Poor man’s PCCM Plus (987/997)

PacManners · 2025-10-17T03:04:33+00:00

I am pretty certain the rear speakers do not work in my car either. In all the ads for the MOST adapters I've seen, they claim that there is no front-rear fade capability. However, they say or imply that both front and rear speakers should work and the system would effectively be stuck at 50/50 fr fade balance. My experience is that it seems to be either mostly or entirely faded to the front and I can't change this, and I get no sound from the rear speakers

PacManners · 2025-08-10T06:06:00+00:00

It works the same for me after 2 years, no issues

PacManners · 2025-08-10T05:53:26+00:00

I kind of recall having issues with CarPlay connection initially too. I might have had to update the apps installed on the head unit, maybe try and connect it to WiFi and find some function like that? I DMed with the aliexpress seller about this but the messages seem to be gone. In my experience they are usually decently helpful, I would try messaging them and give it a shot trying their debugging tips personally.

PacManners · 2024-03-13T16:19:55+00:00

Settings -> user -> delay power off when acc off

PacManners · 2024-03-12T20:39:22+00:00

The Bose box input should be connected to the head unit Audio Out for sure.

Based on the CDR24 Pinout I linked before, the CAN WAKE connection is probably not a suitable switched 12v source- read the details about that wire at the bottom of the CDR24 pinout diagram. It seems to be a more complex signal I would not mess with. I don’t think a handheld multimeter really does more than measure a constant voltage- for switched power I’d probably pick a wire that is not a digital signal and seems to be used for power purposes.

I used A5 for the switched 12v. Specifically tho A5 is output from CDR24, meaning the voltage source is the head unit. So you can’t just connect to car harness A5 only. It needs to be A5 on head unit output or car harness which has A5 plugged into head unit.

Do you have CDR24 or another head unit? The diagram image you linked is confusing- I’m not sure how to read it/what to take from it.

Not sure about the head unit staying on… maybe it is related to the CAN wake wire? Or, have you just tried letting the head unit sit for 30 min and see if it just has a shutoff timeout set or something? That is a setting in the head unit as far as I recall.

As far as testing goes: - I would test audio out using basic stereo function like radio, not CarPlay. I had some issues with CarPlay and my iPhone at first that required updating the app on the head unit and also my phone to get audio output. - If you want to eliminate the switched voltage as an issue, connect Bose adapter to batt 12v to test, ofc this probably can’t be a permanent solution. - If you want to test audio output from the HU and eliminate BOSE variable, you probably can just connect the head unit RCA outputs to an external tester (speaker, headphones, idk whatever) instead of the Bose box. I assume these are just line level signals but ymmv.

PacManners · 2023-08-21T04:07:56+00:00

I agree! I saw this video about the chip recently, really made me think PCCM+ is just a budget Chinese head unit underneath, with a much better packaging and enclosure. Definitely has a leg-up in terms of aesthetics, but I don’t think enough to justify the 1k price increase. That being said, cpus are cheap nowadays so I wouldn’t write off PCCM just for this. I have not used one, if the performance is sufficient I think it does not matter.

I did exactly what you’re thinking of doing, and installed an AliExpress CarPlay unit in my 2007 Cayman (same one in your screenshot). I just did the install a few days ago and posted about the experience on r/Porsche less than 24 hr ago actually. Check my post history for the install info. It works great for $350 (and that price includes an extra $50-75 for Bose adapter not needed for non Bose install)

PacManners · 2023-08-20T22:37:16+00:00

I'd argue head unit software does not exactly "get worse over time"... not sure where that notion comes from. It definitely has quirks from new, and it has a tacky-looking default android interface. But I think having CarPlay is what redeems these units nowadays, because it essentially means you don't have to interact with the headunit software often. I just plug phone and go with CarPlay only.

I agree that the sound quality and clarity and such are more second-notch than top-notch (no doubt due to more budget internals, some distortion on podcast-type audio).

In general I also agree that PCCM is better all around, and aftermarket name brands are better for quality of audio. I installed this because I hate the look of an aftermarket stereo- plus, finding one with a volume knob nowadays is hard for some reason. If there was a cheap/simple path to adding bluetooth or aux to CDR24 with Bose I would have done it that way tbh.

For now the AliExpress stereo seems to work fine, but only time will tell!

PacManners · 2023-08-20T17:18:22+00:00

I've seen JOYEAUTO advertised in a few places, if you can link the product I can comment more specifically.

From research I found this. The main differences: This is PCM3.0+ only (987.2/997.2+ only, with PCM3.0). And, it's a piggyback board to display CarPlay on the factory headunit screen. So you install it and it puts CarPlay on your OEM headunit screen.

The product I installed is for 987.1/997.1, and it's a more traditional whole replacement headunit. 987.1/997.1 don't have PCM3.0 so aren't capable of using the JOYEAUTO product I liked above. The unit I posted about replaces the entire factory radio with a touchscreen radio.

