While the standard 150 GXL radio isn't actually too bad, and the bluetooth handsfree is actually quite good, I decided to change a few things.
First up was the headunit which got ditched in favour of a surprisingly affordable double din Alpine CDE-W265BT unit. I'm not bothered with watching movies in my car and I use my phone for navigation, so I don't need a full screen. I like this particular unit because it has time correction and a decent 9 band equaliser with smartphone tuning access via a free app, for under $300 when I bought it. The first one was a dud though, but JB Hifi replaced it with another new one once I figured out that it was the headunit software that was faulty.
To make it fit I moved the standard reversing monitor to the bottom of the centre consol so that the headunit could fit in the top. This required new fascia panels for the top (that re-uses the original silver side pieces) and bottom. I also had to get the 2 thin inserts that are either side of the unit. These aren't a great fit, but after a couple of days I didn't notice it anymore. I'll probably replace them with better quality pieces at some point. All the other fascia bits are off ebay and fit very well.
To make all of this lot work I picked up a surprisingly expensive little box of tricks from a car audio specialist that make the steering controls stock speakers, light dimmers, etc work. There are some cheap ones on ebay as well, but when I had my first go at installation they didn't maKe the steering controls work which was very important for me.
First up was the headunit which got ditched in favour of a surprisingly affordable double din Alpine CDE-W265BT unit. I'm not bothered with watching movies in my car and I use my phone for navigation, so I don't need a full screen. I like this particular unit because it has time correction and a decent 9 band equaliser with smartphone tuning access via a free app, for under $300 when I bought it. The first one was a dud though, but JB Hifi replaced it with another new one once I figured out that it was the headunit software that was faulty.
To make it fit I moved the standard reversing monitor to the bottom of the centre consol so that the headunit could fit in the top. This required new fascia panels for the top (that re-uses the original silver side pieces) and bottom. I also had to get the 2 thin inserts that are either side of the unit. These aren't a great fit, but after a couple of days I didn't notice it anymore. I'll probably replace them with better quality pieces at some point. All the other fascia bits are off ebay and fit very well.
To make all of this lot work I picked up a surprisingly expensive little box of tricks from a car audio specialist that make the steering controls stock speakers, light dimmers, etc work. There are some cheap ones on ebay as well, but when I had my first go at installation they didn't maKe the steering controls work which was very important for me.
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