I think whatever you do will be fine NVMYGT... I implemented it the way I mentioned because if I ever want to restore things to their original condition later, I wouldn't have to search around for where I 'stored' that damn tiny bulb... it's an unusual size too- so small there's not even room for a part number on it, and might be a special order... and you know what that means... a $1.50 bulb ends up costing you $20 by the time you order it through your friendly mazda stealership...

me, I kind of like the red glow down there when the ashtray door is open at night... but the interface for the IHF1000 has internally backlit buttons, so no other lighting is necessary for it to be operated efficiently at night. Like I said above, I would highly recommend 'test-driving' the location of the interface to make sure you don't have to take your eyes off the road too long to reach down and activate buttons to answer, place, or terminate calls...

and watch out for truemagellen... his enthusiam for going forward with really useful mods and excellent implementations has driven me to go places I never thought I would go with my mods...

@ NVMYGT:

Measurements for the User Interface Module I/O:

62.85mm (2.474") wide X 31.5mm (1.238") high


...the minimum size you have to mount in the ashtray with the insert removed (assuming a square object) is 71.13mm (2.8") wide X 39.68mm (1.5625") high.
Because the corners are rounded on the User Interface Module I/O there is room to spare for a start switch as well, if you don't use a huge switch.


Measurements for the IHF1000 / 98676 / SYN1277A Main housing:

26mm (1.024") high X 150mm (5.906") long X 100mm (3.94") wide


A quote from the Technical Specification Brochure:

"Professional installation typically takes less than 45 minutes." :yelrotflm

Shinka -
Quick Questions - Great install

1. Did you ever try the audio input for the bluetooth through the head unit? Does the rear connector have audio L/R input or not? How would audio pass through to the speakers? The pre-amp level outputs are differential to the outboard amps (BOSE)
2. How did you get the blank switch cover out beside the dimmer and DSC?
I could not for the life of me get my hand back there to grasp at the tabs to pull it out.
What is the secret?
I wanted to put a couple switches and indicators there, but gave up.

hi Rotator-

the answer to question 1...

I have a Bose system... the head unit feeds differential audio to the Bose amplifier in the rear. Those signals go through the connector I made the adapter for. You can easily intercept those signals but you may need to install a relay that is controlled by the mute signal to switch between the head unit outputs and the IHF1000 output... there is a differential output from the IHF1000 (I didn't use it) that could feed this relay... you also might need to attenuate the output from the IHF1000 to match the output from the head unit. If you know what I'm talking about, then you should be able to do it. If not, you need to consult someone with some engineering experience. There are two commercially available harnesses that should provide this function, but you may need a little help with these to interface them for this application.

the answer to question 2...

The answer is actually in this thread, but it's a really long thread so I don't blame you for missing it. Yes, these are tricky to get out... I've had mine out 5 times now...
I'm not going to repeat the entire procedure here, just go back and re-read and you should be able to find it.

First, get some band-aides...

The general idea... remove the plastic panel underneath the steering wheel. Remove the steel plate underneath (4 screws keep it in place).
Lie on your back across the driver side door jamb and reach through the hole you just opened up underneath the steering wheel. Find the right-most blank panel first... there are tabs on the top and bottom... a little tricky, but squeeze them enough, and that blank panel will push right out (see the pic of the blank panel I modified and you should get an idea for where the tabs are).
Next, remove the DSC switch and then the panel dimmer control... these should be a lot easier once the first blank panel is removed. There is enough slack in the wiring to just let these hang out the front of the panel.
Finally remove the left-most blank panel. This should be fairly easy now that everything else is out of the way.

I never have been able to remove the left-most blank by itself without following this procedure.

One other note... I rearranged the blanks and switches so that the two blanks were on the left side. Unless you have a really good reason for this, it turns out this is a really bad idea, because the next time I wanted to pull everything out again, I had a devil of a time getting the DSC switch out of the right-most position. I finally got it out, but when I put everything back together again I used the same order they originally were in.

Have fun... and have some alcohol handy when you finish... for internal use.

Shinka,

Wow - quick response - I looked again and couldn't find out where you posted how to get the switches out - radio yes - switches - not so clear.
Also - the biggest problem I had with the radio were the connectors for the HVAC. These connectors were a real pain. Those and the little tab holding the centre console cover near the parking brake - snapped that tab.

As for the audio and using the factory speakers instead of the car kit external speaker - Parrot has a wiring kit for the RX-8 - PDF HERE

It is interesting that the documentation on their website recommends using an external speaker instead of trying to get the audio through the bose system.

Thanks for the tip on the switches - I'll try again.

Any tips on the HVAC white friggin' switches and how they seperate easily?

@ Rotator...

Well, I thought I had posted about this earlier, but maybe I just responded to someone elses PM without putting it in the thread... anyway, now you know what my 'trick' is...

"Any tips on the HVAC white friggin' switches and how they seperate easily?"

I assume you are talking about the connectors on the back of the lower part of the stereo front panel? They all come off fairly easily IF you have the locking latch fully depressed... if you can't get them loose, make sure you're pressing the latch down all the way... you may need to use some kind of tool like a jeweler's screwdriver if you have big hands on the smaller connectors... make sure you cover up the threaded end of the shifter with a towel or something soft and use several layers of tape on both sides of the center stack to keep from scratching it when you take the stereo out! Take your time and you should have no problems...

thank you for including the parrot pdf... that's one I haven't seen before. One of the other ones people have mentioned on this board is the qubit (do a search and see what you come up with)... and there's another harness (the manufacturer of which escapes me right now).

the IHF1000 speaker is fairly small and there is plenty of room under the dash to the left of the glovebox and works well... I didn't see any advantage to using the Bose speaker; this is the forth handsfree I've installed in a vehicle and the position of the speaker and mic are somewhat critical, in that for optimum quality, you don't want the mic picking up the audio that is output from the speaker for obvious reasons. By mounting the speaker under the dash facing almost down towards the floor you achieve good decoupling between the speaker and mic.

Theres also some room on the left side of the center console by the driver's right knee, and even a little louvered area under the dash there... I may move the speaker over there when the weather warms up this spring... a little harder to work in there, but it might be worth looking into... you may need to construct a mounting bracket in that location though...

My blank switch looks like it's longer than the pics of the blank switch I see here. Either you managed to cut off part of the back of the switch, or the older models came with blanks that had slighty longer length, because I've spent half an hour trying to pull off the back of this thing, and it's not coming off.

Here's what yours looks like.... https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...chmentid=65233

Notice that where the 4 holes are (only 2 shown in your pic above) there's no piece behind it?

Below is what mine looks like. Notice that theres an additional portion attached by the holes?

Why is this, and more importantly, how do I remove it?

no JeRKy 8, my blanks didn't have that extra extension on them... so I don't know how it's attached... what year is your 8?

I've got an "ancient" June 2003 RX-8.

I managed to squeeze that sonuvabitch off by using 3 flat heads at the same time. :ylsuper:

you should post a DIY for that one JeRKy 8! I can't even imagine how you would use 3 flatheads at the same time to pull that one off!

does anyone know the difference between the Motorola HF850 and the IHF1000. Is the 1000 really worth the extra $$.

Also has anyone used the LG chocolate from verizon with either of these?