lkoh

Thanks guys for the kind words. It was my first install. I just didn't want anybody else to make the same mistakes I did. (bought the wrong metra lol newb)
If this post writeup manages to help even one forumer out, then writing it was time well spent

I'll do just that (the own thread bit, not the sticky haha) after this weekend; I just need to add in some pics of the head unit.

Hey Spingjp, I still haven't forgotton that this is very much your thread; hope you (and our fellow non-bose owners) have a chance to work on your ride when the weather turns.

Spingjp

IKOH, you used a 8" polk mm in your decklid, but you said you made a bracket, so essentially, will a 10" work or no?

also how did you remove the rear deck lid?

lkoh

You're in luck. I still have my original sketches.

The hole in the metal deck is a circular hole 24cm (9.44 inches). Depending on the model, a 10" should most likely fit.

note: a 10" sub will fit into a hole smaller than 10" (surprise!).
I only needed a 7.06" hole to fit my 8" sub. It should differ from model to model. Download the manual for the sub that you are going to use, and the dimensions should be stated inside)

Below is the same picture from post#13. Surrounding the circular hole are 4 smaller holes 4mm in diameter. Those 4 holes form a square 19cm (7.48") on each side.

If the holes in the sub does not match up with those 4 holes, you're going to have to build a bracket.

I accessed the rear decklid by taking off the rear seats and then prying off the (reusable) plastic clips.
Once the rear seats are off you should be able to partially lift the deck lid, with enough working space to stick a sub inside. (I mean the floppy one, not the metal deck. The metal deck is immovable)
Take off the interior panels from your rear quarter if you really want to remove the rear deck lid entirely. In my case, I did not do so (for fear of breaking plastic tabs)

You will need a 14mm socket (for the seats) and a flat screwdriver / butter knife (for the plastic clips and tabs). The factory service manual should help. I don't think there are any tutorials on how to remove the seats, mainly because it is easy as pie.

Hope this helps. It is *very unlikely* that your ride is different from my 2009, but it won't hurt to double check your own car before making your purchases. The fastest way is to take trim off your boot (5 minutes) and the hole is visible.

The Max

According to the Bose set up, pin #1 off the head unit should be the amp remote. As far as I can tell with these head units, there's no difference with the pinouts of this particular connector other than the fact that pin 9 is not used on the Bose at all and the audio outputs are line level as opposed to the non-Bose being speaker level.

So at the risk of insulting your intelligence, did you check pin #1 to see what it did when you turned the stereo on/off?

The Max

On the contrary, I wish I DID get Bose when I imported mine from Japan (RHD). The benefit of having a Bose system is that it is MUCH easier to upgrade from because all the wiring is in place in the trunk and the front doors for component speakers running off crossovers.

Now that I've discovered that a Bose system was an option for the "Premium" package in Japan, I have to do the following:

1) See if I can extract an amp remote signal from pin #1 of the head unit.

2) Pass two pairs of wires back to the trunk area for the front audio signals to interface with the JBL MS-8. The rear ones are obviously already in the trunk area so they're easily taken care of.

3) Pass new wires to the doors since I have to put through at least one additional pair to handle the tweeters separately as opposed to Nissan's idea of paralleling the drivers instead. May as well do both the woofer and tweeter since the wires going to them are pretty damn thin for the power I'm pushing to them.

It's just more wiring I was hoping to avoid and even then, I'm not certain if the head unit does output a remote signal from that pin 1 anyway! Worse comes to worse, I'll be pulling the head unit apart to find a point on the circuit board which does come active only when the head unit is switched on and pass that as my remote wire instead. This engineer will not be defeated!

So trust me when I say I wish I had a Bose system in mine.

lkoh

I did not check pin#1, but I suspect it would simply work as a conventional +12v accessory wire would

My initial thoughts was that the easiest method would be to hook up a separate momentary switch for the amp, maybe a rocker style beside the snow button. It may not be as glamorous as a direct hookup into the oem head unit, but it ought to work and you can make the switch look stock.

Let us know what you eventually go with! I had recently installed an aftermarket head unit which came with its own amp remote turn-on wire.
The image below shows both the rocker style switch as well as my head unit

The Max

The reason why I ask is because it is the remote signal for the OEM amp in the Bose system and I'm not sure if amongst all the other differences between the two head units that signal has or has not been omitted. Otherwise, I'll definitely be pulling the circuit boards out of that unit to find any point in there which can serve as that remote signal, be it directly or indirectly.

I like the factory look of your rocker switch, though please tell me you didn't sacrifice the heated seat switches for it!

Spingjp

the max check out my build of a complete audio over haul..

https://www.myg37.com/forums/audio-v...audio-zed.html

m3clubracer

I just received my Metra harneses above. Has anyone tried this process?

m3clubracer

Maybe this will help my cause.

m3clubracer

Installed Metra harnesses and the lack of wires on the 70-7552 harness is the culprit Strg sw is steering wheel switches. At least I have line taps and only need 3 instead of 5 without the Metras.