Instructions 2 of 2

Head unit removal

6. The aircon has a blue adaptor with a black hook (maked in red). Lift the black hook and the adaptor comes free.

7. Now the back of the cage is visible. 4 screws in total hold the cage in place. remove them.

8. If you have a black box at the bottom of the cage (marked in red in instruction set 1), that is your Blue&ME unit. This also has blue adaptor with black hook. remove it.
Regardless of you using blu&me or not, this unit has to be plugged back in otherwise your 159 will throw you CANBUS error by way of making your mileage flash constantly.
As you can see its a bulky unit, and if you fitting in a proper double din unit, this causes issues.
To overcome this, I took out the blue&me from its housing, (clips on either side and top and bottom) and opened it. (4 hex screws). I took out the board which is tiny, carefully wrapped it, plugged it back in again, and pushed it down the side. Worked fine! If anyone has other ideas, please share.

9. Now you can fit your new unit. Which must be fitted with a head unit fitting kit which you would have got from your audio dealer.
and reverse fit all the fascia and airvents.

Sorry last image isnt very clear as it got dark by time i finished.

After fitting, I had a few problems where my alarm stopped working and my mileage was still flashing eventhough i fitted the blue&me back in.
I also noticed my interior ligts were not working and message on dash saying "Alarm not active" or something like that.
This happened because the fuse F39 in the fuse box blew which is the fuse for the interior lights. I replaced it, with the spare fuses provided (10a) and all was well.

I hope this is of help to someone.

Any questions please ask.

 

8. If you have a black box at the bottom of the cage (marked in red in instruction set 1), that is your Blue&ME unit. This also has blue adaptor with black hook. remove it.
Regardless of you using blu&me or not, this unit has to be plugged back in otherwise your 159 will throw you CANBUS error by way of making your mileage flash constantly.
As you can see its a bulky unit, and if you fitting in a proper double din unit, this causes issues.
To overcome this, I took out the blue&me from its housing, (clips on either side and top and bottom) and opened it. (4 hex screws). I took out the board which is tiny, carefully wrapped it, plugged it back in again, and pushed it down the side. Worked fine! If anyone has other ideas, please share.

I got around this issue in my 3.2 Brera in a similar way.
Like you I removed the pcb from the plastic cage and wrapped it in tape.
There is not enough room to fit it it back in at the side in my car but after some experimentation I found that it is just possible to push the blue connector through a hole at the top of the space above the aperture and back out again through an adjacent hole.
You can then reconnect it to the pcb and push the bulky connector back through the hole.

If you then partially remove the double DIN cage its just possible to fit the PCB above it and then re-insert the cage fully.
Works a treat and no more pesky flashing odometer! :thumbup:

 

Dont use a pair of snips/plyers to remove your vents!!!!! You will damage them...

All you need is 14" of wire coat hanger.

1) Bend it in the middle to make a U shape that is 2" wide at its widest
2) bend over the ends to make small hooks about 2-3mm long.

This device slides in through the vent openings (without marking them) and goes to the back of the vent where it can hook the rear of the vent unit and pop it out with a quick tug :thumbup:

I have put this in here quite a few times on a few instructional threads related to head unit and/or dash removal.

 

Dont use a pair of snips/plyers to remove your vents!!!!! You will damage them...

All you need is 14" of wire coat hanger.

1) Bend it in the middle to make a U shape that is 2" wide at its widest
2) bend over the ends to make small hooks about 2-3mm long.

This device slides in through the vent openings (without marking them) and goes to the back of the vent where it can hook the rear of the vent unit and pop it out with a quick tug 👍

I have put this in here quite a few times on a few instructional threads related to head unit and/or dash removal.

Or use tent pegs - like I did - works perfectly fine as well.

 

Good write up ASHR1UK,just wondering why the gear lever/hand brake fascia and air vents need to come off?

 

I did not need to do any of this either.
Managed by just putting the gear knob to the 6th Gear position but my car is a Brera not a 159.

 

I don't understand why you had to dismantle. Doesn't the double din just fit in the space vacated?
What is the box marked in red in your second image?

 

Any aftermarket headunit requires a different cradle attaching to the facia from behind as well as a new facia adapter on the face to re-fill the gap properly as the Original HU is a bespoke shape and mount pattern.

The box highlighted in the cradle is the B&M unit. The Original HU is actually a single din unit with a double din face.

