Please help with HU installation

[Shellback]

I'm going through hell trying to fit an aftermarket HU in the factory location.

I tried to clear the path of harness cables as best as possible when I push the HU into the hole. I get a lot of resistance as I suspect it’s a tight fit. The center a/c vents are on top and the a/c panel is on the bottom so it’s a tight fit.

It gets to a point where the a/c control unit pops out from all the crowded mess.

I've reduced the size of the HU wires as best as possible while still using the BMW harness plug. I refuse to cut the plug as I don’t believe in cutting the OEM plug when it works perfectly to connect to a HU (I can also use the plug to reinstall my CD43 if I decide to return it to OEM).

As for RCA cables, they are all out of the way. I've routed the Aux RCA, Rear CH, Front CH RCA cables on the left side and there is zero interference.

The problem is all the room that is being used up by the factory BMW harness plug plus the aftermarket plug plus the euro antenna adapter thingy plus the Nakamichi HU has an external fuse holder and some sort of black box attached externally. All this is making it impossible to get a good fit.

Anyway, has anyone removed the center a/c vents to get better access? Any suggestions?

Appreciate the help. BTW, the Nak sounds wonderful!