Seat Leon 2006 (MK2) Audio upgrade

[Hassen]

Hi all.

Just wanted to document and put a few pictures of the audio upgrade that I am planning for my wife's 2006 Seat Leon 1.6 R (petrol) MK2 audio system.

I recently upgraded my own head unit in my Focus to the AVH-X8700BT and the previous unit, Pioneer AVH-X2500BT was not going to be used. Rather than sell it on, I decided to install it in my wife's car as she didn't have bluetooth, aux in etc. She's not overly concerned with sound quality unlike myself and would need more the functionality of handsfree bluetooth calling and music streaming. I plan on doing the upgrades step wise like I did in my own car.

Phase one:

Head unit upgrade with all wiring, fascia, adaptor, mic etc wires in. I think this will make the most noticeable impact in functionality and sound improvement. 

I have acquired most of the parts and only one needed to be picked up later on is a 3.5mm 1.8m Aux cable, just in case it's required down the line. 

1. Fascia, ISO loom and stereo removal keys bought from eBay. 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171470784318?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

2. Headunit, wiring, USB extender, Mic, fascia surround, cage and stereo removal keys. 

[Lenny]

Looks like a straight swap install from looking at the kit mate,

I'm guessing; there's two L shaped brackets with your screws which unscrew from the dash and side of the existing Double Din headunit and screw in to the aftermarket cage or New headunit.

worth using shortest screws possible when !Removed! these brackets in to the headunit to prevent splitting motherboard 

[Hassen]

3 hours ago, Lenny said:

Looks like a straight swap install from looking at the kit mate,

I'm guessing; there's two L shaped brackets with your screws which unscrew from the dash and side of the existing Double Din headunit and screw in to the aftermarket cage or New headunit.

worth using shortest screws possible when !Removed! these brackets in to the headunit to prevent splitting motherboard 

I think it should be a pretty straight forward swap indeed. The aftermarket head unit has a ?hinge that locks into the cage. The there are a few small screws supplied as well. I found a video on Youtube for the process and will follow it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXRufx7T5Hk

The only thing that might cause me a bit of difficulty is how to route the Mic from the back of the headunit to the pilar or in the middle of the car. I reckon it will take a bit of exploring to find a way where the wire can pass up to the pillars. Hoping it's not too difficult. Already decided that the Aux input plug and the Usb extender will be coming from under the new aftermarket fascia to land in the cup holders in the centre console. That way, an iPod, USB stick or other mp3 device is easily accessible to the driver. I did the same in my car as I didn't want these to live in the glovebox. I got the Aux cable earlier on and I will try to install the head unit during the week.

My mind is already racing ahead though as now I feel like with that head unit, the stock Speakers will need to be upgraded as well. I am already looking at Focal for options and as usual their component Speakers are not cheap. I would like to keep this install as simple as possible and there is an Integration Kit that Focal does for VW cars: Focal IS 165 VW. I am hoping it would fit the front doors of the Seat Leon and it would just be plug and play. I emailed Focal, but no answer from them yet. 

I am not going down the route of aftermarket amplifier with this project. So, the component Speakers would be run off the headunit and I am hoping to use the stock wiring to the speakers. Any ideas how to do this as currently, the stock speakers are components and I am pretty sure the wires are divided to run to the woofer and tweeter separately in the door. I would like to be able to get a set with a separate crossover network and integrate that into the stock wiring to keep things clean. 

[Lenny]

If you have a length of coaxial cable or something with a bit of spring in it; tape the mic. Cable to the end and phish it through the dash section towards the pillar.

The audio cables from iso block to the doors will be carrying full range audio. 

The cable is then on the door either fed into a crossover box or if it's like Ford the crossover is built inside the tweeter so full range splits to both speaker form.

won't really know until you get the door panel off; but the colours at rear of headunit should be the same inside the door 

the iso block may say what cable is what; 

You can then trace that to corresponding cables in the factory loom as they plug in to each other just follow connection to find cable colours. 

A cheap reverse Camera would also be a nice feature to add for under €30 while you have the dash out and the headunit supports the feature; nice to be fully integrated.

[Hassen]

Last night, I got bored watching tv and decided at around 9pm to start fitting the head unit as it was still bright, dry and the lil ones were fast asleep. It was a bit fiddly and tricky as I had never worked on the Leon before. I followed Lenny's advice and managed to fish out the mic and install it. With the wiring, it was fairly straight forward. The fascia surround was a bit tricky to get it and it's still not flush. The cage was also a bit wobbly but I managed to secure it with the tabs.

