I don't have any whine unless my volume is up around
+38 or so. I did purchase a cable kit from Becker to make
it easier to connect to the factory radio. It wasn't expensive,
and it did ensure all the audio grounds were properly connected. Other than that, I don't recall any tricks or
problems when I installed mine. Good grounding is obviously important, including the sled sheet metal. I think I just bent a couple of the ears to accomplish this.

The buttons don't light up, unless you install a button light kit, see elsewhere for that.
I don't like any of the faceplates. I have my top down a lot, and all of them are invisible in direct sunlight. The best I've found is Darkstorm's smoked faceplate, the color won't match, but none of them did anyway.

If you're in the SF bay area, I can probably help you fix it.

-gbeck