So I finally made the plunge and went for the double din. I'm still a student so I was looking for a deal. I ended up getting everything I needed to install for less than $650.

Clarion NX 409 ($449.99) --> GPS, Ipod control, and the regular stuff + 6.5" touchscreen http://www.crutchfield.com/p_020NX40...ssi=0&tp=20212

Metra Kit for 2003 (yeah I know, not as nice, but it was $94.99 at Crutchfield b/c you get it half price with a double din purchase, plus it's not horrible for 2003...)

PAC steering wheel control (half price for $34.99 with double din)

Nissan/Infiniti wire harness (from Crutchfield and was FREE)

Nissan Antenna adapter (FREE)

Clarion CCA723 for ipod video ($59.99)


So if you are looking to upgrade to a double din, this is a really good deal right now. DOOOOO IT!

Btw, am I missing anything?

 

post some pictures of materials, before and after!

 

Most likely you will need a trim ring

 

I thought the Metra kit is supposed to fit nicely while the JDM one needs a trim ring...

 

+1.

 

Yeah, buttons are still funky on the 03 Metras, but the fit and match on everything else is good.

If you're replacing a Bose headunit, you *may* need a PAC ROEM-NIS2.
If you have a Bose and you do not need it, please PM me with a picture of how you hooked up the wiring harness and all the places where it's grounded.

I'm still trying to get 100% certain on whether grounding the regular harness in a certain way can make Bose work right w/o the ROEM-NIS2.

 

yup crutchfield ftw! i heart them

 

crutchfield is a little overpriced but if you buy multiple items, you get the bundled discounts...

damn them and their tricky ways!

 

metra kit ruins the interior IMO

 

On 05-07? Hells yes.

On 03-04? Well yeah, the buttons are a little fugly, but the rest is very good... and considering that some people can butcher a flush mount or gap fill, it's better in some ways.

But yeah, FUGLY buttons.

 

So I finally got around to installing the double din. I'm a complete noob when it comes to electrical work and I managed to do it without too much trouble, so it can be done! Although you may need a second person around because some parts of install are 2 man jobs, i.e. you need 4 hands. Did the steering wheel controls, ipod video hook up in cubby above unit and video bypass switch which I drilled myself into side of center console (see pic).

Impressions so far:

PROS: great NAV reception, nice sound, super fast start up, looks, price!

CONS: FM radio reception is weaker than OEM, get a bit of static sometimes, it's not bad but OEM was almost perfect (I read around and apparently this is common with aftermarket??? Weird, you'd think it would be other way around.), the time has mind of it's own, it'll randomly change from AM to PM and back again for no apparent reason..... really weird. It'll be 10:34PM than it'll change to 10:35AM and then a few minutes later it might switch back to PM again.....

Overall a pretty good unit, has a lot of good features but radio reception is a bit weaker and software seems a bit buggy. If you can live with the time being all over the place and don't listen to radio that much it's a really good unit for the price.

 

looks good man. My sisters G35 we used the metra kit to save money. It looks good except for the buttons. On my car however i was able to find a used jdm kit for 100 on craigslist! I got so lucky.

 

hi carsoon i ordered the same deck from crutchfield after seeing your post. i just wanted to know if the bypass switch came with the deck or if you had to get that yourself?

 

The video bypass switch you have to buy yourself or you can buy the module which doesn't require you to push a button and have it exposed (i.e. it's all hidden and will let you watch videos all the time). It costs about 5 dollars for the switch and about 30 for the module.

You can get the switch from radioshack and you need to hook up one end to the ground and the other to the green wire from back of the Clarion unit that is supposed to go to the parking brake ground. When you want to watch videos when driving, you just need to push the switch 2 times and voila! I initially got the switch because I thought the Clarion unit prevented you from inputting GPS addresses while moving but that's not the case, you can type as you please.

 

nice...... I just did mine. $650 is a steal, and it looks good