[Tachicardia]

MY CAR:
2014 Forester XT Premium
Satin White Pearl

Additions:
- Upgraded factory radio to Pioneer AVH-X8500BHS

Future:
- Black Plastidip rear emblems
- Blank vinyl chrome window pieces
- Add fog lights

PREVIOUS CARS:
- VW/Audi: GTI (x2), Passat, A4
- Mini: r56 Cooper S
- many, many more...

 

[Tachicardia]

Pioneer AVH-X8500BHS Install
*disclaimer, this was my setup for this radio and my car, your install may differ. Follow your radio installation manual. Test everything before putting it back together!

Supplies
- Wiring harnesses (20pin factory, factory USB adapter, rear view camera duplication from MFD) were purchased from SVXdc* (ae64 . com)
* David's wiring help was extremely helpful for this install!
- The AWSC-1 was purchased from amazon (had Sept 2013 build date w/ latest firmware)
- The microbypass was purchased from microbypass on amazon
- The SiriusXM SXV200v1 antenna adapter was purchased from amazon
- J&L 60watt soldering iron and SE MZ101B Helping Hand were from amazon
- thin gauge electronics solder (it came in a tall thin tube with a white cap, it was coiled inside) and heat shrink tubing were from Radioshack
- 1 male 2 female Y RCA splitter from Radioshack

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Links to the "how to's" that I used
- how to remove all the factory radio & MFD trim pieces (no, it's not as easy as he makes it look your first time) *thanks Joe333x: http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/how-remove-head-unit-mfd-video-174881/
- http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/adding-aftermarket-dash-nav-2014-xt-swap-backup-cam-154385/
- How to Mod your Metra 95-8902 faceplate: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=36578309&postcount=24
- http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/full-stereo-system-install-today-pics-217634/

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Wiring tips
- your black (ground) wire will have 4 connections with 5 wires total: SVXdc factory black to pioneer black (1), microbypass black (2), aswc-1 black (3) and SVXdc brown black (4)
- your red (ignition power) wire will have 2 connections with 3 wires total: SVXdc factory red to pioneer red (1), aswc-1 red (2)
- your blue/white (remote power) wire will have 2 connections with 3 wires total: SVXdc factory blue to pioneer blue/white (1), microbypass blue (2)

Wiring the Main Harness
Connect:
_ Black SVXdc <-> Black pioneer
_ Yellow SVXdc <-> Yellow pioneer
_ Red SVXdc <-> Red pioneer
_ Blue SVXdc <-> Blue/White pioneer
_ Orange SVXdc <-> Orange/White pioneer
=speakers=
_ White SVXdc <-> White pioneer
_ White/Black SVXdc <-> White/Black pioneer
_ Green SVXdc <-> Green pioneer
_ Green/Black SVxdc <-> Green/Black pioneer
_ Grey SVXdc <-> Grey pioneer
_ Grey/Black SVXdc <-> Grey/Black pioneer
_ Violet SVXdc <-> Violet pioneer
_ Violet/Black SVXdc <-> Violet/Black pioneer
=ASWC-1=
_ Brown/Black SVXdc (see below)
_ Brown/Blue SVXdc (see below)
_ Brown/Red SVxdc (see below)
=other=
_ Light Green pioneer (see below)
_ Yellow/Black pioneer *unused, insulate and ignore*
_ Brown/Green SVXdc *I had SVXdc add the VSS wire, it wasn't used. Insulate and ignore*

Wiring the Microbypass
Connect:
_ Black microbypass <-> Black 'radio harness'
_ Blue microbypass <-> Blue/White remote power on 'radio harness'
_ Green microbypass <-> Light Green parking brake wire (currently unused, coming off the pioneer harness)

