2005 ES330 Aux input Bluetooth vs aftermarket replacement
 

I have a 2005 ES330 with Mark Levinson with Nav/Navigation with CD changer in the armrest. Basically I'd like an aux input. Better would be to have bluetooth capability. I don't care if I lose the cd changer.

My questions are:

• Is there a kit that works well with my system? Hopefully something I can do myself.
• If not, what is the simplest/cheapest way to replace the whole thing with a head unit with an aux input, bluetooth and nav? And how much money are we talking here? Is there a wiring harness that covers all the bases?
• Is there a way to merely pull the cd changer from the armrest and use that input for an mp3 player or my phone?
• Should I just use the Grom unit and expect to buy a new cable several times per year. Still cheaper than a whole new head unit, no?

Problems I've seen are:
GTA doesn't sell an aux input or bluetooth car kit that will work with Navigation. Grom, from what I can tell is glitchy and the cable that goes from a 3.5mm jack to a 8 pin mini din connector, for the aux input, is proprietary and poorly made, with people complaining that they need to replace it several times per year.

New head units have their own issues ranging from wiring harness issues, to climate control issues, to the voice on the nav not working, to issues with the steering wheel controls, to questions on whether the airbags will work!! And new systems might have to include new amps or preamps or subwoofers, I'm not sure, I can't suss it out.

I've seen people who constructed their own wiring harnesses. But I can't do all that.

So the easiest thing would be to find a car kit for adding an aux input, hopefully with bluetooth. Some people seem to be able to solder one in, but there has to be a simpler way, no?
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I have a 04 es330 with Mark Levinson and Navi. I bought the grom aux 3.5mm input. Used for about 1 year with no issues.

To note: In order to work properly, I needed to put a single blank cd in the cd changer by itself.... I wrote to grom when it wasn’t reading the aux input and they said to disconnect the cd changer. but I didn’t know how to do that and I discovered the blank cd trick.

If your handy you can open the CD changer and find the L- L+ R- and R+ lines and solder an AUX jack to it.
Then insert a blank CD and it will read from your aux device.

After many many many searches I found this simple solution for less than $5 and it works like a charm! http://madsock.co.za/hack-your-lexus-gs300-2006-2012-and-add-a-3-5mm-aux-audio-input/