I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on:
So I bought myself a Kenwood DMX8021DABS head unit and a Connects2 CTSMZ012.2 kit to hook it up and not wanting to struggle out in the cold unnecessarily, I decided to do as much of the prep work at home before taking the car apart and I’m glad I did!
Most of it seems seems straight forward, but the wiring harness won’t fit if I connect the included additional harness, which I assume is a high to low converter for the audio signal to the amp.
The problem is that connectors both on the head unit and on the ISO harness side are one piece (despite them being two separate connectors on each side), so it’s not possible to connect the audio converter and the other half of the harness at the same time.
Not sure why connects2 made both connectors a single piece, am I expected to cut it in half?
I’ve attached a picture of the harnesses below, the one labelled 3-4 is the one I believe is the converter and that goes between 1 and 2. Has anyone fitted one of these recently?
Mine was the same, I have the ddx4019dab installed in my nc. I left off that harness 3-4 as is does not fit. The sound is great without that harness, no repeat noise or pops, certainly does not need it. I have wired in using harnesses without cutting any of the wire or use of the coax audio connectors and all works just fine .
I would agree with your conclusion that connector 2 needs cutting in to 2 parts.
Also - don’t forget to wire in the “amp switch on” wire or the bose amp will not power up.
Yes I am using the original Bose amp. Although I did replace the Bose speakers with the Clearwater ones from the USA and have an under seat sub woofer by Kenwood.
Mine is the MK3 2005 launch edition. I wonder if the connects 2 is a universal one fits all option, which is what I have too. So can do away with the part mentioned. Also the steering wheel controls worked without connecting the control module, but I still plugged it in because there was space for it.
I wanted to give an update now that I’ve completed the install, in case someone has the same questions.
I was able to find an harness extension at Halfords that is the same length as the converter that came with the kit (see pic below). I had reached out to Connects2 and they said that I could also cut the harness to make it fit, but I had already bought the adapter by the time they replied so I didn’t bother.
Another tip is that the parking brake sensor wire from the harness does not seem to register when the parking brake is on, so my HU always thinks that I’m driving and limits some features. It’s not the end of the world but still a bit annoying, I’d suggest wiring it to the actual parking brake or to just ground it.
Jury is still out on the reverse signal, but I have a strong suspicion that it won’t work either, I won’t know for sure until I try to install a reversing camera though. Everything else seems to work fine.
Overall it’s a pretty straightforward job and I think most should be able to tackle it, taking apart the center console is a lot easier than I expected too.
100% worth it, the sound quality improved considerably, even with the stock BOSE amp and speakers.
