How to replace the radio in a 2008 Lexus GX 470 with Navigation with an aftermarket one

[@truthbetold9742]

Great job! I believe you are the only one who has a step by step diy on the radio swap gx470 with navi. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@brianbodmer5180]

I hope it helped you.

[@erictlove]

Thanks for the video! Helped me tremendously with my install. The hardest thing for me to find was the correct color wires from the steering wheel control unit to the OEM harness. Figured it out and thought I’d share and hopefully help others… Pin 6: SWG (wire marked “ground”) Pin 7: SW1 (green/orange) Pin 8: SW2 (black/green) This was with the steering wheel control unit that came with the BeatSonic kit and I installed a Boss 7” single din unit.

[@Fishing1505]

How long did it take to install?

[@Carlos-ov1hg]

Thank you *so much* for making/posting this video. I have a 470, as well, and will be tackling this little project this coming weekend. It helps phenomenally just seeing where what goes and how to interface.

[@brianbodmer5180]

I hope your install went smooth.

[@Carlos-ov1hg]

@@brianbodmer5180 Ha! I had no idea there was so little room in the dash. It took some creative finagling of the wires, and positioning the MVA-81 behind the passenger dash (minding the airbag), to get it all back together. That was something I wouldn't want to do again but it did turn out quite nice.

[@brianbodmer5180]

@@Carlos-ov1hg the stereo I selected was not very deep so I had room, but I know what you mean. You would think beat sonic could make that a little smaller.

[@jaidenbikerbear]

Thanks for making this

[@TheMisteralex3097]

What happens when you click "Audio" on the touch screen display? Great video!!

[@HEAVENLYTUNESDJANGEL]

I love the idea and love the video but how many of you have done this conversion and only to find out that the doors 6x9 speakers are blown and you can't find 8 0hm. Please help me if you have any options or links for this. for sure I need front and rear door speakers. Thank you guys

[@brianbodmer5180]

Fortunately, I didn't have any problem with speakers... if you go on facebook there is a GX470 and GX460 Owners group that has a lot of information and knowledgable people. I would ask there.

[@travisaudioelectronics12vo90]

Purchase a 4 ohm 6x9 purchase a 4 ohm tweeter wire them together in series on that channel to present a four ohm load to the amp.

[@adriancampos447]

Can I run a single din without having to do the beat-sonic and SiriusXm? I have the navigation in my gx aswell with the mark levinson, but since I want to put a different amp to run a bigger subwoofer this is why I’m asking if I need to run those?

[@Fishing1505]

Should I do this if I am trying to upgrade my speakers? Or is it a waste of money.

[@ryanwalker397]

Absolutely your speakers will always be limited by a headunit that old (the oem lexus one)

[@rayandizon526]

Hi there where did you ground the wires? I’m doing this right now and I’m stuck just on that!

[@guillermomenendezm.2014]

It only works with the kenwododKMM-X503 or other model and in the GX470 2004??

[@brianbodmer5180]

You can use any single DIN - that's the one I selected at the time. In the end, I wish I had spent a little extra and went for the Apline.

[@NPDOGG]

Great video, just got a 04 GX and wish it didn't have the nav lol but Beat sonic with a single din is the best option with bluetooth rather than the android tesla screen which seems buggy to me. Cheers

[@brianbodmer5180]

It really is personal taste, I liked this setup better too. 2 year later still going strong - though I do wish I spent a little extra and went with a better receiver.

[@highfivenature]

Does your GX have the rear DVD player? Does this replacement allow for the DVD player to continue to work or do you lose functionality of the rear entertainment? Thanks!

[@brianbodmer5180]

Yes I have the rear DVD and it continued to work. I never used it until after I did the conversion - if you could control it via the head unit, that is lost or I don't know how to do it. It functions with the remote - the only time I ever used it was when I tested too.

[@travisaudioelectronics12vo90]

What about the FM antenna? It hasn't been mentioned once do you still have FM radio?

[@brianbodmer5180]

I plugged the existing stock FM antenna in and it work just fine. I have FM and HD Radio working fine.

