Here's why you don't put an aftermarket stereo in a Ferrari 

Ferrari owner: I want a stereo with bass that hits so hard it will blow the windows out. Stereo shop: We can do that.

Heres why you dont let the WRONG person put an aftermarket stereo in your Ferrari

The first time I set off an airbag I thought, "That's the loudest speaker I've ever heard." Then it hit me.

Dealing with the electronic and build quality quirks of 90s and 2000s supercars is a very unique ownership experience but oh so worth it!

Re the guy who couldn’t start his car properly. Sounds like the dealer may have not thoroughly familiarized him with the car or it was a private sale.

I worked for a Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar, range rover, Lotus dealership from 1988-1997. My job for the dealership was installing aftermarket sound systems, alarms, cell phone, radar detector, and TeleTrac. Back than Ferraris did not come with a sound system. Cell phones started out the size of a small briefcase. To this day it was one of my favorite places to have worked.

The ghost of Enzo was like you no like a listen my engine I’ma show you!!

Now I want the Italian dressed version of Hoovie on VinWiki

The real reason you don't install an aftermarket stereo in your Ferrari: You don't own a Ferrari 🤣

My father in law has a 1982 Ducati S2. An amazing bike to experience and ride. I went to a ducati dealership, very nice, beautiful bikes on display, got chatting to the parts and service guy while sorting out some bits for a newer bike. 'Hey, do you guys work on older b..' before I could even finish he replied 'not the bevel drives' ( referring to the shaft driven cams of older ducatis). Its not about taking it to a dealer necessarily, its about taking it to the right shop that knows what they're doing

Hearing him describe the cars is so enjoyable. We get it.

You know that the story’s gonna be a good one when you see, “ former employee” in the description of Eric. Edd’s given us some …

Having done audio video for many many years. Installing on these cars is quite simple. Hitting the wire is just a careful job. The dealership technicians are usually no better.

Should have taken it to Sounds Good Stereo in Woodland Hills, CA. We worked on high end cars all the time, including the 360 and 550 with zero issues. Most car audio shops have absolute morons for installers. 40% of our net income was fixing other shop's crappy work, lol.

I remember that American cars couldn't be imported into Italy when airbags first came out because they wouldn't allow importation of the"explosive" devices that set them off. I was shipping cars in the very early 90's, and it took a few years to get it figured out.

Man, I bet that aftermarket audio shop had a field day with their insurance company.

I just redid all the audio in my F430, very straight forward!

Wait so how do you start it “incorrectly”? I always assumed you turn the key and press the red button on the steering if it’s not a normal key start model

You can short out any wire from stereo to amp and it will only blow fuses or stereo/amp will go into protection mode to stop any damage, I can guarantee the screw that he said sent through a wire would have been a yellow air bag wire when shorted to ground that would set of the air bags,or the installer lied and said the bags went of when putting in the trim screw and really he tapped into the airbag wire thinking it was a speaker and when turning the amp on that would have triggered the airbag pretty common fault when people try and cut corners, I run a car audio business

The 360 start procedure is you leave the key in the 2nd position for 30 seconds to let all the pumps get fully started then start the car

I've worked on dozens of brand new Ferrari's, over the past 20+ years, fitting high-end aftermarket electronics. Never once have I had so much as a service code come up as a result of my work. They may require patience and skill to work with, but that's certainly not the exclusive domain of a Ferrari service center. Shame that lovely car was subjected to such egregious indignities.

The real lesson here is don't let people who don't know what they are doing work on your car. My son and his buddy tried to install an under-glow kit on a Mitsubishi Eclipse he owned in the early 2000s. At some point during the installation process they drilled a hole from under the car, through the floor board, and right into the cars computer. When you are drilling holes in a car make sure you know what's on the other side.

The tittle doesnt make sense, it isnt the car fault, it was the guy that was installing it fault...

