P38 Radio/Cassette Player Upgrade

Hi Fellas,
I recently bought a tidy 1998 P38, and it has the original radio/cassette player in the cab, and the 6 CD changer in the boot.
My question is...can I replace the old original unit in the cab with a new Kenwood unit that I took from my old car?...its a great unit and it has an ipod connection which I like. I know that I'd sacrifice the 6CD deck in the boot, but I'm not bothered about that. Someone told me that its not possible due to the amplifiers??, but I'd like your expert opinions!....Thanks.

Hi, is it an Harman Kardon system you have in the P38? If it works don't touch. Aftermarket headunits requires adapters

Not that this topic hasn't ever been raised before.

Hi! Turbo.....Thanks for your advice....Yes! I have a Harmon Kardon System...is this the problem ?.....I would appreciate any advice you or anyone else can give me on this.

Judging by a comment made by "rasheed" is this a common question that I have asked?....

:welcome2: yeah sorry about that.

yes it is a pretty common question. the answer is usually to try and stick with the original and if needed get bits of it refurbed. the reason for this is that its a pretty non-standard set up and its hard to get good off-the-shelf replacements. the head unit is player, pre-amp and a basic ECU splitting signal to 5 distributed amps around the car, 1 in each door and 1 for the sub. these in turn run 11 speakers. the steering controls also work only with the original set up. you can put in an aftermarket head unit and you can, it is rumored, buy harness converters or else you can put in a powered head unit and run wires to the speakers bypassing the door amps etc but its a bit pot luck. the Harmon Kardon head units on the other hand are manufactured (depending on the age and spec of your car) either by Clarion or Alpine and can be refurbed by specialists for about a hundred pounds. much less hassle, decent enough sound and keeps the car looking original.

edit: also even if it doesn't need a refurb those guys can fit a line-in (3.5mm headphone jack) that you can use with any mp3 player.

I'm in the same boat mate. During years i sticked to the old OEM Clarion.
I don't want to trash 100 pounds on a 14 years old headunit even if it's the easy way.

So, i ordered the Nexxia PC3-09 Kit for the P38 with Clarion (95-98) and a Clarion CZ501E headunit that has 3 RCA to feed front, rear and sub.
60GBP for the adapter
120 GBP for the headunit
and i'm sure i'll be able to sell my old Clarion for 80 pounds

That way i should benefit of all the advantages of a modern headunit
-Ipod/Iphone capability
-Bluetooth for phone and audio streaming

Thanks for your advice and guidance....I'm not well connected when it comes to electrikery, and audio/visual stuff....if it aint got a boiler or a piston I'm lost!...I'm a bit of a Fred Dibnah if you know what I mean!!
I think I'll keep the original kit then...it does sound great, but the cassette/radio is a bit dated, and in my ignorance, I thought it might be easy to change!
Cheers Chaps!

Anyone got a copy of the pin numbers/wire colours at the radio and where they go?
Ive got a aftermarket head in but its not wired up properly (previous owner)
Rear right channel opperates the rear left door, the rear right doors not working at all and neather does the sub.
Cheers and sorry for jumping in on your thread