986 Bose upgrade.

[Arron]

Hello,

I have a 2003 2.7 auto boxster.

I need some help. I’ve somewhat foolishly bought the Bose subwoofer shelf for the 986 boxster without doing the leg work.

Now my car doesn’t have the Bose speakers. Just the factory standard ones. My plan was to get this retrofitted with an audio company local to me. But when I told them they advised I need to go to Porsche as they would need to provide the proper wiring loom that is compatible. The sticky thing is I called my local Porsche dealer and they had said they can’t do that for the same reason and told me to go to a hifi/stereo audio fitting centre or shop to get it retrofitted as they do not provide any wiring looms. Now I’ve got the system and no one to fit in for me.

Has anyone done this before or know how to do this. Or is there a thread that already explains this?

I also have the standard head unit which means I am aware they won’t be any real change in audio quality until I upgrade that as well. I am planning to get a pccm plus head unit which comes with apple car play at a later date. I just wanted to audio system fitted in first.

[ike84]

Originally Posted by Arron

Hello,



I have a 2003 2.7 auto boxster.



I need some help. I’ve somewhat foolishly bought the Bose subwoofer shelf for the 986 boxster without doing the leg work.



Now my car doesn’t have the Bose speakers. Just the factory standard ones. My plan was to get this retrofitted with an audio company local to me. But when I told them they advised I need to go to Porsche as they would need to provide the proper wiring loom that is compatible. The sticky thing is I called my local Porsche dealer and they had said they can’t do that for the same reason and told me to go to a hifi/stereo audio fitting centre or shop to get it retrofitted as they do not provide any wiring looms. Now I’ve got the system and no one to fit in for me.



Has anyone done this before or know how to do this. Or is there a thread that already explains this?



I also have the standard head unit which means I am aware they won’t be any real change in audio quality until I upgrade that as well. I am planning to get a pccm plus head unit which comes with apple car play at a later date. I just wanted to audio system fitted in first.

You most likely have a 4 channel amp, with 2 channels for the dash speakers and 2 for the door. No room for expansion.

You have 2 options. One is to install a second amp to run those speakers and run inputs from the head unit to that amp. On a stock Becker unit though I don't think that is going to be very easy.

The other option to is upgrade the amp to a 6 channel. There is a factory 6 channel but they are expensive on ebay. The better thing to do is get a quality aftermarket one and install it. The wiring isn't hard at all but if you have 0 ability I would just print out the wiring diagram for the factory connectors and take it to the audio shop. If they say they can't do it theyre full of it, go to another shop.

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[Stl-986]

Just did this myself.

Subs are easy to replace. Just get a 5 1/4" component set. subs will go where the factory ones are. You can put the tweeters in the same spot as the 2" speakers. Most component systems also come with a crossover. You can put this inside the sealed area. Hot glue works. Wire 1 side to left and other to the right.

Now, with that said, this is where things get more complicated.

Factory audio system is 2ohm. Anything aftermarket (mostly anyway) is going to be 4 ohm. You can't connect 2ohm to 4ohm & vise versa without risking blowing up the speakers and/or amp.

What this basically means is that you will have to get a new amp, which most likely will mean new head unit and then new dash/door speakers. Look through my posts, I did a write up and have provided others with some ideas.

What I did with the bose shelf is wired them to the rear from the amp, the dash to the fronts & the doors to the sub output from the amp. If you only got a 4 channel amp you would need a crossover for the doors but they could be wired to the front channel as well. You will lose some power, but it saves some money (but not much).

Unfortunately this is also something that I could do a video on the end results, but the quality/capability wouldn't come through correctly.

Now ready for the big downside to all of this????

Good luck finding a head unit, speakers or amp...anywhere. Virtually everyone is out of stock worldwide. You could find some cheap junk on Amazon but it will be just that...junk. Car audio got impacted by the pandemic as well as a major factory fire last year. Inventory isnt going to return to normal until late 2022 or early 2023. New cars are getting a priority right now as well.

[Stl-986]

Just read you are also looking at getting the pccm. You will most likely find these available cause they are for a very, very, very select market....and not many want to shell out the money for it. My own opinion....way overpriced. I would highly suggest looking at an aftermarket unit. You will have more options & your bank account will like you more too.