Changing the cd deck and upgrading dash speakers 97 boxster - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

Hey, I broke my volume button on my stereo in my 97 boxster so I was wondering how hard it was to pull the cd deck and replace it with an after market one. Is it just like any other car or does it have a special wiring adapter that is needed? If so where can I find it at? Also, my dash speakers need to be replaced. What ones can I change them out for? Will most speakers fit in that special plastic piece that holds the speakers in the dash? Thanks

Derek, Check out Crutchfield : http://www.crutchfield.com/S-5EFG75t09kP/app/car/mycar.aspx Looks like if you buy a radio from them they will supply the wire harness & radio removal tools. It says the speakers are 4" but they don't match any aftermarket speaker size exactly. Nick

Anyone a step by step DIY on how to remove a radio/cd player from 1997 Boxster?

You need 2 small metal release keys (porsche special tool) to stick into the two slots in the radio to release the springs holding the radio in place. I should warn you that this is a b!tch to do for some reason it wouldn't release the springs. I don't know if this has been difficult for others but my brother and I had to go about a different way of getting it out. I just changed out stock radio for avic 910bt. Was a pain in the a$$ because we couldn't/didn't know how to get rid of the sound controller (buttons with room, classic, pop etc...) either. It took us hours to find out that we have to keep it if we want sound and then had to figure out how to hide it. If you're going single din it might be easier than the double I had but just know that it can be a mess. I went off on a tangent there so I will try and answer your question better now... You have to gently but firmly pry off the panels on either side of your radio that surround your door lock button, mirror defrost etc... I found that a flat head screw driver works well. Once those are pried off disconnect the electrics attached to said buttons and you will see approx. 4 screws that need to come out once those are out it should be easy. Hope that helped if you have more specific questions just pm me. I have to go back behind the deck sometime soon to fix a couple things that I half a$$ed.

Hi thanks for response bud i should have been specific .... MY stereo is already aftermarket ALPINE I was just wondering what components of the Dash I have to remove to replace a broken ALpine CD player with a newer Alpine CD/mp3 player? Anyone replaced there aftermarket CD player in the past?

Anyone intalled a aftermarket CD deck?? I just won a brand new alpine on ebay for $55 ..... I am ready to put this bad boy in!!!.....hope it even works($55 for new ... yikes)

If you are lucky, your new Alpine will use the same wiring harness connection as your old one. So you should be able to pop off the bezel, slide the removal keys (that came with your new unit) down the sides and remove the old deck. Disconnect the wiring and plug it right into the new deck (assuming the plugs are the same). Slide the new deck in, install the bezel, and you're done. As I said, if you are lucky and the plugs are the same, it should only take 15 minutes.

Other than a FM transmitter, has anyone ever figured out how to tap a MP3 player into an old Becker system?

I purchased a cable from Becker that plugged into the aux jack on the rear of my cdr-220 and the headphone jack of my mp3 player. Just choose AUX on the radio and it plays fine. If you have the cd-changer option in your Boxster you will lose that, but with the increased music capacity of a mp3 player, the loss of the changer isn't a big deal at all.

Thanks, I'm going to scope that out.

Yep, did this on my factory Becker in my Boxster... cable is below. Blaupunkt Aux Input Cable

So..... Does the plastic around the cd player just pop off??