aftermarket head unit

[akeef]

has any one here put in a aftermarket head unit, do you lose your bluetooth and controls on the stering wheel. have a 2007 sedan sl with sat. radio. is there a way to yous the bluethooth on the aftermarket unit, and do you need a new sat. tuner for the brand of new unit, not the one that came from nissan. thanks

[Ever Victorious]

yes you lose steering wheel controls, yes you need an aftermarket satellite tuner, technically you don't lose the bluetooth, but the aftermarket unit cannot use the OEM bluetooth unit either, so you'd have to get a bluetooth ready deck.

All in all, you better have a DAMN good reason for wanting an aftermarket HU to sink that much money in to replacing a stock unit if it has BT and sat.

[Woogie]

I have Sirius in my current car. Not sure about XM, but the antenna wasn't that expensive. It was around $50, and I spent about $30 to have it installed.

The Versa has a nice stereo for stock, but all in all you usually get better sound from aftermarket. The standard size head unit was one of the reasons I chose the Versa over the Fit. I hate it when they're integrated into the dash.

I know that the upgraded audio package comes with an amp, but I'm not sure if it's possible to add an aftermarket one and still keep the stock head unit. If not, that would be a big reason to replace it for some people.

[ace rothstein 81]

My main reason for replacing the heat unit is to get approximately 20% better sound quality. Aside from that, I like the look of it and having the auxiliary jack is cool with me. The six cd changer is nice too, but I realize those things usually don't have much of a shelf life on them. As soon as something comes out that will allow me to use all of my steering wheel controls as I am now while using an aftermarket head, that is what I will get and then I'll go with a better head unit and see how much better my sound can really be.

[KimberKenobi]

I know that the upgraded audio package comes with an amp, but I'm not sure if it's possible to add an aftermarket one and still keep the stock head unit. If not, that would be a big reason to replace it for some people.

I know the V boasts a powered amp... I'm not really clear on what all is back there (it sounds good) but I assume that if you have the SL grade HU, adding an amp should be no problem...

EV just added one to his SL... I think he also added an amp... maybe he should post more about this ;oD

[Ever Victorious]

As soon as something comes out that will allow me to use all of my steering wheel controls as I am now while using an aftermarket head, that is what I will get and then I'll go with a better head unit and see how much better my sound can really be.

Exactly, I wouldn't replace the stock HU on a SL with convenience because not having the buttons work would drive me absolutely nuts.

Anyway... as far as "amps" go on stock SLs... only the ones with the audio package have one, and it's a small one that controls the sub.

It IS possible to add amps to the existing HU system, but since it has no RCA outputs, it would have to be a speaker-level amp, which are both harder to find and harder to install.

And yes, I did technically have an amp installed in my car recently. The amp is integrated to the sub in this case, so the wiring is much like a plain jane amp, except there's also an extra cable for the remote sub audio control. Which has been relocated to under my glove box, basically... we did a "set it and forget it".

But I'll just reiterate...I do not think it is a good idea to change the stock HU on a V with either the convenience or audio packages at this point, as you'll have to replace the system basically stem to stern, and you'll loose the wheel controls because at this point, no aftermarket adapter is made that makes all of the controls work.