looking forward to getting it!