At Long Last... Modern head unit!

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magus

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It has been 9 years in the making but I finally got a replacement, modern head unit for my 2012 LR4. This is something I have wanted to do, off and on, since owning the vehicle but never seemed to find the right solution.
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Strong word of warning - you have to find the right kit and most shops really don’t understand enough about the different versions of LR4s. I was assured they had the right one from a shop in the UK but it wasn’t and they had it mislabeled on their website. A lot of money and hassle later I discovered Spiral Audio in Florida and it could not have been easier - highly recommend them and their LR4 kit.

Kit + head unit of your choice. I went with a Pioneer. You have the choice of bypassing the OEM amp and going with something new or doing what I did and stick with the factory amp.

Screen is light years better than OEM, sound is better, radio options (car play or android auto), Bluetooth all work great (better) and all OEM functions were retained - all of them.

Took some time and $$$ but very happy.
 
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Tapps33

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That looks really nice!! Plus it’ll help with the glare issue!

Couple questions; do you have the updated or post 2010 version electronics or the later 2012 version? Then, my next question is are you able to access any of the original system functionality? Say for the off-road information and stuff like that?

I’ve been trying to find a good way to do this for a while, but I’ve got a 2010, and the system is too old/unique, it’s proven to be quite a challenge. If I had a later model 2012, I could have swapped it a while ago!

Great find! Thanks for the post!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

mm3846

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I saw this on their site, but seeing it in person makes me rethink the naviplus style unit I just bought.

I see the site says something about “retaining factory radio information” does that mean it can show the 4x4 info?
 
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cperez

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Kinda digging this, like really digging it. I see you emphasized that all OEM functions are retained but you can understand our questions about 4x4 info, rear view camera, etc. If so this is the real deal.

The analog clock is moved and that slot below it is just a cubby? Is the carplay connection wireless?

Looks great.

PS: Details on the Pioneer head unit you chose? I’d be happy to take full advantage of all the research you did! I don’t need to reinvent the wheel…
 
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Nechaken

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Nice! How's visibility when using it for navigating? Does the screen tilt out?

And curious about the 4x4 info, etc... as well.
 

Nechaken

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I saw this on their site, but seeing it in person makes me rethink the naviplus style unit I just bought.

I see the site says something about “retaining factory radio information” does that mean it can show the 4x4 info?

Not a car audio guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I think from the website it means you can retain use of the steering wheel controls. Probably some kind of CAN bus interface.
 

mm3846

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Not a car audio guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I think from the website it means you can retain use of the steering wheel controls. Probably some kind of CAN bus interface.

that’s mentioned as well, albeit separately. We’ll all keep waiting for OP.
 

magus

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Ok.

The kit is roughly $500. Head unit is up to you of course. I went with a Pioneer DMH-W4660NEX and it was an open box deal about $500 as I remember. You can install yourself (there are a number of YouTube videos on this) or pay someone to do it.

Everything works as before in terms of steering wheel controls - volume, skip song etc… back-up camera is as it was except the new screen is so much better and the parking control options are improved.

As far as I can tell, you lose whatever was specific to the OEM head unit (because that’s gone) such as the 4x4 screen. The 4x4 modes that display on the main dash screen are unchanged of course such as ‘snow/gravel’ etc….

Audio is significantly improved. Apps such as Google maps, Waze, messaging apps and Siri integration are a tremendous improvement.
 

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