2005 Ls430 Xm Oem Radio Kit

[doody]

Hi, I need an XM radio kit for my 2005 LS430 and I called around and dealers tell me it's discontinued and they can get it. The reason I want the OEM kit is that it all installs in the trunk without the need to take the headunit out. Does anyone know where I can get one.

[1990LS400]

Even if the LS430 XM kits on eBay require removing the head unit (don't know if they do), it is not difficult to pop out the head unit on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

[doody]

Even if the LS430 XM kits on eBay require removing the head unit (don't know if they do), it is not difficult to pop out the head unit on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

That's my alternative for now but this also means that I would have to run the antenna wire all the way to the back.

[1990LS400]

Even if the LS430 XM kits on eBay require removing the head unit (don't know if they do), it is not difficult to pop out the head unit on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

That's my alternative for now but this also means that I would have to run the antenna wire all the way to the back.

I see what you mean. It is a hassle to run a wire to the back of the car. I ran a coax antenna cable from under the radio head unit to the right side of the trunk in my 2000 LS400 5-6 years ago and routed the cable under the door sills and through an existing hole behind the rear seat back. The door sills pop right up and off. The rear seat is easy to remove. I don't know if there is an existing hole behind the seat back of an LS430 to run a wire through but at least you don't have to contend with the fuel tank behind the seat back like you do in an LS400.

Some people have reported putting a SAT radio antenna on the rear package shelf beside the high mounted stop light of their LS430's. I'll bet you could easily press/hide the SAT antenna wire into the crack between the package shelf and the trim/window and attach the SAT antenna to the package shelf with double sided velco tape like I bought from Radio Shack to hold the phone microphones to the headliners of our cars. Or you could let the SAT antenna just lay on the package shelf without attaching it.

[jainla]

Even if the LS430 XM kits on eBay require removing the head unit (don't know if they do), it is not difficult to pop out the head unit on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

That's my alternative for now but this also means that I would have to run the antenna wire all the way to the back.

I don't know if the '05 still has it but the '01-'03 models have a coax run from beneath the center console box to the trunk near the nav system. If it still exists you can connect it to the antenna on the roof of the car (not sure if this would work for XM or not). You might be able to mount the Vaistech unit in the trunk; you'd lose use of the AUX inputs on that unit but you might be able to connect it to one of the AVC-LAN connectors back there. From what I can tell it works exactly like the Lexus OEM unit.

The OEM unit runs the antenna onto the trunklid but like Jim said you could put it on (or under) the rear parcel shelf. That's the location for the OEM GPS antenna if your car has Nav. there is a small hole used for the old stick-on cellular antenna that runs right under the CHMSL.

Good luck!

-J

[doody]

Even if the LS430 XM kits on eBay require removing the head unit (don't know if they do), it is not difficult to pop out the head unit on most Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

That's my alternative for now but this also means that I would have to run the antenna wire all the way to the back.

I don't know if the '05 still has it but the '01-'03 models have a coax run from beneath the center console box to the trunk near the nav system. If it still exists you can connect it to the antenna on the roof of the car (not sure if this would work for XM or not). You might be able to mount the Vaistech unit in the trunk; you'd lose use of the AUX inputs on that unit but you might be able to connect it to one of the AVC-LAN connectors back there. From what I can tell it works exactly like the Lexus OEM unit.

The OEM unit runs the antenna onto the trunklid but like Jim said you could put it on (or under) the rear parcel shelf. That's the location for the OEM GPS antenna if your car has Nav. there is a small hole used for the old stick-on cellular antenna that runs right under the CHMSL.

Good luck!

I bought the Vais unit with the Terk tuner, I'm planning to put the antenna on the rear shelf either inside the brake light or next to it. This will require removing the rear seat so we'll see how it goes when I get it and start the installation.

-J

[doody]

I bought the XM kit off of ebay Friday, suprisingly it was shipped Saturday and I got it Monday, today, Tuesday, I decided to tackle the installation and everything went really smooth. I took the rear seat off, the rear shelf off, the stop light and put the antenna inside the stop light, ran the wire under the shelf, under the rear curtain and unser the shelf again, behind the back of the rear seat to the side and ran it along the passenger side all the way to the front. I put the VAIS interface and the mini XM tuner under the glovebox and everything went really smooth. I called XM and turned it on. The only one thing I had to adjust was the sound level for the XM as it was was higher than the radio and CD so I programmed the XM sound level down to mach the rest of the components of the sound system. I was really surprised that although the antenna is inside the stop light and the previous owner added tinting to all windows including the rear at the dealer and getting the car inside the garage with the door closed and I still get reception.

[1990LS400]

Howdy Doody -- sorry, I couldn't resist!

Thank you for reporting back on your success. The information you provided may help others.

[AFW]

How did you adjust the sound level on your XM radio? (I just had one installed and noticed that the sound level is higher than my other audio components.)