So Anyway this dude at a local audio shop told me that if I want to hook up a aftermarket head unit I would have a lot of work to do.

Okay first off I know that for my year (2002) I need a interface to make my door chime and amplified speakers work correctly. He informed me of this fact(which I already knew), but he also said I would have to run my factory head unit to the trunk, hook up my interface (which I believe has all the correct connections), and then hook up my aftermarket head unit. He also said that if it wasn't done this way the headlight, taillights, turn signals, horn etc.. would not work. He said the car may not even start.
The new head unit may not even work!!.

Have I been fed some bogus info??

Help

Mac

Sounds pretty stupid to me. I think all you need is that interface, wiring harness, antenna adapter, and a faceplate kit. I'm not sure though. You might want to wait till somebody else chimes in.

The interface/chime module does all the work that the Factory head unit should do. Take it somewhere else, he'* a dumbass.

That installer was an idiot.. yes. To change the headunit you don't even need that interface adapter if you don't care about the door chimes but I recommend it just so you can keep your retained accessory power after shutoff. But, you will lose your onstar without it too (if so equipped. I don't remember if the Bonneville had that standard or not? )

Do be warned that you need to cut the back of the dashout where the ribbon cable connects because the stock location is about 1" too shallow to install an aftermarket deck. Once you do this you won't be able to use the factory radio again.

I recently put in a new head unit, and finding the right interface was a problem. I was told the same thing by a couple of different places. In fact a few places said they couldn't do it all together. The problem is that the interface is brand new that will work with 2000+ Bonnevilles and most places don't have the new Metra catalog. The one place I did find the adapter was www.lafayetteradio.com. I don't have onstar, so the right adapter was the gmrc-04. In addition if you call metra directly they will tell you the correct one.

The adapter works great, and I still have the retainted acc. power and dooe chimes. Although the door chimes are a bit loud. It is a pretty tight fit with an aftermarket radio, however I was able to make it work without cutting behind the radio or having it stick out beyond the opening more than the factory one did. The only thing I paid to have done was the front door speakers, which they did last week. However they did such a crappy job that I had to fix half of the things myself, and one side doesnt' work. Learn how to solder and you'll have a great connection for all the hookups that won't come apart.

great post -04SE. If you don' tmind me asking what kind of Headunit did you get installed? My pioneer was way too deep. :( I figure that most aftermarket cd players are nearly the same depth? I'm interested because I might swap out my factory radio in that case. I like having a stock look, but the sound out of the factory cd player leaves a LOT to be desired!

I have the Alpine 9830. I used the Metra GM dash adapter that has the liltte cubby hole underneath. I left off the h/u removeable trim piece as well. It is a pretty tight fit with the RCA and AI-net adapters hooked up (I have the XM direct hook-up), but its in there. I'm not sure about different depths though with different h/u'* but the best bet it to just measure your space, you never know they may have changed the depth for the 04. I'll definetly agree about the miserable quality of the factory system. I was driving it home from the dealership and already planning for the system I was going to put in.

Hey gang thanks for the reply. I was really wanting to do a new head unit but he had me freaked out. The alpine 9830 was the exact unit I was looking to buy. I guess I'll be puttin in my order. I know it is last years deck but cructhfield has them still in stock at a pretty good price. So all I will need is the gm interface right and the install kit.?? Will there be any other harnesses to buy??

preciate the info.

peace mac

when you change to a aftermarket HU the chime doesnt work ( like when the lights are left on and such and such) with the interface hooked up you can keep the chime
the chime sounds the the speakers thats the only reason why

so hes right i had installed a HU on a 02 sunfire and we decided not to have to chime

hey 04se did you have the ribbon cable in your car??? if so does the gmrc-04 work with the ribbon cable headunits??