Recent DVD Navigation Install - AVIC D3

Hi! Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season. Just to get forum members up to speed, we recently did an installation of an AVIC D3 with forum member Art07CS (Art) on his 07 Cayman S w/ Bose sound system . It is a kit we've developed for 987 & 997 owners, manufactured here in the U.S. The image below is Art's vehicle taken shortly after the new head unit went in. We are very grateful and appreciative of Art lending both his car and his Saturday to do the install with us. It was very successful and we were able to document many of the steps in great detail here on the forums for anyone interested in doing the install. You will have to excuse us, the write-up is still in rough form but hopefully will still be useful. Cheers, Trieullionaire

Here is the write up!

Pages 7 to 12

13 - 14 plus Appendix (for 997 owners)

Excellent job and write up! Great work! Just curious, what was the reason you selected the D3 over the other competitive units? The reason I ask is, I have one as well. Regards, -Stevie

I'm curious also. Any plans to add Garmin to the choices?

Thanks for the compliment. We try our best to organize the steps so it's easy to do. Please if any one have any input or suggestions, we would love to hear about it. As for the AVIC D3, I can't speak for Art07CS, as the install was for his Cayman S . But I have the same AVIC D3 in my Boxster and I love it. I bought it back in February of this year when Pioneer was doing the $200 rebate (that's another story) but nonetheless it's very affordable, looks great and super functional.

This is a great write-up. I just hope I can find a local place that can follow the instructions here in Little Rock. Can you link the website that you sell your Bezel?

Hey thanks Bart. If you take it to a local shop, they shouldn't have a problem doing the install. Just make sure they don't start cutting away wires and/or vehicle harness to attach the radio, the harness adaptor that comes with the kit (along with wire taps) allows you to keep your vehicle's wiring intact for easy return to stock. 05-08 Porsche Cayman Boxster 987 Custom Double Din Kit - eBay (item 320324454874 end time Jan-09-09 18:45:54 PST)

Thanks, I'm gonna do some shopping around, perhaps even look into some places in Dallas. Do you recommend the JL Audio amp as the replacement? Does it fit nicely into the previous Bose amp location? Also where have you guys places the necessary satellite radio tuner box?

Art chose the amp and head unit he wanted in his vehicle. Personally, the sound package sounds pretty awesome once we were finished especially with the bose powered sub hooked up. Satellite radio was not added to the vehicle, although in my Boxster the previous owner used the driver side vent for that purpose, not sure where I would personally install one but it's a good question for other forum members who's done XM already.

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I just ordered the Bezel through the ebay link. I'll keep you posted.

Do you need a new amps when you install aftermarket Nav system?

Hi, if you find a reputable place in Dallas that does this, please let me know. Thanks!

My local Porsche Guys recommened a place in Little Rock, so I'm gonna check them out. On another note during the installation Trieu, do you have to put in a new amp or can you simply run the Bose through the aftermarket double-din?

Hi Bart, If you are referring to the Bose sub , it has a built in amp and can be wired directly into your AVIC system. We have instructions on how to do the wiring on page 13 for vehicles w/ the Bose sub . Cheers!

Hello. I just recently purchased an 07 Cayman. I would like to upgrade the factory radio with the pioneer avic -d3. Can someone please list all the items i will need to complete this? I would also like to be able to attached my iPod to the system. Thanks! Jbrooks14

I just sent this article to a guy in SoCal and he came back at me with a quote for about four grand and a completely different way of doing this including extra center amps and CAN bus thingamejiggys. This is the way I want it, not with all new speakers and wiring and all that jazz. Does anybody know of somebody in SoCal that can do this install, this way? Much appreciated. G.

I made a post today with all the items my local place used to install a Kenwood system, it would be very similar to doing the Avic.

Thanks Bart D. Found the list..... I have purchased all components. Hope to install next weekend. Hope to be back then with pics of a successful install. Thanks all for your help!

I had a local shop install the Pioneer F700BT unit in my wife's Lexus . She did not like the install (it was a little rough fitting to the Lexus dash). Long story short: We had the Pioneer unit removed with just about 1 month of use. I considered installing it in my Boxster but decided that I'd like to sell the Pioneer . I have all the docs and disks, original receipt. Make me a resonable offer?

AWESOME AWESOME articles....please make sure you post it in the articles section as a single PDF file. I can help you in combining that into one PDF if you would like. Unbelievable dedication to the the cause and time effort too. WOW. I have the AVIC-D3 in my truck and I like it okay.....way too much screen area for the small number of menus they have per screem. The sirius radio is ridiculous in that it utilizes only one line of text (about 1/4" tall) over the entire screen. You have to hit DISPLAY 5 times....one each to see artist, then album, then genre.....just stupid. It has a lot of really nice features....but the menus dont live up to their full potential.

Avic D3 Backgrounds In anticipation of my install next weekend, i have created a couple of backgrounds. Thought i would post them in case anyone would like to have them.

trieullionaire do you know by chance which wire controls the song indicator on the speedometer console? In my install of the avic yesterday I seemed to have not connected this correctly and i get a "---------" where the song use to appear. Thanks in advance. Thanks, John

Re: Avic D3 Backgrounds Those are really nice backgrounds. Well done.

In regards to the speedometer gauges, I don't believe the song functionality is available with an aftermarket unit. To my knowledge, there is really no data transmitted between car and head unit for this feature to work.

In response to some recent questions on the way we made the amplifier connections I am posting some very brief notes below. I'll post a write up this week in the articles section (pending work slows down a bit...) I only used 4 of the 6 channels on the JL amp. I used the 6 channel amp because I wanted the extra pair to bridge as a Sub Channel in the future. It is a spare set of outputs for now. I have debated using one of them temporarily for the center channel but it suits my taste without it connected at the moment. I did not run new wire to my speakers from the amp, I disassembled the cable connector on the Bose amp and tapped into the existing feeds on the factory harness. There is no need to wire the front door mid/high speakers separate from the front dash speakers, the factory harness feeds both on the circuit and the load is only 2 Ohms. The Door Subs are on a separate circuit which is 1 Ohm (This is where the problem of the impedance load comes in but it can be rectified with the proper resistors) From the Bose amplifier there are 7 possible speaker circuits you can connect to: All channels below are 2 Ohm, I checked impedance with a meter. I connected the following: Front Left - This feeds the dash and door mid/high speakers - Light Blue Wires Front Right - This feeds the dash and door mid/high speakers -Red Wires Rear Left - Rear Speaker - White Wires Rear Right - Rear Speaker - Dark Blue Wires (I did not connect these speakers yet) Center Channel - Center of Dash - Yellow Wires - 2 Ohm Load Front Left - Door Sub - Green Wires * 1 Ohm Load Front Right - Door Sub - Violet Wires * 1 Ohm Load Line Level feed to the Bose Sub - Orange Pair -I did not connect to this in the front boot I connected to this behind the sub instead with a speaker line level feed from the Avic.

You will loose the song indicator on the speedo... I just went into the menu and selected a different item to display so both lines are filled...