kenwood DNX8120 installation notes

[simonlok]

I just finished installing a Kenwood Exelon DNX8120 into a Smart fortwo pure. The installation was fairly straightforward. The most time consuming step was creating the wiring harness. The good news is that creating the hardness can be done in whatever comfortable setting you choose because the wiring harness for the Kenwood completely disconnects from the head unit. In addition, the wires for the harnesses on both ends mostly match up in color so it's pretty simple to get things right.

End to end I spent about 2.5 hours to do it all and I was working at a very leisurely pace. If I were to do it again I could comfortably do it in under 1 hour.

[simonlok]

This is the list of items that I bought from 4smartcar:

1 2008 SMART CAR STEREO / RADIO INSTALLATION DASH KIT BLK @ $24.99
1 2008 SMART CAR STEREO RADIO ANTENNA ADAPTOR @ $7.99
1 2008 SMART CAR STEREO RADIO INSTALLATION WIRE HARNESS @ $14.99

Of course, I also bought the DNX8120 ($1130 all inclusive).

Some installation notes:

I used double sided tape to tape the GPS antenna to the top of the right air duct. It is completely hidden from sight when the plastic cover is replaced.

I ran the USB, iPod USB, 1/8" audio and 1/8" video cables through the hole into the glove compartment and left them in there in case I want to connect media devices for playback.

I ran the cable for the microphone out the left, underneath the trim and up the instrument cluster trim. I used the included double sided tape to attach the microphone to the top of the instrument cluster.

[simonlok]

The pictures are in the site gallery:

http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/gallery/browseimages.php?searchid=522

I also customized the startup screen to boot with the smart logo. The instructions on how to do this are here:

Kenwood DNX8120: Custom Start Up Screen - AVS Forum

You can find numerous high quality smart car logos by doing a simple Google image search.

[jwight]

Just curious, what made the 8120 more appealing than the 5120 several people have installed? Thanks!

[simonlok]

Originally Posted by jwight

Just curious, what made the 8120 more appealing than the 5120 several people have installed? Thanks!

I didn't even consider the 5120. I only considered full screen double DIN units (e.g., like the Exelon 8120 and the AVIC Z-3). In my opinion, the real estate is precious and I would not want to waste it for a scroll wheel. If I had the time, I would have made a custom bezel and put in a slightly larger and higher resolution touchscreen and connected it to a embedded PC and run one of the many available OS skins for Linux or XP. That would have gotten me another inch of diagonal, at the cost of a day or two of work. The 8120 was a compromise... 7 inches of screen for 2 hours end to end. I could have done it faster but I soldered and heat shrink wrapped every connection.

--SL