After all of that was sorted, I started the car but the headunit was not powering on. Tried a few times and checked the wiring, still nothing happening. Light was fading at this stage so I just left it there and I am hoping that it's just a blown fuse that will need changing. I am going to use the multimeter again tonight to check the radio fuses and hoping I have a few spare fuses to swap it. Fingers crossed it's just a simple fix now as the head unit looks good and the fascia surround colour matched very well.

Mic cable:

 

 

 

 

I will post a few more pictures of the head unit fitted when I work on the car again.

[Lenny]

Looking great,

Has to be just a fuse or slightly loose connection block. 

[Stoney871]

Some cars require the battery and ignition feed wires swapping in the connector.

Sent from my SM-G930F

[Hassen]

Thanks for the helpful tips. Stoney871, you're spot on. I didn't realise what the red wire in the new ISO connector was. Apparently for VAG cars, which have the canbus system, you need to find another ignition source to wire that red wire to so as to power the headunit. 

After a little bit of google searching earlier on today, I found the answer and the easiest places to get the feed from. The 2 choices were from the indoor fuse box which was going to be a bit unsightly or from the cigarette lighter which was the closest that the red wire length could reach. After a little bit of wire fishing around from behind the headunit, to the bottom where I had fished out the Mic cable, I took off the side panel by the left side of the footwell. I also took out in the centre console, the slab that house the buttons for tyre pressure monitoring, tcs and the cigarette lighter. After scratching my head for about 30 min on how to wire the red wire cleanly, it was much easier to take out the block connector for the cigarette lighter, put the expored red wire inside it, and slide it back in place. Safely attached and secured without soldering or splicing into the live wire. I was quite chuffed about that simple but elegant solution. 

The only issue left to deal with was the fact that the head unit was Not turning off when I switched off the engine. I looked for an answer only, and then decided to go have dinner. Told my wife about the latest issue and Then she tells me that the original radio had to be turned off manually or it would stay on for about 1hr! That meant that I could just turn the Pioneer radio off and turn off the screen now, without the battery draining out! 

I went back out, secured the head unit properly with the cage etc. The fascia was a bit reluctant to go in gently, so I had to use some force in the shape of a hammer and a piece of wood wrapped in a rag. It worked and everything was flushly fitted. The Aux cable and the USB extension was neatly tucked in the centre console and I will have a spare usb charger not attached to the cigarette lighter for her to charge the phone on the go. I also did a test phone call and the bluetooth calling is excellent. Finally, the sound quality in the car has vastly improved. With a simple EQ tweak and the Loudness on +1, the whole thing is a lot better. I reckon with a set of aftermarket Focal Speakers only, this thing would be a whole other level. I might just hold off for now on the Speakers as she might not want them and be quite happy with how things are. 

A few pictures:

I lifted this up with the usual trim removal tools and under the cigarette lighter, took out the block connector and linked in the red power wire for the head unit that I had fished out from underneath. 

 

 

The colour of the aftermarket fascia matched perfectly to the original trim. 

[Stoney871]

Glad you're sorted out now.

On Ford connectors you just tease the connectors out of the multiblock and swap them over.

Bit more involved with your car but great result.

Sent from my SM-G930F

[Hassen]

I don't remember having to do that with my car now, but maybe I did as it was a few years back that I installed the Iso block connector.

In regards to the red power wire in Vag cars, it took a lot of online digging to come up with the answer. I was getting annoyed as I expected it to be plug and play for installing the stereo. But it wasn't gonna get the best of me!

In the process of installing this Pioneer head unit, I learnt something new and looking at the final result, I didn't do too badly for an amateur :)

[Lenny]

2 hours ago, Hassen said:

I don't remember having to do that with my car now, but maybe I did as it was a few years back that I installed the Iso block connector.

I didn't need to change any wires on mine neither 

[Stoney871]

I believe the problem is that Ford and GM radio connectors are 99% interchangeable so some companies sell one connector supposedly for both without pointing out that the battery and ignition wires are the wrong way around for Fords.

I put it down to ignorance or laziness on the part of the suppliers.

Connects2 mostly seem to have it right though.

Sent from my SM-G930F

[Lenny]

19 hours ago, Stoney871 said:

I believe the problem is that Ford and GM radio connectors are 99% interchangeable so some companies sell one connector supposedly for both without pointing out that the battery and ignition wires are the wrong way around for Fords.

I put it down to ignorance or laziness on the part of the suppliers.

Connects2 mostly seem to have it right though.

Can't go wrong with Connects2 products, Top Quality 👍😉