A Peugeot 407 Dilemma

Hi guys,


Picked up a 2006 Peugeot 407. This is the interior of the car (not my car, image from Google).




The centre of the dash is a tower of, seemingly integrated, units.

These are (top to bottom):

Air Vents
LCD Display
CD Player/Buttons
Car controls (air vent controls, locks, etc.)
Storage space/power socket

(I may have gotten them names wrong, but you know what Im talking about).

In my previous car, the 2004 Rav4, a head unit change was easy as pie.


In this, I'm not sure where I stand or what I'm looking at.

My aim is to introduce bluetooth playback into the car (ie; play music off my phone, through the car speakers).

However, the issue im facing is that each of the two likely candidates for removal, the LCD info display, or the CD player beneath it, each have parts that are necessary for the car to function fully.

For example, if i remove the display screen, I lose out on knowing what direction my vents are blowing air, warning/error messages, etc. If I remove the CD player beneath it, I lose out on physical controls (ie; climate buttons, etc. that interact directly with the above screen).




From what I can see, Peugeot released a double din screen for the car:




But this seems tough to find, and most likely will be a very expensive fix, to just get some bluetooth functionality into the car.


So I was wondering if anyone on here would have any ideas or suggestions, or better yet, if anyone here has any experience with toying about with the 407's head unit?


In this video:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xexxm3_peugeot-407-install-gps_auto


It would appear that the chap has managed to ram any old third party unit in there, but he somehow also put the LCD info display on top of the dashboard (or is that just a different version of the car?!).

That'd be ideally what I'd like.


Anyone any ideas?

Stoolbend

The radio is just the part with the CD player and buttons. The climate buttons underneath are a separate unit.

It should take any single din unit with a fascia adaptor to fill the opening completely.

Unfortunately not quite.

Heres a photo of a head unit somewhat similar to mine;

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/BjIAAOSwFTRTqX9~/$_57.JPG



The 6 buttons on the right are the usual buttons you'd get. The 6 on the left are directly involved with the info display..?

This is what i ideally want:




Taken from this ebay listing:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/11-030-Radio-Fascia-for-PEUGEOT-407-CITROEN-C5-Stereo-Dash-Installation-Trim-Kit-/281158044199?pt=US_Car_Audio_Video_Dashboard_Installation_Kits&hash=item4176534a27


Whatever way that's working, the image used there shows a double din screen (any random one at all, from the look of it) but it also keeps the peugeot 407 displays (the 'person sitting in chair' diagram with fan direction, etc.)

Stoolbend

But the display should work fine for the climate control without the radio.

Well, for example, theres a button on the CD player, bottom left, that says 'CLIM'. When you press this, it brings up (on the display) the option to turn on or off air con.

Without this button i either have air con on all the time, or never (or at least this is my understanding of the situation anyway).

Zcott

How about a third party Bluetooth kit? I've a Bury out that works well.

Would that just be for phone calls though? I am more interested in getting music through my car speakers from my phone?

Gavman84

I have an IO Play 2 kit in my car. Its great job. BT handsfree and also streams the music through the radio using the BT. Can pair 2 devices and has its own amp so sound is very good on it for music. I chose it over parrot as has a bigger amp if you like your tunes!

Zcott

Deleted User wrote: »

Would that just be for phone calls though? I am more interested in getting music through my car speakers from my phone?

The kit I have is a Bury 9048 and it works fine for music and calls. Cost me €160 fitted.

Okay, those two posts have cheered me up a bit..

Do ye guys have any links by any chance? Do I just buy either bit of kit online and bring it to my mechanic or is there someone out there who has a rake of them sitting in a shed and spends all day doing them (perhaps an auto-electrician that can be recommended?).

Image searches are giving me this for the Bury 9048:




and this for the IO Play 2:




Both of which look a little bit 'tacked on at the last minute' but I could definitely live with if they give me phone-music through my speakers!

Rang a local auto-electrician (Autotronix.ie) briefly and asked about doing something like the above.

He suggested a Parrot MKI9200. To have it installed and such would be €250 + VAT.

Not sure if I'm mad on the price if there are cheaper alternatives that do the same thing and take up less space though. The MKI9200 seems to have a screen (which I like, but I imagine i'd be using the phone's screen more than anything else, to select music, etc?) but it means it's larger (unnecessarily so?).





EDIT: Seems Halfords will sell and install it for €240 (incl. VAT). Not sure if I like the idea of Halfords getting involved with my car though.

Zcott

Zcott wrote: »

The kit I have is a Bury 9048 and it works fine for music and calls. Cost me €160 fitted.