Plenty of Mom-and-Pop-around-the-corner businesses out there could easily put dealers to shame in terms of their technical capabilities and work quality. That said, stereo installers have a really bad rep for really good reasons (there are exceptions). A bunch of years ago I used to do vehicle conversions on direct import (grey market) vehicles. In order to pass emissions the fuel injection had to be modified. Often, the easiest way to do this (as OEM parts were generally not available) was with add-on systems that were connected to the engine ECU. After modification, the vehicles were tested at an EPA approved facility. It was such a facility that I saw a vehicle that had been modified with an add-on system for the fuel injection - connected to the ABS ECU rather than the engine's ECU. I always wondered if the guy who had done that job was a stereo installer in his day job.

I never heard anyone putting an aftermarket stereo in a Ferrari lol I would just keep the original stereo and keep the OEM look imo

I've always wondered about this. My cousin's husband does sound systems and he wouldn't work on any of their vehicles bc of all the new electronics in them. He had the same thing happen in a CTS-V.

I’ve owned two 360’s and it needed the key fob to be used to disable the security system before starting. There was no scenario where it ran on 4 cylinders so I don’t know what he’s talking about.

I see a garage liability claim here to be filed against the installing shop. Gee, I just retired from over 40 years in claims, and I still look at the insurance angle...

I would pay a shiny penny to see security camera footage of the air bag pop. And you know you would too. Regards, Marky

The not knowing how to start story reminded me of when I was in middle school my dad flipped cars and I worked on them. There was a v6 new edge mustang listed as a no crank no start. He won the bid for super cheap. Went to the lot and drove it out. It was a manual. Nobody in the entire auction house, nor the company selling it. Could figure out how to drive, let alone start, a manual transmission vehicle. We made a good amount of money on that car as there was nothing wrong with it. Perfectly running and driving vehicle. I honestly kinda liked it. Don't get me wrong. It was just the v6, it was not fast. However, the 5 speed trans made it very fun and exciting to drive. It gave that v6 some pep. I've driven a similar v6 new edge mustang but an auto and it was a total dog. Probably as slow as a Prius.

What is your dream Ferrari?

When I was working for honda had a guy come in with a 2005 s2k he just bought 2 months ago. He said he got an evap code. Opened the trunk and it reeked of gas fumes. Pretty much looked at the ground screw they put in the back. They drilled into the gas tank when they did it.

A good installer doesn't run in sound systems with Tec screws. We use Rivnuts, we clearance everything, we use connectors rather than hack a harness.

I had this happen on a 2013 Nissan Frontier - customers took it to Best Buy to have a remote starter installed and they set off all the airbags

Really pays to listen to your sales delivery person, when you pick up your car, Rj in Oz

That 550 in Verde British Racing is gorgeous. The saddle interior is just perfect !

Yes, I realize the problem in this case was bad installation (running the wires under the trim pieces and not reinstalling the trim correctly). However, when it comes to possible issues, it doesn't have to be a Ferrari or other supercar/hyper luxury vehicle. Wiring aftermarket stereos into most cars can be problematic, especially if you're not careful about what you're doing. This is because it seems that each manufacturer has their own standards for wiring. This is nothing new. I remember the time I put a stereo into my brother's 1975 Buick Century to replace the AM radio. Two wires, yellow and grey, came from the original connector. Got positive 13.9 volts from the yellow wire and a ground connection from the grey wire, so I hooked the power leads from the new stereo up accordingly. Next time my brother turned the headlights on, the fuse for the instrument lights blew. So I double checked everything. Turns out, the grey wire I got a ground connecton on was actually the positive wire for the instrument bulb in the factory radio, and the radio itself actually grounded to the frame. Once I realized that, it was a fairly easy matter to connect the negaative wire to the frame (I'd used a two wire trailer connector for the power leads), but getting ground from a positive wire is still screwy.

wow i installed stereos alarms and rims in my teens I've seen some dumb installers but this takes the cake

4:54 reminds me of when I put my service jack in the trunk of my xk8 and it shorted out the starter and alternator fuse. when I tried to start it up it just ticked.

