TexLexSC

So I know this has been covered many times before and I have read through many of those old threads, but none of them are very recent so I thought I would start a new one since mobile electronics are rapidly evolving.
I recently acquired a 2003 SC430 that is bone stock. I really like the car with the exception of the dinner plate wheels and the tape deck radio. Since the wheels have brand ne Michelin's, I figured I would tackle the radio project first.
The world of car audio technology moves pretty fast and so I thought I would see what is new out there that may meet my needs.

Here are the features I am looking for:
Double DIN with Apple Carplay
Rear view camera with adjustable guidelines
Bluetooth calling, messaging & audio
Retain use of steering wheel controls
ability to mirror radio display on the nav screen
and lastly, I would prefer the radio illumination to match the cars interior light colors if possible for a factory clean look

and of course I would like to do all of this for as little money as possible. I wouldn't mind spending around $1,000 if I could get all of the features that I am looking for.

So what do you say guys, what product or combination of products do I need to accomplish all of this?

Thank you in advance.

kevin3344

Like you my 2002 SC430 is stock and I will probably keep it that way. I did purchase a Motorola Bluetooth adapter that uses a radio station and it works great (have had one for over 10 years in my GS). I will say that changing out the dinner wheel plates for twist caps made a huge difference! About $100 on eBay and only took about 20 minutes to install. You don't have to remove the rims.





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Bgw70

there are new threads from 2016 and this year. What do you consider old?
please post some links to those old threads, then we can help you locate the correct thread.

rpjense

TexLex; I'm in the process of upgrading my system from the ground up. Kenwood DDX9903s (Apple Play and Android Auto), JL Audio Amp, Hertz HSK 165 speakers, 10" Arc Audio sub, front/rear cameras, etc. I'm putting the old ML system in a box for safe keeping. I used to do installs like this by myself. But several years ago I had a tech from Best Buy install the wiring for a sub in my nearly new 2009 Civic. After 2 days of getting it back, my car wouldn't start. Fried alternator AND wiring harness. $3,000 repair bill from Honda. Best Buy paid the bill. But it made me realize that if the guys who do it for a living can easily screw it up, what are my chances? So I'm having a local car audio shop install mine. The guy is confident and has done several SC's. Anyway, thought I'd throw my 2 cents worth into the conversation. $1,000 doesn't go far in the car audio department nowadays.

TexLexSC

Thank you for your response.

I also had a few grand car stereos back in the day and did the installs myself. I don't plan to go that far with this car because it is my wife's dd and she mostly listens to talk radio anyway. I just want to update the electronics with modern convenience features so that she won't complain about it being an "old car".

I think I have figured out what I want to do about the radio. Alpine appears to make the most attractive apple carplay radio, but it is expensive and I haven't seen an option to change the button colors so I think one of the new Kenwood units would probably better meet my needs. I also like that a few of the Kenwood's have a physical volume **** rather than just buttons. Sometimes it's just nice to give the old **** a twist rather than holding down a button.

There appears to be several decent backup camera options out there and one made by Boyo that is tiny and integrated into a black license plate frame. It gets decent reviews and seems to have a pretty good picture and decent viewing angle.

I will probably just buy 4 new good enough speaker replacements and wire them directly to the head unit. I don't want to mess with a sub because then I would need an amp and that is when things usually get tricky and expensive.

The two things that I still am undecided on are how to have the nav screen mirror the new head unit display and if I can retain the steering wheel controls for the radio without blowing the budget.

In reading through some of the old threads it seems like the Beat-Sonic unit is the only way to keep the steering wheel controls and even then it seems like only some of the buttons control certain functions and the BS unit is pretty damn expensive for what it does.

There seems to be a few different options for the Nav screen such as Navtool, Naviks and then Beat-Sonic that can alter the display, but I am unsure which one would be the least expensive and still accomplish what I am trying to do. I don't need the ability to switch back to Nav as the Lexus maps are grossly outdated for DFW and apple carplay is a much better option for GPS anyway. I would love to have the option to use the Nav screen as a second touchscreen source to control the radio.

If anyone has any knowledge on how this can be accomplished I would greatly appreciate some information. If the Nav touchscreen control part of it is overly complicated or expensive then a simple display mirror from the radio would be adequate so long as I could still open and close the door on the unit.

jzdulexus

If you have 04 and prior model radio upgrade options with bluetooth will be limited. If you want everything you said here your best bet may be acquiring a 06 (05 may work too, but it depends on manufacturing date) and later SC430 radio. The reason you want 06 and later factory radio is that it interfaces with four components of the car: Nav, amplifier, antenna control and steering column. None of the aftermarket radio, no matter how fancy and expensive, can interface with four components with all of the factory programmed features.
The backup camera is a must have on this car IMO and the good news is that it works on all model years.

TexLexSC

Well I already purchased an 03 so I will have to make due with its limitations.

I do not think the factory radio will work for me. The speakers are shot, the navigation is obsolete, there is no bluetooth or hands free texting capabilities, and it has a tape deck ... a TAPE DECK!

I don't even own any cd's anymore let alone cassette tapes.

A new radio seems to solve many of these problems. It can handle the audio, bt, nav & camera functions and should be plenty capable of powering replacement speakers.

That just leaves the steering controls, nav screen and antenna to work around. Truth be told, I didn't even know the antenna was a problem. I just assumed that any new radio would be able to trigger the antenna up and down as needed. I will have to investigate that further. I can do without the steering controls if I have to, but I would really like to get some use out of the nav screen if possible.

jzdulexus

If you are ok with the antenna being up all the time when the car is on then you should be fine. Or you can replace it with a stub kind, which may diminish the reception a little bit. I am not sure if the radio door still works with aftermarket radio, but many people think its a beautiful piece of interior in SC430.
And I am not sure about hands free texting capabilities. Even though I have it I don't use it. Its just too distracting while driving. With regard to nav screen if you can mirror it from your phone, it won't have the touch capability. So, in the end it will be of limited use.