Can I ask where you got it and got it fitted?

Gavman84

I bought mine and had it fitted by Oleary communications here in Cork. He does it all day every day along with alarms etc top work very neat and tidy. Cost 265 fitted.

Gavman84

Gavman84 wrote: »

I bought mine and had it fitted by Oleary communications here in Cork. He does it all day every day along with alarms etc top work very neat and tidy. Cost 265 fitted.

Ah, the location is the only issue there (and that i'd rather spend less, if possible). You literally couldn't be any further away from me.

Zcott

Deleted User wrote: »

Can I ask where you got it and got it fitted?

It was a guy near Ardee, whose name I got from a Civic forum. I'll see if I can find it.

Zcott

Zcott wrote: »

The kit I have is a Bury 9048 and it works fine for music and calls. Cost me €160 fitted.

Zcott wrote: »

It was a guy near Ardee, whose name I got from a Civic forum. I'll see if I can find it.

That'd be the bee's knees if you could get his info for me! He'd be right on my door step!

lassykk

Hi

I have a 407 coupe and bought this head unit with bluetooth functionality and the connector cable to keep full control over the climate control etc. I'm delighted with the set up

JVC KD-X250BT Mech-Less Bluetooth Media Reciever with Front USB/AUX Input by JVC http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00B59P4X8/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_R5DWtb0JZN4XV


http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/connects2-ctspg013-peugeot-207-307-308-steering-wheel-adaptor-with-reverse-sensor-audio-support.html

Howdy lassykk.

To be honest, I think I've kinda settled on the IO play 2 kit as what Im gonna do.

It looks like a good bit of kit, won't interfere with the centre console layout or look out of place, and is supposed to give great sound quality based on what ive read online and in this thread as it has it's own amp.

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

Gavman, can i ask you, do you still have steering wheel control, if you're listening to music via the play 2? (ie; can you adjust volume etc from the wheel?).


Patww79, I looked at that site but haven't a clue what I'm looking at to be completely honest. It recommended two products, but again, not sure what they are i'm actually looking at..

Well I got the iO Play 2 installed, by Halfords.

Aside from putting the two units in the wrong place (I specified where I wanted them) they seem to have done a decent job of it, but I haven't really had any chance to look at it properly, just yet.






However, I have returned to the store and they said they'll move the dash pieces for me on Sunday when the chap that fitted it is back in. I didn't mind too much about them being in the wrong place, but I was driving the car last night, and a light off one of the buttons on the lower unit, shines right into my eyes.

It's not strong enough to be blinding at all, or anything like that, but it's quite annoying/distracting. Thankfully I don't have much night time driving to be doing over the next day or two. I wanted them centered in the dash, with the button unit above the buttons on the dash, and the screen unit above the screen. Seems like a logical thing to do.


So far, I've found the sound to be tinny and crackly. Piss poor, in other words, but I'm fairly confident that's more to do with me having not played with the music equaliser on my phone (the equaliser on the Play 2 is sh*te).


So, i've to go out for a half an hour in the car now and I'll take another look at things and adjust the phone's equaliser - see if it helps at all.


Also, apparently there are wires you can buy that will enable steering wheel control to work on the iO Play2. This is pretty important, to me, so I'll be looking at that, soon.

Well I've been toying around with the iO Play 2 for a little while now and I can honestly say it's a great little unit, for what it is, but I'd strongly advise against buying one if music is your primary concern (as it is for me).

In comparison to the radio that's in the car, The sound quality is dire (CD player, for example, sounds shockingly better).

The treble/high tones in the iO Play 2 are headache-inducing, and the low tones/bass are pretty much non-existant. It's in-built equaliser is useless and there's only so much my phone can do to help it out. From looking at the wiring diagram that comes with the unit, there's no way it could have been badly wired by Halfords, so they seem to have done an all-in-all good job.


If anyone reads this thread - if you're able to do a head unit swapover (I can't as the 407's different units are too inter-twined), then I'd strongly advise checking out this unit:

http://www.halfords.ie/sat-nav-audio/car-audio/dab-radios-car-stereos/pioneer-fh-x700bt-double-din-car-cd-player


In my 2004 Toyota Rav4, i thought the sound quality wasn't great. With this head unit, i thought it was fantastic (and I didn't need to change or add speakers to make the jump from lackluster to brilliant, either).


I'm hoping that I soon discover there's something obvious I'm missing with regards to the iO Play 2's appalling sound quality, but at the moment it's looking like a fairly shoddy piece of kit. I'm a very disappointed customer.

