Alpine INE-Z928HD New Radio Install

Hey guys, I just wanted to take some time to share my install of this head unit. I've learned so much from others posting here that I wanted to share my experience in hopes that I can return the favor and help someone else out.

I purchased this awesome Alpine unit, the Perfect fit kit and Sirius XM Antenna from a place called Car Stereo Warehouse in North Carolina and got a great deal. (http://www.carstereowarehousenc.com) If interested, give them a call and ask for Zee! I got a picture of everything prior to shipping, it shipped quickly and I saved a few hundred bucks from other places out there. I was very pleased with my experience!

I also purchased the PAC TR7 bypass from Amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/PAC-TR7-Univer.../dp/B0002J22BO

To keep my stock USB functioning correctly I purchased the AX-TOYUSB made by Metra. I got mine here because it was the cheapest place that had it in stock - http://www.thewireszone.com/p-5159-a...-vehicles.aspx
These guys had it the cheapest but were out of stock when I tried ordering - http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...AX-TOYUSB.html

The install took about 10 hours collectively over 2 days. I am not a professional installer and just took my time to make sure I didn't break anything. The perfect fit kit provided by Alpine certainly streamlines the installation process. I first started by hooking up the TR7 bypass to the Alpine harness. Pretty straight forward, I just cut some of the wire ties on the harness so it made it easier to work and then just attach the appropriate wires. Removing the stock unit was extremely easy and there are plenty of discussions on this including the sticky under the Audio forums.

I wanted to utilize the stock location of the bluetooth mic, so I went through the process of removing several items to not only get to it, but also to run the Alpine mic to it. Routing the mic to the stock location was actually easier then expected. You need to first start by removing the driver side pillar (Oh shit handle thing), the sun visor and visor clip, the airbag plastic piece above the door and the middle console in the roof where the mic resides. See this video from help removing those items -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdhPrb06t8
You don't need to remove anything other than what I said, that will allow you enough room to slide your hands in and run the mic wire up the pillar and over to the stock mic location. Now on the middle piece with the stock mic, you will see from the backside (it's black with gold contacts everywhere), you will see the rectangular gray piece that has the openings for the mic, there are clips on both sides, just take a very small flat head and push two of them off and that piece pops right off. (Be sure to unclip the wire from the back before trying it, it won't move otherwise since there is no slack on the wire harness.) The stock mic is a small rectangular black piece and also pops out with a small flat head. I took the Alpine mic and centered it in that stock location and took some small wires ties and placed them around that rectangular plastic just to squeeze on it and hold it in place. (Although I think it was overkill.) I say that because once you push it back up into the main piece, it's a really snug fit and you'll see the rubber back of the mic piece bending just a little bit. It didn't seem to be a bad thing, not to much compression but just enough to really keep that mic in place. I know this seems crazy but you'll see what I mean when you take it apart, it's really pretty easy. I should have taken pics!

Installing the Sirius XM antenna wasn't too bad but caused a few headaches. Let me first start by saying that I had originally installed the Sirius XM antenna under the dash but found that to be a poor location since the slightest overhead interference caused it to lose signal. We are talking about trees with no leaves on them right now causing it to lose signal! With that said, I went back and removed it from under the dash and relocated it to the roof. I ran it around the weather seal on the front windshield, through the rubber boot in the firewall and up into the radio location. Getting it through the rubber boot was a pain! (Make sure you take your time and try to make the hole big enough.)
For those of who have had the antenna scratch the clear coat, I've had that happen to past vehicles. I got smarter with my wife's car, just head to a craft store or fabric store and pick up some fabric that is water proof. (I look for material that is similar to the Jeep's soft top.) That material has a black side and a reasonably soft white side. Cut a piece big enough to cover the bottom of the antenna and glue the black side to underside of the antenna. This way the nice soft side is touching your paint. The magnet is plenty strong to still stick and no scratches if it moves!

The GPS antenna got mounted under the dash, on the vent system behind the radio and that seems to work just fine. It takes a minute or two to locate the satellites but all seems great with it otherwise.

All the harnesses were pretty straightforward since they are all unique and you can't really screw it up. Please note, the steering wheel controls hookup is located on the Alpine wire harness with the camera inputs! I didn't hook those up since I just use my backup camera in my rear view mirror and couldn't figure out how to hook up the steering wheel controls. Dumb mistake on my part but I figured it out after looking at the wiring diagram.

