2008-2010 GPS NAV Aftermarket

[Donewood]

I'm waiting to recieve a Nav unit (EBay listing 250813011154 ) A little worried that the dash in my 07 GT may be different that the 08-10 model year?

Hoping it will be truly plug and play. Is the fact that I have seperate Tweeters the factory 6 speaker setup, mean this head unit won't run them?

Any thoughts Thanx

 

[smartass]

The dash is different between the 06-07 and the 08-10 Mazda5's:

NAV:
2008-2010:

2006-2007:

No Nav:

 

[icspots]

Well, the OEM NAV is different between the '07 and '08 years, but it sort of looks like the trim is generally the same size/shape as the one you linked.... even looks like the defrost buttons on the bottom are the same shape so it's possible it may fit fine. It's equally possible that it won't but I can't really say.

For simplicity here's the ebay item you purchased

And here's the OEM '07 one

Looking at the dash between the two it looks like the only significant different right there is that on the older models the LCD is right above the HU trim and on the newer ones it's spaced up higher with the hazard button between them.

Assuming this is like the ones for the Mz3 then you should be able to retain the OEM LCD as it has it's own wiring harness and it will still display the ACC info on the right. To retain the clock on the left you'll need to unplug the old HU and plug in the new one with the car on (or at least the stereo on), however to reset it you would need to plug the old stereo back in. Best of luck to you and be sure to post up if it works and a review of the HU and features.

 

[icspots]

As to your concerns about the speakers...... If you have the regular system then it will likely operate fine. The tweeters are simply run off of the front door speakers. If you have the OEM bose then you'll need to connect it to the bose amplifier. If the new HU has line level outputs then that will be fine as that's what the bose amp needs. If not then you may have some work to get it sounding right.

 

[Donewood]

Thanx so much for your effort... Installing the head unit was almost effortless. Took less then 20 minutes and it was entirly plug n play! It all works perfectly, just packed with features... Had to order the CANBUS for steering wheel controls. Works great. It has IGO Map and gives a website for updates. The instalation Manual totaly useless... But it turned out to be truly plug and play so not a biggie. Turns out that the bezel that would have accomodated the factory screen( see abore the HU) is a big empty void which was ideal for placing the CanBus block and the GPS Anttena. I put the GPS antenna way up front and secured with zip ties, it gets strong reception from way more than the three required Sats. I couldn't be more pleased with this unit.

 

[Donewood]

Thanks you were correct about the tweeters they work just fine, I had the regular six set up and it's as you describe, only four chanels required.

 

[Donewood]

As you can notice in the picture, the org. 07 HU is a bright silver the Chinese HU is a richer Pewter kind of color. Nobody has noticed the shade difterence as it looks like it maches perfectly because of light angles and shade. I lkie the Pewter better it dosn't look as cheap.

I guess the only real problem with the HU is that they couldn't spell Menu ( use the Meun button for this function! ) Like I said above the instal and operation of the unit... Just great. Putting in an optional Reverse Camera, that was a couple of days. I wanted to keep all the wiring invisable. Hidiing the RCA and Power feeds in the rear hatch required some real thinking and difficult drilling. The trm around the window is part of the bonded structure and there is a steel sub frame with solid corners that wont allow you to pass the wires internaly. It's all done and looks like afactory insalation now.

 

[flcruising]

Do you have a picture of the HU?

I guess you missed the 'How-To' on the rearview camera install?

 

[twintrbo]

Hidiing the RCA and Power feeds in the rear hatch required some real thinking and difficult drilling. The trm around the window is part of the bonded structure and there is a steel sub frame with solid corners that wont allow you to pass the wires internaly. It's all done and looks like afactory insalation now.

Sorry, but no drilling is required to get the wires down to the license plate area. Post some pics, I'd like to see how it came out.

 

[ErikO]

For simplicity here's the ebay item you purchased

I hope '"menu" is spelled correctly on the one you bought. That's pretty embarrassing.