Gavman84

Surprised to say the least I bought it as I like my music and find it great in my car. Sound is great for me anyway and Iv never messed with any of the settings. I was recommended this as a one for people using it for music. Iv a htc One not that it matters prob...

I have a surround system in my house at the moment. The front two speakers each have 6 wires connecting them to the main unit.

From my uneducated guesswork, 2 wires are for low, 2 for mid, and 2 for high tones. My iO sounds the same as what these speakers sound like, when you remove the two bass wires (so the speaker is just playing out the high and mid tones).



I will bring it up with Halfords tomorrow when I'm in with them, but I can't say I'm pleased. I tried my own phone (Galaxy Mini 2), Friends phone (Galaxy S3) and my old phone (which has a shattered screen but still works, a Sony Experia J). The Sony phone was able to put a tad more bass into things, but nowhere near as good as it was able to work with the previous car.


Can I ask you, Gavman, on your car, can you actually see the amp/control box itself? On mine, the wires to connect things are in the glovebox, but you can't see the amp/control box anywhere. I'm wondering if perhaps Halfords have locked it away from me, but there are buttons or settings/functions on it that I'm now missing out on?

Gavman84

I would deffo think there is either an install issue or unit itself issue as the sound is really good on mine and any review says the same. I take it it's streaming music you are and not through cable? I had a look there and don't see amp at all say behind radio so don't need to have access I would guess once installed correctly.

Are you, by any chance, anywhere nearby me Gavman, so I could take a look at yours?

As you say yourself, every review is saying great things, but mine is certainly a lackluster experience. I listen to mostly rock music, and I notice that any bass that would have normally shaken the Rav4, is being almost subdued or muted out by the iO Play 2. It's all very tinny or something (the sound).

It's just annoying cos the actual car itself, the CD player and radio, are fine. Really good sound.

Gavman84

Afraid I'm in cork myself or I'd have no bother showing you how it is in mine. Think your in Louth? Ya I listen to rock myself and no issues blaring out bit of enter sandman or rammstein!!

Well I've let a handful of people listen to it and they all agree that the quality is pretty bad, to the extent that they reckon there's an issue with installation or such (but installation looks fairly straight-forward wire-wise, so i don't know).

I'll get Halfords to look at it tomorrow, and go from there. At least I know I'm not going insane, and there is actually something off about it all.

Gavman84

If halfords dont or can't sort it I would take it to a proper installer and get them to sort it out. I know it's a pain but need it working correctly paid enough for it!!

Oh if Halford's don't fix it up, I'll bring it to a proper auto electrician, of course. And Halfords can either pay for it, or refund their own fitting fee.

I don't expect they'll try to mess me about though. The chaps working there seem pretty sound and I'm sure it'll be fairly obvious to them, as it was to me, that there must be some issue. No €170 kit can sound as poorly as this does, and especially not one that's 'aimed at music fans' and that hasn't got a bad word about it online.


If they give me any attitude, I'll more than likely end up telling them to pull the whole thing out, though. Seems like it's faulty to me! (and i know they wont want the hassle of removing it, so may just opt to try and fix it for me instead).

challengemaster

In fairness - you'd have better luck handing a pliers to a monkey than getting halfords to fit something.

JohnBoy26

Deleted User wrote: »

Well I've been toying around with the iO Play 2 for a little while now and I can honestly say it's a great little unit, for what it is, but I'd strongly advise against buying one if music is your primary concern (as it is for me).

In comparison to the radio that's in the car, The sound quality is dire (CD player, for example, sounds shockingly better).

The treble/high tones in the iO Play 2 are headache-inducing, and the low tones/bass are pretty much non-existant. It's in-built equaliser is useless and there's only so much my phone can do to help it out. From looking at the wiring diagram that comes with the unit, there's no way it could have been badly wired by Halfords, so they seem to have done an all-in-all good job.


If anyone reads this thread - if you're able to do a head unit swapover (I can't as the 407's different units are too inter-twined), then I'd strongly advise checking out this unit:

http://www.halfords.ie/sat-nav-audio/car-audio/dab-radios-car-stereos/pioneer-fh-x700bt-double-din-car-cd-player


In my 2004 Toyota Rav4, i thought the sound quality wasn't great. With this head unit, i thought it was fantastic (and I didn't need to change or add speakers to make the jump from lackluster to brilliant, either).


I'm hoping that I soon discover there's something obvious I'm missing with regards to the iO Play 2's appalling sound quality, but at the moment it's looking like a fairly shoddy piece of kit. I'm a very disappointed customer.

