i want to know what head unit will flush int he best with the silver styling of the xfire's dash. i want something that doesn't even look aftermarket, but is also high quality.

any suggestions?

 

I put a Kenwood KVT-M700 and it looks factory, the silver finish on it is identical. It has a touchscreen and I also have the KNA-DV4100 Navigation along with Sirius satellite radio.

 

Agreed, the Kenwood silver is pretty much a perfect match. There are some Pioneer units too that are pretty close. I chose a green LED match with Pioneer (very close silver but not perfect) over the blue Kenwood with a perfect match silver. If Kenwood used green LEDs in their units I would have gotten one but they only have blue.

 

I went with one of Pioneer's older model : DEH-P9600MP unit...goes great with the interior but the accent light are blue not green ( I got over that real quick )...You should still be able to find brand new units online but most of them are refubs. For the quality of head unit and price you can't beat it, I got mine under $400 and that included shipping...good luck.

 

Do they just plug straight in then?
Or do you have problems what with the amp etc?

Norrie.

 

No problems with the amp...pretty straight forward installation, no need to re-wire speaker or amp...just make sure that you reverse the connections of the yellow and red wires (yellow to red and red to yellow). I had circuit city do the install for me since I've never done an installation before and don't have the tools for it...cost $120 for installation.

 

Why do you need to reverse the wires?

Norrie.

 

Buy the Head Unit from Crutchfield, they give you all the necessary tools to do the install. I never did a Stereo Install before but I did it on the Crossfire and it was pretty easy. If you can match up colored wire, splice and tape (or solder) wires together, it's a breeze. Should take a few hours but it's worth saving the $120.

Plus Crutchfield gives you free tech support over the phone if something happens.

You need to reverse the wires because the Red wire from the factory harness is the 12V Constant and the Yellow is the 12V Switch (or ACC) whereas most cars the Yellow wire is the 12V Constant and the Red is the 12V ACC.

 

I agree with what GatorLCA said...you can save money doing it yourself and Crutchfield has great support but I just didn't feel like installing my head unit in the middle of winter.

 

I am in the U.K. so will be buying a head unit from a local place.
As for fitting it myself not a problem.
Is that the only two wires you have to swap?
If so it will only take minutes not hours.

Norrie.

 

I guess it all depends on how much the individual has experience on installing...the shop that installed my head unit took about a hour...good luck, will you be posting pics later on ?...I will shortly.

 

I put in a Pioneer DHP-4800MP (Hopefully I got that model right). It matches wonderfully and has an auxiliary input for my iPod... although it looks aftermarket.

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The M-700 has a perfect green match not only on the buttons but also the screen has two different green back grounds which match perfectly. Its why I chose this unit along with the DV4100 nav. IMO no better match for the Xfire. Plus I can play Xbox 360 in the car.

 

Does this head unit still display artist/song titles and radio station names on select stations like the oem unit?

 

I BELIEVE it displays artist/song titles, but not radio station names.

I don't really know, I also have my iPod hooked up and playing through the harman/kardon drive+play system.

 

mayaman can you please post some pics in the day and night (with lights on of course)?