Changed Alpine head unit from silver to black 8)

[JMC 0]

Just changed my Alpine 9815rb headunit over from silver to black so it matches my interior better.

 

Sounds easy, but for those of you who are Alpine fans the 9815rb was only available in silver in the UK. I've ordered a replacement nose piece assembly (technical term for the plastic cover off the faceplate) from the US and it arrived today. 5 mins with a screwdriver, and voila, my stereo now matches the interior of the car better 8) . Been wanting to do this for 2 years, as I thought the silver headunit just looked daft in a dark interior.

[Blue_Joe 0]

WOW :shock: I want!

[young dub 0]

Looks much better, scratch free case now too :)

[will 2 0]

oohh i could do with one of them, have you got a web address or email

[JMC 0]

Cheers for the comments folks. I got the details of the company from the alpine.com US site. Unlike the UK, Alpine in the US sell parts through distributers, rather than centrally. The only parts distributer I found who was willing to ship to the UK was the Canadian one (W.C. Enterprises, Ontario Canada - google search will give their details). It's e-mail or phone for them, and they are a bit slow in responding to e-mails. Easy job to do once you have the part (at least is on the 9815) took me 5 mins, and most of that was figuring out how the silver knob came off the front....

[Son of a Beesting 0]

I like, I got a 9855r and I wanted it in black. It looks like i can now! Good man for finding this out. I bet it was expensive though.

[JMC 0]

I like, I got a 9855r and I wanted it in black. It looks like i can now! Good man for finding this out. I bet it was expensive though.

 

As long as you can check to see if the same model was released in black in the US you should be able to change it. The only difference on mine is where it said "T.Info" on the UK one it says "mute" on the US one (presumably they don't have travel info in the US). But I'm looking in to getting a black 9812rr in the UK, as I could swap the buttons and change the illumination to red (it's close enough on the front face design to swap some of the buttons). Cost wise it wasn't as much as I thought. In the end I got it sent to a friend on mine in Canada and he shipped it over here. All in all (including postage within Canada and shipping to the UK) it came to about £30. Scarily enough I phoned Alpine UK to the equivalent piece for the 9812rr - they wanted £45 :shock: For a little bit of plastic - madness. Very greedy and my response was thanks but no thanks.

[Son of a Beesting 0]

I just searched the US alpine site and I cant find anything on CDA-9855R so I guess it was never sold in the US???

[JMC 0]

I just searched the US alpine site and I cant find anything on CDA-9855R so I guess it was never sold in the US???

 

The Alpine US site does list a 9855 though, and eBay.com has a 9855 on there with a picture - is this darker than your faceplate??

 

Clicky

 

There may yet be hope :D

[Son of a Beesting 0]

Just me being a bit dense then. I couldnt find it!

 

Thanks for that though and yes that does look darker.

 

Cheers

[JMC 0]

Just me being a bit dense then. I couldnt find it!

 

Thanks for that though and yes that does look darker.

 

Cheers

 

That's alright mate, wasn't the easiest to find on the Alpine website - went back through the old manuals in the end. Might be worth trying to find somewhere on the web with a half decent picture of it, just to make sure the button layout is compatible with yours.

 

If in doubt, Alpine UK parts will be able to tell you if it's just a matter of swapping the nosepiece assemblies (not sure if it's more complicated because of the slider control).

[L100PY_H 0]

REALLY like what you've done!

 

It's all these little touches that make your car look subtly individual whilst look OEM+

 

Nice one JMC! :thumbleft:

[JMC 0]

Thanks L100PY_H, nice simple mod to do - even I could manage it, and it made a huge difference to the look of the dash.

[ben16v 0]

interesting!! i`ll have alook tomorrow when i can remember my model number, and i want red...

[JMC 0]

I tried to do mine red (unsuccessfully). Most of the LED's are surface mounted on the circuit board and the buttons can't be bought separately. If you find a way to get red illumination please let me know. There was someone on the talkaudio forum who replaced all the LED's as well with ones from his mobile phone. That's dedication.

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

Hmmm.

I spoke to the Canadian company and they quoted $98.33 + $33 shipping (he guessed) for a nose plate for the CDA-9833A (which is cracked - not changing colour).

 

Seems a little unfair :(

 

PACParts in the US quoted $27, but won't deliver to the UK.

Gonna have to get it delivered to a friendly person in the US me thinks....

[JMC 0]

That is a ridiculous amount of money for what is basically a plastic shell. Have you tried Alpine UK parts if you are just getting a replacement rather than trying to get a US specific part??

[Andi 2,147,483,647]

I bought it from PACParts in the end and they're sending it to a pal in the states who'll then send it over.

 

Alpine UK would only sell my the complete fascia @ £150!

[JMC 0]

I bought it from PACParts in the end and they're sending it to a pal in the states who'll then send it over.

 

Alpine UK would only sell my the complete fascia @ £150!

 

Good to hear you've managed to get one sorted. Shocked by Alpine UK :shock:. It's madness - I wanted to buy some replacement buttons from a different faceplate and they would only sell the entire face. Pure greed - they could have made a £10 sale. As it was I didn't bother so they lost out.