Installing Kenwood double Din Head Unit+ Reversing Camera

[Les McLean]

Having recently changed my car (2010 Toyota Avensis Estate), rather than having separate components for Sat Nav, CD/Tuner, Bluetooth, Iphone mp3 playback etc, I though I'd go for an integrated approach.





My list of requirements were:

• It had to be double-din to replace the double din unit in place.
• Needed to function with the steering wheel controls.(volume adjust, track change)
• Did not want to cut/splice existing wiring.
• Sat nav
• Iphone mp3 playing+iphone charging.
• Hands free bluetooth with voice recognition.
• Reversing camera (it's a long vehicle)

I first went to an ICE installer in Leeds, who said he could provide a system that would meet the above requirements for £1200, so I decided to do it myself.
After many googles, the head unit I decided upon was the Kenwood DNX 5260BT
http://www.kenwood-electronics.co.uk/products/car/functions/ipod/DNX5260BT/
While it perhaps doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the very high end units, it ticked all the boxes for me, plus with all the other bits required (including rear camera) it ended up costing me around half the ICE fitter estimate.

Fitting.

Once again I did loads of googles researching what was required to install the head unit, and this homework paid off, as I managed to source all the bits I needed, and more importantly, they all fit together correctly first time.

• Radio Harness+steering wheel adapter combined
• KCA-IP301V (enables play/charge of Iphone)
• Double din facia adapter
• Rear Camera (an E-bay £30 jobbie, not Kenwoods £200 model)

All of the above are the Toyota bits required, but most popular vehicles are covered and are similar priced, which came to around £130 for the above parts.
Fitting was straightforward, and the head unit was in place within a couple of hours, although the wiring looked a real spaghetti junction, as each part has it's own unique fit to the Kenwood head unit (via adapters) , this was easy to do.

The rear camera took longer (although straightforward), mainly because a cable was routed from the mounted camera to the head unit, which meant removing the trim from the rear door and the kick plate trims. The other connection was to tap into the vehicle reversing light connection (so the rear camera comes on when you select reverse)

Mounted the camera just above the rear number plate

One tool became priceless during the installation- Vehicle trim remover

Whats it like
Very good, I like it a lot, and it covers everything I wanted (and more), the Kenwood Unit feels very well made, although I have nothing similar to compare it with, the sound quality is superb, with seemingly infinite number of tweaks to the sound output. You can even vary the volume level of the sat nav voice instructions independently of the music volume via the steering wheel controls.
Also, the ability to fine tune the display illumination to match the dashboard illumination.
Very easy via the Units touch screen to navigate to the various functions, with most operations being one or two touches.
The hands-free bluetooth is top trumps, so if an incoming call comes in , it overrides all other screens, second priority is the reversing camera, so whenever you select reverse gear, the reversing camera screen overrides any other screen in use.
Obviously, you can play music/listen to the radio while using satnav, and be able to see whats playing across a strip at the bottom of the sat nav screen.

 

[Les McLean]

Sat Nav

Having used Tomtom for the last ten years, which I liked and was comfortable with, the Kenwood Unit uses Garmin maps, while functioning similarly , and providing similar information to Tomtom, how it does it is slightly different, after using it for a while, I feel Garmin is on par with Tom Tom regarding use, although there are three areas where I think Garmin trumps Tom Tom

• The Kenwood Unit appears significantly faster in calculating/recalculating routes, although I was comparing it with a (relatively) old Tom Tom unit (520), so this could be the reason.
• For live traffic information, you need to pay a subscription to Tom Tom, Kenwood (or Garmin) have a tie-in with TMC (Traffic Management Channel) so you get a free subscription for the life of the unit for live traffic information.
• I find with Tom Tom you have to dig through various layers of screens to get some information/change functions , with the Kenwood, it's one or two screen touches to do similar.

I was able to import speed camera locations/ various POI easily enough.

Reversing Camera

As previously mentioned , this screen comes on whenever you select reverse, and while it does not have the functionality of the £200 Kenwood Unit, which has guide overlays etc, this £30 camera works very well, clear and crisp image even in low light, although it feels the same as looking through a 12mm lens on a FF camera, the angle is so wide, it's great for manoeuvring car parking spaces etc, and I have it mounted so I can just see the top of the tow bar at the bottom of the screen, making it easy to gauge how near objects are. It also feels very robust.

Iphone MP3 playback

Has all the functionality as if using iphone/ipod directly, being able to change tracks via steering wheel control or via touch screen, as well as charging the iphone.

