Disco 2 Parrot Bluetooth Kit Install

Parrot wired-in handsfree bluetooth kit arrived today. Its 2nd hand, and one of the first jobs will of course be checking that everythings there. Unfortunately my wife is of the opinion that if I have time to go and do jobs on the landrover that must mean I have time to do work on the house, so installing it will have to wait a few days.

Are there any things I should be aware of / any landrover quirks / any tips to make installing it easier?

Thanks

"What could possibly go wrong?" comes to mind.
As you get further into the installation, by all means ask.
It will be helpful to know which model of Parrot you've got and which head unit/ICE system you have in the Disco.
Ordinarily there is no dedicated auxiliary input for "add on" kit, hence the problems encountered by numerous people, although on the "hi-line" set up there is a facility to install a telephone system. That might be true of the other levels of fit too.

The parrot kit is a 3200LS

The radio is an alpine R990 i believe

I do have a "pin out" diagram for the plugs on the back of the R990 head unit. Let me know if you need it.

ok... so...

the previous owner has evidently been buggering around with the wiring on this. on closer inspection its missing the "iso" power connection and he's spliced some other connection on instead.

Frustratingly only spotted that the connection was strange once i'd already pulled the radio out the dash and started faffing.

I had hoped to avoid having to cut into the disco's loom but at the moment I can't see any other option

Managed to get the job done this afternoon.

Spliced in the wires for the earth, ignition live and permanent live, and all working nicely.

The next decision was where to mount the parrot's head unit. I tried a few places, and my initial plan was to mount it on the front of the two blank switch plates below the fog light switches. However, once fitted it just didnt look right, so I moved it a little bit lower:


It now sits to the left of the steering column, and is visible when driving but not distracting. My phone sits on the dashboard in a holder anyway so realistically I dont need to be able to see the screen on the parrot to see who is calling. It's mounted using velcro so can easily be unstuck (which is necessary to open the access panel below the steering wheel)

The microphone wire was then fed out through the side of the dash (theres plenty of space to feed a cable) and up the A-pillar trim, emerging at the top. The microphone is actually just wedged in place:



All tested and working. It would have been simpler if the person i bought the parrot kit off hadn't hacked the wires about as it would have just been plug and play - although there'd have been even more plugs to fit in the space behind the radio head unit!!

I also discovered today just how many sharp edges there are on the back of the dashboard to slice hands open on when feeding cables!!

For anyone thinking of fitting a similar kit, it was pretty simple. The lack of an aux in on the radio isn't a problem as the parrot's control box actually sits between the radio and the speakers, and simply mutes the radio audio and inputs its own audio when in use. The only issue i've found so far is that the amp presumably gets its power from the radio, and therefore only works when the radio is on. Thus if the radio is off, there is no sound from the parrot to the speakers! Can't think of any easy way to solve this though.