Ever since I got the Cayman I've been wanting to add a head unit to it so I can use Apple CarPlay and install a backup camera. They were always so expensive and included features I didn't really care about like built-in GPS so I never did. Since my car has the factory Bose unit, you can't just replace the head unit either. You need a HUR adapter to connect it to the fiber optic system used by Bose and those are also pricey. My car already had a Tranzit Blu Bluetooth to radio adapter installed by the previous owner so you can send bluetooth audio to the factory unit directly over the antenna cable but sometimes it randomly decides to it can't find my phone.
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Alpine iLX-W650 installed - 10-24-2020
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I eventually ran across the Alpine iLX-W650 and it's pretty much the perfect head unit for me. It supports Apple CarPlay, doesn't have extra things I don't need (hence the much lower cost), and more importantly, is only 4 inches deep leaving lots of space behind it to fit all the wiring you need to connect all the adapters you need. I got it from Crutchfield along with an Axxess AX-PO90052 Wiring Interface (HUR Adapter) and the American International POR911 Silver Dash Kit which is a perfect match with the factory panels. I also decided I'd make an attempt at getting a rearview camera working. I looked around for something that would be discrete and almost stock looking and I found this random cheap one (Natika brand) on Amazon that was nice and small and fit the bill (if you're a native English speaker, the instructions are laughable translations that make little sense). I also bought a parking brake bypass kit since you can't just fool it by grounding the wire. It needs to sense power first before it goes to ground. These are also available on Amazon and the instructions are really easy to follow.
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| Alpine iLX-W650 - half the depth of a typical double-din HU. |
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| Axxess AX-PO90052 Wiring Interface |
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Natika rear view camera
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Hand brake bypass
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The Crutchfield instructions for the wiring harness were spot on. I soldered and heat shrunk all the connections during the week then worked on the installation today. It should've been nice and easy but one of the 5mm hex release clips was rounded and wouldn't release properly so I couldn't get the factory head unit off. After about an hour and a half of trying everything, I found a video of what the head unit looks like after it's removed and realized all that clip did was push a tab and with enough force using your fingers, you can actually push the tab in yourself so I finally got the head unit off...ugh, all that wasted time.
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Factory head unit and other panels removed
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The old Tranzit Blu setup was actually really well installed which unfortunately for me meant spending more time undoing that installation first. Once I got that out, I plugged in the new head unit to make sure all my wiring was working. I was hoping to reuse the microphone from the Tranzit Blu setup but it turns out it wasn't compatible and no one could hear me so I ended up having to remove that and run the new microphone that was included with the new head unit.
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| Taking off the rear bumper to install the rear camera |
Running the wire to the back for the camera turned out to be the easy part. I ran it by the channel where the rubber seals were for the doors, under the "umbrella holder", then back up the channels to get to where the seat belt is. I then stuffed the cable in the gap between the side compartment and the back panel to the trunk. Removing the bumper was supposed to be just a few Torx-30 bolts and a 5 minute job but the two bolts by the exhaust were not accessible to me because they're blocked by the much larger FVD muffler I have. I had to drop the muffler to get to those bolts which is a pain because the muffler barely fits through the gap. I drilled a 5/16" hole dead center above the license plate and installed the camera there. It looks like it came like that from the factory.
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Rear view camera installed
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| Rear view camera installed (really stealthy) |
To power the camera, I tapped into the wiring for the right tail lights. Brown is ground and blue/black is +12V for the reverse light so the camera only gets power when you're going in reverse. The downside is that I can arbitrarily view the rear camera while driving but the upside is that it's not always powered and therefore is going to see less usage and will likely last longer as a result. I ran the wire up the bumper then into the gasket for the tail light. I'm actually surprised the car has a reverse trigger in the factory harness so it automatically detected me putting the car in reverse and switched inputs.
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Rear camera working
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This particular camera already includes guidelines (which you can turn off by cutting some wire specified in the instructions) so for now, I've disabled the guidelines built into the Alpine unit. These lines shown in the image above are what's generated by the camera. Finally, I buttoned everything back up and made sure everything was still working. I love how clean it makes the interior look and it'll be good to have my navigation up on a bigger screen rather than looking all the way to the passenger side to see my phone which is mounted on a Rennline Exact Fit mount.
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| Before |
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| After |
I think if I had a more stock car, this install would've gone a lot faster. Overall though, I think it was worth the effort.
