Alright pholks,
My turn to return the favor and give some info back to the LR3 community. About 3 months ago I purchased a 2006 LR3 with the promise to the wife that the next new car would have Nav. Well, money was an object for me, and comparably equiped LR3s with nav were costing 2-3 grand more, so I bought an SE w/o nav. (If money was not an issues, would have bought an '08 HSE7 with nav). It also didnt have bluetooth. But I got a really good deal and have been happy with the decision thus far.
So I scrounged all the forums for advice on aftermarket Nav/DVD. There was a nice description of a kenwood system someone had installed on the Disco UK forum, but it wasnt an exact fit and he had to do some carving of the dashboard. My main concerns were minimal changes to the factory dashboard and look and low cost.
With the Kenwood system as a backup, I went to the local sound installer for more options. The guys at Custom Sounds, San Antonio (shameless plug) suggested an alpine system, and had a monitor available for a rough fit estimate. It slid right into place in the dashboard. The retail price for the monitor was around $700, so I got an estimate of the install and went to the alpine website for an idea of the components i needed. Then, I bought those on Ebay for 1/2 price of retail.
My system is basically an Alpine 7in Monitor, TME 740-BT, with 1.15 mp resolution, and is bluetooth, nav and dvd ready. The navigation system is alpines blackbird pmd-b100 portable unit mounted in a dock, PMD-DOK1. The DVD player is alpines DVE-5207. The navi system connects directly to the monitor for touch screen control. The DVD player and navi audio run through an alpine hub, the VPA-B211A, and are controlled via a universal remote. The Hub connects to the monitor for two way A/V access. The hub is then connected to the Aux input jack on the back of the arm rest console.
So I now have a screen on my dashboard the looks basically factory. It has a fantastic navigation system w touch screen control. The blackbird also has an SD card for MP3 music. I also now have BT function throught the screen, with hands free telephone as well as BT enabled music stored on my Moto Q phone. The blackbird is portable, for camping trips or to interchange between cars. The dvd player allows DVD playback as well as MP3 playback. The HUB has the capability for a rear view camera and expansion for rear screens, game console or TV tuner, none of which I wanted or needed at the moment. One thing that I should mention, Alpine has a feature to disable DVD playback when the car is in motion, requiring the emergency brake to be engaged while viewing DVDs or using the Hub. There is way around this, but you will have to do your own search for that.
The only changes made to the car were a small hole in the dashboard for the screen wires and the monster cable wire going in to the aux jack on the rear console. The rest of the wires conect between the alpine components and are tucked away under carpets or consoles. I did not need to mess with the factory head unit or amp. The screen is mounted on its frame under the dash, the dvd is under the 2nd row seat and the hub and navi unit are under the boards where the 3rd row seats should be. Nothing is visible.
Again, cost was an issue for me. Parts ended up costing around $900 and labor was $600. All of the stuff I bought off of ebay, the monitor (300), navi dok (150) and hub (90) were new; the blackbird unit (130) and dvd (125) was used, since alpine doesnt make a stand alone dvd player anymore. I am not an install guy, so I left all that stuff to professionals who could be held accontable if the messed up the interior. But the guys at Custom Sounds did an awesome job, check out the pics.
I hope this helps anyone wanting to put in a DVD/Navi/RearCamera/entertainment system. Again, I wanted to thank you all for sharing your experiences with tires/brakes/rotors/rubbermats/etc/etc which have helped me out a ton and saved me some $$$$$
My turn to return the favor and give some info back to the LR3 community. About 3 months ago I purchased a 2006 LR3 with the promise to the wife that the next new car would have Nav. Well, money was an object for me, and comparably equiped LR3s with nav were costing 2-3 grand more, so I bought an SE w/o nav. (If money was not an issues, would have bought an '08 HSE7 with nav). It also didnt have bluetooth. But I got a really good deal and have been happy with the decision thus far.
So I scrounged all the forums for advice on aftermarket Nav/DVD. There was a nice description of a kenwood system someone had installed on the Disco UK forum, but it wasnt an exact fit and he had to do some carving of the dashboard. My main concerns were minimal changes to the factory dashboard and look and low cost.
With the Kenwood system as a backup, I went to the local sound installer for more options. The guys at Custom Sounds, San Antonio (shameless plug) suggested an alpine system, and had a monitor available for a rough fit estimate. It slid right into place in the dashboard. The retail price for the monitor was around $700, so I got an estimate of the install and went to the alpine website for an idea of the components i needed. Then, I bought those on Ebay for 1/2 price of retail.
My system is basically an Alpine 7in Monitor, TME 740-BT, with 1.15 mp resolution, and is bluetooth, nav and dvd ready. The navigation system is alpines blackbird pmd-b100 portable unit mounted in a dock, PMD-DOK1. The DVD player is alpines DVE-5207. The navi system connects directly to the monitor for touch screen control. The DVD player and navi audio run through an alpine hub, the VPA-B211A, and are controlled via a universal remote. The Hub connects to the monitor for two way A/V access. The hub is then connected to the Aux input jack on the back of the arm rest console.
So I now have a screen on my dashboard the looks basically factory. It has a fantastic navigation system w touch screen control. The blackbird also has an SD card for MP3 music. I also now have BT function throught the screen, with hands free telephone as well as BT enabled music stored on my Moto Q phone. The blackbird is portable, for camping trips or to interchange between cars. The dvd player allows DVD playback as well as MP3 playback. The HUB has the capability for a rear view camera and expansion for rear screens, game console or TV tuner, none of which I wanted or needed at the moment. One thing that I should mention, Alpine has a feature to disable DVD playback when the car is in motion, requiring the emergency brake to be engaged while viewing DVDs or using the Hub. There is way around this, but you will have to do your own search for that.
The only changes made to the car were a small hole in the dashboard for the screen wires and the monster cable wire going in to the aux jack on the rear console. The rest of the wires conect between the alpine components and are tucked away under carpets or consoles. I did not need to mess with the factory head unit or amp. The screen is mounted on its frame under the dash, the dvd is under the 2nd row seat and the hub and navi unit are under the boards where the 3rd row seats should be. Nothing is visible.
Again, cost was an issue for me. Parts ended up costing around $900 and labor was $600. All of the stuff I bought off of ebay, the monitor (300), navi dok (150) and hub (90) were new; the blackbird unit (130) and dvd (125) was used, since alpine doesnt make a stand alone dvd player anymore. I am not an install guy, so I left all that stuff to professionals who could be held accontable if the messed up the interior. But the guys at Custom Sounds did an awesome job, check out the pics.
I hope this helps anyone wanting to put in a DVD/Navi/RearCamera/entertainment system. Again, I wanted to thank you all for sharing your experiences with tires/brakes/rotors/rubbermats/etc/etc which have helped me out a ton and saved me some $$$$$
