Its a Mini/BMW thing. The stock head unit is designed to cope with a drop of power as the Mini cuts power to the headunit after a few minutes of turning off the ignition. Apparently something inherited from some BMW's. Most other cars dont do this so no need for a perm live however not the case with the 2nd gen. If I didnt do this it would lose the time etc everytime the power cut. Sort advice from a couple of audio specialists and this is what they recommended,why did you need to run a separate permanent live wire? - usually on Pioneer headunits, their harness allows for switching permanent to switched and vice versa? Very nice clean install though!!- love the custom dials.. Speedhut used to make great dials (had them in my MR2 many moons ago) - and even made my own custom EL dials for my Z3 - but for the results you got, then it's a no brainer to get a decent company to produce them for you (saves a lot of hassle)..
R56/R55 - Double Din Install Tips - How To Guide
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A few people have asked me how I did this and was it easy. Its very much a DIY job, with plenty of decent videos out there for removing the speedo etc to get this fitted. I didnt record a video as the one below is perfect for completing this install, and I have added a few extra tips to deal with the wiring. Excluding the head unit, other items only came to around £80.
What could it look like?
CLUBBY by James Baker, on Flickr
CLUBBY by James Baker, on Flickr
What do you need?
How to do it?
Highleve steps are as follows:
Alternative to blanking plates
Final result could look like this:
Custom dials by James Baker, on Flickr
Other Questions
Will this work for a Mini with HK/Hifi audio? - My car had the barebones system, no steering wheel controls etc so I didnt have to worry about anything. You can buy wiring etc to ensure your steering wheel controls work and also HK. Newministuff would be the best place to ask about what ISO block is needed for both these as I dont have the knowledge to recommend anything
Is it reversible? - Yes everything you do during this install is fully reversible and could be put back to stock if required
What do you lose by doing this? You lose the small screen in the speedo, not 100% sure but I have heard Mini cannot flash the car with software updates without this screen. Not sure how true this is but with these car reaching 11 years old most wont ever go into a dealership again so this wont be an issue.
What could it look like?
CLUBBY by James Baker, on FlickrCLUBBY by James Baker, on FlickrWhat do you need?
- Double Din Head Unit - I went for the Pioneer SPH-DA130DAB
- Double Din Fascia - Plenty out there such as the connects 2. They list as not fitting manual air con cars however it fitted mine fine. These are around £60
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- Aerial adaptor to connect the stock aerial to your new head unit for FM/AM signal - I used the CT27AA17 Fakra to Din Antenna "Aerial Adaptor For Audi Fiat Seat Skoda Peugeot VW" which was only £3.95 on ebay
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- ISO Wiring Harness Adapter Loom to allow you to connect your new headunit to the car - I used the "Connects2 CT20BM03 Wiring Harness Adaptor ISO Loom For BMW" which was only £6.90 on ebay
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- 12v inline fuse + holder + cable + ring terminal connector large enough to attach to car battery - This is to run a permanent 12v feed from your battery to the red powe rline on the ISO wiring harness, will probably cost you £10 at most
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How to do it?
- I found this video very useful for the physical task of removing your speedo, fitting your head unit/heater controls to the new fascia and refitting it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8t-HhSD2_w
Highleve steps are as follows:
- Remove speedo and heater controls/window controls
- Fit the heater/window controls to the new fascia
- Bolt headunit to new fascia
- Use aerial connector to join between the after market headunit and stock aerial connection: Head unit > Aerial convertor connector > stock aerial connector
- Use ISO wiring harness to connect the harness supplied with the head unit to the stock ISO connection therefore it should go: Head unit > Head unit wiring harness > ISO Wiring Harness > Car harness
- Create a permanent live by taking a power cable cable of taking 12V, connecting it to the battery with a ring terminal connector and then have the inline fuse with a few inches of the battery. Then to get the power cable into the car, remove the car battery and there is a rubber bung, covered by a plastic cover that runs straight through the fire wall behind the glove box. Remove the plastic cover to reveal the rubber bung. Feed your 12v cable through this, I used a wire coat hanger to help and look up from the passenger footwell behind the glove box to see you cable coming through. This feed can then be fed to the back of the head unit and connector to the red cable on the ISO wiring harness. This permeant 12v supply allows the head unit to maintain its setting when the car is off. The Mini automatically cuts the 12v feed to the stock head unit but the stock head unit is designed to work with this, aftermarket ones aren’t hence the need for the new 12v feed.
- If you aren’t going to run an aftermarket amp etc then reverse the removal instructions to refit everything in place
- Note the fascia kit comes with a blanking plate for the speedo as you lose the screen/stock stereo controls in the speedo as they are removed when removing the stock headunit and wouldn’t function without it. In my opinion these blanking plates are ugly and I will suggest an alternative solution below. Here is an example of the blanking plates:
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Alternative to blanking plates
- I had custom dial faces made to cover up the holes in the speedo. Chameleon LEDs did a spot on job with the dial faces:
https://www.facebook.com/chameleonled/ - Here you can see the holes I wanted to cover up:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr - Here is the design for my dials so you can see how I covered them:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
- I then ordered a perspex clear circle 2mm thick, 225mm in diameter. It only cost me around £8:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-3mm-CL...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
- The image above shows where I removed the clear cover over the stock speedo. I then stuck the new perspex circle into the speedo surround shown below to create a new cover:
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Final result could look like this:
Custom dials by James Baker, on FlickrOther Questions
Will this work for a Mini with HK/Hifi audio? - My car had the barebones system, no steering wheel controls etc so I didnt have to worry about anything. You can buy wiring etc to ensure your steering wheel controls work and also HK. Newministuff would be the best place to ask about what ISO block is needed for both these as I dont have the knowledge to recommend anything
Is it reversible? - Yes everything you do during this install is fully reversible and could be put back to stock if required
What do you lose by doing this? You lose the small screen in the speedo, not 100% sure but I have heard Mini cannot flash the car with software updates without this screen. Not sure how true this is but with these car reaching 11 years old most wont ever go into a dealership again so this wont be an issue.
