Doesn’t seem quite so big once the roll hoops are back in and you install the tray that the roof sits in when down
true but a bit more than the two cubby boxes they give you sorry three cubbies
After a very long day, bleeding knuckles and a flat battery we are done! Thankfully my friend helped and I would have never been able to do it without him. There was alot of wiring being looped together, run to fuse boxes, through grommets, tied with string, we even utilised a tree branch to pull it through small spaces 
Everythings done and working bar one ■■■■■ up, we have the reverse camera working but when pulling it through the hole in the plastic plate we drilled we broke the wire connector. So thats borked but my mates coming back another night to rewire it. It definitely did work…!
Loving my new setup, and THANKS SO MUCH to all on here who’ve been helping and advising me, you’re the best!
Tell you what though…NEVER AGAIN
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Good man and very well done with your perseverance!
Be easier the next time. 
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Quick one, anyone know what this screen is on the Kenwood 8021? Its the first window of you swipe left and whatever I do it just sits there saying no data available, weird
I think its for a no longer supported traffic app.
Having started this thread i have followed with great interest.
I won’t be going to Halfords, but the DIY option looks like a bit of a nightmare!
I’m sure someone early on suggested an upgrade with the right adapters would be a “plug and play” process…then follows several series of photos of cars being virtually dismantled, holes being drilled, wiring being spliced and lots of commentary about live feeds and where to connect etc.
Grateful to everyone who has posted, as there is a lot of really useful stuff here…just need to decide if i am inspired to give it a go, or slightly intimidated!
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Roughly where are you Dan ?
Perhaps a local to you member who has done the swap could assist / supervise.
Northampton as first post.
Yes, any “Forum User”, I am sure would help. 
I did wonder as if you install their ‘weather/traffic’ app on your phone as instructed in the manual, it pops up with a message saying ‘no longer supported’ or something. What a weird thing to leave a dead screen there with a message in the middle like that - you’d have thought it would update itself to change it some way!
Hey Dan - yes sorry to hijack your thread but glad you got something out of it - perhaps not the answer you wanted though!
You sound like you’re in the same boat as me, someone not technical who just wants a new stereo put in. If it’s just the head unit you’re looking a changing I think it’s do-able. The adaptors you get do basically just plug in and there’s a couple of little wires you need to push into a little block for the steering controls, the instructions tell you how to do it and I managed that myself. I then ripped out the old ■■■■ from the last stereo once I was sure it was redundant.
The issues for me came when I wanted a DAB aerial and a reversing camera. These head units come with the capability for these so I thought ‘may aswell get them too’. Que nightmare of pulling off all trim, threading wires though the bulkhead and rubber grommets, drilling holes etc. And I absolutely would not have been able to do the wiring without a friend who is very good at that sort of thing. The wires are connected via multiple scotch connectors to the fuse box and reverse lamp. He had to thread multiple wires together as they weren’t long enough. I would not have had a clue. You may need to get an aerial adaptor for the FM also, I got one and did note that the FM aerial lead wouldn’t have plugged into my new unit. However I got a whole new aerial and lead so it was a moot point. I still have the adaptor.
BUT - if you just want a head unit without DAB (although I hear there is an adaptor for DAB you can plug in - with mixed results) and reversing cameras then I think it’s a relatively simple job. The mic and GPS antenna you just put in the instrument cowl replacing the ones already there. I’d say a couple of hours work
Don’t be silly, that makes the job so much easier!
Well done! It took me a couple of days as well. Looks great! At present I have the gps receiver tucked in the corner of the day. It’s not really bothering me there and obviously gets clear line of sight of the space junk flying around but I’m now tempted to pop it inder the instrument cowl.
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Thanks Lakkabay - appreciate all the help!
The cowl literally pops off and I discovered there was a GPS receiver already there for the Alpine which I had no idea existed. I’ve put the new one in the same place but I’m not 100% sure it’s working yet - i.e. there’s a small chance I nipped the wire when threading it through the interior - although I doubt it. There seems to be very little reason to have the GPS unit these days as the stereo is essentially a conduit for the phone. I did see that if you use Apple Car Play it does require the GPS unit to use maps (comes up with a message if you try an use without and doesn’t let you use Carplay), but not for Android. I had a quick play with one of my daughters IPhones earlier and it did connect straight away (no message about requiring a GPS antenna so presumably mine is working) but it couldn’t track her on the map - saying location services needed to be enabled…which they are…so not sure what’s going on there. Will try my other daughter’s IPhone later when she’s back from school!
I’ll get my glasses - haha
TBH if you are just swapping the head unit, installing a DAB aerial and or fitting a GPS puck only the centre radio facia needs to come out.
If you want to extend the USB fly lead to the centre cubby as I did then the centre cubby, gear knob needs to come out.
Fitting a reverse camera then make your connections to the rear of the head unit whilst it’s out then then you’ll need to feed the cables under sill covers and through to the boot area. Of course the boot plastic linings need to come out to gain access but it’s not really that difficult.
There’s hardly any splicing of cables to do it’s mainly plug in connectors apart from tapping into the reverse feed and maybe (not necessarily) tapping into the handbrake wire.
If you were close I’d be willing to help, I’m in South Derbyshire.
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I had to take the centre console out to get the fascia off for the new head unit. The screws are under the
centre console so there’s no getting it out without it. To be honest though it is just three screws and a quick spin of the gear knob and it’s done - so no biggie. I ripped out my old rubbish USB and aux plug and just ran a USB C cable down the centre and plopped it through the hole where the old USB connection was.
You can also use one of these to panel mount the USB where the old 12v socket used to be.
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Thanks for that I was wondering about adding in a replacement. It does have a slight disadvantage other than just the hole I have now in that it makes it much harder to run a cable and fit your phone in the little drawer and shutting it. With just a cable coming out the hole I can plug my phone in and shove it in the drawer where the cable and wire effectively go back into the hole. Looks a bit ■■■■ but works a treat 
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