Advice needed on fitting CD autochanger

[trophyfan]

I know this is a bit old school and that mp3's rule for mass storage but I find plugging my pod in, switching in on/off, and unplugging it a bit of a pain for short journeys.

Anyway, I have purchased an original Renault Alpine 6 CD autochanger with fitting brkt which replaces the plastic stowage tray under the seat in a FF182.

Pending its arrival through the post could anyone answer the following :-
1) Will it fit under the Recaros ? (hope so !!!)
2) If yes to 1), do I need to remove the seat to fit it ?
3) Are all of the fixings (weldnuts?) already there in the floor/seat crossmembers ?
4) Will I need to make holes in the carpet ?

Tried a search of the site and couldn't find anything, has anyone done this or had it factory fitted that could offer any advice on the above or any fitting tips ?.

Much appreciated as always

 

[son of solo]

it doesnt fit under the seats...you couldnt add the autochanger to the options list when buying a 182 if you took the recaro seats...
i might be wrong though
did you get the lead too ? you'll need that obivously

 

[trophyfan]

Hi, yes got the lead as well and pins to remove the head unit. It looks like there is a fair bit of space under the seat especially if it sits in the recess just rear of the first crossmember. If it does not then I will sell it on rather than installing it in the boot or try to make my own brackets.

I can't see the floor pan being any different so suspect that the fixings are there. Maybe on the production line it would have meant removal of the seat to slide it in and they couldn't be bothered to do that out of build sequence for so little payback and made it a dealer fit ?.

Will have a play when it arrives !

 

[trophyfan]

Job done - took about 1/2 hour to route the cable and to figure out how the under seat mounting bracket works but pretty straight forward. Just needed to cut 2 small 10mmx3mm rectangular holes in the carpet above the front seat crossmember.

As you can see in the pic (sorry for the poor quality!) there is plenty of clearance and the Recaros still have the full range of movement. I really can't understand why this why not a factory fit option with the Recaros.

The VDO unit I have connects via one digital cable so there is no need for additional phono cables and an adaptor box to the autochanger. The column controls can skip through tracks and also discs.

Altogether I'm pleased with the sound quality and ease of fit - £50 well spent

 

[Cue]

you've stuck it in the compartment for the booklets.... see trophy secrects thread.

In other RS's these go under the drivers seat iirc.

 

[son of solo]

yep it was under the drivers side on my MK1 172....i thought that was a given

 

[hoolio]

yep it was under the drivers side on my MK1 172....i thought that was a given

Allows you to change the selection of discs whilst moving :wink:

 

[trophyfan]

yep it was under the drivers side on my MK1 172....i thought that was a given

Allows you to change the selection of discs whilst moving :wink:

Yep, I can grab the discs from the glove box with one hand and load the changer with the other :lol:

 

[trophyfan]

The fixing bracket (pt no.8200082120) fouled the tunnel under the seat rail before the tags aligned with the slots in the seat crossmember when attempting to fit the autochanger on the drivers side.

However, the underseat storage unit (pt no. 8200086360) as fitted to FF 182s is universal so I swaped that from the passenger side to the drivers side.