2004 Lexus GX470 with NAV and Mark Levinson sound replaced with after market head unit.
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- Crappy ML sound system replaced with after market system, with NAV still working... Remove CD Changer and move Tape Deck to glove compartment. Then overlay new system - speakers and head unit.
In process of doing this same thing now. 2008 GX470. Head unit is now in the glove box, albeit mounted sideways as I could not get the wiring to stretch as far as you did. New deck will be a Kenwood KMM-X704. New amp will be a Kenwood 5 Channel x802-5. All new wiring.. Speakers in front doors will be Kicker KS 6x9 components.. Speakers in rear doors will be Kicker KS 6.5 coaxial. Sub will be a SKAR 6.5 2ohm dual voice coils wired in series. Center speaker and cargo speakers will be deleted. Amp was tested good by United Radio so that, CD Changer, SiriusXM module, and all but one speaker (One reserved for Nav) will go up for sale once done to recoup money.
-- Reason for the swap was that I must have had a short in the speaker wiring or something else causing the Amp to go into protect mode. It was not the Amp, and not the RSES or head unit. All speakers tested good for ohms, and all speakers removed 1 at a time.. Same result.. Spent 40+ hours trying to figure it out and gave up.
Awesome man, hopefully my video helped a bit
Update: All done!! Skar 6.5" sub, 2 ohm wired in series to get 4ohms. Kicker KS 6x9 2 way Components in the front (tweeters mounted in original location using a backstrap to hold them in, KS 6.5" Coaxials in the rear doors, Kenwood KMM-X704 dual USB deck, Kenwood X802-5 5 channel amp, 4ga power and ground to the amp, all new speaker wiring and RCA twisted pairs from the deck to the amp. Delete ML amp, Delete Center speaker, Delete Cargo door speakers, Delete CD Changer, cut harness tape and remove harness block from frame then moved OEM Pioneer HU moved to top inside of the glove box where the CD Changer was .. After some tuning of the new decks settings, the new system sounds great.. Note, you do lose voice navigation and OEM bluetooth with the removal of the ML amp, but its a terrible Nav anyway.. Bluetooth will run from the new deck for phone and streaming. If needed I will use Waze from my mobile device and bluetooth sound over the new audio system.. I also did lose steering wheel controls as I'm not sure how to tap into those with this specific setup. All is all disappointed that I even had to do this, but from what I read over and over , its a matter of time before the ML amp fails anyway
I like pioneer head units the best, they are easy to install, the Bluetooth capable ones are easy to connect to, and they have head-units that will match your dash light color too.
Thanks for the insperational video, just did this to mine. Wires are just long enough to make it to the glove box. Put in kicker 6x9s in the front doors and 6.5s in the back doors. Also put a an 800 Watt amp and 2 MTX.12s but those are just temps. waiting for 2 JL 12s and 1000 Watt amp.
In Orr for this to work you HAVE to run new wires to each door for the replacement speakers and attach them to the new head unit you are installing. Then you HAVE to relocate the tape deck into the glove compartment or somewhere like it, because it powers the NAV screen.
Jared Vermeulen hey Jared I bought the Kenwood BT250U and was trying to install but there are three connectors on the back of original tape and the Kenwood has once connector. How did you deal with that?
I tried to cut the wires of one main connector with 13 wires and tied it with the 13 wires of Kenwood connector but it didn’t worked. Do I need to get some 3-1 plug which will fit into Kenwood or what?
Please provide your help if you thAt how you dealt with this ?
For any one looking to upgrade factory audio system on any newer toy with a screen a/c or nav
Just install a 68 ohms resistor on pin 9 and 11
Normaly call can hi and can lo
The keep you upstream amp and display working
No need to relocate radio tuner in clove box.
Diego Magana bump
What aftermarket harness did you used for the radio connections (Metra, Scosche etc...) or did you just cut the oem harness and rewired them up? Did you bought any brackets for the aftermarket radio as well?. I hate that theirs no option for a double din for this Mark Levinson oem navigation system.😡
How did you go about getting power/wiring the new headunit? I'm in the middle of doing this to my car as well. Did you run one wire for both the speakers in the door, and did you do anything with the speaker in the middle of the dash? Thanks for the video...thought I was screwed into keeping the tape deck for life.
Nice work. I may go for a similar set up in my LX470...also equipped with crappy M. Levinson. How difficult was the tape deck relocation? Was the harness long enough or did you have to extend?
The wire harness was just long enough without having to lengthen it. It took a little ingenuity though.
Did you have to keep the old tape deck unit ?
I have a 5 disc cd changer in my glove box … delete that ?
