What is the latest way to upgrade the aging stereo in the LS 430 with Nav?

 

Just to be clear... it's not a 2017 car... I was just wondering what the latest way to do it is... now... in 2017.

 

I am wondering the same thing. I went to a local stereo shop and they told me that the beat-sonic kit is the only way. Not sure if I am ready to spend 1k for just a radio upgrade only.

 

Well, first of all, what features do you want?

Bluetooth? There are adapters for that.

DVD? Not so much...

 

What I would like to do is update the whole system. NAV, Speakers (in the original positions if possible) just for fun get some crazy-*** bass in there (even though I'm old but it would be fun to put in some ear plugs and scare the kids off my lawn with Swang or something similar) and I would like to play my favorite music which is classical and pipe organ music (and also requires a ****-ton of bass to sound right). In my classic car this is easy... I just roll into the local stereo shop and tell them what i want. No problem.

I want good amps, great mid-range for the days I feel like a little acoustic music (jazz, blues that kind of thing)

I just DO NOT want to hack up the dash. I prefer to have everything hidden (obviously except the subs in the trunk) and keep the stock look in the passenger compartment. I don't mind chopping up the glove compartment or losing the center console storage space.

 

I don't think there is anything for the Nav and this is about the only thing I've seen to put a stereo in. It depends on how much money you want to spend.

http://kyoei-usa.com/2013/06/got-tir...dio-head-unit/

 

I've seen a single-DIN unit go behind the CD drop-down tray.

You have to keep the NAV screen because the a/c controls are on there.

However, this might be of interest to you: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...en-on-ome.html

 

Thank you! I will give them a call.

 

I was trying to avoid the second double din, but that kit does make everything look stock. Or at least less offensive than most universal mounts. I don't want to skimp, but I also don't want to spend thousands on custom dash work and make a lot of fiberglass parts, etc. Ain't nobody got time for dat.

 

I'm sorry I've been reading some of these threads because my nav is only 1/2 functional but will someone please tell me WTF a 'din' is or double 'din'... i'm at a loss.

 

Car audio head units generally come in either single DIN (180 x 50 mm panel) or double DIN (180 x 100 mm panel) size.

 

DIN stands for Deutsche Industri Normen (or something similar) and represents the 2x8 inch opening which I can only assume was a standard size set by the Germans, because of the name. Double DIN is obviously a double sized opening of 4x8 inches. for the sake of clarity the opening we are referring to is the hole in which the head unit goes into.

If you want to know any other weird car audio terminology go here: https://www.soundzgood2me.com/car-audio-terms/ I don't know how current that page is, but it should cover the basics

 

Single DIN: older-style radios AM/FM/CD
Double DIN: NAV/DVD/displays

 

Thanks everyone! I kept hearing all this talk about dins and it was driving me crazy not knowing what it was haha. Just to show how ignorant I was I assumed din was a type of connector... based solely on the fact that din rhymes with pin, like the pins on a connector - yikes.

 

A Bay Area company called Grom makes a plug and play unit that installs behind the stereo. Depending on which model (and price), can have USB/Navigation/Bluetooth/text or various combinations. Cell connect to play music for instance. Asked their tech. They do work in an 04-06 LS 430. Also watched the install video (LS430). Looks pretty cool. Top of the line is 499 but there are several less expensive options. I know they did beta testing on multiple 430's in the Bay Area and company seems well run. No experience yet but looks pretty cool.