Thread: Aftermarket headunit install on BOSE system??

Installing a Alpine 9883 and subs in my car with bose system and onstar...

I was reading up on it and what do I need to do to make sure this works? Can I just wire up my harness and plug it all in or do I need to do something with the amp wires on the BOSE system. I'd really just like my headunit to power my speakers and take the amp out but I'm not sure how this will go... My harness and such should be coming in the mail today so I havn't had a chance to look at everything yet...

BTW I got 1 12" Kicker solobaric sub and ported box rated at 750w rms at 2 ohms and a Kicker 750w @ 2 ohms amp... Anybody think I need to upgrade alternator or any extra things yet?

Im running 2 amps and havent upgraded the alt. I run a batcap though.

There is nothing wrong with upgrading to a h/o alt, but unless you are dropping a 1 volt or more when you subs hit, you won't need it. Although it is sometimes considered a bandaid (in your case it is not) I would reccomend a 1 farad capacitor, and at least a yellowtop battery. If you are constantly deep cyling the stock battery (dropping more than 1/2 volt every time subs hit) it will swell up like a baloon and is really bad for it.
Yellowtop batteries are a good starting point, and are quite inexpensive.
-steven-

also which harness did you buy?

yellowtop came with the car, so thats nice...

the harness I got is going to plug into the gm harness, i just need to wire it all up to my reciever harness Im guessing... I hope its that way so i can just do all my wiring inside and hopefully walk out there and do a quick plug in install... -2 degrees is not cool...

I meant the part number on the harness. On our cars with onstar and bose, and wanting to keep both functional it takes about 100 dollar harness. If you just have onstar, the 20 dollar harness will work, the onstar wont work with that though. The bose amp will not work without the special harness.

Either way it should be a plug and play as long as u got the right harness.

ok... I don't care if onstar does not work, I'll look up what I bought for it...

I might as well include the instructions for anybody else doing a install...

Crutchfields - 120701858 Receiver Wiring adapter:
http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man.../120701858.PDF

Mastersheet Instructions 97- Grand Prix:
https://www.crutchfield.com/S-WTEzlp...pdf=0000440080

Amp Wiring Kit Instructions:
http://akamaipix.crutchfield.com/Man...211PSK04BI.PDF

So it says in the mastersheet that if I'm using an existing amplifier (the Bose)
"The factory amplifier can be used with an aftermarket receiver. To do so, connect the power antenna wire from the receiver wiring adapter to the amplifier remote wire"

Oh yeah i did upgrade my bat to Optima but i went red top. I also run 0 gauge .

Originally Posted by s1795so2

I meant the part number on the harness. On our cars with onstar and bose, and wanting to keep both functional it takes about 100 dollar harness. If you just have onstar, the 20 dollar harness will work, the onstar wont work with that though. The bose amp will not work without the special harness.

Either way it should be a plug and play as long as u got the right harness.

Hey Steve,

You're saying that with my 03 GTX that has the Bose Amp and Onstar all I have to do is buy the special cable to keep the use of the Amp and factory speakers with a new headunit?

Let me know seriously.

James

I am sorry, I should have revised my statement above to bose will work 90% of the time w/ the 20 dollar harness, I forgot about way #2, but also I was troubleshooting why my guages wasn't working in my car at the same time I was on here earlier.

There is 3 ways to replace the stock w/ an aftermarket radio that I know of w/ onstar/bose/monsoon.

1)A harness that has about 17 foot of like 14 wires that are 16 gauge, and you just have to relocate the stock h/u to the trunk. That way is easier than it sounds, honestly I have done it in a million times, especially in pontiacs.

2)the part number from metra is 70-2003, it is about 20 dollars and it is a harness for just the radio plug, all you need to do is hook up the power antenna or sometimes the remote turn on wire (both essentially do the same thing, just one wont work sometimes and the other will) to the factory amp turn on wire. *You lose onstar and chimes this way though* If people need the wiring colors I can supply this, it just might take me a day, because I know a lot of wiring off hand, but not everyones.

3)The other way is metra part number gmos-04, and is actually one of the coolest wiring harnesses out there, because it is adaptable to pretty much any grand prix from 00 up w/ onstar and monsoon/bose systems. But anyway it is a straight harness that is solely plug in and go. The only downside is that its over 100, I am pretty sure its about 149 bux. Everything stays functional with this.

James #3 would be your best bet.