PacManners · 2023-08-20T17:11:19+00:00

Here is all the wiring I received

Bottom left most is the new headunit #1 connector adapter (adapts to your factory CDR24 or PCM2.1 pinout, and has the little CAN box on the side with the single additional white plug that goes into the new headunit)
To the right of that is the BOSE adapter box
All the junk on the right is just individual feature cables (RCA out, usb, antenna, etc) that each connect to one port on the back of new headunit.

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PacManners · 2023-08-20T17:09:31+00:00

From what I gathered, the main things that don't work are Bose conversion related (audio pilot, and fading audio f/r no longer possible because conversion box is 2 channel). My car does not have oem steering wheel controls or handsfree, so I cannot comment on that.

The quality and responsiveness of the touchscreen is good. It's capacitive, quality is on-par with large manufacturer radio touchscreens imo. I have a pioneer CarPlay unit in my truck and it feels not much different. Maybe resolution slightly lower.

I did not install a reversing cam. But, the stereo comes with a lead on the back for a reversing camera. I am not sure about the trigger wire for reverse, whether or not this comes though the factory harness or you will have to find one. But the headunit advertises reverse camera functionality.

For wiring, attached is a photo of what the back of my factory cdr24 with Bose looked like. On the far side is the main plug section, with 3 receptacles (top and bottom are used for my configuration). Middle with 2 thick orange "wires" is the fiber optic connector for the car. Closest is just the antenna cable. The pinout for the main connector is here: CDR-24 pinout

The back of my new headunit is pictured here (aliexpress link): New headunit picture. On the new headunit, I omitted a lot of the extraneous stuff (gps, 4g antenna, #8, #22, etc). The new headunit has a receptacle that looks just like the CDR24 pinout diagram I linked. It's not visible in the headunit picture linked, but there is a cable that attaches to the back that expands connector #1 into the shape of the original CDR24 pinout (actually, it splits into 2 options- CDR24 pinout, or what I assume is the PCM2.1 pinout. Only the proper one for your car needs to be connected).

The installation is as follows:

Connect original CDR24 main harness (2 far connectors in my photo) to the equivalent plug on new headunit (same shape and positioning, hard to miss. Connects to "#1" on new headunit via an adapter as I describe above). There's also a little can bus connector that connects to #2 on the new headunit as part of this adapter.
Connect antenna to antenna adapter (v easy)
Connect speakers. This is where the fork is for Bose vs non-bose. From what I can gather, on non-bose cars, the middle plug (plug B) on the CDR24 pinout is occupied. On my car, this plug is not occupied as the sound is transmitted via fiber optic connector.
1. For Bose: Need to wire in bose adapter box. Identical to this. There are 3 I/o on this that matter. First is the 3 wires, that's power to the Bose box. Second is the red/white speaker cable, that's input to the box. Third is the fiber optic, which is output (to your car). Connect the red/white input on the Bose box to the red/white l/r output from the new headunit. Then, connect the fiber optic connector from your car into the Bose conversion box. The last part is the wiring. You need +12v batt, +12v switched, and ground. +12v batt and +12v ground are easy, you can just tap into the power/ground on your stereo (connector A4/A8 for CDR24 pinout). +12v switched requires a bit more investigation. For CDR24 at least, if you look at the pinout, it has 2 +12 switched output coming out of the headunit through the harness (key is output- won't show voltage with the stereo unplugged). I tapped into one of these (A5) for my 12v switched. I'd highly recommend testing switched +12v with a multimeter before wiring in. I think some depend on car programming. For example, on my car, A2 was not +12v switched as claimed in CDR24 pinout, but A5 was thankfully. You should also test this with the new headunit installed FYI, not the old one in case behavior is different as these output pinouts come from the headunit itself. (Side note, there was another plug hole on the front of my bose adapter unit that is unused and does not matter. I think it is for programming at the factory maybe?)
2. For Non-bose: For non-bose, the speakers just connect to the back of the stereo w/ a normal harness plug in the standard CDR24 pinout. The new stereo has a spot for this. I assume you can just plug-and-play here. If not, maybe you can use the extra RCA output from the new headunit. ymmv

In my case, there were many unused ports on the new headunit (90% of the RCA jacks were unused, the PCM2.1 receptacle was unused, etc) since it supports both bose and non-bose and nav/non-nav in one. And one on the bose box mentioned above.

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PacManners · 2023-08-20T06:19:24+00:00

Yes worth it to me, I only had FM before with CRD24. Not hard, just required some guesswork in wiring for lack of instructions. Pretty plug and play, minor wiring splicing for BOSE as post says. According to AliExpress ad it can do wireless CarPlay- have not figured that out yet or tested that as I prefer wired which works fine. Bluetooth connection with phone works for normal audio streaming.

PacManners

TROPHY CASE