Hi everyone, I have read here that some members had success swapping the DVD NAV. drive of the 2001 with a 2004 and I was wondering if anyone tried swapping the radio and CD changer?. The reason I'm asking is to have SAT screen instead of MD screen when you have a satallite radio.

 

I would like to know the answer to this as well.

 

I have been doing research for a while now but so far nothing. I hate the screen of the MD changer as there is no categories and I owned LS years 04, 05 and 08 and they all had SAT screens, now on my 01 UL, I have the MD screen, I found several CD changers for 04 and later years but they are not cheap, they are in the range between $500 to $700 and it would really suck if I buy one and it turns out that it won't work. This is why I'm trying to find out before I buy. Hopefully someone will shed some light on this soon.

 

Did anyone ever figure this out or does this remain an unknown? I'm interested in a Vais SAT radio unit, but do not want to have to use MD emulation. Vais confirms it is only the radio of the 2004-06 models that it requires to allow SAT emulation. I recently replaced my radio/CD changer via Lenny of Factory Service Center on eBay. His current listing indicates "UP FOR SALE IS A 2001-2006 LEXUS AM/FM/6 CD CHANGER LS430.". This suggests there is no difference between a 2002 and a 2006 radio, but clearly this isn't the case. So now I'm really confused.

 

I just answered my own question.. spoke with Steve at Sewell and he confirmed that it is not practical to try to get to 2004-2006 level on a 2001-2003. It would require changing out the head, the tuner and the amp (and possibly the rear console control if you have a UL) and the units are not plug/play with the existing wiring harness. Very disappointed with the answer..