-steven-

should I just spending that 150 on a pair of speakers since the BOSE amp and speakers are so crappy anyway?

what would you recommend, I've got that alpine 9883 that puts out 18 rms and max 50... I don't need the best and I just need decent sound is all... thanks

I would just keep the speakers in it for now, because it is not really worth upgrading the sytem from bose unless you do the whole shabang. bose is heavy on midranges and reproduces them very well that is why evryone thinks they are awesome (because are hearing is most sensitive in midrange area). highs and lows are reproduced well/ok also, so they are well rounded speakers. Where if you buy aftermarket speakers, they play no lows so there is no fill in that area unless you add a sub. It won't sound bad by any means if you replace the speakers, but it really isn't comparable since they play different frequencies.

Long story short, keep the bose for now.

good choice on the 9883, it is an awesome unit. I have the 9885 (only diff is the display it isnt the dot matrix, its the bio-lite) right now in my car, until the alpine w210 double din comes out.

yah I see your point, my cars BOSE system in it now is very crappy, It doesnt have ANY bass (with bass and volume turned up) and when playing music, the sound "jumps" around... so I think its time to upgrade anyway, I dont want to spend the $150 on a harness if I might have more problems

I've got a sub going in when I figure out how to put the alpine headunit in. Whats a decently priced speaker setup?

thanks for the info!

pioneers, although they may be laughed at by some, they are a really good speaker for only 55 for the 5.25 and like about 70 bux for the 6x9's. the part number for those are like 5041r for 5.25 and 6962r for the 6x9's. you just have to run new speaker wire to the factory locations since the existing speaker wire runs through the amp that you will not be using.
-steven-

Originally Posted by s1795so2

I am sorry, I should have revised my statement above to bose will work 90% of the time w/ the 20 dollar harness, I forgot about way #2, but also I was troubleshooting why my guages wasn't working in my car at the same time I was on here earlier.

There is 3 ways to replace the stock w/ an aftermarket radio that I know of w/ onstar/bose/monsoon.

2)the part number from metra is 70-2003, it is about 20 dollars and it is a harness for just the radio plug, all you need to do is hook up the power antenna or sometimes the remote turn on wire (both essentially do the same thing, just one wont work sometimes and the other will) to the factory amp turn on wire. *You lose onstar and chimes this way though* If people need the wiring colors I can supply this, it just might take me a day, because I know a lot of wiring off hand, but not everyones.

3)The other way is metra part number gmos-04, and is actually one of the coolest wiring harnesses out there, because it is adaptable to pretty much any grand prix from 00 up w/ onstar and monsoon/bose systems. But anyway it is a straight harness that is solely plug in and go. The only downside is that its over 100, I am pretty sure its about 149 bux. Everything stays functional with this.

James #3 would be your best bet.

-steven-

Thanks for the reply Steve.

I am not running my onstar on my car, Bill and I removed the antenna when we tinted my windows. So losing my onstar is no big deal. So would the #2 option above work for me??

My Bose speakers are still sounding great, all I really need is a better headunit.



I did find the Metra gmos-04 plug unit on Crutchfield for $99 bucks.

GM Factory Integration Adapter General Motors Class II data bus interfaceRetains ONSTAR system, factory door chime, and Bose system with aftermarket radio at Crutchfield.com

That price is not bad, but as I said before, my onstar is not even working anyways. So I should be able to go with the #2 option instead.


And I found a really good PDF document from the Metra Website on their various wiring hookups.

http://www.metraonline.com/downloads...NST70-2003.pdf

Just thought I would share this to the community


Let me know!

Many thanks!!

yeah it should work, like I said about 90% of the time, so no gaurentee unfortunately.

There is another harness that will work, but I have never used this for bypassing the onstar, its part number is metra gmrc-01, and it is supposed to reatin the chimes. But is about 70 dollars.

-steven-

Originally Posted by fade2black

The shop I got my radio harness from didnt show one for a car with bose/onstar. They wanted to sell me this $100 thing to keep everything working. I said just give me a harness for a car that doesnt have bose/onstar and I'll see what happens. Worked perfectly.

Question for ya Fade....

You said you had the shop install a cable that didnt have bose/onstar option, and you said it worked perfectly? Are you saying your Bose stuff still worked after the cable the shop installed or did you get rid of your Bose at the same time for the new speakers?

Just curious.

Steven,

Not sure how good these are, but I did find these GMOS-04's on Ebay

gmos-04, Car Electronics, Parts Accessories items on eBay.com

Any Companies that we should stay away from....

webracin