Installing a GM "Black tie" Radio in a '98 SE

[SATADrive420]

The stock radio in my 98 is on its way out it seems, so i'm going to replace it with a radio from a 2009.5 G6. Now, of course theres some hurdles I have to jump over.

Newer GM radios require communication from the BCM to power on, and since my car is a 98, it doesn't have the ability to communicate with the radio. However, there's a little module that I can buy which sends the on signal to the radio.

Second, I will have to do a double DIN conversion as the stock radio is a 1.5 DIN. After that, it seems like its just some simple wiring and i'll be good to go.

Here's the radio I'm going to install.

[Bugsi]

Please post back with how your install goes. I don't think I've seen anyone stick a double-din in a 92-99.
I kind of don't see the point, considering that single and 1.5 din head units aren't exactly rare, and slide-out/fold-out screens for DVD players are pretty common too. But I'm always interested in seeing what one can do if one is motivated. Out of curiosity, what is attracting you to installing this specific head unit in your car?

[CMNTMXR57]

Probably to keep it OEM and keep the OEM look (although not sure how that will look in the vehicle it's in, but...).

I for one an not a fan of aftermarket stereos in general.

Otherwise, I'm gonna say my doubts of this working being slim due to the lack of CANbus communication between the radio and BCM will shut it down. But I am not the creative electronic one, so never say never.

[Bugsi]

I agree. I'm willing to bet $1 this doesn't end up getting installed, looking good, and working.
To begin with there is the question of fitting a 2x DIN unit in a space that is 1.5x DIN, and then there are the bus issues, etc.
I agree with you a bit on the look of aftermarket stereos. There are some that I like and some that I don't.

While I had my 97 SE, I had four different stereos in it. The first was the factory radio, and it was garbage, but it looked factory (because it was). Then I installed Pioneer's then top of the line 1.5x DIN CD head unit with a 12-disk trunk CD changer. That was pretty much state-of-the-art at the time, around 1999. It looked great, with a gray color that matched the dash and interior, but the lights were green, and the dash lights in the Bonneville were red, so they didn't match at all, and it always bothered me.

The 12-disc CD changer died, and iPods hit the market, so I replaced it with a Pioneer 1x DIN head unit in a Metra mounting kit. The head unit had a bus that allowed connecting an iPod adapter module, and it worked very well. The lighting on the head unit was green and the display had blue lettering. It didn't match the dash lighting and it bothered me.

Then USB stick media became popular and I wanted that for easier audiobooks, as managing those on the iPod was getting cumbersome. I got Pioneer's top of the line 1x CD head unit that had direct USB connectivity for USB sticks and iPods. It had custom display color setting, so I could set it to red to match the dash lights, but the text on its display was so small I literally could not read it, and the user interface was menu-driven and so difficult to navigate that my wife gave up trying to use it. I liked the functionality of the head unit, but the user interface was absolutely awful.

I haven't seen much improvement in the aftermarket industry. I've looked at 2x DIN units with Navigation, backup camera support, USB, DVD playback, and Bluetooth connectivity as possible replacements for the stock system in my Mercedes S500. The top featured units tend to be Kenwood and Pioneer, but the reviews of them are nearly universally filled with disappointment. There's so much potential for the aftermarket to really hit homeruns, but they seem to continue to strike out. It's frustrating when you're trying to design your dream system.

[SATADrive420]

Well, I got it all mounted up, now its just a matter of waiting until I have a day off when it's nice outside to take a trip to the local junkyard to grab an extra dash panel to hack up.



It looks crappy now, but once I get the dash panel modified and installed it should look pretty clean.

I had a few more roadblocks than expected, one of them being the illumination was operated by GMLAN and not a 12 volt signal like the stock radio had. To get around this, I tapped into the LED array and used a 7805 regulator to turn it on when the rest of the lights turn on.

http://www.pac-audio.com/PACProductData ... 030508.pdf

This little LAN11ON module was required to turn the radio on with a 12 volt ignition signal. In order to keep things clean, I made a custom wiring harness out of this module and an aftermarket stereo harness adapter so I didn't have to modify the car's harness. This way, I can easily put the old radio back in if I wanted to.

The antenna connectors were also different, but all I had to do was solder the right connector onto the new head unit.


As to why I wanted to put this particular head unit in, it's partially a personal preference. I always liked the look of these stereos, looks semi-stock, and it's also a project for one of my classes.

And yes, those heated seat buttons are functional. Comfy too.

[Benvw99]

WOW! So far, that looks excellent! Does it sound good though???


And btw, nice seat heat mod.

[SATADrive420]

It sounds great! And the best part is, the aux input works with my android phones. I was able to do the aux input mod on the stock head unit, but it would refuse to work with anything but an iPhone, iPod or iPad.

[95naSTA]

Nice job. I'm interested to see how it looks all back together.

[SATADrive420]

Update: Got the steering wheel controls to work... sort of.

In order to get the steering wheel controls to function, I had to modify the wiring harness to tap off the radio's 10 volt reference line. The factory radio used a 12 volt reference which made the wheel controls act weird with the new radio. After the simple modification, the volume controls work, the play and mute buttons work as preset buttons, and my seek up button functions as a mute. I plan to grab wheel controls from a car that came with the blacktie radio from the factory to see what resistor values it uses so I can make my wheel controls fully functional, but for now I can live with it. This weather has been bad so I haven't had the chance to go to the U-Pull to grab the dash panel I need to make everything look nice again.

I also plan on adding the XM radio receiver as well.

[SATADrive420]

Here's another quick update.



I am now the owner of the only 92-99 with OEM XM radio. (as far as I know)

All I had to do to get it working was to get the XM module, the antenna, and the pigtails. Some soldering and some electrical wizardry later, everything works.
Because I didn't want to drill a hole into my roof, I took the antenna apart and mounted the bare board right under the defroster vent bezel, kinda how the GPS antenna is mounted on late 2000s suburbans with the nav system.

[95naSTA]

Nice on the XM radio.

[SATADrive420]

I relocated the XM antenna today. While mounting the antenna under the dash was simple, I was losing signal constantly. Mounting it up was pretty simple, just had to drop the headliner, drill a couple holes, route the cable, and bolt it in. Permatex was used to seal the whole thing up to prevent leaks.



The antenna came from a 2010 impala in case anyone was wondering. It also has connections for GPS and OnStar, but screw OnStar.

[Pilot of the Murdersofa]

Holy wow this is well done. Very excited to see the finished product, and now I kind of want to stick a black tie in my '97 Riviera. Should be a bit easier considering I already have a 2DIN opening.

[SATADrive420]

The blacktie radio is slightly larger than double DIN actually, but you can easily make it fit. It would be interesting to see one of these in a Riviera. I'm assuming you'd like to match the backlight/display colors, so your best bet would be to pull one from a 2006-2013 Chevy Impala and purchase a LAN29ON adapter online. Make sure you get the pigtails too. Also, I recommend you get an aftermarket stereo wiring harness adapter so you don't have to hack up your original harness.