I posted this info over at the Chevy Avalanche Fan Club site but thought I'd share it here too. Next time I have my C6 dash open I'm going to measure the available depth because the W205 is a deep sucker and by the time you hang all the connectors on the back it might not fit. But so far I love the unit and when the Blackbird 200 comes out I'm gonna start twitching to put another W205 in my C6.
The post...
I've been waiting for the W205 to be released since I got my truck in February because I love the concept of the portable NAV docking station. Got the e-mail notification on Tuesday from Crutchfield that it was in stock and had everything I needed for the install by Friday. This is what went in:
Alpine IVA-W205 Head Unit
Sirius SIR-ALP1
Alpine KCE-422i iPod Control Interface Cable
PAC OS-3 Bose
PAC SWI-JACK Steering Wheel Radio Control Interface
PAC TR-7 module for video bypass
Thanks very much to gmgeek for his video on removing the console trim. WOW do you have to pull hard!! And also thanks to rch07av for his reply to my question about the glove box. I probably would have missed the simple pushing that tab at the top back of the box!
It's been detailed numerous times about how to get into the dash, so I'll just go over some of the specific things I did for this install. The Alpine unit is DEEP and it required some.... clearancing in the back of the dash opening for fit. I removed the three 7mm screws that held the liner to the support mount and then fired up the Dremel. Had to remove both of the cross pieces back there, which exposes the support bracket:
At first I thought I was good to go.. but then I plugged in the iPod cable. Alpine needs to consider making some sort of 90 degree plug for this because the thing sticks out a good 1/2" or so and on a unit this deep that space is precious. I had to fire up the Dremel again and remove some of the factory support bracket:
Installing the Sirius adapter turned out to be a piece of cake. I was able to use the factory XM location and antenna. I also was able to get power & ground from the factory harness. The Red/White wire is +12 and of course the black wire is ground. To remove the XM module get a nice long standard screwdriver and use it to pry the module downward while at the bottom you press down hard on the 2 tabs that hold it in place. Once it's pushed passed those tabs it just slides right out.
Factory XM in place:
Removed, showing the factory tray:
To use the factory antenna you have to remove the FAKRA connector that holds it onto the XM unit. Just take a jeweler's screwdriver and push it into the 2 tiny slots to pop the white lock out of the unit, then you can just pull the antenna wire out of the FAKRA. I found the connection to the Sirius box to be plenty solid all by itself so I didn't bother with any kind of help for it, we'll see if that holds.
The Sirius unit is almost the same size as the XM, but it's a bit thicker so you can't just slide it into place. However you can get the side tabs from the factory mount to squeeze on it, so I did that and used a few zip ties to secure it. The Ai-NET wire is a very easy run over to the head because there's an opening that leads directly into the space behind the radio.
No pics of the iPod cable run cause frankly it's too simple to bother. I popped the console tray out, just lever it at the back to release the clips and lift it out. Then I drilled a hole in the bottom of the armrest storage area, the connector is pretty big so you need about a 5/8" hole. I ran the wire through the console and along the bottom just tucked up under the side panel of the console. All the way up at the firewall there's a spot where you can bring the cable up. I just took a straightened wire coat hanger and pushed it through the dash opening to that spot, tied off the cable and pulled it through.
This is just the first step in my install so for now I will use the factory speakers and amps. The PAC modules made this pretty easy, though there's certainly alot of wiring to do. The OS3Bose module gives you the chimes (CM-X sitting in my glove box for the moment til I see where it works best) and best of all has a steering wheel control module wire on it so all you have to do for the SWI-JACK is tie it to that wire and power, then program it for Version 2 and learn the button pushes. The TR-7 was very simple too. It comes out of the box setup for Alpine bypass so all you do is tie off 2 wires from it to the handbrake and footbrake wires on the Alpine harness and give it 12V as well. The OS3Bose has a relay provides ACC power which I used for the SWI and TR-7 as well as the head. There's very little in the way of load on any of those things so that will work fine. The OS3Bose install instructions make special note of tying off the yellow constant power for the radio on the input harness, not the output as the module apparently doesn't provide enough oomph to power video/NAV units.
Crutchfield provides the Scosche dash kit which honestly doesn't look great. I may grab a Metra kit to see if it looks any better, or I may ask my buddy who's an auto painter to pretty it up for me.
So far I'm loving the W205 and I can't wait til I get around to the amp, speakers and sub. Also very much looking forward to the release of the Blackbird 200 that will go in the dock.
Here's a couple of shots of the finished install:
There are more pics at my site if you're interested in seeing more detail.
Just click here for the photo album.
Corvette Store
Alpine IVA-W205 install in my '07 Avalanche
thanks for sharing