Everything works great and all the steering wheel controls work! FYI..the up and down arrows will change the station but in order to go up or down through the presets, hold down the up and down for a second or two.
Thanks to MetallicTaco for finding this out! GPS works great and I am extremely impressed with how much better it sounds in the car, even with the crappy stock speakers! (It's like day and night!) The only two concerns I have found with this unit. The first is that the BTPandora option doesn't work, I can use Pandora on the radio but only through the BTAudio option. That option doesn't allow you to use the Thumbs Up or Down option in Pandora, nor does it allow you to see your stations. I found a discussion about this having to do with Apple upgrading the iPhone to the OS 6.0 or higher. Apparently BT programming changed and Alpine is working on a firmware update the fix the issue. The other concern I have is that when someone calls me, it only displays the phone number, not the name of the person calling. According to Alpine's manual, if the number is in your contact list and the contact list is synced with the unit, it should display the name. I have yet to figure out why this happening and may end up calling Alpine Tech support for assistance. I will update you guys if I find out anything.

This is a great unit and I am very pleased with the look, feel and sound of the unit. Alpine did a great job! And the 8" screen is huge! I will try doing a video and posting to youtube, I'll post it when uploaded.

Feel free to PM with any questions, I will do my best to answer them!

 

Great write up. I'd love to hear what you think of it a bit down the road.

I have been thinking about this unit or possibly an iPad mini with the stereo behind it, connected via USB -> Lightning. However, I would need there to be a mounting bezel system that is readily available and looks great. I'll probably end up going with the Alpine or some other though as I doubt the iPad mini route will end up happening.

When I installed my XM antenna for my Pioneer AVIC-Z1 in my Audi A4, I was able to put the GPS and XM inside the car pushed forward on the dash towards the glass. Never had any issues at all, and IMHO looks better than the mic being outside. Not sure about weather and all either, but maybe it is fine with your setup.

 

The iPad setup is definitely sweet but will take some effort to customize. (Very Tesla like! They have a setup that looks like an iPad.)

The Sirius Xm antenna location where I placed it is actually what is suggested by XM for pickup trucks.
http://shop.siriusxm.com/edealinv/s...dispType=XM&dispSection=PIC&catParentID=58751

Good Luck either way and keep me posted!

 

I owned the AVIC-Z1, which I upgraded (software) to Z2 and Z3. Then I bought the AVIC-Z140BH in 2012. These are both items I put in my Audi.

I can say that I think the navigation interface was easier to use, more intuitive and faster on the Z1 from 2006 than the Z140BH from 2012. However, the iPod interface on the Z1-Z3 was horrible. The Z140BH I think had a great Pandora interface that when connected via the iPod cable, you saw album art, could select the station, do thumbs up/down, etc. The iPod interface let you scroll through Artist, Playlists, Genre, etc quickly and if you had 1000 artists, you were'nt forced to go Page-Down 300x to get to the Z's (stupid how the Z1-Z3 did that). When using BT on the Z140BH it worked very well. Pandora or iPod showed up the same with Artist, Title, Album. No cover art (you get Coverart with Entune over bluetooth when using entune app) and cant thumbs up/down over BT, but no biggy.

So I am curious how the Alpine does with all of this.
I really should find one at a local shop and play with it.

 

So this will be my first post. I have been lurking for a few weeks as I picked up a new 2013 DC to replace my old 2007 AC. Loving the new refinements Toyota made to the truck since the 07. Anyway this should be another thread and I don't want to hi-jack.

I had lots of PM's with fletch97 on this install as he and I were both working on it at the same time. I still have a lot more things to install (sound dampening, amp, front component door speakers, sub, front AND rear cameras) and will update this thread as they come online.
I got the HU off ebay for $1,060.00 Not too bad since many are selling for 1300.00 or so. Typically I don't trust ebay but the folks selling shit with really high ratings rarely FU over, and that was true in this case. Tearing apart the old HU is a breeze, I picked up some plastic tools to help pry off the interior pieces from Napa, the wedge tool was really nice and helped save my fingers and scratching the interior panels.
I ran the ipod connector into the glove box, as this will be stored in the truck. I want to have it out of sight of anyone looking inside for items to steal. I do like the idea of keeping the stock USB/AUX port active but right now its dead. I think I have a plan to bring it back, which involves adding a USB hub. I think there might be problems here with confusing the HU with what device it is talking to, so I might just remove the data lines out of the usb cable so I can at least charge off the stock USB/AUX port, more on this idea later.
Here's a pic of the ipod:


I too routed the GPS antenna under the dash right behind the HU, seems to be working ok. Sometimes first time power up after sitting in the garage a night takes ~1 min to find all the sats, but then on it works great.

The Sat radio install was more of a PITA than anything. I used the access hole on the passenger side to route the connector through the firewall. I believe this was the same thing fletch97 did as we were both barking about it over PM's. I zip tied the box to the support beam behind the glove box:



I find it interesting that my perfect fit kit is silver and fletch97's is black. I didn't see an option to select either one. I think I like the black better. My old truck's kit was silver and I like change.





