A few weeks ago I made it around to removing the single DIN JVC navigation nightmare that came with my Roadster. I thought I'd provide some quick tips for anyone interested in doing the same.
For starters, you may want to examine some photos of the radio assembly and main harness.
For starters you should check out the installation guide, as it covers some of what you need to know to remove the radio. You'll probably want to acquire the installation/removal tool, which looks like this (this set has the required one, or this). The keys release the latches on the sides of the radio to unlock it from the radio sleeve, however this is not sufficient to remove the radio -- there are two hidden latches. They're located at on the top right and bottom left corners of the radio (I believe -- compare it against the photos I took). These can be released with a butter knife, credit card, thin/stiff plastic, etc. You may need to straighten the handle portions of removal tools to clear the dash trim, you'll hear a solid click when you've inserted them appropriately.
At this point if you're lucky you should be able to remove the radio. In my case the radio was seized into the sleeve by a large quantity of road grit. You might be able to clear this using canned air (possibly with a bit of rubbing alcohol as a lubricant/release agent).
In my case, I pulled the radio and sleeve out together. This was only possible because when the radio was installed the sleeve tabs weren't bent out to secure it (this may have been done intentionally to avoid the seizing issue). If you're going to attempt to pull the radio and sleeve out, masking tape the trim in the opening area so you don't mar the trim.
With the radio out its a relatively easy job to install a new unit -- especially if you use a recent JVC or Kenwood unit, which will have the same primary cord (speakers, power, etc). I used a Kenwood KMM-BT308U (~$50), much more stable & easier to use than the original.
If you wanted to replace the radio with something outside of the Kenwood/JVC family, you'd either need to cut the harness (which I'd recommend against) or source a compatible mate to the in dash connector (sometimes called a reverse harness -- I was unable to find one).
I didn't bother to remove any of the additional modules associated with the KD-NX5000 (iPod, Bluetooth, Satellite Radio interfaces, GPS antenna), nor did I remove the reverse and hand brake wiring for the old radio. The additional modules were all powered by the old headunit, so they are effectively dead. I taped off the connectors to protect them. If you selected an appropriate JVC headunit these modules could be reused (though the BT is terrible), or see this thread for some information on how to fully remove them.
Drop me a line if you have any questions...
For starters, you may want to examine some photos of the radio assembly and main harness.
For starters you should check out the installation guide, as it covers some of what you need to know to remove the radio. You'll probably want to acquire the installation/removal tool, which looks like this (this set has the required one, or this). The keys release the latches on the sides of the radio to unlock it from the radio sleeve, however this is not sufficient to remove the radio -- there are two hidden latches. They're located at on the top right and bottom left corners of the radio (I believe -- compare it against the photos I took). These can be released with a butter knife, credit card, thin/stiff plastic, etc. You may need to straighten the handle portions of removal tools to clear the dash trim, you'll hear a solid click when you've inserted them appropriately.
At this point if you're lucky you should be able to remove the radio. In my case the radio was seized into the sleeve by a large quantity of road grit. You might be able to clear this using canned air (possibly with a bit of rubbing alcohol as a lubricant/release agent).
In my case, I pulled the radio and sleeve out together. This was only possible because when the radio was installed the sleeve tabs weren't bent out to secure it (this may have been done intentionally to avoid the seizing issue). If you're going to attempt to pull the radio and sleeve out, masking tape the trim in the opening area so you don't mar the trim.
With the radio out its a relatively easy job to install a new unit -- especially if you use a recent JVC or Kenwood unit, which will have the same primary cord (speakers, power, etc). I used a Kenwood KMM-BT308U (~$50), much more stable & easier to use than the original.
If you wanted to replace the radio with something outside of the Kenwood/JVC family, you'd either need to cut the harness (which I'd recommend against) or source a compatible mate to the in dash connector (sometimes called a reverse harness -- I was unable to find one).
I didn't bother to remove any of the additional modules associated with the KD-NX5000 (iPod, Bluetooth, Satellite Radio interfaces, GPS antenna), nor did I remove the reverse and hand brake wiring for the old radio. The additional modules were all powered by the old headunit, so they are effectively dead. I taped off the connectors to protect them. If you selected an appropriate JVC headunit these modules could be reused (though the BT is terrible), or see this thread for some information on how to fully remove them.
Drop me a line if you have any questions...
