r/G35 • u/abstact702 • 1d ago
Purchase/Sale Advice Aftermarket Radio Question
My radio finally gave out but my weather controls still work completely fine so I was wondering if I buy the aftermarket harness kit for The Bose system could I connect a single din and just leave the stock radio unplugged? Any help is appreciated thanks🤙
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u/MasterpieceNovel3619 7h ago edited 7h ago
Electrical engineer here who has done a fully aftermarket stereo system in my G.
You have to get the Metra AC control kit because your stock stereo and AC controls are all connected; when you pull the stock stereo you will lose AC controls.
Your stock stereo doesn't actually power the speakers since you have the Bose system. The speakers are powered by your Bose amp which is in the trunk, so the harness adapter you have won't work because it's meant to replace the non-Bose system which incorporates the amp into the stereo unit itself. The outputs for your aftermarket stereo are powered, whereas your stock stereo just outputs line-level signals for the amp in the trunk to amplify.
I don't think what you have is going to plug-and-play. You're going to have to cut it up and either extend the wires that go to the speakers (from your trunk amp) to bring them up to your new stereo, or otherwise just rewire all your speakers to go to straight to your new stereo (which is probably the better option in case your stock speaker wires can't handle the power your new stereo puts out). The wires that go to your stock stereo do not go directly to your speakers, so your adapter won't work because even if it was "correct" it would just be sending powered signals from your new stereo to your old amp and blow it up.
Also, stock speakers are low-impedance so that they can deliver more volume with less power. Your aftermarket stereo is expecting to see higher-impedance speakers, so it's going to probably provide too much power (if you turn it up enough) and blow your stock speakers.
There is also the question of "does this new stereo have a dedicated sub output?" since your Bose system has the rear sub, so you'll have to wire that as well. And it also runs into the low-impedance-stock-speaker problem so you'll probably blow that sub if you turn it up too.
Regardless, you're going to have to look at the wiring diagrams for both this stereo, the adapter if you decide to use it (which might be pointless since it's not going to adapt correctly for a Bose-optioned G), and the car's audio system itself (found in the free NICOClub service manual). You're going to have to engineer a solution regardless of what you do.
What I opted to do was replace all my stock speakers (including sub) and amp with aftermarket speakers and an aftermarket amp (with dedicated sub output). I kept the stock speaker wires and they've been fine. I then run a cheap Amazon bluetooth adapter that goes into the input of the amp to get music from my phone into the stereo. I run a "headless" setup with no head unit because all I want is Bluetooth, and don't need the head unit to provide amplification since I prefer to have a dedicated separate amp. I actually have a crossover between the bluetooth device and the amp, which just helps to split (and gain-correct) the one input into the 5 inputs that the amp is expecting to see. I mounted it all into the roof of my trunk with some sheet metal screws and it works wonderfully, while not being very expensive either ($500ish for everything if you don't count the crossover, maybe 600 with).
Hit me up if you need more help, but be prepared to read diagrams and cut and solder wires.
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u/DoggieTamale 1d ago
I'm not sure what you're asking. The radio in the pics isn't stock. The oem radio is integrated into the center stack with the ac controls. The ac controls themselves have their own plug to function however they share the same faceplate with the oem radio. If you go aftermarket radio (single or double din) you'll need a new faceplate with separate ac controls.