Fitting Bose G35 Head Unit In Non-bose V35 Car

[sonicii]

I have just completed fitting a factory Bose head unit from a G35 to my non-Bose V35 Sedan. Found out a few interesting things.

This post could be long, so I will just start with a summary, and if you are interested, you can read on. Not sure if anyone has done this, or would ever want to..

- Bose head unit contains the same output stage as a non-Bose, and therefore can power speakers directly (without an amp)

- G35 MP3 head unit fits and works fine in a V35.

Firstly, I have only had my V35 for a few weeks, and I ignorantly assumed I had a premium and therefore a Bose stereo system. The car has dual zone CC aircon, reclining rear seats and steering wheel controls, so I thought that meant it was premium.

I wanted to have MP3 playback capability, and after investigating the iPod I/F and double DIN facia, I was a little scared with the price. My previous car just had a cd player that could play MP3 CDs, and that is all I really wanted.

After finding out the G35 Head units can playback MP3 CDs, I decided to go down that path, I ordered a 2nd hand Bose G35 head unit from USA, for a cost of $180. which was much cheaper than the iPod or double DIN option (especially considering I don't have a iPod).

While the head unit was in transit, I found out that I don't have a Bose system, so I figured I would probably have to fit one of the 4ch amps I removed from my old car.

When the Head unit arrived, I checked it out and found its output stage is a TDA 4x40W speaker driver, so I thought I could probably just swap it over without needing to add an amp.

Upon removing my non-Bose head unit, i found a few differences. The output driver is exactly the same, but the non-Bose head unit has a much larger heat sink and integrated fan for the output driver, obviously to dissipate the additional heat created by driving speakers instead of just the input to the Bose amp.

So to make the Bose head unit work with the non-Bose system, I needed to swap over the heat sink. A fairly easy process with 4 screws and some heat sink compound.

In addition there is a small plug-in circuit board that has the rear output connectors on it. This board supplies the power for the heatsink fan on the non-Bose units, and appears to have some further audio processing on the Bose unit, so this board had to be swapped too, but that was a simply plug and play affair.

I also had to swap the stereo and AC control board as the fluoro display is different on the MP3 system.

But that was it, I re-fitted the head unit and facia and all is working fine, including the steering wheel controls.

I now have a Bose G35 MP3 head unit running fine, at a fraction of the price of the iPod I/F or Double Din setup.

The obvious down side is the head unit is 2nd hand, so there is the chance you can buy a dud, or have it fail after a few weeks.

[Commsman]

Nice work Greg, cheap & effective

[R6n350GT]

So you just have the standard speakers and no amp but they run all ok with the bose head?

[sonicii]

So you just have the standard speakers and no amp but they run all ok with the bose head?

yes, that's correct. You just need the heatsink and output connector board (to power the heat sink fan) from a non-Bose HU.

[zei20l]

thats great news!

MP3 FTW i rekon. i thought this sort of swap wasnt possible? really happy that it is!

[mosoto]

What series/year production V35 are we talkin' here?

[sonicii]

series2, 2005 350gt sedan.

the head unit came from a series2 g35.

I have some pics of the heatsinks and output boards if anyone is interested.

[zei20l]

im always interested in more information mate. anything you post would be greatly appreciated!

[sonicii]

I have attached 3 pics, in each the left item is from the non-bose HU and the right is from the G35 Bose HU

The most obvious difference in the 2nd pic is the lack of the MD unit in the G35 HU, I don't believe this can be swapped into the G35 HU, for a start the ribbon connector from the MD deck is missing on the main board in the G35 HU, and there is no MD button on the G35 face panel.

The 3rd pic shows the 2 output boards. You can see there are some differences in components, mainly the connector for the heat sink fan (far left), but there are also several differences on the right side of the board. I initially assumed there may be some audio processing on the Bose unit, but now I am also thinking it may be for satellite radio and/or the telephone I/F that came on some G35s.

[zei20l]

thanks for the photos.

so youve lost a dead audio format (MD) and gained a still valid one? nice work!

also like your placemats lol

[Chris Rogers]

there is a jumper setting that needs to be changed in it for full volume. at the moment it has a -20db cut on it.

[sonicii]

Could that jumper possibly be on the output board, and therefore was swapped? As the volume level is currently the same as my original non-bose HU. A 20dB cut is significant, so I am sure it would be very obvious.

[Chris Rogers]

no. main board and you need the service manual to find it.

[sonicii]

No worries.. I am fairly happy with it as is.. I cranked it up to full volume yesterday, it was quite loud and the speakers started to distort.

Edit - Just had a quick look at the datasheet for the TDA8593. The line driver mode is only 6dB down from normal mode (20dB gain vs 26dB gain), so it is only -6dB, which could explain why it wasn't that noticable.

Edited September 27, 2011 by sonicii

[sonicii]

Update - Ok, if anyone is interested, the system seems to perform ok without chaning the 'jumper' to increse the output by 6db.

However, if anyone ever needs to go the other way and fit a non-bose head unit to a Bose system, you will probably need to reduce the output level with this jumper.

I have attached a pic which should be fairly self explainatory. You will need skills with removing/soldering surface mount components. I would NOT suggest you try it if you don't have these skills, as you can make a big mess of the board.

The board in the picture is from my JDM non-bose head unit, so it is currently in the 'non-bose' mode with incresed output gain.

There are also 2 other 'jumpers' which are described as 'Area1' and 'Area2', I am not sure exactly what these do, taking a wild guess, maybe it switches the radio frequency range?? If anyone would like to experiment, let us know what you find. Again the picture is of my JDM head unit, so I would guess the area is set to Japan. The Clarion SM has R121 in the 'off' position.

The Jumpers are in fact 47Kohm surface mount resistors, and pull the inputs of the IC high or low.

Edited September 28, 2011 by sonicii

[zei20l]

nice find!! good work

[350gt premium]

Yeah nice work mate, now at least we don't have to fork out $400-$800 for a new mechanism or thousands on a double din conversion.

[Chris Rogers]

thats it. on the JDM one doing the area switches doesnt do anything.

you should have a PN2613/14 for the jap unit. I have the FSM for that here if someone wants to host it.

the area 'code' is hard coded into the CPU and the face. its not as simple as moving two jumpers around. a LOT more has to change to fix the radio issue. the AM/FM front end is one of them.

mving the jumper for bose does two things. drops the output volume,enables the amplifier turn on.

the non bose units DO NOT have the amp on ckts.

[sonicii]

Thanks Chris. So changing the jumper is a necessity if you want to put a standard head unit into a bose setup, not just for the output level but to remote power-on the amp.

I found leaving it in the 'bose' position seems to work quite well for my setup, I guess if I had some music recorded at low level it might be an issue, but for everything i have played so far, I wouldn't want to run it any harder than the current full volume setting, and if I ever want to add an amp, the remote power will be available.

I have the FSM for the PP2665DA which is the Bose USDM unit for the 05-06 G35.

[Poke]

Great info! So I'm guessing that V35 Bose to G35 Bose would just be a straight swap?

Edited September 30, 2011 by Poke