OK, I've seen this question asked literally DOZENS of times - and it never gets answered!

I have ordered and will be installing my double din HU into the Metra dash piece. Now, before folks start derailing this thread with "you should have gotten the JDM one, it looks so much better!", etc. - let me say:

I didn't. I got the Metra one. I could afford it, and that's that.

But the question of possibly switching out the OEM buttons onto the Metra piece, as far as I can tell is something many folks have asked, and though I have searched, I cannot find an answer.

If anyone knows of a thread that details definitively as to whether this can be done or not, I would really appreciate it.

Cheers,
kevin

 

LOL, ditto. I just asked this questions a few threads down. Maybe someone can answer, but I've come up with nothing.

 

No it will not fit. Anything can be done with enough money but in the end, probably end up paying just as much if not more than the JDM one.
Pay a little more and do it right the first time.

 

this thread sort of amazes me, so I'm going to ask the question....

Are you saying you want to use the JDM a/c controller on the metra kit, or that you want to remove the play-skool buttons from the metra kit and swap in the plastic buttons from your OEM headunit?

Let me clue you in on something. I bought the 04 JDM kit:

JDM bezel, $80
JDM a/c controls, $200 if you are patient, $300 if you are not (like me).

I sold my stock bezel/changer on eBay for $250 plus shipping. And I took the dual climate control button with me.

How much did the metra kit cost? $180? It cost me less than that (net) to do the DD install....

I mean, yeah, I know you bought the metra kit already, so maybe you don't care about the price, but that's probably why you're not getting much of a response on this topic.

 

Lancer,

As much as I appreciate your reply, a lot of it is confusing to me.

First let me say; yes, I was interested in swapping out the "play-skool" buttons from the Metra piece with the OEM climate buttons.

OK, since I have yet to begin tearing apart my dash, and seeing how the buttons are attached to the OEM dash, how the climate control portion is actually attached, what the wiring harness actually looks like, etc. - I am at a bit of a loss here. So I was hoping that folks such as yourself might provide helpful advice to that end. So I am going to try and ask that, should you have the time, could you clarify some of the points you list in your post:

When you list "JDM bezel", to what are referring - the JDM dash piece itself? I was under the impression that piece was MORE expensive than the Metra.

Then you say you sold your "stock bezel/changer" on eBay. The OEM dash piece? Minus the climate control button? For $250?

Sorry if I sound like a newb, but you seem to be using terms for these pieces that I've not seen used previously.

I would truly appreciate any helpful advice you could provide as there may be more readers out there that are as confused as me (or not) that would appreciate the clarification.

And, yes - I did already purchase the Metra. But being able to actually use my car without having to keep it tethered to a battery charger since the piece of **** OEM dash/radio took a warm, creamy one on me will be a pleasant change of pace - "play-skool" buttons or no.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

i think what lancer is trying to say is that after paying 300+80 for the JDM setup and selling his stock HU for 250, he had a net cost of 130, which is less than the 180 you would have to dish out for the metra kit... but what i think he failed to overlook is that since you paid 180 for the metra kit you would have a lower net loss ($70) if you were to sell your HU for 250 on ebay. it DOES sound confusing... but regardless, imo you shouldve gotten the JDM from the get-go if you dont like the rubber buttons. if you do decide to start taking buttons and pieces apart, it could potentially ruin both dash kits and then you'd be out even MORE money. but good luck nonetheless!

 

thanks for explaining - though I'm still confused as to the price of the JDM piece itself, I was under the impression from everything I have read that it was more expensive than the Metra piece - but, whatever.

As my OEM head unit is good for nothing but a 10 lb. doorstop at this point, I have serious doubts that I would have the good fortune to find someone stupid enough to pay over 2 bills for it on eBay. Thus, my outlay for the Metra seems to me a good deal.

I'm hopeful my ability to listen to FM/AM/HD radio/XM satellite and DVD movies, full navi and voice control for my iPod and bluetooth phone will probably soften the hardship of those "play-skool" buttons.

This thread has proved to be a positive since I finally seem to have gotten folks to answer the "mysterious" question of whether swapping those buttons was possible. As it doesn't seem so, I am fine with my choice, and have no intention of ruining my perfectly fine Metra kit to try and have OEM looking buttons.

I'll be better served spending my time hoping the karma wheel spins in the proper direction to the f-stick engineer at Nissan that thought it was a good idea to save 27 cents a unit and put both the climate controls and radio on the same circuit board.

Cheers,
Kevin

 

You can buy the JDM finisher on here with the AC control for 295 from a vendor. No your buttons from your stock stereo will not work on the metra kit.
Best bet is to list the metra kit on here and ebay for sale. Take a 20-30 dollar loss and buy the JDM kit.
Plus the JDM kit never really looses much value. If you buy it for 295 now, in a year or two you can probably still sell it for 260-270.

 

Well, as we've all pretty much agreed, the going rate for the Metra is approximately $180. It looks like the going rate for the JDM (with AC controls - though MINUS the Dual climate button) is approximately $300.

So I'd be paying about $120 for buttons that look like OEM (though once this double din install is made, there really isn't any other buttons for them to match anyway).

I'd rather be over halfway to paying for a new iPhone than worrying that much over some buttons. It would have been nice nice, but not that big a deal to me. I'm just glad I finally got an answer!

But again, thanks for the info!

Cheers,
Kevin

 

The buttons themselves are not actually attached to the dash piece, they are attached to the circuit board with the radio controls and changer on it.

It's the same piece as the cd changer, radio controls etc.

One very simple single wiring harness, you can look up a pic of the JDM a/c control to see it.

Right. this: http://www.grubbsperformance.com/servlet/Detail?no=2766

I don't believe so, no.

Yes, the whole schebang. Dash piece, changer/radio etc, with the "dead button" swapped in for the dual climate control button.

I actually made a typo, I sold it for $350.

Technically this includes the stock bracket as well.

Here is the auction:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=190255803223

Sorry to hear about the OEM piece crapping out on you, that does sort of change the equation.

Maybe that helped a bit?

I think I understand what you're trying to do, I don't think that the stock buttons will just pop right on there since they use a pretty fragile system of click-in plastic pieces... then again I dunno what the metra kit looks like on the inside.

 

As you said before, you are assuming that your oem unit was pretty much junk. A 10 minute solder job will get you the dual climate button off your old unit when going with the DD kit.

My point was mostly that you can almost make money doing a DD swap if your stock headunit works, so it wouldn't seem to make sense to go with the metra kit in that situation.

 

Thanks for going through the effort lancer to break out those answers so well. Yes, if my OEM head unit was still usable, your solution would have been a lot more pertinent. Unfortunately, I think I'll just go throw it through my local Infiniti dealers front window and be done with it.

I guess if I knew that I could go through the added task of just popping off the dual climate button and soldering it onto the JDM unit I maaay have considered it, but since this whole install is going to take the better part of an upcoming weekend I'm sure - I guess I'll just chalk it up to not enough research - my bad!

And since this thread is getting so many hits lately, could someone look at my question I posed about the Metra harnes (70-7551) and it looking like it won't work for an '03 sedan in the thread just a little ways down - I'm wondering if Crutchfield's site has got it wrong?

Cheers,
Kevin

 

lol

no problem

 

Can you cut the circuit board up and mount it in the metra face plate? That's what I wanna do....

 

No.

There's a sticky for that: https://g35driver.com/forums/audio-v...ontroller.html