I'd rank the equivelant alpine higher than those tbh. Over pioneer they boast far better sound quality, aren't as in your your face like the pioneers with their bright flashing lights and text, and don't look as cheap(the new range of pioneers look very tacky imo)

The equivalent Alpine is probably a hundred times better, but I've only experience of the one that I linked to, and I found it to be pretty great.


With regards the iO Play 2, I brought it to Halfords today. Chap that installed it wasn't in til later (I called around 10am, he was due in at 11:30am). So another chap came out and listened to it briefly, but said he wouldnt do anything to it and would leave it to the other chap as he's the one who installed it.

I played the same song twice - once on CD (great bass, Peugeot's stock system is actually really good), then I played the same song again via the bass-less Play 2, and he agreed there was no bass to be found.


So I left the keys with them and headed off, as i didnt need the car today. Popped back over at 5:30 or so, and the chap that installed it was there. Told me there wasn't anything wrong with it and it was working fine. I brought him out to the car, played the CD/Play 2 comparison and he agreed that there was a noticeable difference in quality.

(just to note, as I was worried it might just be a bluetooth issue, I got a friend who has an iPod to play some music through it, too. The iPod is physically connected by wiring to the play2, so not via bluetooth - the sound was lacking in bass, same as the phones, so i know it's not a phone or bluetooth issue).


So he said he'd order another Play 2 in, and do a swap over of the box inside the glove box. He reckons the wiring is all done properly and the only thing it could be is the box/amp having issues.


If this doesn't fix it, I'll see about bringing it to an Auto-electrician. See If an Auto-electrician fixes it, can I pay him and invoice Halfords (as they can't seem to do it right).

MuppetCheck

If the swapping of the box doesn't work tell them you want a refund and get a proper installer to fit it. My experience of an impulse purchase like this in halfords was desperate and the only reason I go there now is when they do good 3 for 2 deals.

Yeah, that's the route I'll more than likely be going down, alright.

Even on youtube, theres a video of a chap installing it and he plays a song through it in the video,and you can even hear the bass on his crappy camera that he's recording the video with. Bit mad to think that I have such an issue. Doesn't make sense. Has to be down to poor installation.

93Cab

Just reading this thread for the first time! I've just got a 407 with the RT3 head unit ( the double din one pictured in post 4) I've just got an Xcarlink Ipod unit with bluetooth add on, which uses the CD changer port for €175ish. Steering wheel controls do volume, track etc..Just waiting on JBL's to be delivered to replace all the speakers in the car (€130) before I have a go at fitting everything!

93Cab

93Cab wrote: »

Just reading this thread for the first time! I've just got a 407 with the RT3 head unit ( the double din one pictured in post 4) I've just got an Xcarlink Ipod unit with bluetooth add on, which uses the CD changer port for €175ish. Steering wheel controls do volume, track etc..Just waiting on JBL's to be delivered to replace all the speakers in the car (€130) before I have a go at fitting everything!

What year/model is your 407 that it's got the double din, can I ask?

I have only ever seen a double din in one car in my whole life, and that was a taxi, at Christmas last year. (not sure what car it actually was though. Just remember it was an estate).

I thought the Double din had bluetooth as standard on it.

93Cab

It's an 05 407 SW 2.0 hdi which I bought on Ebay from UK. I've been reading the forums since I got it, and it seems there are 3 different types of double din, RT 3,4 and 5. Later ones have bluetooth. Mine is obviously an older unit. In the pic in post 4 you can see it has a keypad on the right along with a sim card slot, where I intend to put a ready to go sim. It might be useful in emergencies! It is'nt touchscreen, but I've updated the maps to 2014 and they're very accurate. It also has voice control, which I havent tried yet! I thought the standard speakers were a bit light sounding, so I'm getting JBL components for the front doors and dash, and JBL two ways for the doors. Speakers arriving today!

Well Halfords took out the iO Play 2, and now I have a Parrot MKI9200.

The sound is better, but only negligibly. The bass is still really, really lacking.

I was talking to an auto-electrician briefly enough on the phone, and he reckoned that the way it worked was that I'd either get sound, or I wouldn't. He said there's no middle ground, so apparently the sound I have is just what's to be expected of the Parrot/iO Play 2, but I think that's just not true.


I read this online:


http://forum.parrot.com/usa/viewtopic.php?id=4878

When I play audio through the Parrot... the sound is far inferior to my normal factory Bose car stereo, and I can't figure out why.


... am I stuck with tinny, no bass, and not even close to same volume as factory radio?

UPDATE: Answered my own questions... I removed the white box that came with the Quick Connect Harness. Now I'm at more volume than I could ever need, and the sound quality is crystal clear, no difference between factory stereo CD or audio through Parrot...

Does anyone know what that means in English?