Video

While not on my list of requirements, the ability to watch videos is a real bonus (obviously not while driving), although not upto HD quality, eminently watchable. When SWMBO was trying on the 673rd pair of shoes the other day, I happily sat watching two episodes of 'The Office'

 

[Les McLean]

Bluetooth Telephone

The integrated parrot bluetooth works very well, pairing phones quickly without fuss, importing contacts, and showing additional information on screen like signal strength and battery charge. Also the function to 'tag' numbers so voice recognition can be used. There is a SMS function (receive and send) in the unit, but doesn't work with an Iphone although does with (most) other makes of mobiles.

Tuner

Good strong signal, nice to be able to see Artist/song information.

What's not to like

Two issues for me, firstly some of the information provided by Kenwood is a bit flaky, perhaps losing something in translation. An example was instructions for updating the Unit's firmware, it mentioned burning the downloaded file to CD, when in fact it was two files (plural instead of single), so wasted a few blank CD's till I sorted out what was what. I also needed to scour different forums to find out some of the more complex functionality/installation of the unit rather than rely on Kenwood's sparse, at times confusing instructions.

Second, is updating firmware/software, perhaps we are spoilt nowadays having a one stop shop for updating software, with the Kenwood unit, you update the Unit's downloaded firmware via CD , Garmin firmware via SD card, the bluetooth firmware via bluetooth (from laptop), map update via SD card or mini USB socket, and changing the boot screen via USB lead. So although doable, not as sleek and easy as updating desktops (or cameras)

Finally, I've put together a youtube clip showing the different functions of the Unit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA3yr2YhYUY

I put together this review/thoughts for another forum, but thought it worthwhile dropping an edited copy here on TP, and although I'm nowhere near being skilled in ICE fitting, I'd be more than happy to respond to any questions regarding the process of installing the Unit.

 

[Grandslammer]

Certainly puts my radio/cassette in its place,though I'd probably wouldn't do any driving if I had that setup

Interesting and intriguing,thanks for sharing

 

[whatdoesthisbutt]

Where do you put the 8-tracks in?

 

[Les McLean]

Where do you put the 8-tracks in?

 

[BigJohn]

Nice job Les . You get a lot of satisfaction from a job Like that .

 

[mercedes]

I'm having trouble reading your home postcode on the satnav. I'm out and about with me jemmy this weekend and that looks just the job to make a quick £50 down the pub.
(p.s. nice work)

 

[whatdoesthisbutt]

LMAO........I didnt realise one track of the 8 track was video....what have I been missing out on, all these years?

You have far too much time on your hands, Les....

I had a new Avensis in '04 (a T-spirit), probably my favourite mile cruncher ever.

 

[Les McLean]

I'm having trouble reading your home postcode on the satnav. I'm out and about with me jemmy this weekend and that looks just the job to make a quick £50 down the pub.
(p.s. nice work)

Thanks for pointing that out (I think )

Made sure I pixelated my Tel No when I made the clip, never occurred to me that my address may show up, still, any TP member that sees it are more than welcome to pop in for a cuppa

LMAO........I didnt realise one track of the 8 track was video....what have I been missing out on, all these years?

You have far too much time on your hands, Les....

I had a new Avensis in '04 (a T-spirit), probably my favourite mile cruncher ever.

Aye, Kenwood cover all the bases

The Avensis is a good mile cruncher, I had a Corolla ( T Spirit) for 9 years before this car, and apart from regular services, just never went wrong, hope I get the same from this motor.

And yes, I do need to get out more

 

[Les McLean]

Almost 3 years down the line, and it continues to function flawlessly, recently added a dash-cam, one of those £30 Chinese jobbies that sits behind your rear view mirror.

most dash cams come with a built in screen, didn't need the screen as I wanted the Kenwood unit to function as the screen.

My only problem was that I had already used the two av inputs at the back of the Kenwood unit (reversing camera & iPod a/v in), the Kenwood unit has a 3.5 mm a/v in on the front of the unit so had to use that instead.

Kenwood's own adapter cable (3.5mm plug to RCA a/v) is £23, so instead bought a generic one from E-bay for £3, I reckon to force folk to use Kenwood's own cable , their 'pin-outs' are different to most , but after a bit of googling I found a Kenwood pin-out diagram, so after a bit of wire cutting/splicing and soldering, the generic lead was made to fit.

Everything working fine, image quality is adequate, but good enough, just need to work out how to adjust the date/time settings.