How Do You Remove Trim Around Nav Unit On '05 Ls430?

austinls · January 22, 2009

I need to get to the back of my Levinson radio and NAV screen. I have searched for past posts, but cannot find any on where the clips are that secure the plastic trim around these units.

jainla · January 23, 2009

There are no clips. They are held in place with a series of 10mm bolts; you have to remove all the wood trim in the center stack to get to them. I know I've seen the instructions here; do a search for install or nav removal and you should be able to find them. You can search for my post on installing the parrot bluetooth for instructions on how to remove the wood trim.

Removing the nav screen itself is a huge pain as the top bolts are behind the switches for the climate control temperature settings.

I need to get to the back of my Levinson radio and NAV screen. I have searched for past posts, but cannot find any on where the clips are that secure the plastic trim around these units.

austinls · January 23, 2009

Thanks, Jainla, looks like you are very active on this forum.

All I am actually tring to determine, is how th remove the plastic, decorative trim around the NAV screen to get access to the back of the radio to install the VAIS iPod unit.

I did peruse your posts, but didn't see any pictures or explanations on how to do that.

jainla · January 24, 2009

Thanks, Jainla, looks like you are very active on this forum.

You will be too. There's much to learn about these cars; and the people here are great.

All I am actually tring to determine, is how th remove the plastic, decorative trim around the NAV screen to get access to the back of the radio to install the VAIS iPod unit.

I put in the Vaistech unit a couple years ago; it's fantastic.

Fortunately you don't have to remove the screen to install it; you just have to remove the CD/Tape player part of the radio. The connector you are looking for is in the back center of the tape deck/volume controls part; you'll have to disconnect the existing cable and then connect it to the Vaistech wiring harness. There's not much clearance behind it so make sure it's seated properly before you put it back; you may have to dangle the rest of the connectors underneath it and behind the CD changer.

Here's a link to my bluetooth instructions; download part 2 for the disassembly instructions (there are photos). Right underneath the CD player are 2 10mm hexnut bolts; remove those (don't drop them) and then the face of the CD player is held in place by clips; just wiggle it gently and it should pop out as a unit.

My '01 has a different glovebox than the 05 does so I was able to wiggle the connector through the stack into the lower glove box which is where I put the box and the ipod itself; I"m not sure where you can put the wire for an 05.

When you get it in let us know if the Vaistech automatic "I Agree" works? Mine hasn't worked but there is a new version of the firmware that supposedly makes this feature really more robust; I'm wondering if it's worth the upgrade.

Good luck!