I just installed an Alpine 9855 in my car, but it was a huge pain in the ass to take off the plastic piece which covers the 4 screw holes for the head unit.

To take it out, I loosened the bottom 3 clips pretty easily, but the top ones were really difficult to take out. Once I loosened it, the plastic itself is wedged in ... Did anyone take off the raised portion of the center console to get it off?

Putting it back on was equally painful ... I put the top clips in first and then had to "slide" the rest of the plastic piece on to get the bottom clips to hook up. Its like you have to bend the plastic almost in half to get it to fit and I was tearing up my center console doing it.

Is there a better way to do this? I need to take everything out again because I wired some things incorrectly and I'm hoping there's an easier way to get this piece on/off.

They weren't kidding either when they said that its a tight fit behind the radio ... I didn't trim the wires down or anything and it barely fit back there. I had to leave the Alpine KCA-420i (iPod Interface) sitting in the passenger seat cargo netting because it wouldn't have fit!

 

Im not sure what you removed but I took mine out in less then 3 mins. I dont know what they did with the 04 you drive but for my02 i just had to remove the center piece ( the middle vent). The middle vent pop right out. After that it a lot easy to take out the head unit. After that i unscrew the four screw and pull the head unit.

 

I had to remove the same center piece as shown here in an AP1 model:



But when I went to remove the center piece, there's like a "lip" on the bottom which hits the raised portion of the center console making it really difficult to take out ... Its basically jammed in there even after the clips are loose. Putting it back in is the same thing ... the piece is larger than the area provided so I need to "jam" it in there.

Do the AP1s not have this bottom "lip" making it easier to take out? ... I'll try to get pics of it when I take it out again later today.

 

I read in a different thread that it helps on the 2004+ MY to pop off the center console first. It looks like that's just held in with clips, and pulls up. You can optionally remove the shift knob to get the whole thing off, or just leave it on to make room to pop out the plastic bezel.

Haven't tried it myself yet, but plan to when my Neo ion Ipod controller arrives this weekend. Keep me posted on your experience, any tips to make pulling the radio will be appreciated!

 

OK, here's the thread I was reading earlier about this...

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=274660

 

The 04's have that raised center console, it makes it tougher to remove the radio trim.
I can pop loose the bottom clamps on the radio trim by hand, then for the top, i use a wire coat hanger and pull it off. Really easy.

For reinstall, the piece has to be almost folded to go back in. So far I did this twice with no damage. Whew!

 

Ok, I'm going to try removing the raised center console piece. Thanks guys ... I thought this might be the problem since the picture of the center console on the AP1 was slightly different.

I didnt damage my car too bad doing it the first time, but when I look at the edges of the raised center console, you can tell that its a little bit scuffed up from putting the plastic trim piece back in.

 

I haven't had my radio out yet, but I have read here many times that the center console has to be pulled up and back to pull the radio door assembly off. PM Darkknight if you aren't sure but I believe the console pulls up and then you can weasel it rearward. No need to remove it completely.