P38A Another p38 head unit thread

[ar1g3]

Sooo

I want to change my head unit because:
- it's an ugly modern aftermarket thing with incorrect backlighting
- I want dab and bluetooth
- the sound is dreadful, I need to amp up low gain in the HU equalizer settings to get it to sound ok but then I get buzzing from the front right door along with the bass of the music

I've searched online but I can't get my head around how all of this works on the p38. Reason for that is twofold:
- I bought the car with the aftermarket radio, no idea what kind of setup it had original (alpine, clarion, ...)
- I have an SE model (year 1999, the base model with only one radio antenna in the back so I guess the rest of the audio system was basic as well.

There seem to have been different setups, amp in the back, amp in the doors or no amp at all depending on trim level. At least that's how I understood it. Is that correct?

Can somebody point me towards info that applies to my car?

 

[MrGorsky]

If you're an SE, without bass speakers in the boot, then I think you can just connect up a new head unit and away you go. If you have steering wheel controls, you'll probably loose these however. I think even on the 1999 MY, the comms between the steering wheel buttons and the head unit were unique, and pre any international standard.

Basically if you have LowLine or MidLine (I and think you do), you have normal speakers being fed by an amp in the head unit. LowLine has bass and tweeters in the doors, midline has midrange speakers in the doors as an extra, but it's the same general set-up.

HiLine has the extra bass unit in the boot, plus separate amps for each speaker array in each door. These operate on balanced line level outputs from the head unit, so you need to build an extra circuit to provide balanced line level outputs to your door amps. If you could find and buy a modern head unit that provides balanced line level outputs as standard then you could use that instead, but no one has found one yet! Again, I think you loose the steering wheel controls....

The wires for power and speaker connections etc are all in RAVE.

 

[MrGorsky]

Have a look here. People have done all sorts.

P38A - Should I put a modern touch screen radio in my car? [. . . . and other questions]

I really can't decide whether to put a modern Android touch screen radio in my 2000 P38 or not. On one hand, I would really like a reversing camera, DAB radio, decent modern built in sat-nav and a Bluetooth connection to my phone for calls and music. Anything else it would offer would just be a...

www.landyzone.co.uk

Post #016 has a link to a little manual that @Clarky130 did years ago with a load of very useful information.

 

[Mark Piercy]

I have the subs and separate little amp and only fitted a jvc Bluetooth unit. No problems with the installation.
My son had noises through his speakers that came from the white connectors in the left foot well

 

[ar1g3]

If you're an SE, without bass speakers in the boot, then I think you can just connect up a new head unit and away you go. If you have steering wheel controls, you'll probably loose these however. I think even on the 1999 MY, the comms between the steering wheel buttons and the head unit were unique, and pre any international standard.

Basically if you have LowLine or MidLine (I and think you do), you have normal speakers being fed by an amp in the head unit. LowLine has bass and tweeters in the doors, midline has midrange speakers in the doors as an extra, but it's the same general set-up.

HiLine has the extra bass unit in the boot, plus separate amps for each speaker array in each door. These operate on balanced line level outputs from the head unit, so you need to build an extra circuit to provide balanced line level outputs to your door amps. If you could find and buy a modern head unit that provides balanced line level outputs as standard then you could use that instead, but no one has found one yet! Again, I think you loose the steering wheel controls....

The wires for power and speaker connections etc are all in RAVE.

Thank you for clearing that up!

So there's advantages to having a low spec model

So I understand correctly that the setup on de lowline and midline is just a basic setup like in most 90s cars: a head unit and some speakers. That means I can swap out speakers and head units as I please without upsetting anything as long as they are compatible with eachother?

 

[MrGorsky]

That's how I understand it yes...... but you'll still loose steering wheel volume controls etc.

It's pretty clearly laid out in RAVE, plus it'll tell you what wires do what etc.

 

[pwood999]

Steering buttons depend on what type & brand you go for. There are adapters for most of the mainstream suppliers like Pioneer, sony, Kenwood, etc.

If you're going Android then every unit I've used has SWC Inputs, and you program the steering buttons for whatever function you want. No adapter needed.

 

[ar1g3]

I don't have the buttons anyways, there's blanking plates where they normally go. I guess that was part of the installation of my current head unit.

The unit I'm looking at currently is this one:

Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB - Blaupunkt

The return of a legend! The newly launched cult car radio from the 90s with the latest technology and many new features!

blaupunkt.com

I think this one will fit in the p38's interior quite nicely

 

[MrGorsky]

Only acceptable if you can change the backlighting to green I'm afraid...!

 

[ar1g3]

Only acceptable if you can change the backlighting to green I'm afraid...!

That's the exact reason I'm looking at that unit! You can choose from around 4000 colours for the backlighting, so not only can I have green backlighting I can have the correct shade of green

 

[MrGorsky]

That is a nice find. It even has pre-amp line level outs, so you could convert them to balanced and use them in a High Line P38.....like mine. Is it expensive?

 

[Grrrrrr]

I don't have the buttons anyways, there's blanking plates where they normally go. I guess that was part of the installation of my current head unit.

The unit I'm looking at currently is this one:

Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB - Blaupunkt

The return of a legend! The newly launched cult car radio from the 90s with the latest technology and many new features!

blaupunkt.com

I think this one will fit in the p38's interior quite nicely

Can't seem to open the link.

I thought this looked reasonable but apparently it only has blue backlighting.

Sony DSX-A510BD Single DIN DAB Radio Media Receiver Bluetooth Radio Tu

Experience premium sound quality with the Sony DSX-A510BD Single DIN DAB Radio Media Receiver. Featuring Bluetooth connectivity and USB/AUX inputs, enjoy seamless wireless streaming and versatile playback options.

caraudiocentre.co.uk

 

[Datatek]

I don't have the buttons anyways, there's blanking plates where they normally go. I guess that was part of the installation of my current head unit.

The unit I'm looking at currently is this one:

Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB - Blaupunkt

The return of a legend! The newly launched cult car radio from the 90s with the latest technology and many new features!

blaupunkt.com

I think this one will fit in the p38's interior quite nicely

Not all P38's came with radio Buttons on the wheel. Both mine are original and do not have the buttons.

 

[Datatek]

I don't have the buttons anyways, there's blanking plates where they normally go. I guess that was part of the installation of my current head unit.

The unit I'm looking at currently is this one:

Frankfurt RCM 82 DAB - Blaupunkt

The return of a legend! The newly launched cult car radio from the 90s with the latest technology and many new features!

blaupunkt.com

I think this one will fit in the p38's interior quite nicely

Nice find, bet it's expensive.

 

[Mark Piercy]

Nice find, bet it's expensive.

Just short of 106€ not bad really if it's a nice system. There is some utter crap around

 

[Datatek]

Just short of 106€ not bad really if it's a nice system. There is some utter crap around

That is even within my price range, I have saved the details in case one of mine fails again.

 

[pwood999]

The Blaupunkt one is 400€ or £450 from a UK seller !!

I put one of these in my Blue P38. And yes changed the backlighting to green !! Sounds good, and because the speaker outs are floating (effectively balanced), it worked out of the box with the HK amps. No attenutors or transformers.