Hey folks,
After being given some extremely wild install prices, I decided to give it a go myself at the weekend! Not the best day to work in a car considering how hot it was on Saturday but there you go...! Im generally very fussy about neatness so have tried to do the job as neat as possible - im no in car audio installer expert but tidy should be the same regardless!
I bought a VW fasica plate adaptor, which comes with the tray and mat all ready to use, plenty of guides to removing the standard head unit, very easy to do, I fitted an Alpine CDE-114BTi so it has a rear iPod connection that I fed into the glovebox, and a microphone cable which I wired to the top of the driver side A-Pillar - this provides handsfree bluetooth calling (voice activated also - great for the iPhone).
You must make sure instead of buying the usual PC5-137 autoleads amplified aerial adaptor, if you have an Alpine stereo, you will need the PC5-136 amplified aerial adaptor, the only difference is the connector for the alpine radio aerial is different, so the PC5-136 is correct for this.
(Or you can still use a PC5-137 you just need to get an aerial adaptor which converts it to a long aerial connector, to an Alpine one! From Halfords for a couple of quid)
I then wired the RCA cables from the rear of the head unit, and the Remote on cable, through the back of the glovebox, where the iPod lead went, but then through the back of the glovebox so they cannot be seen, and down into the passenger side sills - before you do this you will need to remove the foam cover underneath the glovebox, this is easily clipped off, then put back in place after.
I then removed the passenger side grommit in the engine bay underneath the windscreen cowling, fed the power cable down, (there is a piece of trim next to the glovebox that comes off and you can then see the power cable when fed from the grommit area.
Then fed the wires along the passenger side sill, up behind the rear door cards, and into the boot.
Then I made sure to put the grommit back in place, I cut a small piece out where the power wire could slide in and then used sillicone to seal around it, and then sealed around the grommit area again when it was back in place for good measure.
For grounding, if you remove the carpet behind the rear passenger side headlight, you will see a few square shaped holes in the inside-bodywork panels, I scratched one down to the metal and then found a nut and bolt to fit either side of it, to then secure the ground cable connection to the bolt.
I then taped the ground cable up in a couple of places with insulation tape just to keep it from wobbling around (to be fair it wouldn't anyway once the carpet is back in place).
Not everyones cup of tea, but I cut a line of the carpet in the boot - this is basically so I can now get to the spare wheel area, without needing to move the sub out of the way etc.
The Sub & remote are velcro'd onto the boot side carpet.
Here are the pictures of the install, not the greatest pictures, but gives you an idea!
It is an Alpine SWE-1000 in the boot, which is an 8" Sub/Amp combo, it's not going to win any sound competitions, but it's absolutely fine for what I need, and comes recommended from me if you like a bit of bass (trancey/house music) without spending a fortune.
I also fitted my Brodit proclip phone adaptor whilst I was there (see first picture) - that's recommended for any iPhone owners!
