37 replies to this topic

[Mike77]

Hi guys, as Christmas is fast approaching I am being pestered to let ppl know what I want. So I gave in and decided to ask father Christmas for a new double din radio, one of the not so well known brands that has all the bells and whistles like bluetooth, USB reverse camera etc etc. But I'm a bit stuck as to what else I'll need to fit it. Will I need a cage or do you get them with the radio ? Wiring loom, will it be plug and play or will I need another section ? Fascia plates, you get the jist of what I'm getting at. Any links to eBay would be great as I just want to be sure I have everything I need to fit it boxing day lol. So thanks in advance for any info :-) ps. It's a mk2 titanium. Cheers, Mike.

[btmaldon]

If its one of the Chinese ones sold on eBay for your specific model it should just use the original mounting points and connections.

[Mike77]

Yes I think it is one of those, its about £140 ish. But it is coming from inside the UK, not China.

[Stoney871]

Charlie is in the same position of just being about to fit a new double din himself.
You'll likely need an installation kit which includes a modified fascia, aerial adaptor, car and radio specific loom if not a standard Ford quadlock design and likely a remote control interface so the steering controls if fitted will still work.
The cages supplied with after market radios tend to be too deep for the ford dash so you'll probably have to check dimensions for a proper fit.

[Mike77]

Nothing is ever straight forward is it Stoney lol. Just hoping some1 who's actually done it, will show me the way, so I know for sure I purchase everything I need. I must be getting old, back in the day I wouldn't have had to ask stuff like this haha.

[Brigante]

Thought my ears were burning.

As Clive says, I'm doing this myself. If you link us to the exact head unit you've purchased, we'll be able to help you and link you to exactly what you need.

Just for example though, the stereo I have is a pioneer AVH-1400dvd:



It came with half a wiring loom, a cage, removal keys and a fascia adaptor:




But the cage it comes with is no good, the fascia adapter is no good unless you buy a new head unit surround like this:

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1438.l2649

As your existing ford head unit is not actually double din and it's actually quite a bit larger, so without the new surround, you'll have a big gap either side of the new stereo. Or you can get a bigger fascia adapter which will build out to your existing head unit surround.

And you'll also need a pioneer to ford specific patch lead, to plug the wiring loom provided with the stereo into the existing ford loom in your dash. Without it you will face a hell of a lot of re wiring and cutting of your existing loom.

So instead, you get a specific patch lead so you end up with a beast of a loom like this which will be plug and play with no rewiring required:



Also, if you want your new stereo's radio to work and to retain your steering wheel controls, you will also need an aerial adapter and a stalk control adapter.

So your best bet is to buy a complete fitting kit like this:

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1438.l2649

This will include everything you need to make the installation of your new stereo plug and play and relatively simple.

It comes with a fascia adapter to build out to your existing head unit surround, a cage you can actually use, adapters for your radio and stalk controls, and most importantly a stereo to ford specific patch lead so there will be no rewiring.


The kit Ii linked above though is for pioneer to ford, so it won't work for yours, I just linked it as an example of what you need.

So if you provide us with the make and model of your stereo, I should be able to source the kit you need.

Also, the seller of the kit I linked appears to be the cheapest around and best value. I looked around for a while and as far as I can see, they are the best about. So if you send them a message, asking them if they do a kit for your stereo they should be able to link you straight to it.

[Brigante]

Oh and if you want a backup camera, this is the one I went for:

http://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1438.l2649

It simply replaces a number plate light:



So it requires no drilling like something like this would:

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4ab4bc31b3


Or you could get something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item4849b9a254

Which is a number plate holder with built in camera which will probably position the camera better than mine would, but I'm sure it will require some drilling to route the wire inside the boot lid.

Which is something to think about when you sell your car in the future if you want to revert it back to stock and remove the camera, you'll be left with holes.

[Brigante]

However, if what you've got is something like this

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3376e1179d

Or

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3f163b20b7

Then you should be all sorted as they are a direct replacement for the current stereo, they are the same size so require no fascia adaptors and should be plug and play as they appear o come with the patch lead all in one kit so you shouldn't need to purchase anything else.

