The 1st comprehensive 2008 impreza dash & radio removal guide

[SVXdc]

Yes, your factory metal brackets will work. The opening in your factory bezel/fascia will be 1/2" wider on the sides, but it will work. I thought I sent you a link to this post.

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[Thaner]

Thanks for the pictures that made it so much easier for my alpine headunit upgrade!

[olazy]

great write up but i highly recommend getting some interior removal trim tools.

i picked these up:

Amazon.com: 5 pc. No-Scratch Tools for Removing Fastener & Molding: Automotive

Amazon.com: 5 pc. No-Scratch Tools for Removing Fastener & Molding: Automotive

they thing worked great and it did not require removing the passenger side trim to get to the trim around the head unit.

sorry if this was already mentioned.

[thatsilverwrx]

hey all, i just bought a 2012 wrx base, ill be picking it up this week. i have a kenwood ddx418 double din that i would like to put in the wrx. i see people say i need the nissan wiring harness, could someone tell me which exact one? also do i have to buy the JDM dash trim to have zero gap? thanks!

[climbhigh09]

^crutchfield. input car, hu, it'll tell you all you need to know.

[thatsilverwrx]

Originally Posted by climbhigh09

^crutchfield. input car, hu, it'll tell you all you need to know.

sweet thanks. i normally go on sonicelectronix and they didnt have anything.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by thatsilverwrx

hey all, i just bought a 2012 wrx base, ill be picking it up this week. i have a kenwood ddx418 double din that i would like to put in the wrx. i see people say i need the nissan wiring harness, could someone tell me which exact one? also do i have to buy the JDM dash trim to have zero gap? thanks!

See the link I posted 3 posts above yours. Still applicable to 2012s (except those with the OEM nav HU).

Originally Posted by SVXdc

... [see] this post.

[thatsilverwrx]

Originally Posted by SVXdc

See the link I posted 3 posts above yours. Still applicable to 2012s (except those with the OEM nav HU).

awesome thanks man, really appreciate it.

[lorne17]

Last week I found this forum post to be very helpful when I was installing my Parrot Bluetooth MKI 9200 in my Subaru Impreza 2010.

However I wanted to make a note that I decided to try and skip taking the dash off from the right side. Turns out the trim around the stereo is easier to get off than I thought. I just used my fingernails and started to work behind the grey trim (starting from the top). It popped right off. Just make sure you have your car warmed up. If it's cold out like it was for me (living in Colorado) then you'll want that plastic and the clips to be warmed up so they don't snap off when you're working with all the plastic.

Thanks for the great tutorial and images! Just thought I'd share my experience of skipping the first few steps. I had my Parrot installed in about 2 hours. Nice and fast!

Originally Posted by wkderf

ist thing to to is remove the side panel to access the corner of the dash trim:


once that is removed, you can grab the edge of the dash trim piece:


from here, you can pull on the edge of the trim piece & air vent & the clips will start to pop off:


here is where is gets tricky: the way the trim piece clips in, you have to pull very carefully to get it off the car. i found pulling up then down got the upper & lower clips off. this was one of the toughest parts.


in this pic, you can see the slots that the tabs from the trim piece fits into:


what sucks is that the bezel that surrounds the radio can be removed without getting this mazzive trim piece off, but the clips are soooo tight, and there is no place to get a grip on the bexel piece to remove it by itself.

[sixstr37]

i have an 08 impreza base model. looking to add the under seat subwoofer. does the factory radio have the port for the harness to connect to on the back side???

[mschiavoni]

ok, so i bought a new 2011 radio for my car (model CZ624U1). the ORIGINAL radio was said 6 disc changer. the connector on the back for the steering wheel controls has changed (and so have the wire colors from what i can tell)

my question is this - can anyone tell me which wires to splice to be able to use my steering wheel controls with my new BlueTooth radio? i have the connector and wire leads for the new radio (the car in which i got it from was totaled, the junkyard gave it the ol' snip)

help would be appreciated!

