Denison Gateway 500 Ipod Install - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

ChipH · 10-20-2007, 06:33 AM

Had a Denison installed yesterday in my 2005 Boxster with a CDR24 radio. Absoulutely sounds great! 36GB of music now available in place of the cd-changer in my case. $475.00 for the kit from BumperPlugs and the dealer charged me $375 for a real professional install. All cables neatly located in my glove box for easy access. Still trying to figure out how to change from shuffle, to artists, etc. with only the single line of text. It only shows track numbers on a CDR24. But, the sound and ability to select "next" in a shuffle mode makes me very happy. I highly recomend this to anyone.

meerzee · 10-20-2007, 06:35 AM

Nice....Please send pics. I am looking for an upgrade but dont want anything that looks too wild.

Thanks

ChipH · 10-24-2007, 01:23 PM

I took it to a Porsche dealer who did the installation. Very professional job, with the ipod connection cable, the usb cable and the aux input box all are located in the glovebox via a drilled hole in the box with a custom rubber grommet that seals each wire individually.

I have not tested the aux input yet. Having a CDR-24, you do not get the advantage of the nav screen showing you the selections, artists, playlists, etc. You basically get a disc selection 1 through 6 and the track numbers which go up to 99 and roll-over. You can select albums, playlists and artists with disc selection numbers 1, 2 and 3, but it is very difficult to figure out.

Personally I have a 60GB ipod with 32GB of music on the drive without playlists and I let it shuffle from the library. You do have the ability to press the scan button on the radio and it will scan the shuffling which I like to use as well.

No issues with the install and my limited use of the unit. The sound is AWSOME since it is a direct connection to the radio/bose amplifier. I will never use the single cd player again.

Selection is easy, press the cd button once and get CDS (single), press again and the display shows CDC and then the display shows 1 through 6 above the buttons starting from the left and then the track information above that.

The CDR-24 does not support the song titles on the radio 1 line text screen and the tachometer like the fm radio does via certain broadcasting stations.

All in all, the best upgrade I have added to my 2005 boxster to date. I love not being limited to a single cd for music. I also highly recommend the surround high mode for the bose with the ipod. It's an amazing virtual "digital" sound.

As far as where to install in your area, I would call the local Porsche dealers in your area and see if they have any experience with the denison products. That's what I did, called the two here in San Diego close to me and asked how I get an ipod connection in my boxster to start the process.

Lastly, I am told you need the latest firmware for the CDR-24 to operate correctly. 2.02 I believe. My unit came from the dealer and their distributor (bumperplugs.com) I believe with the correct version. The tech said they are a piece of cake to install and has done several. They charged me 475.00 US for the unit, and 375.00 to install. Less than the cost to install a CVD-changer !!

Good luck. Let me know if I can answer anyhting else. Figure this weekend I might hook a portable dvd player for a sound check via the two RCA jacks to see how the aux input works. Next step if it works is to add a portable sirius unit with an internal antenna and connect it to the aux input via a "rca to mini din adapter" and throw that in the glove box as well !!

ChipH · 10-24-2007, 01:27 PM

Oh yeah, I missed your question about the dealer needing to set it up. Yes, the dealer needs to re-program the computer to look for a CD-changer on the most bus.

roadracer311 · 10-24-2007, 06:44 PM

I installed one in my 2003 Boxster S (CDR-23) last June, a couple weeks after I bought the car.

I did the install myself, but did have to go to the dealer so they could tell the car to look for a CD changer. They spent an hour trying to follow the instructions and make it go, they finally gave up and charged split the hour with me, only charging me 30 minutes (more than fair). On the way home, I started poking around with the stereo and the iPod connection worked, and has worked ever since.

So the caveat might be to see if the service dept has ever done one before. I went to Carlsen Porsche in Redwood City. I like them a lot, but they just hadn't seen one before.

Uncle Bob · 10-25-2007, 07:34 AM

Chip...Awesome and thanks for posting. Can you take pics??I would sincerely appreciate it.

ChipH · 10-26-2007, 10:32 AM

Nothing really to take a picture of ... was told the dealer mounted it behind the CDR-24. Cables come into the glovebox trough a nice grommet. Can't tell anything has changed at all on the car unless you press the cd button on the radio 2 times to toggle between CDS and CDC. It just works like it was factory installed! And yes, I wish I had the nav radio to take advantage of both navigation mapping and the full ipod screen display/selections. I don't like having a garmin nuvi suction cupped to my windshield and having to re-charge the battery every couple of days ...