[MattR]

I just finished installing my new Pioneer AVIC-X920BT navigation/media receiver. It wasn't nearly as complicated as I was expecting. I got the receiver, trim kit, harness, and antenna adapter off of ebay (Sonic Electronix, $739 shipped). I spent about 30 minutes connecting the wire harnesses together (solder plus heat shrink) a few days ago. It took about 30 minutes to install the unit into my Smart today, including fishing for the screw that fell into the dash

I decided to bypass the parking brake requirement by connecting the radio's sensor wire and ground wire to the wiring harness's grounding wire. Everything works as you would expect it to. I left the speed pulse wire disconnected (didn't buy a CANbus to speed pulse converter), nor did I do anything with a reverse camera (though that may be coming eventually).

For media, I plan on using the micro-sd slot almost exclusively. For the rare USB or auxiliary jack use, I plan to use a panel mount usb extension (

, $32 shipped) in the glove compartment and will wire the existing aux jack in the glove compartment so that it still works.

I placed the GPS antenna under the dash trim, close to where one of the dash pods would be (if I had them) and it still gets a great signal.

Not really useful for much more than pointing, I do plan to hook up my driving dvr (DealExtreme, $83) to one of the video inputs. I'll be sure to post photos when I get that done.

Everything sounds great with the built-in speakers. I'm not sure now if I'll be changing them.


Edit: Photos added below. Trim kit was a Metra kit.

 

[jediknight36]

Wow. Can I ask what the speed pulse and Canbus is? Let US know how that dvr works out. I'm checking it out too!

 

[NCC1701]

I don't know much about the dedicated car DVRs. What loop lengths are available? I couldn't find that tid bit when I looked for it.

 

[MattR]

I may have spoke too soon about the parking brake sensor grounding.... this morning it warned me that my parking brake wire was hooked up incorrectly. I'll have to look into it more.

While googling for what I needed with this stereo install, I saw mentioned that a CANbus adapter can use information off of the OBD2 port (or wires from it) to output a speed pulse so that the navigation software can more accurately estimate your location when you don't have a good satellite signal (like in a tunnel or an area with very tall buildings.

The car dvrs start recording as soon as your car turns on and turns off a set amount of time after you turn off the car. The dvr will automatically loop for whatever length of video will fit on the microsd card you put in it. The dvrs typically have a built in battery for recording when your car is off but I imagine you would have to manually turn it on if you wanted that.

 

[MattR]

After checking avic411.com, I realized that I had forgotten to move the mute wire and connect it to the parking brake wire and ground them together. Done and working great.

 

[raybones]

awesome bro. enjoy it

 

[MattR]

awesome bro. enjoy it

Already doing it My 8gb micro-sd card arrived today and I've already got it loaded up with music. Can't wait for my dvr to arrive. I love my car!

 

[Smartfor2guy]

No pictures - Didnt happen!

 

[jediknight36]

No pictures - Didnt happen!

The guy on the right is starving! FEED HIM!

 

[MattR]

No pictures - Didnt happen!

I'll take some photos tomorrow.

 

[Kermit]

JESUS CHRIST! Isn't that the guy on the right?

I was about to say when this was first posted to please post some pics of how smooth it looks installed.

 

[MattR]

How's this:

 

[Kermit]

Nice smooth screen display. My old D-3 is old looking compared to that.

 

[MattR]

Nice smooth screen display. My old D-3 is old looking compared to that.

It's fast, too. Too many graphical interfaces are slow... this one is not. The only issue I have is with the voice recognition taking it's time understanding me but it's better than nothing (and can actually understand me well enough).

 

[MattR]

I installed the USB port in the dash today and cut/soldered the old headphone jack cable onto a male headphone jack from Radioshack (so that it will plug into the stereo's headphone port). I've also got my UltraGauge temporarily mounted... I've still got to figure out how I want it permanently mounted.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about the cable for the USB port cap.... either remove it or attach it to the glove compartment...

 

[PINOYPOWERS]

How's the sound quality with the stock speakers?

 

[MattR]

It sounds great. I was expecting to replace the speakers before I upgraded the stereo... now I doubt I will. I will probably add two rear speakers, though.

 

[SmartDigger]

The higher power will most likely degrade the speakers fast.

 

[MattR]

I doubt my speakers will degrade any faster... I am not feeding them any higher volumes than I did prior to swapping out the stereo. But if they do, I'll be sure to replace them with better speakers.

 

[PINOYPOWERS]

Does your Smart have a factory sub? Does it still work after the you installed the new headunit?