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So, the Celsior(non-ML) has 4 plugs on the amp. Attached is a pic of what I believe is the speaker plug. What leads me to believe it is the speaker plug is the standard green and purple wires.
So I dove into this project today and I must say, its much more difficult than I anticipated. Mainly the rear seat removal, and routing wires into the trunk.
Other than that its been relatively straight forward so far and without this thread I would be in the hands of Best Buy no doubt.
To help those who are also thinking about doing this, (and honestly I would kinda hard because its a lot of work) I drilled through the plastic piece that leads into the trunk where the wiring harness goes through. Be careful not to drill into the seat belt tensioner though. Also, I cut the rubber boot that goes from the front firewall into the passenger footwell to feed the power wire through. Be careful here to not cut the wires.
Good luck if you're ambitious enough to attempt this install. I wouldn't recommend it if you're over 40. My body is not thanking me and I'm only 24.
To help those who are also thinking about doing this, (and honestly I would kinda hard because its a lot of work) I drilled through the plastic piece that leads into the trunk where the wiring harness goes through. Be careful not to drill into the seat belt tensioner though. Also, I cut the rubber boot that goes from the front firewall into the passenger footwell to feed the power wire through. Be careful here to not cut the wires.
I also cut the rubber boot and used a nylon fish tape to pull the power wire through. I don't recommend the screwdriver + brute force method - there's so many wires in the footwell it's not worth it. For drilling from the rear seat into the trunk I highly recommend a step bit:
They cut fast and clean. Just make sure where you're drilling doesn't interfere with any of the seat brackets. Alternatively if you have enough power cable just route it through the top deck, there's a few existing holes near the subwoofer.
Good luck if you're ambitious enough to attempt this install. I wouldn't recommend it if you're over 40. My body is not thanking me and I'm only 24.
You made my day! I'm 40 and haven't done car stereo since my high school days. I do agree, even with this guide it's 8-12 hours of uninterrupted work. Car stereo (or car work in general) is not easy on the body.
Can you still close the CD door? Looks like you have some padding in front of the tuner ****.
I actually shaved the CD door just slightly - a totally unnecessary step but I wanted the head unit to be as far forwards as possible. You can play with exactly where the head unit sits by adjusting the brackets.
My CD door closes perfectly, and doesn't touch the volume ****. Many times I don't bother to even open the CD door since I'm usually streaming Spotify off my cellphone.
So, the Celsior(non-ML) has 4 plugs on the amp. Attached is a pic of what I believe is the speaker plug. What leads me to believe it is the speaker plug is the standard green and purple wires.
Sorry for my late response. I took your photo and marked it up with comments. Let us know if they match your findings.
Alright guys, the deed is done! I successfully installed everything and ran all cables. I cut some corners, but it all works and is relatively clean. The speakers sound fantastic with the factory sound proofing compared to my old Prius which had basically zero insulation.
I would rate the difficulty on this project a solid 8.5/10. The average DIYer will have moderate trouble with this install. For me, this took 3 days and roughly 6-8 hours of work per day. Thats just me since I spend a lot of time thinking about how I'm going to route cables and such.
I'd say give this a shot if your weekend is free and your ML amp is dead. I wouldn't have done this if my amp worked, however when I took out the old speakers they were really foam rotted. The speaker cone didn't move in and out very well either so they were basically shot and I just tossed em.
Do you still have the function of the steering wheel controls? Isn't there a module that can be added to allow you to retain those?
I've done a lot of research on whether or not steering wheel controls can be retained. From all of the forums and threads I've looked at it seems as though no one has been successful setting it up themselves. However, Sonic Beats sell a kit which is around $350 that would give you an adapter for steering wheel volume control but not Mode control. Also, the volume control from this kit would control your amp gain, not your actual volume on the head unit.
If your really tech savy you could probably figure out how to wire in full controls for steering wheel.
Hey there, saw this thread and am thinking of doing this to my LS430, question for yall....so im doing 2 amps, one for the speakers and one for the subs. What wires would be the output for the parking sensors? So i can tap them into the speaker wires, i will not be using the factory ML amp at all and have no plans on using the navigation.
Hey there, saw this thread and am thinking of doing this to my LS430, question for yall....so im doing 2 amps, one for the speakers and one for the subs. What wires would be the output for the parking sensors? So i can tap them into the speaker wires, i will not be using the factory ML amp at all and have no plans on using the navigation.
The 430 doesn’t use the audio system amp for the parking sensor sounds nor the door chime. You’ll be good
I have a 2007 and my wiring is different on ML system
I have an 08 gs350 does anyone have the wiring diagram color code i. My 08 wiring is different colors than the one posted in this thread any help from any of you knowledgeable forum members is greatly appreciated
Welp, my ML amp just bit the dust yesterday, spent all day and found this post. This is pretty much exactly what I'd like to do to mine. If it's possible, I'd like to keep the stock head unit in for the sake of minimal effort and that I have a BT45-TOY on it already. Would I be able to use the stock unit with the aftermarket amp? I don't mind tapping the factory harness if that's all it takes.
03-09-19, 11:45 AM