[@travisaudioelectronics12vo90]

I did the install is a typical antenna connection.

[@kayakuprising5914]

Did your phone answer button ever get working? Also, what was the issue with the steering wheel controls at first? Anything we should know?

[@brianbodmer5180]

No it did not work. I had my wife connect to the car blue tooth system and it would not answer for her too. So I think the button was probably broken when got the GX. The button the radio works and all other buttons function correctly. The steering controls issue was I didn't follow the directions carefully and had it mis-wired. I read the directions again and realized my mistake and corrected it. Just make sure to read the directions carefully.

[@bobbyuche895]

Where did you connect the power to the steering wheel control? Did you tap into your radio power?

[@brianbodmer5180]

I did tap the radio power since I was sure it was switched power. When I did the USB port, I tapped the cigarette lighter power.

[@bobbyuche895]

Thanks man. Great video

[@brianbodmer5180]

I am happy it helped you.

[@opetion]

Good morning What are the 3 wires to tap on for steering wheel?

[@brianbodmer5180]

Sorry - I cannot remember exactly, but the Axxess ASWC-1 had good instructions (once I read them carefully). I think the give the wires you need to tap by the pin position in the connector.

[@tomchao5724]

I did the same install but my nav and reverse camera is not working..you have any idea?

[@brianbodmer5180]

If your climate controls are working, I would double check that all the connectors are all attached securely. I do not know which connector would control them - sounds like probably one. There is a GX470/GX460 facebook group that has a lot of knowledgable people and someone may have encountered this problem. Also ask BeatSonic if they have any ideas - they were responsive when I asked questions.

[@benherman6462]

Thanks for posting this! I have an 03 and am looking to do the same thing. How did you handle the XM antenna, or was there already one installed in your car?

[@brianbodmer5180]

I used the XM antenna supplied with the receiver. I put it in the front and ran the wire along the windshield. I entered in the passenger side and went under the carpeting. i put some padding around the wire where the trim covers it so it does not get pinched or cut agains the body. There was an antenna that went into the stock radio, but I was not sure that would work or could be spliced so I just used the one supplied and taped it.

[@benherman6462]

@@brianbodmer5180 thx for replying!

[@Turshin]

Will be trying this on my GS430

[@22jbuitrago]

How r u boss? So, do u connect the speakers wires from the new stereo with the beat sonic module?

[@brianbodmer5180]

Not sure ho I missed your comment. Yes, I used the factory ML setup and existing wires.

[@jp_gill]

Just got my headunit installed thanks to your guide, now I just need to do the steering wheel controls. How did you figure out what color wires to connect from the steering wheel adapter to the 3 wires on the 20 pin connector? Aside from the ground wire being black, the other two are not an exact match either. Did you also have to do programming on the adapter for the steering wheel or was it plug and play?

[@brianbodmer5180]

The steering wheel control adapter had instructions for which wires to tap. I cannot remember the colors but did have it incorrect and had to redo it. If I remember correctly they instructions are different based on the radio. If you used Axxess, check their site for the instructions.

[@jp_gill]

@@brianbodmer5180 Thanks, I was not aware there were further instructions on their website and just kept looking at the Beatsonic wiring diagram. It's all up and running now, including Siri functionality!

[@jd9045]

Can this be done with flip out screen? I’d love to put that in instead of a simple radio. Thanks.

[@brianbodmer5180]

What is a flip out screen? If it is a single DIN you probably can, but you have to make sure it would clear the dash and it would probably block access to the controls.

[@Shalmaneser1]

Great job. I have a 2007 GX470 with Mark Levinson amp & speakers. I don't think you caught any speakers which would have the badges. I'm interested in details about before/after audio quality. Far too many reviewers say "that sounds really, really, really great" and move on to USB lighting or such. Audio quality & characteristics are the only reasons I'm contemplating upgrades. For some reason ML is 8Ω. The rest of the world is 4Ω and many are south of that. Guess it's cheaper to trade high impedance for gazillions of watts. So far I've found TWO 8Ω speakers, a mid and a sub. Which makes any substantial upgrade an all or nothing procedure.