This has nothing to do with Ferrari, this could happen to ANY car!

"Let the dealership work on them." *Tavarish has entered the chat*

The installer literally must have shit himself when it happened. Or he prob thought he was dead until his ears stopped ringing lol.

Can we get more Eric? Super relaxing to listen to and great stories.

If you replace the stock radio on BMW E36, you no longer get the "audible alerts" for: -low fuel pressure -low fuel level -low/high oil pressure -freezing cold start warmup warning -door open chimes -and possibly more. Friends don't let friends put janky systems in

A place in NJ called NVS Audio did aftermarket stereo in my father’s 1999 Ferrari 360 and it was amazing overall (that was over 10 years ago) it still works just like it was brand new

Love the videos, but we are due for a new Christopher Michales on again. I have watched the drug dodge video at least 20 times. He can really tell a story lol

That Ferrari 360 in the pics was a friend of mines, great spec!

2:23 best joke ever made on the internet

My uncle and I were the only ones in our area to do work on high end and exotic cars. Everything from k40s in exotics,to remote starts in luxury cars we took on the jobs that other 12v shops would turn down

WOW that’s a new one!!! What a wonderful short, sweet and completely wild story!

This has nothing to do with an after market stereo, it has to do with veing extremely careful with who you allow to work in your car if you are not capable of doing things yourself

I owned a stereo shop full blown custom shopwhen I was 18 till 31 and my experience with high end was easy leave stock alone relocate it amd run all new wires to all new components it’s not always the case but most times it’s best to do that ...

Great story. Great shirt. Thanks for visiting Athens.

Love the Harrods F1 number plates. Took me a while to work out why i knew the plate

I remember the days when you had to use a bypass module and put the stock deck under the seat and install the aftermarket deck as some smarty at Ford put the anti theft module in the dam head unit thanks ford

We need more stories from you Ed

love the vids

What is the 'correct' starting procedure then? How would you get to run on half the cylinders. Doesn't sound right to me

The only way to work on enough of these cars to get real experience is to have dealers sending you work. Find out who your dealer uses for LoJack/radar detectors/etc and you've just found a shop with experience.

Don't know of you guys are searching for stories but, I accidentally broke commercial export law over a slice of pizza

That was not the fault of the aftermarket stereo though. A rule when working on anything is know where your screws are going. Especially with a car like that from that era. There is no way to confirm where any wire factory harnesses are ran unless you physically check for it first. But as far as electronics they don't know or care if it is in a Yugo or a Bugatti. Helps if the tech doing the work follows the rules. People should be able to upgrade their tunes in anything and not deploy airbags or break windows but a mess up like that can happen in any make vehicle.

The door, or doors, would have to be open to screw back down the sill panels, so how did the windows break?

Ferrari Owners Manual : If you want to listen to the weather report, turn on the radio*. If you want to listen to music, start the engine, and drive the vehicle. * DO NOT attempt to upgrade the radio, to listen to music.

"Ferrari discouraged this" I wonder why...looks at 5K "premium" stereo option.

Eric: "So in the year 2000..." Me: "In the year two thouuuuuusssannnnndddddddddd."

This never happened to Crockett & Tubbs motoring down the highway with cool soundtracks playing.🔊🎵🚘

The guy who owned this did it himself. A good installer puts the amps under the seat or hides them in the Trunk behind body panels, or on a mounted board. Also a good installer NEVER screws thru wires running down the kick panels...

Back in the day, Italian cars were notorious for electrical systems installed by a toddler group!,😕 Alpha Romeo and Lancias spring to mind

I've never seen a Ferrari up close before until today, I walked by some kind of meet where there were 8 Ferraris, 3 Lamborghinis and 6 Porsches. They are really beautiful cars.