[howtypical]

Just bought my first 08 Impreza wagon last night and ripping out the stereo for a better one will probably be my summer project, so thanks for this thread, it was pretty helpful. I want to get sat. radio at some point soon. Should I just wait till I upgrade my stereo? The in-dash receiver is supposed to be sat ready, so I think there shouldn't be too much work involving that (at least I think).
*Just did some more searching around the forums and decided it's probably better to replace the stock HU and buy a separate XM receiver.

[tgompf47]

I have a 09 Impreza 2.5i I just replaced the stock headunit with an aftermarket one. On the stock one there was a blue/black connector wire that was just plugged into a metal piece on the back of the stock headunit. I believe its some kind of ground wire. When I put in the new headunit I did not reconnect this plug to anything, the new headunit still worked and played fine. My question is, does anyone know the purpose of this connector and is is necessary to have it connected anywhere. On a side note, the stock stereo also worked fine without this plug connected.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by tgompf47

I have a 09 Impreza 2.5i I just replaced the stock headunit with an aftermarket one. On the stock one there was a blue/black connector wire that was just plugged into a metal piece on the back of the stock headunit. I believe its some kind of ground wire.

You guessed right -- it's a redundant chassis ground connection. If you reused the factory metal radio brackets, there will be another ground lug on the left bracket that you can attach the car's ground connector onto. Some aftermarket HUs also have that lug. Otherwise it isn't required (tape it back to prevent rattling).

See post 11 in this thread:

Stock head unit information -- pin-outs, subwoofer, aux inputs, and more

[OgBL6]

I just replace my HU with a Pioneer AVH-p1400dvd
everything came out good except now my blue mood light next to the cigarette lighter doesn't turn on ={

[Wunder2101]

Really useful, thanks

[wrxsomeday]

This is awesome, thanks!

[crohnus]

here is a link to the service manual i have retrived on-line from some site in russia. haha its in english though.

any ways it states the stock radio is: over 16 watts x 4
seems pretty low of a estimate.

pretty impressive details of pcb, pin outs and everything

check it out here:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B3B...2V2N3dBNzF4WG8

[Montanascooby]

So doing a little repainting on the dash pieces and the lower part of my dash is tan (where the glovebox is) I was wondering how i can take that off? i have got most of the screws out but i cant find any other screws and it still feels attached and i dont want to break it....

[CBC_North]

Thanks for the guide. Was super handy when trying to replace my stereo. Too bad I only found out the stereo mosfet drivers were dead after fully installing it in the car. I guess I'll need this guide again in a few weeks...

[forgotten3978]

does anyone know how to remove the HVAC thats manual(adjusted by cables) and not digital? ive tried looking around and cant find anything.

[theoutbackdream]

Do the 08 2.5is have similar connection diagram as the 2012 wrx?
Thanks

[Jmhm17]

^ cant see why they would change the harness

[theoutbackdream]

Originally Posted by Jmhm17

^ cant see why they would change the harness

I don't see why either, but the headunit system changed and wanted to make sure.

[SVXdc]

Originally Posted by theoutbackdream

Do the 08 2.5is have similar connection diagram as the 2012 wrx?

2012-up Imprezas (not WRX or STI) with a non-nav factory head unit still use the same 20-pin harness for power/speakers/SWCs/etc. as previous years. Crosstrek also. There are a couple of minor differences (which mostly don't matter when installing an aftermarket HU):

* The new Imprezas and Crosstreks dropped the CAN data bus. That only matters if you're trying to transplant OEM HUs across different models/years.

* The new Imprezas and Crosstreks now have a pin for the illumination "bright" mode (night illumination dimness cancellation - 'NIDC'). Pin 11 (formerly one of the CAN pins).

* The new Imprezas and Crosstreks have Vehicle Speed Signal (VSS) on pin 19. That is used for the speed-sensitive volume feature on the OEM HU (as well as locking out functions while you're moving). A few aftermarket navigation HUs can use that signal to improve position tracking. I can include an extra wire for VSS on my harness if you request it.

2011-2013 WRX and STI, and 2011 Impreza/OBS are all still the same (they have CAN bus, and no pins for VSS or bright mode -- they use CAN bus for the speed volume and NIDC features).