 

And here's a link posted in the ICE Blue&Me section...

ausalfa.com ? View topic - Installation of after-market head unit into 159/Brera/Spider

 

And here's a link posted in the ICE Blue&Me section...

ausalfa.com ? View topic - Installation of after-market head unit into 159/Brera/Spider

The head unit that was used in this installation is not a single or double DIN standard fit unit. It looks like it was a specific design to upgrade the Original fit head unit rather than a standard sized unit.

 

As mentioned. If it's been "designed to fit" it clearly doesn't need a cradle change.

 

Hi,
Yes that particular unit has been designed to fit the 159 etc.

However if you go get a 'real' aftermarket unit, e.g Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood etc, you will need an aftermarket cage to complete the fitting. This applies to most vehicles not just the Alfa.

 

Hi Ash,

Great post and guide! you've inspired me to replace my headhunt (mainly so i can stream music from my android phone through the car audio system which i have never been able to make work through the blue and me system).

Probably going to buy the Pioneer F70DAB unit. with the blue&me still attached does it still operate as normal through steering wheel controls once the new head-unit is fitted?

cheers

 

Hi Fiorentina

Glad I inspired you. :blush:
I also changed it Coz after buying a new iPhone I couldn't stream to my b&m anymore. Even tried upgrading the software, just didn't work.

I had to buy a small add on that connects to the existing cabling to activate the steering controls. It was £30.
The audio shop I purchased from were very helpful. I just have them model of car and they told me what I needed.

Let me know and I'll forward you their details if you like.
They price matched too and were the cheapest in the UK for the stereo I wanted.
Cheers
Ash

 

I'd thoroughly recommend the following post (in the stickies), which is a more in depth discussion of the parts needed and, goes further with instructions for those of us who need to wire in a microphone.

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=196084


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I'd thoroughly recommend the following post (in the stickies), which is a more in depth discussion of the parts needed and, goes further with instructions for those of us who need to wire in a microphone.

Can someone do a guide on "HOW TO INSTALL AFTERMARKET HU IN A 159/BRERA" Please - Alfa Romeo Forum


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Hi,

I managed to route the microphone into the existing microphone holder behind the map lights... works perfectly, cant see it. The cable is so thin I managed to squeeze it into the roof lining and down the pillar on the drivers side, under the steering column, and into the center console.

I did the same with the antenna for the GPS, but stuck right in the corner of the dashboard by the side airvents. Out of the way. I did try fitting it under the dashboard as some have recommended but noticed the signal was very poor.

 

All, could you have a look at this post and offer any advice please?

http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/ice-...om/Forum/ice-andamp-blueandamp-me/972730-alfa-159-switch-live-and-ctsar002.html

 

Can a Mod make this a Sticky in the ICE forum please?

 

Hi this may seam a dumb question but here goes.
If the head unit has already been replaced with a Pioneer (AVH-Z2150BT) unit that needs to be removed to find why it has stopped outputting sound, can this be done after removing the plastic fitting surround, or does the whole facia still need removing?
Thanks.

 

Post a picture - it might help? I'd suspect that the surround around the head unit will need removing and a couple of head unit specific keys inserting on the side of the unit to unclip it and pull it out. Halfords sell these if you don't have them.
Guy

 

Vent removal is easy! Just get a wire coat hanger and chop it into 2 lengths, bend the ends to make a short hook. Insert one each side of the vent between the slats and push it gently in until you feel it run off the side of the vent. Grab both and a quick tug will release it. You don't need to pull the centre one. Six screws secure the trim, two behind the vents, two holding the cage in the middle and two underneath at the bottom - you have to remove the gear-lever surround to get to them. That's just a car of releasing the gaitor, push your fingers into it to get a grip underneath the surround and lift it out of the securing lugs. Don't pull too hard - there are electrics to disconnect on this (and also on the fascia unit for the zircon plane, starter button and key reader.)
Guy

 

Cheers

 

Is there any 2 din unit or maybe 1 din that fits without removing air vents etc etc , i am just looking for a unit just to replace the factory one only for playing usb files audio (mp3) i dont care about android or anything else just looking for a simple mp3 unit but i dont want to remove air vents neither by professional as i am afraid it may be damaged so is there any unit that fits in factory cage just pushing the unit inside ?

 

Has anyone tried the blaupunkt palma 190 bt ?

 

On the blue&me module, why not remove it and then do a Proxi alignment (mulitecuscan will do it) as that should force the ecu to rediscover everything that's connected? and most double DIN stereo's replace what the blue&me module dose anyway.