 

[Donewood]

On my 07 the tailgate is glass and plastic bonded to a steel sub frame the interior trim is also bonded to this structure. The interior trim has a hatch at the top for 3rd eye stoplight replacement and then a large center hatch to for access to the licence lighting, wiper motor ect. I fished the camera wiring throug this hatch under the wiper motor and into the lip around the rear window. Up around the window. At the center top of the window I drilled through the weather seal and into the area of the 3rd brakelight. The wires now travel under the brakelight (in a carved slot) to the access hatch behind the light. From this acess area I fished them through the rubber unbilical (on the drivers side, passengers side was too crowded with the washer fluid hose) to under the trim panel on the inside of the car. It then runs to the passenger side under the trims, down the corner to the top of the rear right wheel well. Here is were I taped into the 12v feed for the reverse lights. There is a convenient plug for the tailing assy, and a Ground nut with two leads bolted to it. The RCA line continues from here forward onder the door sills up toward the dashboard. I'm pleased to report thats it's all secured with zip ties and no chance of rattles or chaffing.

 

[Donewood]

Still haven't found it... and didn't buy a wireless. Perfered the reliability and cost factor of hard wired.

 

[Donewood]

Hey I've got relatives around Stouffville. No I'm sorry to say mine is spelled wrong as well.... What I'm not sorry to say is that the unit has features that I didn't exect and is working way beyound my expectations. The integrating of my Cell, MP3s as well as full phone capability is too cool. ( Bluetooth ) Same for my daughters Ipod Touch. I was also surprised at how up to date the IGO map provided is. I'm out here at CFB Suffield and all our training roads are on it as well !! Even most of the dirt trails. China can build some great sophisticated hardware, but still can't produce decent english manuals. I guess english won't be too important to them after they takeover the world. HaHA

 

[twintrbo]

Donewood, sounds like you have a good routing but if you went the same route as the wire for the rear defroster, you wouldn't need to cut anything. I'm not telling you that you are wrong, just putting the info here for others if they dont want to or aren't able to cut it. Glad its working well, I was VERY tempted to get one for my car as well. How does the stereo sound now? Better than stock?

 

[Donewood]

Donewood, sounds like you have a good routing but if you went the same route as the wire for the rear defroster, you wouldn't need to cut anything. I'm not telling you that you are wrong, just putting the info here for others if they dont want to or aren't able to cut it. Glad its working well, I was VERY tempted to get one for my car as well. How does the stereo sound now? Better than stock?

I would say it sounds as good as stock, but I have some hearing loss. My friends tell me it sounds great. The published Specs looked good. Almost all HUs have decent signal to noise ratios and great dynamic range these days. I find the speakers themselves have the most room for improvement. Unless you want huge head room for crazy volume levels, which will get you combat veteran hearing similar to mine anyway. This unit will accept an external amp as well.

Following the defroster which I had no luck with, (I tried) only gets you half way there.

I think you would be pleased with the unit even with the meun button and all... Getting the plug and play full harness saved me a lot of frustration. I see a lot of them for sale that have only the "pigtail" plug with all the loose wires attached. Given the quality of the installation manuals this could be a nightmare, or even a fire catastrophe!

 

[DKaz]

Do you have a photo of this installed? What are your thoughts on it overall like ease of use? Any issues?

External amp support is a bonus.

 

[Donewood]

I'll try and get around to posting some pictures soon... The unit has been very easy to use. Particularly pleased with the Nav system. Quite intuative compared to a number I have used in the past. Blue tooth connection to my phone works extreamly well except for accessing stored numbers? Could be the phone or my 16 GB Micro SD... But bluetooth play of MP3s from the Micro SD is also very good, so this is a little weird.

I would still recommend this unit, looks and works great, excellent price. If you don't mind the Muen button that is!!!

 

[DKaz]

MEUN... lol.

There are other alternatives as well, but this looks the best.

 

[Donewood]

Photos

Here are a couple photos. One shows the 30 dollar backup camera image. Its been working flawlessly for over A year. Noticed the graphed lines. The green (second furthest) line allows about two extra inches to lift the tailgate. The red line tells you when the bumper is about to touch. It was perfectly calibrated out of the box!!