Setting up the ASWC-1 (using SVXdc harness and ASWC-1)
Connect:
_ Red ASWC <-> Red 'radio harness'
_ Black ASWC <-> Black 'radio harness'
_ Brown/Black SVXdc harness <-> Black 'radio harness'
_ Green/Orange ASWC <-> Brown/Red SVXdc harness
_ Black/Green ASWC <-> Brown/Blue SVXdc harness
** All I had to do for setup was turn the car to Acc On and wait, it auto detected everything
** By default, the ASWC-1 turns your 3 steering wheel phone buttons to radio controls, but there is an auto reprogram option you can do after the unit does it's auto program mode. Here is what worked for me:
_ _ after the auto program mode, there will be a steady LED lit up
_ _ TURN THE RADIO OFF <- this step will save you from resetting the ASWC 8 times
_ _ Press and hold the voice recognition button (not the pickup or hangup phone buttons) for about 4 seconds. The ASWC-1 LED will turn off.

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Routing the SiriusXM antenna
- Start at the back of the car, the base is magnetic so I put it on the roof behind my factory antenna
- With the rear door open, I pulled out that rubber plug (it's dead center) and the rubber hose. I then routed the wire into the rear door then into the headliner. I pulled back some of the gasket on the car frame and ran the wire down and left (looking toward the steering wheel). You run the wire all the way until you get to the bottom, then pull up on the hard black plastic cover (near the trunk latch). Fish the wire through the trunk floor, under your rear seats.
- Pull up the carpet covers under the drivers side 2 doors. You can then run the wire along the carpet there up into the cabin.
- Here I ran the wire behind the carpet (which is also behind the foot pedals) and into the area with the other radio wires
** I wrapped the SiriusXM piece with something soft so it wouldn't rattle behind the dash

Routing the Microphone
- I put the microphone above where the ignition key is. There is a flat spot right there. I don't know how good of spot it is, but I can always move the microphone later. It is out of the way but still in direct line with my speaking voice.
- The microphone visor clip actually has two parts, separate the flat microphone ball joint holder from the visor clip and you've got a flat surface for double sided tape.
- I ran the wire behind the steering wheel and into the radio wiring harness area.
* I tried to put the microphone where the factory one is. Getting in there is easy, attaching the microphone wasn't hard. What I didn't like was the gap from the headliner let the wire fall out. So I stopped trying.

Installing the Rear View Camera to HU Splitter Cables
- follow the instructions in the youtube video above to gain access to the back of the MFD
- FYI: the wire harness release tabs are on the bottom of these harnesses
- using a hanger shaped like a "C", fish the hanger through the channel that the MFD harnesses are in (you'll see it when you're there). It will come out behind the steering wheel (you can see it). Tape your extra RCA cable and violet/white pioneer harness lead to this hanger and pull it back out
- connect the 2 SVXdc harnesses between the MFD harness and the MFD
- connect the 3 RCA cables to your "Y" splitter (2 RCA cables from SVXdc's harnesses, one that leads to the radio compartment)
- solder together (or just twist/tape really well) the 2 green leads from the SVXdc harnesses
- I also wrapped all the cables in something soft so there wouldn't be any squeaking or rubbing. You can then push everything back into the MFD harness channel and reconnect your MFD
- you're going to need to go the pioneer HU settings and set camera (last page of settings) from OFF to battery (ground might work too) in order to enable the camera on/off button on your home screen
>>options for connecting the Reverse Gear Wire<<
(1) to your reverse gear wire so the camera displays automatically when in reverse
_ you will need to connect the reverse gear wire from the pioneer (for me it was violet white) to the forester reverse gear wire
_ go to this thread to find the wire (http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f77/forester-2009-impreza-2008-wiring-vss-rear-gear-12v-ignition-88345/). The wire should be Brown/Yellow
(2) do not connect to anything, but reconfigure your reverse camera to be always on so you can look behind you when driving
_ will be updated shortly

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Helpful Tips
- If you find yourself with an MFD clock that resets every time the car gets turned off then on again, you probably blew interior fuse #15. This fuse is for remote door locks and interior lights, but apparently also gives power to the MFD clock's memory (go ahead, ask me how i found out)

- If you connect your wiring harness correctly (apparently the only things not screw up are power and ground) and you plug it in and he screen has lots of vertical pixelated lines, it's not your fault - you have a bad LCD. I thought I might have messed something up but it was a broken head unit. Luckily one was sent to me quickly (thanks Crutchfield).