Yeah I would think you’d have to delete that then make the move in the video above
Hi Jared, question... why didn't you used the runs from the ML Amp under the seat? If you have already bypassed the amp at this point.
Or is it something that the amp needs to be connected for the nav to work?
Voice activation and voice direction...
Thanks in advance
Hello, sorry for the late reply... The tape player still has to be connected for the rest of the screen and features to work, that’s why I relocated into the glove compartment. Its probably possible to single out the wires and run it through the originals but I wanted to use newer better wires and didn’t want to have to do all the testing to figure out which ones were which. Hope that helps.
Would like to talk to you more if you have some time. Stereo shops are way to expensive. LOL I am not sure what you mean by overlaying the system. Any help would be appreciated.
hey what kind of adapter did you use to install the stereo on you lexus
hey do you have the old tape deck mounted or kinda laying in the glove box. and did you use a kit to mount the new radio ? i was looking for a x470 with out the nav but thats hard to find out there
There are no products out there for this conversion, I custom mounted the tape deck into the spot where the cd changer was. FYI you can sell the cd changer and old radio amp under the seat for good $$$ on eBay
would you suggest any particular HeadUnits out there currently. Crutchfeild will not let me spec one because it doesn't show in their system. I am going to do this conversion but would like to get a unit that does hands free bluetooth for calls and music. I wonder if you got a single din drop down 7" screen if you could use it for NAV and Back up as well? thoughts?
I just bought the Grom VLINE but haven't received it yet. It has a whole lot more features. Not sure why your looking to make a change. I own a 2004 GX470 which I bought new and as you know it doesn't have bluetooth. I went through a bunch of Motorola clip on units which worked fine , but the sound didn't play through the cars speakers. With this unit all your original equipment stays in place and with your phone connected the features are crazy. Bluetooth, voice controlled navigation, access to the internet viewed on the screen, etc. I bought it directly from Grom a week ago for $299.00. Should get it in a week Since then it is now shown on their site for $499.00. Once I install it, I may make a video to post. Good luck.
I called and they said that you can not use the Call feature on the GROM with the GROM Vline so I just opted to stay with my current GROM BT3 set up for now.
Sadly this is true for now. Smart move on your part by calling to inquire. I have to admit that I took it for granted. Shame on me. As far as I'm concerned, this was a very short sighted error on GROMS behalf. I'm hoping that GROM will pony up the licensing fee to GOOGLE so Android Auto will be able to install as an app on the unit. This app will enable Bluetooth calling, texting etc.
Is moving the tape deck a requirement? I'd rather just toss it in the garbage.
The tape deck is the "brain" for the nav system. You have to keep it or you will not be able to access everything through the touch screen.
Ahh, I see, thanks.
will this also work with a 2001? and how did u mount the headunit?
Idk about 2001s but technically you could do this mod to any vehicle. As for the head unit, if there is a single din spot then it should match
Hey Jared I want to do the same set up as you did.... I have the 04 lexus gx470 mark Levinson audio and many audio places told me they won't even touch it can you help me out?
Ya, no problem. What do you need to know?
Jared Vermeulen ..what do you mean by over laying the factory radio i can't find a lexus factory radio wiring diagram so I don't know what wires to tap into?
It's actually fairly simple and no wiring diagram is needed. It will be time consuming though. The first step is to remove the AC vent and nav shroud/housing to get to the tape deck. Remove the tape deck and the main wire harness that feeds it must be stretched to the glove compartment. It seems like it will not have enough length but there's a large plastic block that's bolted to the frame if you remove the bolt and cut back the tape you can get it to stretch. Then you can mount the tape deck in the glove compartment where the cd changer used to be and get rid of the cd changer. Next is the time consuming part. Because there is no wiring diagram and its a mystery how the speakers are fed by the amp you have to "overlay the system" by running four new speaker wires for each speaker to each door of the vehicle starting from where the head unit will be. I had to replace all my speakers anyway because they were all blown so taking the doors apart was no problem. Then I just ran the wire along the floor board under the plastic and into the doors with the existing wire harness. Then hook up the speakers put the plastic back, splice the wires into the new head units wire harness, and attach the new head unit to the opening for the old tape deck and your done! 😃
Then you can sell the old amp and cd changer on eBay to recoup the money you spent on the new parts.
+Jared Vermeulen
How have you liked your set-up considering doing this and the factory NAV with climate control is killing me! So my question is when you run the new wires from the new head unit to the old speakers do you have to have the old head unit still hooked up to the speakers? seems like you would just disconnect the old ones from the old head unit and plug them into the new head unit? Any help would be appreciated.
How did you do this?
Why would you do this it looks so trashy in a car like the LX470?