Fitting replacement Saab radio/cd

[JohnV]

Hi,

I've bought a 2001 9-3 at a very reasonable price that has a JVC face-off unit in place of the original Saab radio/cd unit.

As I've got a bit of the budget left I was going to buy a radio/cd unit from eBay and hopefully fit it.

What questions should I ask of the seller and will the unit simply plug into the right slot or are there likely to be installation issues?

Cheers

John

[sgould]

If you already have an aftermarket radio, it will be in a DIN slot.  It is fairly straightforward to put another unit in.  There were fitting kits available that consisted of a metal holder that fitted the Saab hole and left a DIN slot and a storage tray.

If you do have a problem, the only one I have heard of, is that Saab used an ISO connector, but they swapped the 12v battery power and 12v ignition switched supply on some cars.

If your JVC is a single DIN unit, the new one should fit without a problem.

[JohnV]

Thanks for the reply.

The JVC is a single DIN unit with a storage slot underneath.

I didn't make it clear in my original post that I want to put in a Saab double DIN radio/cd unit.

Hope your advice still applies, I'd heard stories about divorcing and re-marrying units.

[sgould]

Divorce and remarry only applies to the Saab original units.  They have a link to the car security and won't work unless this is right.

An aftermarket unit will just work with the power supply.  It won't need a security link. 

If you want to reinstall a Saab unit.  It must be one that is divorced from it's previous car.  Although it may be that some models of the 9-3 were too early to have the system.  I'll check later.

All the 9-5 Saab units need to be married and divorced.  If the unit is not divorced you can't remarry it to your car.  A unit has to be divorced while fitted to the original car.  Although there is a way round that if you know the VIN number of the donor.

The 9-5 and 9-3 units are not the same shape.  They are not interchangeable.

[sgould]

Just checked.  The 9-3 unit does need to be divorced and married.

You should look for a divorced unit from a reputable source.

If you find one that is not divorced, you should be able to get it working as long as you have the VIN number of the donor car.  If you don't have this, you will be buying a doorstop!!

To get an undivorced unit to work, you have to use the Saab diagnostic computer "Tech2" and change the VIN of your car to that of the donor car.  Install the radio.  Check it works. Divorce it. Change your VIN back to the correct one and then marry the radio.

[JohnV]

Things haven't moved on much from my original post as I'm still looking for Saab cd/radio unit that has been divorced but with VIN just in case.

I have however been offered a divorced cd/radio unit from a MY 2005 9-3 which is the one with the centre volume knob.

Does anyone know if these can be retro-fitted successfully to a first generation 9-3 and will the cd changer and steering wheel controls still work?

Thanks

John

[sgould]

A 2005 unit cannot work in any earlier model.  The 2005 audio was integrated into the car computer system.  There are three bits to it,  The fascia which is just the control knobs and buttons and is needed for the car to work as it does things in the computer network, The Entertainment Head Unit which is the guts of the audio and is linked to the fascia with fibre optics.  The CD player is separate and sits below the EHU.  No way will it work in a pre-2002 car.

When you say that the unit has the centre volume control, do you mean the 2007 audio?  That is more standard and may work, but I think it will need it's own accessories.  But even that may need a modern computer link and authorisation.  In which case, it won't work in an old car.

[JohnV]

Thanks again for the answer. You were correct it was a 2007 unit, must check my facts better.

Looks like it's back to plan A then.