- If you use the Metra faceplate (95-8902) yes you cut off both (x2) side mounting tabs. Also, the channel you cut doesn't need to be an exact size. Look at the image in the link I provided, that's about right. Don't overdo it but make sure it is deep enough and you have some wiggle room to mount the faceplate flush. To screw in all of the pieces, I black electric taped the metal factory bracket in place then slide the left side faceplate adapter in place with the faceplate on it. You push it flush and then screw the adapter in place. It ends up being that the screw is in the middle of the slot, more or less. Yes, the included screws are about 1mm shorter than you'd want. Yes, I test fit my faceplate a few too many times and the screws wouldn't catch. Be careful here.

 

[Tachicardia]

Left side of radio mount:

MFD padded wiring harness (the blue wire is my violet/white R gear lead from the pioneer harness, the hookup didn't work so disregard that this is here):

All the MFD wires tucked away:

Back of the radio all buttoned up:

All the wires tucked low behind the fan controls so the radio doesn't overheat:

Where the reverse camera RCA wire was run (ignore the blue wire, it was my violet/white pioneer reverse gear wire run to the MFD for turning the camera on automatically when in reverse and it didn't work):

Where I routed the SiriusXM antenna wire from the roof (the antenna was placed behind the factory antenna as far back as possible):

Done:

And Done:

 

[Tachicardia]

Using the Pioneer Head Unit With an MHL Adapter, HTC One and Pioneer AppRadio Mode & App

I've added the Axcel MHL HDMI adapter (sold at Lowes for about $25) to try out the AppRadio mode of the Pioneer AVH-X8500BHS.
- lowes.com item 525870, model AXC-MHLM-B (available in store, sometimes near the other RCA and HDMI cables and sometimes at the end caps in the electric isles)
- confirmed it works to display on my Pioneer HU and it charges the phone simultaneously (when a micro usb from the Pioneer HU is connected to the MHL)

It's actually a pretty slick set up:
- connect your phone to the head unit via bluetooth, make sure you've downloaded the AppRadio app and tried it out
- plug the hdmi cable into the MHL, plug a micro usb cable from the head unit into the MHL (it didn't matter if I used the 1 or 2 USB port from the HU)
- plug the MHL into your phone and it just works (if you have any issues try turning off/on your bluetooth

Usability:
- the AppRadio app only has a few built in apps (maps, contacts, audio, waze). With these apps you can control your phone from the Pioneer HU screen. It worked perfectly with Waze (although not my go to navigation map, I might have to start using it)
- I don't know if this is supposed to work, but if you open another app while AppRadio is running, it will display full screen on the Pioneer HU. My phone screen was perfectly mirrored on the Pioneer HU. I confirmed it worked with multiple apps (google maps, email, text, Xfinity to go, youtube etc etc). This would work perfectly if you wanted to set a destination on google maps and view it on screen
- The Pioneer HU seamlessly moves between it's own OS and the Mirrored smartphone screen by pressing the MODE button
- with everything connected, you can go to settings and mix channels so that you can hear both music and navigation play simultaneously

Here I took a picture of my mirrored screen while the phone was still plugged in. You can see on the Pioneer HU the image I'm about to capture.

 

[Tachicardia]

Hold for future use

 

[DoktorH]

Installing after market stereo

Hold for future use

Hello Tachicardia,

First, thank you very much for posting the detailed instructions and pictures of your installation. It will be very helpful when I install my Pioneer.

