Hello all-
I know there are tons of threads on this, but I find myself betwixt options and trying to decipher my preferred path re audio / nav upgrade.

In my 03, all the audio is stock Levinson. I plan to just upgrade the bluetooth at this point (for my niece), but otherwise like the idea of either
-beatsonic plus new doubledin for original nav plus steering wheel controls
OR
-android auto in the top nav spot, routing the audio back through the existing Levinson.

I share that because I could see scenarios where I might want to go through the trouble of pulling the Levinson gear out of the 03, but oof...

So my first priority is untangling my 07 I just got for myself.
It appears that somebody

1. replaced the Levinson head with a Pioneer
2. put in new alpine 6x9 speakers in the doors (instead of just repairing the foam, dang!)
3. seems to have perhaps put a new amplifier into the car (not sure about this; but there's a big blue wrapped object below the new head unit / forward of the shift lever trim unit that I'm guessing is an amp that didn't seem to be in other sc 430's (I haven't checked my original 03 yet)
4. added a subwoofer that has a control stuck into the glovebox.

Before I bought it, I thought it was supporting android auto and such, and figured it was probably a good enough upgrade that I'd be happy.

But the problems with this include the following:

1. -the head unit is nearly invisible due to glare or dimness, with no ability to control it worth a fig either way
2. -the head unit apparently didn't leave room for the usb plug they used, so it's been bent / disabled so I can't plug in with either a charger or android auto functionality reliably
3. -I don't like the button controls of the pioneer
4. -I don't really like anything about the pioneer.
5. -there is no steering wheel control integration
6. -the nav unit doesn't produce audio out the new head unit
7. -the cover doesn't close on the head unit

So basically all I got out of it was a newer head unit and amp, but lost all the good functionality and integration
-
So I 'think' my options might be

1. -give up on the original nav unit; replace it with an android radio, feed that audio through the new pioneer / amp combo, leave the cover closed mostly on the pioneer below
2. -replace the pioneer with a better head unit that doesn't have a busted usb input
3. -take all the levinson gear out of the 03 and put it in the 07, then do the beatsonic and new head unit

But I think I'm inclined to go with an android radio up top, but try to use/reuse the amplifier that's there.

Without opening it yet, I guess my dumb questions include

1. -if I add an android radio, do I even need that lower head unit anymore? or just route from the android device down to the amp, whatever it is?
2. -do the toy/axss steering wheel integration modules work with an android auto and steering wheel in this mode?
3. -do all the nav related buttons other than open/close pretty much die with an android radio up top?

I've seen several people do the android auto up top, but mostly with existing levinson gear, leaving the steering wheel integration and such intact.

Happy to catch any advice.

I think I'd be happiest just killing off the pioneer, and/or just closing the door on it (or putting some other screen there for a second display), and replacing the upper nav with a nav/android combo.

But please help with guard rails and advice if you can.

Thanks all.

 

I am presently doing one of your ideas. android auto in the top nav spot, routing the audio back through the existing Levinson.
​​​​​​​ It is hard to find a radio to fit in place of the nav unit. The closest I found claim to be 7 in but the body measures7 and 1/8 in. I had to grind off a lot of the radio to get it to fit and then I had to modify the original nav frame. You may check that device that you think is an amplifier. It may be Bluetooth from someone like SC430mod.comhttps://www.sc430mods.com/home-1
. if so, check to see which CD is in the number one slot. It might be from them. He provides one with their kit . Their system works very well and you only lose one CD slot to use it. The owner of that company is very helpful.

let me know how you get along because I'm still working on mine. Waiting on to extension wires to install in the nav box for backup camera and aux that goes to the Bluetooth box. I'm presently taking my door panels off to fix the rest of the speakers. The foam surround kit worked pretty well on the rear speakers. I'm not sure how my new carplay radio/ GPS is going to work out. When I tried it the other day the screen did not seem to be very clear.

Almost complete



This is the Bluetooth box from SC430mod.com

 

Hey, thanks!!
I'm pretty sure it's not the SC430mods bluetooth- it's way too big, and also the bluetooth I connect to is coming out of the pioneer directly. (That said, Calvin does in fact rock, and I got his bluetooth for the 03 as a potential stopgap to bigger changes. Also, while I won't put it in my niece's car to avoid the risk of some young person setting it to 10 and blasting into a tree, the throttle pedal adjuster gadget he sells is FANTASTIC!!! for those of us who have enjoyed the serene power of these cars but occasionally want it to feel like a thoroughbred V8. Highly recommended and incredibly simple to install).
I'll take a picture and add.

Re your project, I've seen people have great success with it- all of them had to modify the radios to fit nicely, and also to keep the door open/close functionality.

I'm pretty clear that with the Levinson, they are retaining the steering wheel controls and all.

I'm afraid but asking the question about whether in my case, because it's already lost to the Pioneer install, is the steering wheel control integration salvageable with a new android radio up top like you're doing?

The one I'm aware of specifically is this:

But it also 'auto senses' the stereo among brands- I doubt that would work with the myriad of Android radios, unless they mimic a more known brand like pioneer or whatever.

So I'm still asking out to the ether, do people think I could
1) put an android radio up top, and have it route through whatever frankenstein pioneer / amp combo is now making noise in my car?
2) regain the steering wheel integration, perhaps through the android radio connection? (I figure if it worked, I'd need to hard set the pioneer stereo volume to X, and then use the Android to go up and down / tie into the steering wheel)

Thanks for more feedback and yeah, good luck with yours- happy to help if I can Edki-

The only useful comment I think I have at the moment is that rather than foam, consider getting basically a strip of rubber- weatherstripping is an option, or any sort of rubber hose like thing. I think they would last better than the foam over time...

Just a thought!

 

Does the blue thing look like a grenade? It think @doobs had one of those for a while. It may be a bluetooth adaptor.

 

I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to take a pic yet- but no, it's more like the size of a toaster- it almost fills the gap left to right forward of the shift stick / below the stereo head...

I'll attach asap.