[@brianbodmer5180]

I still have the ML amp and original speakers. So far so good and I have not had sound issues or said I really need to replace the system. I don't crank the tunes the way I did in my younger days either. I have had other cars where after putting in a decent receiver drove mer to replace the speakers since the factory ones sucked. In my 2008 4 runner I put in an after market receiver and the audio quality was noticeably bad - my daughter totaled it before got around to putting a new amp and speakers.

[@Shalmaneser1]

@@brianbodmer5180 Bad daughter! Bad! Bad daughter! LOL... To my ears, they really did the ML amp injustice. I get mixed signals from installers. Some say "go for it with 4Ω speakers!" and others say "Ya gonna fry that amp". Electrical engineering ain't my wheelhouse, but I speculate that if I watch the watts with a couple of pairs of high end speakers in the front doors (sub/mid) one might get away with it. A bad idea would be 6 or 8 pairs of new stuff. What I've found out about the ML isn't encouraging. 6Ω 20W tweeter, 6Ω 15W mid, 6Ω 25W sub (lexus document from one of the ML sedans) Some of the double DIN HUs have speaker-distance timing EQs, which the ML has - pretty snazzy for a 20 year old design. (gotta love high end, high $$$).

[@nghiepbui3959]

Thanks for the clear instructions! But what does exactly Beat Sonic do?

[@brianbodmer5180]

Beat Sonic makes the wiring harness that allow you to install a single DIN to a GX470 w/Nav. It works with the factory amp/speakers. Your other option would be the Tesla style screen.

[@jacoolboyz]

Very clear and straight forward video.. Question... How did you decide on the head unit? Did you base it on size?

[@brianbodmer5180]

You are limited to a single DIN so I went for features I wanted and did not want a CD player. In hindsight, I probably would have gone with the the Alpine if I did it all over again. So really comes down to personal choice.

[@brianbodmer5180]

One other thing to consider - if you want to use the steering wheel controls, make sure you get one that has steering wheel compatibility.

[@MacVey]

Hello where did you find the steering wheel control module?

[@brianbodmer5180]

I can get it at BeatSonic or Crutchfield - I believe I got mine with Beat Sonic when I got their product.

[@MacVey]

Thanks

[@fatmattsadventures2796]

How’s it holding up? Seriously considering this route over the Tesla screen

[@brianbodmer5180]

It has been 2 years and no problems.

[@elmonolatino123]

Can you run an amp from the new headunit to bypass the ML amp ?

[@brianbodmer5180]

Probably but you may need new wiring. Check some of the GX forums and Facebook groups and you can probably find a much better answer.

[@CoCo-vi6sp]

how did you remove the aux port for the usb??

[@brianbodmer5180]

When you have the part removed that hold the AUX, the port just pops out pretty easily. I unhooked the wiring and installed the USB. Since the stereo had a rear USB that connected to to the new port (audio). I tapped power from the cigarette lighter for the charge port. The AUX was not going to be used so this was a great solution for my installation.

[@CLAlongboarding]

where on the car did you ground the wires??

[@brianbodmer5180]

Probably not the best solution to running a new ground, but I believe I used a combo of tapping into an existing ground wire and attaching a grounding wire to a metal cross bar behind the dash. I have not had any issues since the install.

[@GXKid06]

Aye you got a carmax tag on the key. I work there so i would know.

[@brianbodmer5180]

You are correct... they stopped paying me a royalty to advertise so it has been replaced by a tick removal tool ;-)

[@arctixxx6340]

WOW you sound way older

[@stevejosrph6065]

To much CRAZY music not well explained not very helpful what is the crazy music for ???????????????

[@adaml6385]

Where did you get the usb replacement thing for where the aux port was?

[@brianbodmer5180]

See the description above, there is a link to it on Amazon.

[@22jbuitrago]

How r u boss? So, do u connect the speakers wires from the new stereo with the beat sonic module?

[@brianbodmer5180]

Yes you do. They have pretty clear instructions for that part. Sorry for the delay.