I just signed a lease to get a 2014 Forester 2.5 Canadian Touring package. If everything goes as planned, I should get the car on Thursday. Before this car, I had Corolla 2010 with a Pioneer AVH-3500 with XM, backup camera, iPhone Appradio apps. After using Pioneer with all its nice options, it's really hard to use the stock head unit that will come with this Forester.

I am thinking to install the same unit (Pioneer 8500)nonce I get this car. I have few questions so I was wondering if you could help.

1. I was wondering why did you choose the Metra kit instead of this one: Subaru Forester without OEM Navigation System 2014, Single / Double DIN Stereo Dash Kit by American International®

2. Is your steering wheel control for phone working properly using the Axxess Metra ASWC-1 with Micro B Connector?

3. Did you get your backup camera to turn on automatically on your pioneer when you put the gear on reverse?

Thank you in advance.

DoktorH

 

[Tachicardia]

Hey DoktorH, good luck with your install. It is not too bad. I am in the car a lot and I couldn't stand the factory radio. Even with the stock speakers the sound is now 100x better.

1 - I hadn't seen this before nor have I seen anyone use it. I went with things I knew people had used before me to minimize issues. That product looks similar to the Metra kit, but I would still use the Metra kit because I like that I was still mounting the radio with the metal factory brackets. The plastic pieces from the metro kit get trimmed so all it essentially dose is hold the faceplate against the radio.

2 - Yes, the steering wheel controls work perfectly with the axxess metra aswc-1 with micro b connector. If you run into issues converting the 3 phone buttons from radio function (default) to phone buttons again all you have to do is reset the unit and try again. It auto detected everything.

3 - I know how to get this to work, but I just haven't gone about doing it. I'm torn between leaving it as is (I can turn it on when I want and as long as I'm in reverse I can see), letting it turn on automatically in reverse (i included a link in the instructions now), or rewiring the camera so it's on when the car is on so I can turn the camera on whenever I want (I'm awaiting the instructions and will post how to when I get them).

Definitely let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[DoktorH]

Hey DoktorH, good luck with your install. It is not too bad. I am in the car a lot and I couldn't stand the factory radio. Even with the stock speakers the sound is now 100x better.

1 - I hadn't seen this before nor have I seen anyone use it. I went with things I knew people had used before me to minimize issues. That product looks similar to the Metra kit, but I would still use the Metra kit because I like that I was still mounting the radio with the metal factory brackets. The plastic pieces from the metro kit get trimmed so all it essentially dose is hold the faceplate against the radio.

2 - Yes, the steering wheel controls work perfectly with the axxess metra aswc-1 with micro b connector. If you run into issues converting the 3 phone buttons from radio function (default) to phone buttons again all you have to do is reset the unit and try again. It auto detected everything.

3 - I know how to get this to work, but I just haven't gone about doing it. I'm torn between leaving it as is (I can turn it on when I want and as long as I'm in reverse I can see), letting it turn on automatically in reverse (i included a link in the instructions now), or rewiring the camera so it's on when the car is on so I can turn the camera on whenever I want (I'm awaiting the instructions and will post how to when I get them).

Definitely let me know if you have any other questions.

Hey Tachicardia,

I got my Forester on Thursday and so far I'm very happy with it. I also have ordered the Pioneer AVH-8500 and shipped it my brother in Michigan. it's much cheaper and faster to ship to the US. I plan to go there next weekend.
I contacted David to get the appropriate harness to retain the USB, Aux, and steering wheel controls.

I also asked him to get the harness for the backup camera to be displayed on the Pioneer. I'm still not sure about this setup. So, I have few questions about the backup camera installation. It would be great if you can answer these questions.

1. Did you get everything you need for backup camer to be displayed on your pioneered HU form David?

2. Did you have to cut any factor wires?

3. How difficult would you say it was go do this installation?

4. When you put your gear in reverse, does your MFD still display the video or does it go blank?

Thanks you once again for your helip. I can't wait to change my head unit to Pioneer.

DoktorH