OEM w/OEM audio swap

13motoman

Member
I have had my 2014 cx5 sport 6m for 4 yrs now (103,500 mi so far so I am in it a lot) so it has the base radio/CD player(I did add the cheap dash tweeters....which to my ear made zero difference....). I thought it would be nice to have the touch screen nav system and was looking at the lovely world of eBay at OEM units, some are cheap and some are not. My thought was that it should be plug and play but I looked at 5 different units and every one had a different part #/model #. Are there really differences? Not really looking to upgrade to a premium sound system, just thought it could be a cheap easy way to add a little enjoyment/change to my ride.

Is this as easy as I think it would be or am I missing anything and what's with all the different model #'s? Will the Nav be able to work in my car or is that going to cost extra money to get to work?

Any info appreciated. Thanks.
 
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Any other info oh this yet? I'm very interested in upgrading my base to a touring model head unit
 
why even deal w/an OEM system that is ham-stringed from the get go? Why not just go aftermarket and benefit from certain features not available on OEM units? You have the simplest, least complicated radio setup, so that will make replacement of said radio easier (easiest). There are plenty of double-din, full, touch screen, CD/DVD (and NAV in some cases), that for the same or less prices of your ebay OEM units, will perform better.

I don't know about you, but Crutchfield is my go to if and when I need to upgrade/replace any car audio piece (I have zero faith in local big box electronic stores). I changed out our 04 Pathfinder's OE Blose headunit w/a simple JVC unit from Crutchfield because of the CD player skipping. Other than some sonic issues (reduced bass) caused by the new headunit and Blose amp nuances, the new unit did just fine. Sure, I lost a 6-disk in dash CD player, but you can only listen to one CD at any given time, but the CD skipping was eliminated. Since everything was plug and play, when we traded in the PF on the CX-5, I just removed the JVC unit (and assoc harnesses, steering wheel control adapter, and trim pieces) and returned everything to stock.

Once the stock unit was back in, the sonic performance returned to "normal".

Despite a lot of big name companies (Alpine an Clarion) leaving the aftermarket headunit business to pursue OE infotainment design, there are still a slew of great companies making some great car headunits that put a lot of the OE stuff to shame because they aren't hampered by cost and/or design constraints. Remember, those companies WANT you to buy their headunit and ditch your under performing OE one.

The only real problems w/going aftermarket is when you start out w/a premium system, like Bose, HK, SONY, Mark Levinson, B&O, B&W, etc. etc. A lot of times, aftermarket stuff won't play well w/the special impedances and odd amp signal input/output voltages like the JVC did in our Pathfinder. For the best performance/sound, it is best to just rip out all of the "special" crap and start from scratch.

However, you don't have to deal w/that as you have the base radio; making it way easier to swap in an aftermarket headunit. Now, you might need to get a steering wheel control adapter if you want to keep your steering wheel audio controls, but besides that, it should be a straight forward install.

This is just my opinion and the route I would go. However, since I have a 2016 Touring, chances of me replacing the factory headunit (non-NAV) are slim. Unless there is a headunit out there that can out perform the factory one and integrate the control knob/steering wheel controls/backup camera, I'm not going to do it unless my hand is forced.

On the other hand, I'm really anxious to replace all of the speakers (6) w/some that are less compromised by OE budget constraints. And all of these (Infinity/JBL) speaker sales that Crutchfield keeps having, makes it very tempting to buy 6 brand new speakers just becuase.
 
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Go with Polks all around. I have learned from experience folks on this forum are correct in reccomending them, Plus I had a set of their tweeters in a Plymouth Sundance years ago. I don't think Kicker 3&1/2s are quite efficent enough to be driven by a factory amp at least compared to Polks. I am partial to Pioneer's AutoEQ and time alignment head units.
 
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