Aftermarket Headunit recommendations

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Halfords do it for £499 and you could register your card with Quidco for another 5% off in store or 3.5% online click and collect.
 
the AVH-X8700BT sounds spot on for me. £509 off amazon any one know of cheapest place to get a hold of it?

What I would have done, if I was handy is fitted a single din headunit into the glove box (must have aux in)

Then fit a nexus tablet or iPad into the dash, with a suitable fascia (there are shops which can fabricate one for around £100) then simply have an aux out from the iPad/nexus to the radio in glove box. And a charging cable permanently connected

The volume etc can be controlled directly from steering wheel as this is controlled by the stereo

An iPad /tablet would be soooo cool, much better than ANY radio on market in terms of speed fluidity and functionality, much more apps etc. Also the fact that for example an iPad you can set up to sync to your computer on wifi so when you pul linto your drive it will sync

If you got a Data plan with the tablet it would be brilliant...
 
Hi all, I had a pioneer car play installed in a Focus ST just before selling it, what I can say is audio quality was excellent, iPhone mirroring was limited to apps Car Play would allow so no Google Maps, you are restricted to the Apple maps, also worth noting the unit allowed two USB inputs so I had an iPod permanently connected ( display on the Pioneer would mirror that of the iPod).

Be aware, if iPhone is connected it turns off Bluetooth which was a disadvantage for me as my work phone is Microsoft ....would I recommend , definitely and may well do the same for the 2006 CLS I have bought, has the Audio 20 unit and like others on here was considering an eBay special as they do emulate look, need to know if anyone has actually had one installed as its audio quality and ability to have sat nav / hands free that interests me.
 
Hi all, I had a pioneer car play installed in a Focus ST just before selling it, what I can say is audio quality was excellent, iPhone mirroring was limited to apps Car Play would allow so no Google Maps, you are restricted to the Apple maps, also worth noting the unit allowed two USB inputs so I had an iPod permanently connected ( display on the Pioneer would mirror that of the iPod).

Be aware, if iPhone is connected it turns off Bluetooth which was a disadvantage for me as my work phone is Microsoft ....would I recommend , definitely and may well do the same for the 2006 CLS I have bought, has the Audio 20 unit and like others on here was considering an eBay special as they do emulate look, need to know if anyone has actually had one installed as its audio quality and ability to have sat nav / hands free that interests me.

The eBay units are a bit of a lottery

Some can be quite good some horrible

How reliable they are is also a question
 
@clk320x I have taken the plunge and bought with consent, the pioneer head unit with the associated lead packages.
I have no doubt I will end up doing the install, so will update when its done (which may be some time! ;) )

Ended up buying an ex display unit for £260 and the required leads for an additional £84, so a grand total of £344, which seems like a bargain for what he wanted!
 
@clk320x I have taken the plunge and bought with consent, the pioneer head unit with the associated lead packages.
I have no doubt I will end up doing the install, so will update when its done (which may be some time! ;) )

Ended up buying an ex display unit for £260 and the required leads for an additional £84, so a grand total of £344, which seems like a bargain for what he wanted!

Good luck!

Keep us updated :bannana:

Plenty of tutorials on here how to dismantle dash, I recommend routing the 2
USB cable out to the glove box (easiest place), you will also need to route the GPS aerial up to the dash, mine was put on the left corner near where the tax discs used to go, also the microphone up via the a-pillar to the centre top of the windscreen or wherever you prefer

I can't remember if the App Radio requires the cabling to be spliced and soldered or if it had a block connector but either way you should be able to do it easily using a diagram..

Worst case scenario you can pay £50 and have it professionally installed :)
 
Head unit arrived today, so am just waiting for the other relevant cables to arrive.
I must say upon opening it and seeing it in the flesh it's a great looking piece of kit, hopefully it will be just as good to use.
I think I may look into something similar for my CLS (W219) as this would bring some up to date tech inside the cabin, which for me is the only negative inside there.

Any ideas if it would be a major task in the CLS, as it currently has HK and comand NTG1.5 I think.
 
Head unit arrived today, so am just waiting for the other relevant cables to arrive.
I must say upon opening it and seeing it in the flesh it's a great looking piece of kit, hopefully it will be just as good to use.
I think I may look into something similar for my CLS (W219) as this would bring some up to date tech inside the cabin, which for me is the only negative inside there.

Any ideas if it would be a major task in the CLS, as it currently has HK and comand NTG1.5 I think.

Your CLS will be NTG 1, NTg 2.5, NTg4 or NTG 4.5 depends on model year.
 
It's a 2005 model, I seem to remember the .5 when I checked, Si perhaps a 2.5?
 
I think I may look into something similar for my CLS (W219) as this would bring some up to date tech inside the cabin, which for me is the only negative inside there.

Likewise.

If you do, I'll be watching with interest. Can't agree more on the cabin being a little dated tech wise



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It's a 2005 model, I seem to remember the .5 when I checked, Si perhaps a 2.5?

Not sure about CLS, if it has the HK amp it may complicate things
 
Can't the HK be integrated into the aftermarket?

I believe it uses fibre optics for the signals with a HK system

This cannot work with aftermarket solution, I'm not 100% sure but I have heard of people having to fit an aftermarket amplifier too and run fresh speaker wiring to this and the speakers? Adds a lot of cost...

I don't know if there is a way to intergrate the HK system but if it uses fibre optics I imagine this will be difficult...
 
I believe it uses fibre optics for the signals with a HK system



This cannot work with aftermarket solution, I'm not 100% sure but I have heard of people having to fit an aftermarket amplifier too and run fresh speaker wiring to this and the speakers? Adds a lot of cost...



I don't know if there is a way to intergrate the HK system but if it uses fibre optics I imagine this will be difficult...


Yep. Gotta love the Germans and their brilliant over complicating!!

I'm still umming and ahhhing about going aftermarket


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Yep. Gotta love the Germans and their brilliant over complicating!!

I'm still umming and ahhhing about going aftermarket


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I can't imagine what's going to be done when the newer cars (2016 etc) with the screens sticking out the dash are 10 years old....

Can't see how aftermarket could intergrate into that... even if physical limitations breached imagine the wiring :dk:

2015-mercedes-benz-c300-4matic-interior-photo-637726-s-986x603.jpg
 
Just a quick question regarding the Pioneer unit, have you connected a reverse camera or is it even possible, do you know?
 
I cannot like the new look.
It just looks so much of an after thought and something a 'Barry' would do with a cheap 7inch android tablet

Contraversial I know, but an integrated display is much more upmarket (IMHO)

Rest of interior looks lovely on these though
 
Just a quick question regarding the Pioneer unit, have you connected a reverse camera or is it even possible, do you know?



As long as it has RF video inputs it should do. Most aftermarket stuff does


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