But reading the listing, it says the steering wheel control adaptor is an optional additional cost.

[Mike77]

Wow thanks Brigante, huge amount of info there for me to be getting along with, I shall have a look through it all tomorrow and see where I end up. I'll try to post a link, but not actually sure how to do it lol. Massive thanks for taking the time to reply in such detail :-)

[Brigante]

No worries mate.

If you have got a chinese head unit like the ones I linked in my last post, you should be in luck as they appear to come with all patch leads etc in the kit, and they are the same size as your current ford6000cd/sony so should just replace it like for like with no facia adaptors.

[Mike77]

http://pages.ebay.co...id=251059338558

This is the best I could do, really haven't got a clue how to post a link. Hope this helps, its one of about 3 I'm looking at. Cheers.

[Brigante]

http://pages.ebay.co...id=251059338558

This is the best I could do, really haven't got a clue how to post a link. Hope this helps, its one of about 3 I'm looking at. Cheers.

Ouch mate really sorry to say this but give that a really wide berth. Seriously. I was looking at buying one of them myself a while ago as it seems to do everything for a great price.

At first you think the low price is just because it's not a well known brand but it'll be decent quality, your just not paying for a brand.

But then you do your research and find that xtrons are infamous for the terrible quality and even worse customer service, and these units have actually been known to damage cars.

I think when it comes to things like car stereos, your better paying more for a brand as you get what you pay for. If your gonna pay 120quid for a stereo that does everything, it won't be good quality.

I think you really need to read through this page I've found here:

http://www.mp3car.co...d716-td713.html

It's written by people who have actually bought the same head unit your thinking about buying.


This is why I went for my pioneer, it's a proven brand, known for it's quality and will actually work. In total it cost around £300 all in for the head unit, fitting kit and reverse camera, so about twice the price as what your thinking about, but I know I'm getting the quality I'd expect.

Really sorry if this has killed your idea of getting a new head unit, but after I did my research on the likes of xtrons before, I thought you should know before you proceed with the purchase.

[Mike77]

Think you might be right mate, I may just opt for something a little more expensive, and if needs be, put a bit towards the cost myself. Don't want to end up with more messing around than needs to be done. I shall start my search again :-) cheers again.

[Brigante]

No worries mate

Did you read right through the thread I linked? It's just one big horror story

Just saying for example but if you have a look at what you'd get for the same price range if you was to buy an established brand your looking at something like this:

http://www.halfords....tegoryId_265857

It doesn't have a touch screen, doesn't play dvds, doesn't have a camera input, doesn't have bluetooth and doesn't have satnav. You will also have to spend an extra 60 ish quid on a fitting kit to get it to work in your car.

About all it does is play CDs, have radio and you can plug your ipod into it. But at least you know it'll be a quality product and it'll do what it says it will.

But when a barely known brand says for the same price, it will also give you a touch screen, let you play dvds on it, give you bluetooth, and even a reverse parking camera and the option of a built in satnav. You really need to question the quality of it and how well it will actually do all it claims to when a brand will charge at least twice as much.

And sure enough, within seconds of searching google you'll throw up a load of horror stories of how the radio doesn't work, how it says it will take a 32gb memory card when in actual fact anything over 500mb will crash the unit, and even how it will almost certainly fry your cars wiring.

This is why I quickly decided against xtrons and went for a trusted brand like pioneer, might be twice the price but I know it's quality and it'll actually work.

By the way sorry if all my ramblings on is really boring lol. What was the exact price range you was thinking about? What's the most you want to spend?

[Mike77]

Ok guys,,,, here goes, feel free to let me know if i've missed anything.

Looking at this 330720499654 (ebay item numbers) if someone could tell me how the hell I get a link thingy I would be grateful :-)
to fit it all in snug as a bug also eyeing up this 400337316359
I know if I want the reverse camera im going to have to buy it seperate, but are they all the same fittment, connector wise at the rear of the hedunit. Thanks in advance, Mike.