Uk radios in alphards

[Anthony Millington]

Whats needed to install a uk radio/cd unit into an alphard.  ie cables and connectors 

[wjvh]

Do you have an OE reversing camera you wish to retain? That will need some new and quite expensive cables.

do you want to keep the steering wheel controls? That’ll require a new £25 connector from digital sounds.

if you replace your unit with a double-din you’ll need some filler inserts left and right, £10 from digital sounds.

do you have an OE front camera you wish to retain? More expensive cables required.

do you have an OE video (vga) system you wish to retain? 
if no cameras or VGA then it’s quite an easy and relatively low cost job. You’ll have loads of redundant cables at the back of the unit.

[wjvh]

What year is your alphard? If MW10 facelift then you’ll need a new fascia insert to fit a double din from Xtrons for about £90.

[Anthony Millington]

1 hour ago, wjvh said:

Do you have an OE reversing camera you wish to retain? That will need some new and quite expensive cables.

do you want to keep the steering wheel controls? That’ll require a new £25 connector from digital sounds.

if you replace your unit with a double-din you’ll need some filler inserts left and right, £10 from digital sounds.

do you have an OE front camera you wish to retain? More expensive cables required.

do you have an OE video (vga) system you wish to retain? 
if no cameras or VGA then it’s quite an easy and relatively low cost job. You’ll have loads of redundant cables at the back of the unit.

Thanks alot

[pasty_and_a_pint]

I found the cables to be prohibitively expensive, so went down a slightly different route by fitting one of these:

 

https://kenwoodshop.co.uk/products/ktc500dab?variant=35095037608087&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwLKFBhDPARIsAPzPi-LNg38AW2gfKV_T3rq80_W_Zgx-iyok5wIGTZD2kB4nXAJlbdtbtycaAnQsEALw_wcB

 

Hands free phone, bluetooth music, DAB radio and you still get to keep your OE cameras.

[wjvh]

Well I’ve just completed a UK double din radio install and gotta say it was a total pain the ar5e to do and ended up costing a lot more than I expected. I installed a Pioneer double din unit, decided not to go for Apple CarPlay; the unit cost £130 delivered ex-display model in v good condition with all original kit. I then bought steering wheel controls + fascia kit for £35. I thought that would be all I need. What I had not budgeted for was £95 for a cable to enable the OE reversing camera and £85 for a new fascia panel which takes a double din unit (the original was bigger than a double din). The camera works but it does not show the reversing / guide lines and I cannot use the camera except when the vehicle is in reverse (the pioneer unit does support use of camera at any time but I assume the power for the camera is linked to the reversing light; both of these are minor irritations. The fascia panel also came with a nice double din insert so I didn’t need to spend the extra tenner with the steering wheel controls. The steering wheel controls only deal with volume, track and mode, I.e. just the left hand side, they don’t deal with anything on the right side of the wheel. No big loss there ... I’m not convinced it’s even worth £25 to retain any steering wheel controls anyway. In fitting the head unit the original brackets needed adjustment to get the front of the unit at the right depth; I have a pillar drill for this task but still took a few attempts to get it right. Lots of spare cables and connectors at back of stereo now and even managed to remove some dud ones entirely. Whilst at it I changed all leds for fresh blue ones (cos it looks cool ... maybe), I had a couple of dead leds in there so needed to do something. I also removed the cigarette lighter and replaced with a really nice double USB charger + voltmeter with on/off switch (important to have the switch as usb sockets can drain power if on even if not charging). Managed to install new microphone for hands free calls on sun visor with the wire neatly tucked away. The stereo also has usb connection in the back so I have a usb extension plug which also charges router via the ashtray, looks good and neat. Didn’t bother with DAB as can broadcast from iPhone via Bluetooth.
Total cost for all of this, including leds, about £350 and several hours of, at times, frustrating work. Nowt broken! Was it worth it? Maybe ... time will tell, but if in doubt I would recommend just using that little kenwood unit recommended above for about £90. If you keep the vehicle or want something neater then maybe take the plunge on this expensive and awkward I srt all. Note, much cheaper and easier is not retaining camera and not need a new fascia panel. 

[wjvh]

Something much cheaper and successful ... i removed one of my 100v AC plugs in centre console and converted to a double USB charger . To do this I removed the 12v DC to 100v AC inverter which I found located under the centre console .. and under a metal bracket .. and under a plastic heating duct. Ffs. Anyway, removed that, and then reconnected the plugs and now i had 12v coming into the centre console without a pesky inverter in the way. Found a double USB Toyota specific insert on eBay for a tenner, easy swap , looks neat except the insert is black and my centre console is kind of grey. The usb plugs are still switched on and off by the AC 100 switch in the dash. I still have one AC100 jap socket left in situ but has no power so I could add more usb if needed ... don’t see any need to do so yet.

[LJHJ]

On 5/25/2021 at 3:54 PM, pasty_and_a_pint said:

I found the cables to be prohibitively expensive, so went down a slightly different route by fitting one of these:

 

https://kenwoodshop.co.uk/products/ktc500dab?variant=35095037608087&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=Cj0KCQjwwLKFBhDPARIsAPzPi-LNg38AW2gfKV_T3rq80_W_Zgx-iyok5wIGTZD2kB4nXAJlbdtbtycaAnQsEALw_wcB

 

Hands free phone, bluetooth music, DAB radio and you still get to keep your OE cameras.

 

That's a great idea - but is there an aux-in socket readily available to plug it into?

[pasty_and_a_pint]

On 6/7/2021 at 2:10 PM, LJHJ said:

 

That's a great idea - but is there an aux-in socket readily available to plug it into?

My one does, in the bottom left had corner of the head unit.

[Jamie scott]

Mine doesn’t have cameras etc. I just want something bog standard that I can connect my phone via Bluetooth. 
is there a dongle or adapter that’ll connect to the 2003 unit?