Replacing the RD1 head unit

My car came with a pre-installed head unit radio/mono

CD RD1. In some countries (eg. Belgium,France), it is
a Clarion radio, in other countries (eg. UK) it is a
VDO/Philips radio. But, there's no big difference
between those two. The radio itself has no display, so
there's a display seperated from the radio. Most models
come also with steering wheel remote controls. The
main reason why I wanted to change the HU, is
because I wanted to have the possibility to listen to
MP3 cd's

Before buying another radio, you should consider some things :

The MP3 possibility / auto-changer

Citroen sells an a 6 disc-autochanger to be connected to the RD1 radio.

If you want an MP3-capable autochanger, Sony sells one, with the possibility to connect
it to the RD1.
Finally, one can always connect an autochanger using the 'good old' FM-modulator. For
those who don't know this systel : the cabel coming from the cars antenna is connected to
a little box (the FM modulator). From the modulator there's a cable to the antenna input
of the cars radio. The autochanger is also connected to the box. So the cd signals are
modulated to FM and arrive at the radio as FM signals. You tune the radio to a weak FM-
station and that's were the modulator sends the CD-signals. Disadvantage of the system :
you don't have 'real' CD quality because of the FM-modulation (although acceptable) and
you need an extra remote controller to control the autochanger. Kenwood sells there 10
disc autochanger with FM modulator and MP3 capability.

The separated display / The steering wheel remote controls

The Xsara, C3, C5, C8 and Peugeot cars from 2001/2002 are equipped with the 'COM2000'-
system to control the multiplexed wiring of the car. The multiplexing allows sending different
signals on one pair of wires. For example : the steering wheel remote control with 7 functions
only needs 2 wires.
It's quite obvious these features won't work with another radio.
Most of the car-hifi brands try to follow the automobile industry and offer interfaces to keep
using the steering wheel remote controls and/or separated display. Because of the frequent
changes in cars cabling systems, you have to be very cautious in this matter. Eg. the cabling of a
Xsara phase II 2000 differs from the cabling of the Xsara phase II 2002. Furhtermore, most of
the car-hifi vendors only offer interfaces for the steering wheel remote controls, not for the
separated display (Alpine, Pioneer,...). I've found one company in the UK who's specialized in
this kind of interfaces and they've build an interface for the remote controls and the display
(only for Sony head units). For more information, see Site Connects2
In Belgium, this interface is officially distributed by Sony. No more information at the moment.
I'm waiting for the interface

The radio gap in the dashboard

The front of the RD1 radio doesn't have the same dimensions as a standard radio. SO you have
to put a fascia adaptor to put the new radio.

First, we have to remove the framework around the

radio and the display. It's this framework we discussed
above (fascia adaptor) that you have to change when
you want to put another radio. Try to move the
framework with a little screwdriver. The frame is held
in place by 6 clips : at the left and the right side, there
are two times two clips and then there are two more.
One at the bottom in the middle and one on top in the
middle, right under the vents

Once the framework is removed, you can see that the

display and the radio are fixec with trox screws. So
you'll need a special screwdriver (TROX TX20).
You'll find this kind of screws at multiple places in the
Xsara

Once the radio is removed, we can have a look at the

connectors coming from the card. A white ISO-
connector for the speakers, a black ISO-connector for
the power supply and the connection to the BSI for the
remote controls and the display, an antenna connector
and a little wire to feed the antenna amplifier.
Rear view of the RD1 radio. At the left side you can
see the antenna connection, in the middle there's the
fixation for the dashboard, at the right side the other
connectors.

A vue on the connectors on the rear-side of the radio.

The two ISO-connectors : speakers and power supply
and above, the connector to connect a 'Citroen' CD
changer

Here you can see the metal ISO frame I fitted. The
original RD1 radio doesn't need an ISO frame, but if
you want another radio, you have to put the frame (the
frame comes with the radio). The cable that comes
with the Sony radio must be connected to the white
and black ISO connector on one side and to the radio
on the other side. Don't mind the cable mess : this is
because I did a partial speaker recabling and because
of the extra connections which I had to make to install
my hands-free cell-phone kit.
Here is the SONY CDX-M850MP !

In expectation of the fascia adaptor, I put the original

framework, which is of course not a very nice view

At night...