Aftermarket audio head unit installation - Saab 9-5

[Rofa]

Good afternoon,

I've recently purchased an 02 9-5 Aero and I want to put in a touch screen audio/navigation unit. I wanted to know what are the best/compatible brands that would be easiest/most effective to use?

-Thank you

I believe you can install any that are out there - and the vast majority are Chinese - unless you go for a premium brand I suppose. As far as I can tell, most come with similar harnesses and once you have worked out what actually needs connecting, the installation is not difficult. I'm in Europe and bought a Xomax - mainly because the distributor is German and I assumed they would provide reasonable service. How wrong can you be. I had a couple of queries and I never got a reply. However the unit is fine and does exactly what it should. But, it is not perfect. The touch screen is not very sensitive for a start and only really works well with a stylus. The remote needs pointing at the unit in the right direction. The Nav system is not as good as the one on my Android phone. The screen can't be customised. And probably most irritating is the SD card management. It will handle up to 32Gb - that's quite a lot of MP3 albums. However the menu will only access them by title and not by artist for example, which is what is really necessary - so no effective file management. So I think next time around I would maybe look at Android units. In any case, before you buy, if possible have a look at one in operation.

[gnugen]

Just completed the install of my new head unit and a backup camera. Thank you nordwulf for the inspiration and information.

[LPT]

After installation of new Pumpkin Android 4.4 stereo into my 9-5 Tid (-06), replacing old Denso with Dietz steering wheel adapter, I have measured power leaks through SID and the battery drains quite quickly. Is it possible to reprogram canbus not to search orig headunit?

[spoony wilkums]

The SWI-RC arrived yesterday and I got some time to install it today. Verdict: Works perfectly. No resistor needed to pull up the white wire to get it into programming mode, programmed easily and my paddle shifters still work.

And the good news is that it uses the same connector for power, etc as the SWI-PS so it was an easy swap. Unplug the thing, unplug the mini-jack from the back of the radio, plug the new one in, program and I was done.

Frank, I'd recommend that you update the install to tell people to use the SWI-RC instead of the SWI-PS as it's a simpler install and won't interfere with the paddle shifters. If anyone who doesn't have paddle shifters is looking for a steering wheel interface, I'll let my old SWI-PS go cheap, complete with a brand new wiring harness from the SWI-RC.


While I was in there I also connected the "vehicle speed" pink wire to the transmission output speed sensor on the TCM. The TCM is behind the glove box above the cover on the kick panel. There are two connectors going into the TCM (this is the AW55 5-speed transmission used in 2002 and on 9-5's), it's the pink wire on the connector with more wires. The WIS says that the 4-speed has the output shaft sensor connected to pin 15. I don't have one so I can't tell you which wire it is.

I'll report back some time if the GPS seems to be more accurate. I've been using it without vehicle speed connected for a year now, but I took a quick drive and found that nothing went wrong with the GPS so that's at least a good start!

need help please

i cant figure out the new blue/yellow wire on the updated swi-rc and why there is dual black wires and why there is three white wires (full white/white black/white red)

[unclemiltie]

So today I finished the install in my 02 Aero with a manual transmission. This time I put in a pure android head unit, this one:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272383483767...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I went with an Android unit for a couple of reasons.

First, they're cheap. This one was $170. It has no DVD/CD slot but I don't really care at this point. Big 7" multi-touch screen

Second, I can plug in a USB thing to the USB and have use its own 3G wireless connection. And I can install any apps that I want so since I often listen to Pandora, Stitcher and use Waze as my GPS I can just install those on Android and be done with it. (Right now I'm using my phone as a hotspot until the 3G dongle shows up)

Third it supports both the Apple Airplay and the android version of the same thing that allows you to cast the screen of your phone onto the display. not sure if I'll ever use it though. But it might be cool to play with.

The install went quite well since I had done it before using this guide. I did two things different on this one:

First, I used the Saab cage. The DDIN radio fits into it perfectly but I had to modify the back a bit and cut some holes in it since there was metal where the plugs were in the radio. The benefit to that was that there IS a support on the back of the Saab cage and the radio is much more sturdy than the Pioneer in my 03 (in fact I might go back and do that again). I pulled a cage for $4.00 from the junkyard last time I was there so the original one can go back into the car if I have to.

Second, the Android units have a direct connect for the steering wheel buttons so no PAC Audio SWxx adapter. Just connect it up and then program the buttons right on the front of the radio. Way cool. Pioneer/others should really think about integrating this since I'm sure it's quite simple.


The Android unit is really a metal box of air with a couple of circuit boards, it could have been a lot smaller but I guess they just made the metal fit the DDIN profile and stuffed the electronics in it.

I finished the install tonight after it got dark and again no trim piece around the radio and the USB connection is still just sticking out of a hole in the bottom of the dash. That'll go away once I get everything in.

This is what it looks like:

[unclemiltie]

Spoony Wilkums - I don't have that problem with my 03, in fact when I use my Tech 2 it whines that it can't find the radio. But no battery drain even when the car sits for a long, long time.

When I did the 02 today I did divorce the radio from the car before I took it out, just to see if the Tech 2 whines now that it knows the radio is no longer there. Didn't get to check that before it got dark though.

[redbat]

Hey Uncle Miltie,

I've got basically the same setup as you (Joying Android head unit), but I'm having an issue with the GLIs - No matter what I do, reverse input/output, move them around, I'm getting a hum. Did you have that issue as well? I've removed both GLIs for now and am dealing with the pop as the source switches, but I'd prefer for the GLIs to work correctly...

[unclemiltie]

these are the ones that I used, they seem to work pretty well

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371202076390...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[bjorn_1987]

Hello everybody,

I've just replaced my original Saab headunit by a Pioneer DEH-X8700DAB. My Saab has got a AS3 audio system with 9 H/K speakers.
I've used the original Saab ISO connector to connect the Pioneer headunit without doing changes in the wiring.
Everything works fine. The sound quality is very good, but only at very low volume I hear a quite "zoom". Even if I don't play any track the "zoom" is there.
With a little higher volume the "zoom" is gone.

Can anyone tell me what to do to solve this issue?

Thank you very much in advance!

[nordwulf]

Do you have GLI (Ground Loop Isolators) installed? Those usually eliminate any buzzing, zooming, humming and other unwanted sounds.