Infotainment clarification needed

[Koz60]

Hi.. Newbie here. I'm in the market for a new vehicle and the Cx-5 GT is on top of my list. From what I'm reading the GT comes stock with the Bose system. If you want navigation it's $650 which I believe adds a TomTom GPS. From what I understand Tom Tom's are not very good or I should say there are better GPS units. Can I just purchase a different aftermarket GPS unit and install that in place of the Tom Tom module? I'm reading where people are replacing the HU but keeping the Bose system? I'm guess then the HU that comes with the CX-5 is not a Bose but just that there is a Bose module of some sort that plugs into a generic HU? Can someone educate me?

Thanks
Steve

 

[danieljw]

Hi.. Newbie here. I'm in the market for a new vehicle and the Cx-5 GT is on top of my list. From what I'm reading the GT comes stock with the Bose system. If you want navigation it's $650 which I believe adds a TomTom GPS. From what I understand Tom Tom's are not very good or I should say there are better GPS units. Can I just purchase a different aftermarket GPS unit and install that in place of the Tom Tom module? I'm reading where people are replacing the HU but keeping the Bose system? I'm guess then the HU that comes with the CX-5 is not a Bose but just that there is a Bose module of some sort that plugs into a generic HU? Can someone educate me?

Thanks
Steve

The TomTom in the CX-5 is okay. It will get you to your destination. It is hindered by the motion lock that prevents touch input while moving. Voice commands only, and they don't always work well. Also, if you choose to go with the TomTom, it available on Ebay for a few hundred bucks less than the MSRP price.

Alternate manufacturers' GPS units will not work in the CX-5.

The Bose system refers only to an amplifier and speakers that are installed in the car. The OEM headunit is made by Sanyo, and just drives the Bose system. The headunit and Bose system are separate which allows one to exist without the other. So basically, you just connect the aftermarket headunit harness to the factory speaker wires going to the Bose (via line-level output, not directly).

 

[Koz60]

Appreciate the reply.. Any idea why an alternate manufacture GPS will not work? Is it the Sanyo HU that won't accept anything other then the Tom Tom? Do most HU's only accept a certain GPS unit?

 

[nXt]

Appreciate the reply.. Any idea why an alternate manufacture GPS will not work? Is it the Sanyo HU that won't accept anything other then the Tom Tom? Do most HU's only accept a certain GPS unit?

Pretty much all in-dash built in car gps navigation systems are made to work with only 1 GPS Mapping company only.
I don't know any American car that lets you choose what mapping/gps system to use.

You're welcome to rip out the head unit and put in a nice Pioneer or Kenwood with Garmin GPS brain, just know that taking out the head unit disables the ability to change a lot of car settings. (Headlight auto off, auto door lock options, and more). You'll need to take it to dealer to change settings, or keep your old head unit and plug it in when you want to change settings.

 

[danieljw]

Appreciate the reply.. Any idea why an alternate manufacture GPS will not work? Is it the Sanyo HU that won't accept anything other then the Tom Tom? Do most HU's only accept a certain GPS unit?

Everything nXt said, basically. Some of the aftermarket manufacturers build their own navigation software. Pioneer, Alpine, etc. I have read very good things about Clarion's latest nav software. Others (Kenwood comes to mind) just build Garmin software into their units. In my opinion, none of these GPS navigation companies' software is very good. Nothing compares to Google Maps, which now incorporates Waze traffic information. That's why my personal trade-off was to not buy the GT Tech Package and instead spend much less money on a larger, faster Android smartphone that could use Google Maps wherever.

Yes, removing the headunit from a CX-5 GT will remove the ability to tweak some of the locking/lighting/wiper behaviors. But really, once you have them set to your liking, you won't really need to change them anyway.

 

[joloriquelme]

Can you please confirm that, once you had adjusted all the settings on the OEM infotaiment regarding auto-locks, lights and others, you can change it for a new unit without loosing that functionality?

Anyway, my OEM infotaiment, besides the USB track resume problem and the Bluetooth start delay, is working fine for me. Mainly, I'm using Bluetooth on Spotify on the iPhone and the other music stored, and with a little patience and two minutes of waiting (even listening to FM radio while I get out the car of the parking slot in my aparment), I can sort this. Even, when the freedom is absolutely required, I use the AUX cable.

As for navigation, I use Waze. After I discovered this app, I can't imagine myself using a standard offline GPS, even with weekly updated maps. The real-time traffic information, foursquare integration and others make this irreplaceable, and the Bluetooth integration while you're listening to music works very good.

Sorry my spanglish!

Cheers.

 

[RedBaron]

Can you please confirm that, once you had adjusted all the settings on the OEM infotaiment regarding auto-locks, lights and others, you can change it for a new unit without loosing that functionality?

Yes. I can confirm that. (You cannot change any settings you've already made, though, unless you reinstall the factory head unit.)

 

[Koz60]

Thanks for the replies. nXt I wasn't thinking about using the GPS mappings from one company onto another companies GPS device. What I was thinking was that the HU is just a display module. When you click on Navigation on the HU it opens a link or connection to the installed GPS module.. black box so to speak. That being the case then one could install whatever companies black box they want. Mazda told me it was $695 to install just the GPS unit without the infotainment package. If I could get a better GPS unit to install in it's place that was the direction I wanted to go. Doesn't sound like they work that way.

 

[nXt]

Thanks for the replies. nXt I wasn't thinking about using the GPS mappings from one company onto another companies GPS device. What I was thinking was that the HU is just a display module. When you click on Navigation on the HU it opens a link or connection to the installed GPS module.. black box so to speak. That being the case then one could install whatever companies black box they want. Mazda told me it was $695 to install just the GPS unit without the infotainment package. If I could get a better GPS unit to install in it's place that was the direction I wanted to go. Doesn't sound like they work that way.

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
Check on eBay or online Mazda Parts dealers. They sell them well below $500 brand new.