Sees new vinwiki video* *Why you don't do **____** to a Ferrari* Me: lemme guess it caught fire

A former work colleague bought a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S for cheap. Previous owner removed the existing head unit and replaced it with a basic Kenwood Double DIN unit. Cables were running semi-exposed along the doorsills from front to back. Also, the rims were changed out for a huge set, but was so cheap that most of them either leaked through the rim or cracked. No idea why anyone would take an expensive car and destroy it with cheap mods. Anyway, this colleague got it as cheap fun to enjoy till it failed. Add in: because the head unit can't control the backup camera, it would stay extended all the time.

Such a misleading title. He clearly said it that the installation/shop messed up during installation.

01 Audi immobilizer is a nightmare. Wouldn't wish that on my own mother in law

to be fair to the italian guy (especially at this pre internet forum era) ANY luxury dealer should do a FULL demo... I get that even today with BMWs and Audi's

I saw a 360 with air bag suspension, ugly custom color, matching 20 inch wheels for $36k. No one wanted it haha! This is why you don't mess with Ferrari.

I really thought it was gonna be the bass that shattered the windows and set off the airbags lol

Ed, anything new with the P440 CPJ?

Somebody just didn't know what they were doing lol

What is the procedure for starting the 360?!?! I must know!

Just do your due diligence and research.... many great shops that can do an upgrade the right way ...

Speaking as someone that installed aftermarket stereos systems in cars of this level around that time frame, it's not hard to do you just need to not be a hack. I bet they fucked up stereo installs in Neons just as bad.

I had a new Fiat Punto (very small cheap car) in 1998. I had the same immobiliser as a Ferrari, the difference was that it did work very reliable in a Fiat.

Mistakes happen, mom and pop or big box. I can honestly say Id rather the mom and pop as they usually hold themselves to a higher standard. I've worked at BB, CC, 2 large chains, and a mom and pop over 23yrs as a professional certified installer and even I caught the J1850 data wire when I did my own install due to the tape letting go as I put the door back on. Accidents happen. It also comes down to caring about your job and experience as well. Theres bad doctors, bad mechanics, bad delivery drivers, etc

Is that Ed making a power drill sound effect at 5:12?

I used to work for and I currently own a Ferrari 360… I’ve never heard of had an issue with starting it in such a way that it only runs on 4 cylinders unless one of the engine ECUs malfunctioned

There is one shop in the world that does audio perfect,its called brian’s custom audio in The Netherlands. Its crazy good

I have Never heard of the 4 cylinder f360 start up procedure. Drove a ‘99 modena in 2001 for a couple of weeks in Boston. Used one euro spec as well in 2002. Never had that issue

This will date me a bit, but I remember seeing new Ferrari's and Lamborghinis coming into Circuit City for new stereos. I remember wondering what would possess a person to take their expensive toy to basically a high school shop for audio. Granted, the stock stereos were subpar, but there were plenty of audio specialists shops in the area.

Interesting to see a Mama's Boy T shirt. Great restaurant. Had lunch there last weekend!

Maaaann I always put aftermarket stereo in my Ferrari’s

I've never heard anyone describe a Ferrari like that except for a salesman

Could running on 4 cylinders be the early attempts of “multi tunes”

have heard similar stories about many models getting stereos put in, even by some of the better installation houses. techs that blow fuses, crack dash plates, airbag oops... haha

Love Mama's Boy! One of the best staples of Athens.

BMW audi and vw had immobilizer issue too

Alternate title : "The Most Expensive Stereo Installation Ever". I sure hope the stereo shop had good insurance.

You should always turn your battery off and disconnect the airbag when installing new electronics. Is it different in a Ferrari?

Like my Learjet 28...its a procedure... know your vehicle!!!! LMFAO

First time I fitted a sound system to my first car I ran the power cables down the same side as the speaker cables. This caused a tempest and made my car sound supercharged. Live and learn.

Alright Ed. You might have convinced me to use PFS.