Upgrading the fortwo's radio to a 2-DIN CarPlay unit - Stories from behind the wheel of a Smart Fortwo Cabrio

The original radio is pretty old school, the most high-tech features it has to boast about, are TA (Traffic Announcement) and the integrated CD player.

A lot has happened since 2009, and I can hardly remember when I last removed a CD from its cover, to play it on a CD-Player 🤔

I have chosen to upgrade it to a 2-DIN unit, from Pioneer. A SPH-DA360DAB with wireless Apple CarPlay.

The following is only documentation.
I take no responsibility for any damage done by following my example.

The original Smart Fortwo radio is a "Smart Radio 9" with a pretty old school CD-Player — The original Smart Fortwo radio is a “Smart Radio 9” with a pretty old school CD-Player

At the same time, I’m swapping out the original 6,5″ speakers, mounted in the door.

I’ve chosen a set of JBL speakers, as they got good reviews, without ruining me. There is no need for Bang and Olufsen or similar. A Smart Fortwo driving 80 km/h with its top down, is no concert hall, no matter what a setup you end up mounting in it 😆

Read more about the speaker swap in this article.

Removing the screw that holds the front facia on the Smart Fortwo (take care that you don't drop it in there) — Removing the screw that holds the front facia on the Smart Fortwo (take care that you don’t drop it in there)

Removing the original Smart Radio 9, by removing the four screws. Two on each side.

The Smart Fortwo dash without a radio. The plugs look very standard, but have to be modified in order to power up your new radio

I used a cheap Smart Fortwo 2-DIN conversion kit from Amazon to cover mount the radio in.
I must admit that the finish could have been better on the Amazon unit, so I’ll probably end up disassembling it all again, and giving it a layer of paint.

As you can see, the Smart Fortwo doesn't have a wire in the "Acc/Accessories" hole (bottom right), so you have to move the red wire two positions to the left, in order to make your radio power up, when the ignition is on. — As you can see, the Smart Fortwo doesn’t have a wire in the “Acc/Accessories” hole (bottom right), so you have to move the red wire two positions to the left, in order to make your radio power up, when the ignition is on.

The red "Acc" wire has been removed, and is ready to be inserted into it's new place in the radio's plug — The red “Acc” wire has been removed, and is ready to be inserted into it’s new place in the radio’s plug

All you need to do, to remove the pin holding the wire, is to insert a slim pointed object in the hole next to the pin. You can then push in the barb in, that holds it in place. Often you have to push the barb out again, to prevent it from falling out after replacing it.

The GPS unit, that came with the radio, was placed in the small hole between the vents.

Assembly was easy, I just did the same, but in reverse order.

Have you upgraded your radio?
What did you end up mounting, and why did you choose that specific model?
Please comment below!

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Upgrading the fortwo’s radio to a 2-DIN CarPlay unit

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