Pioneer avic upgrade in 996 TT

looking to buy a 51--03 reg 996TT wanting to fit a Pioneer Avic instead of the PCMas all cars have BOSE what would i have to do to upgrade PCM1 or on later cars PCM2 which is the easiest to do ??

I have also a 996 tt and have installed a Pioneer Avic SatNav unit in it. This is a very good system and I can highly recommend it. The sound of the radio with the standard Bose speakers is superb.

From MY 2003 (Sept 2002 build) PCM2 was fitted, which has the MOST fibre optic ring. It's much more difficult to integrate an aftermarket system, and you end up ripping most of it out. It's easier to fit one in a pre-03 as everything is conventionally wired. Well worth doing though:

Im likely to be getting an early TT very soon. Has no PCM unit fitted - just the conventional stereo head unit and aircon control in the top console. Silly question but I assume the aircon can be moved to the bottom as per the picture above and that the Pioneer will deal with all the stereo functions? Oh and any idea of cost of the hardware? Cheers

The aircon panel can be moved to the bottom slot easily. You just need to buy the trim piece to go around the panel, as it is a different shape (c. £3). There is plenty of info if you search this forum. The one I have now is the AVIC F900BT, which is SatNav, touchscreen, bluetooth phone, stereo, CD and DVD player, plays mp3s from USB sticks or SD cards, has scamera warnings, and can be fitted with an iPod adapter. It was about £700 iirc. I also bought the surround trim from a guy on Renntech, as the dash opening is slightly taller than double-DIN.

Richard, can you tell me a little more about the surround thing please? I note you have a pre-facelift install (no cupholder) which is what Ill be getting and that the space is larger than a double din space. Is the surround you obtained a standard one for any double din unit or was it model specific? And is there any need for a double din cage to be added or is the fitted unit ok as it is? Anyone else who has fitted an aftermarket unit would be welcome to give any advice! Cheers

I bought the surround from a guy on Renntech named trieullionaire which is made specifically for the 986/996. http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=19074 Actually, I bought the complete fitting kit, but it was a waste of money because I only used the surround (which he sells separately). Mine is an early TT so doesn't have the cupholders. The Porsche mounting cage is about 10mm taller than double-DIN, so you end up with a gap at the top if you use the standard surround which comes with the AVIC. On my last C2 I also fitted an AVIC, and made up a filler trim to fill the gap by cutting and gluing the old aircon surround. The new one is nicer though. Yes - you have to fit the double-DIN cage, which involves cutting the bar between the top aircon panel position and the radio position.

Thanks Richard, very helpful (as usual!). Do you have any pics of the other installation you did with the modification you made with the old air con piece? Interested to see in case I decide to go for a different kit which wont be compatible with the bezel on yours. Forgive my ignorance but ICE is an area Im very new to. Is the cage specific to the 996 or can you use a universal one such as this one on ebay (first one I came across)? :- http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Universal-Car...9|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50 And finally did you need any additional wiring, adaptors, looms etc? Thanks and sorry for all the questions.

Don't worry about the metal cage - you get one with the new unit. I made loads of wiring changes. The Kenwood system I removed was horribly complicated, and the previous owner's "professional" installers had made a right dog's breakfast. I decided to go the whole hog and replaced all the speakers with Pioneer eMotion Kevlar coned ones, and fitted a pair of 6x9 ellipticals in the rear. I took out the amplifier, and fitted a pair of crossovers in it's place for the front dash & door speakers. If you don't want to go to the trouble I did then it is easy enough to retain the standard amp and speakers. If you have the M490 sound pack then you need to make a small modification to the standard wiring - see the recent Becker Grand Prix thread. Other than that, the wiring loom plugs on the 996 are standard DIN connectors, so plug straight into the Pioneer loom. You just need to set up the Pioneer loom to connect to the speed sensor wire. I did the handbrake bypass mod, not so that I can watch videos on the move, but because otherwise you have to stop the car to set the destination on the satnav. The photo shows the previous AVIC I had - an HD1BT, which had a 7" screen, as opposed to the F900BT of 5.8". The trim at the top is the old aircon surround, with the vertical bars cut off, and the horizontal bars stuck together with super glue. This was then held in with double-sided tape pads. Probably far more info than you needed.......

Cheers. A very effective job I have to say. Might give that a go. See what you mean about the wiring. Bloody hell!

PCM Hello all I have a 2001 996 turbo with the factory PCM and sat nav. The PCM has decided to pack up and things are looking horribly expensive at the OPC. Does this Pioneer unit integrate with the satellite nav section of the PCM or is there another module needed for that ? Sorry to seem dim, but I dont have the car here at the minute its still at the OPC, the pcm is like a double din piece like in the picture and that renntech link, but on mine the sat nav disc receiver is another single din piece beneath. I am far too old to be bothered with a fantastic sound but wouldnt mind a radio that works ! I never got round to sampling the delights of satnav either before it lost the will to live. thanks for your help in advance, Tim

Most of the new double-DIN units like the Pioneer/Alpine/Kenwood are all-in-one. So you would ditch the nav drive and replace it with something useful like a a "cubby". These days the maps are stored on a hard disk drive or flash disk within the unit. The only feature you would lose by switching is the Trip functions of PCM. Purists might prefer to buy a car with original PCM1, but the system was outdated when it was released, and we are 10+ years on from then.

Ive been looking around. If you dont use satnav but want a modern, simple, colour touchscreen unit then dont bother spending £750 on one of these units. You can buy (visually) almost identical multimedia dvd/bluetooth/cd/radio/tv headsets for £125 - £250. Browse ebay for examples. Ok they arent Porsche units and might not have the same value when you sell on but worth thinking about and better than PCM 1 which is like a having a Commodore 64 in your car.

Thanks Very much for the useful advice. I agree, it was a dinosaur of a thing before it packed up. The on off knob always amused me, like some radio from the sixties ! I was originally quite keen on the concept of keeping the car original for all the purist comments mentioned, but after only 10,000 miles before it gave up the ghost hardly a good advert for the product really. The OPC are sending it away to see if it can be repaired, from the general reaction I got this clearly isnt an uncommon problem. It maybe an £80 fix I am told, if not I shall be off to explore the alternatives you have kindly suggested. Many thanks again, Tim