ok so I am pretty proud of myself, I successfully (more or less) installed my new Clarion NX700 DD unit in my 04 coupe. I had the JDM kit, the wiring harness, and antenna adapter for some time, but finally landed on the unit I wanted yesterday and jumped on it.

Basically I tore apart the whole dash with help from the INCREDIBLY useful DIY I found on here. Surprisingly this was the easiest part of the whole process, no trouble or set backs whatsoever. The problems I ran into came when I went to install the PAC-SWI so I could retain the use of my steering wheel controls. I followed the DIY somebody wrote on that install, and the unit seemed as though it was doing what it was supposed to, but as of yet my steering wheel controls still do not function...after about 10 tries and checks I said screw it and started putting stuff back together...which was the next problem:

The insane jumble of wires I had created during the install process took FOREVER to move out of the way so that the deck would fit back into place. The process of wrapping and stuffing bundled wires took all of an hour or 2 and was the most frustrating part, but finally I got everything together and it all fired up fine.

I did however forget to check if my parking brake bypass for DVD functionality worked, and alas, after everything was together...did not appear to work. As I have read and been told, the bypass to the e-brake safety mechanism is simply to ground the parking brake wire. I tied that wire into the main ground when I soldered it to the chassis ground wire of the wiring harness...so either that isnt the correct bypass method OR it was disconnected somehow.

But, even after those frustrations...I very much LOVE the unit. I was replacing my broken stock Bose unit and so now I can actually play CD's and have full ipod functionality (I ran the wire sneakily into my nav cubby). I figured I will just get an appt. with the stereo place I bought the unit from to have them go back in and fix my parking brake issue and set up my PAC-SWI...but that can wait.

Also, I was nervous to do this because I had heard horror stories about the consequences of connecting an aftermarket HU to the stock bose component set and I can confidently say now that I am experiencing no negative issues. The highs and mids actually sound a lot better than they did with the EQ settings on the unit. I get no humming or static at low volumes or anything other people have noticed. The only difference I have noticed is that the base levels are not where they used to be...probably because the bose sub isnt communicating with the HU, but as I will doing a sub setup in the near future, I will fix that in time.

Clarion nav works GREAT...more accurate than any garmin or standalone GPS I have ever used...so many points of interest and it works and thinks through directions so quickly. I would HIGHLY recommend this unit to anyone looking to grab a DD screen. I paid $1100 with tax and SWI-PAC for the Clarion HU.

pics to come soon.

 

its like a whole new car when you get a Double din with navi

nice job putting it in your self

pics?

 

 

I just had the same unit installed and had the same issue with the bass. So I taken the car back and they rewired my unit. So after that was done they didn't use the rca harness that came with the unit. Now the system works much better the the factory sound.