Change Stereo/head Unit In My 2000 Lx

[Jangell]

I am interested in changing this out to one that has Satelite Radio, Nav and BT built in.

Are models from newer LX's somewhat plug and play?

Any recommendations?

[Jangell]

Any good ideas or suggestions for me here?

[lec]

Same question here.

CD player is broken on my '00 LX470, needing to replace it and wondering if there's any recommended solutions.

[rmitchell]

Same question here.

CD player is broken on my '00 LX470, needing to replace it and wondering if there's any recommended solutions.

Hello, I have a 2001 LX and I replaced my entire Mark Levinson system earlier this year and it is not a simple thing to do. It isn't just a simple matter of swapping the head unit because the factory amp and speakers are 8 ohms, and the aftermarket systems are 4 ohms. This does matter, and to my knowledge you can't use different impedances (different ohms ratings) in the same system. I replaced the factory head unit with a double DIN Pioneer fh-p8000bt. This unit has Bluetooth built-in, aux in, USB ifor iPhone/iPod, HD radio ready, and Sat ready. You could easily get a unit with nav, but it'll cost roughly twice as much. About $600 compared to my $300 unit.

I bought 2 sets of Rockford Fosgage Prime R1653 speakers for $80 a set. The front set just screws into the factory speaker mount as they are the same size. For the rear set, I removed the factory speaker mounst and made my own with particle board and a dremel. I then ran the wiring that came with the speakers to the dash, this required the use of a wire hanger and electrical tape to get the wires through the factory wire runs. This was by far the most time consuming part. You have to splice the wiring from the original wiring harness tand connect it to the Pioneer one. I found a pinout for the radio harness from an Internet search, I don't remember where I found it, but its a simple matter to splice the old wires to the Pioneer harness. Connect the ANT (antenna) wire from the original harness to the REM (remote) wire in the newew harness. This will cause the power antenna to raise when you turn on the radio. If you happen to add an amp and sub at the same time, like I did, connect the amp remote wire to this as well. I also connected my satellite radio receiver's 12 V power wire to this REM wire, so that my satellite radio receiver is only on when I turn on the head unit.

I completely bypassed the factory amp, because the head unit has an amp inside that is powerful enough to fill the car with great sound. After removing the factory head unit, you will notice that there is a gap between the new unit and the dash trim. I bought a custom made plastic piece from eBay that came with new mounting brackets. The result looks pretty "factory" to me, I'll post pictures when I get home later this eveneing. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know, or if I left something out.

EDIT: The reason I replaced the system in the first place was because I blew the factory front speakers. Lexus wanted $300 a piece to replace them, so I went on the hunt for speakers. Due to the ML system being 8 ohm, I decided it was worth it just to upgrade the entire audio system because I would get Bluetooth, iPod/iPhone connectivity and an AUX IN. It was well worth the time, it took about a weekend. All in all, the full system cost me around $600, which was the same price as Lexus replacing the front speakers. Here are pictures of the speaker mount for the rear door panels I made, and then one of the finished head-unit at night.

Rear speaker mount up close: http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/268901_10150209813821556_593046555_7336160_1562188_n.jpg

Rear mount in door panel: http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/260591_10150209813871556_593046555_7336161_4372106_n.jpg

Finished head unit: http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/261923_10150209813701556_593046555_7336159_3848601_n.jpg