Just as an FYI, I too had the AVIC Z2 in my old truck. I loved that HU (minus the slow ass music selection screen). I upgraded to a Z3 via software and had every single map update via the "ghost" method to clone the data drive, saved me ~300 bux in software map updates. avic411.com was a great place for knowledge.
One of the reasons I went with this HU was that it had an 8" display and only fits in a small number of vehicles, so its unique. I like how fast the BT connection picks up, the ipod selections is much quicker and it makes the stock sound system sound a lot better.
I still have a shit ton of work to do and will give my .02 cents as I go.
MT

 

Good info. When I bought the AVIC-Z140BH last year I bought off the cheapest reputable (based on reviews) retailer I could find. I think I paid $992 for it, plus some shipping, and at the time Frys Electronics wanted I think $1250 or something. The thing is, that unless you buy from an "Authorized Reseller" you do not get any warranty from Pioneer. Probably the same from Alpine. So I went and bought a SquareTrade warranty. Never had any issues with any NAV ever though, so who knows.

If as you guys play with the H/U if you could test out the routing, iPod, Pandora, etc and give feedback later. Perhaps some videos might be cool? Also, since you have a 2013 DC just like me, you can probably compare the stock bluetooth speakerphone to the one that comes with the Alpine. Everyone loves the audio quality when speaking to me on stock. The Z1-Z3 (I did the same thing, downloaded .iso image and updated) was horrible! The Z140BH sounds great. I really dont want to go down in quality with my hands free calling. THanks.

 

now thats a screen

 

that looks really smooth, shouldnt the antenna for the Navi go on the dash though?

 

Yes, it really should go on the dash, but folks are having success with the stealth install under the dash, and its a much more simple install to put it there

 

What did you paint the surround with? It looks like a great match to the vents!

Great pictures guys. I really want to add this to my truck as well...the stocker is just not cutting it.

 

I prefer the black. But to each his/her own.

IMHO it less emphasizes that it is aftermarket, since it matches the headunit and the gauges around it

BTW, I think he stated his came like that.

 

How's the Bluetooth on the alpine head unit compared to stock ?

 

Seems to be the equivalent if not slightly clearer. That's what others on the other end of the phone call say.

 

Alpine just released a firmware update for this model......

http://alpine-usa.com/feeds/promo/13avupdate

 

where did you get the din kit for the HU?

 

Are you asking me?

If so, I bought mine from these guys as stated in my post....

"I purchased this awesome Alpine unit, the Perfect fit kit and Sirius XM Antenna from a place called Car Stereo Warehouse in North Carolina and got a great deal. (http://www.carstereowarehousenc.com) If interested, give them a call and ask for Zee! I got a picture of everything prior to shipping, it shipped quickly and I saved a few hundred bucks from other places out there. I was very pleased with my experience!"

 

Wanted to update this thread with the completion of my install. Unfortunately I was not able to do the install myself. This wasn't because of lack of knowledge but more of time. When you have a 16 month old, work full time, and my wife works part time, it's really difficult to get big projects done. It took the stereo shop 10 hours to complete...anyway here are some pics of the front and rear cameras:
Since I'm running both front and back, a switch needed to be installed. This allows you to turn the front facing camera on/off. You can do that any time you want. Pressing the "mode" button will switch the angle the camera "looks", there are 3 different views.



Night shot:


Rear facing view 1: (default view)


Rear facing view 2 (50/50)


Rear facing view 3 (over head)



Front facing view 1: (default)


Front facing view 2: (overhead)


Front facing view 3: (50/50)


Loving the headunit. There are lots of customization you can do. I changed the default arrow pointer representing your vehicle into a duck. My daughter loves it.

Shameless nav ducky pic:


System specs:
Headunit: Ine z928HD
Front camera: Alpine HCE-C200F
Rear Camera: Alpine HCE-C200R
Sat radio
JL Audio 600/4 amp
Taco Tunes front door speakers: Image Dynamics CTX65CS Component Speakers
Taco Tunes 10" speaker box w/Image Dynamics ID10V3
Dynamat in front doors and around sub

 

So even all of the Bluetooth/Phone buttons on the steering wheel work? How are you still liking it...any problems?

 

Yes, all the steering wheel controls work.

I love it, everything works great and the sound is amazing. (Lot's of control over the sound and many presets to choose from.)

The only issues are that the Bluetooth Pandora doesn't work and when someone calls, it only displays the phone number...not the name from my contact list. I can still stream Pandora through the BT Audio option and the caller id issue isn't that big of a deal for me. BTW....both issues are related to the iPhone and all radio's have the same issue from what I've been told. Apparently Apple made changes with the latest OS and it screwed everything up. Apple didn't much care about others, they don't play nice! I am told that Alpine and other brands are working on firmware updates to address the issues, but I haven't seen anything yet. There was one small update that came out recently but it didn't help. Regardless, those two small issues are irrelevant to me. It's a great radio and I am very pleased with it.

 

Subd