Since the accident, I've come to the realization that I'm gonna have to keep my car for quite a few years now. When I bought the car I cheaped out and didn't get any options besides a sunroof, mats, and mudguards. I bought the one they advertised in the paper essentially. Anyway, I have two questions....

1) Is it possible to take the Navigation system out of say a wrecked 2K2 and install it in mine? How difficult would this be?

2) Is it possible to take the Bose system out of a Bose equipped 5th gen and install it in mine? How difficult would this be?

BTW, I would greatly appreciate that only those with relevant info post. Please dont post any comments such as 'BOSE SUCKS!!!!', 'ARE YOU CRAZY???', or 'CAN YOU READ AN ATLAS????'.

 

just wait til this weekend.. I'll show you the FSM and my wire bundle from the bose. Not worth the effort.

I have some plans tho.. I'm sure I will have a few hours to discuss my Nav idea while baking on the tarmac Sunday...

 

I know what you mean by the bundle of wires. I may very well be the only person on this forum that actually likes the Bose system better than most aftermarket systems (please dont burn me at the stake yet.....). I figure if I got it really really cheap (hint, hint), that I could have one of my friends who installs stereos 24/7 at Circuit City hook it up. I'll be interested to hear about your navigation system idea. As you know, I like the stock look. I'm not about big subs in the trunk or various screens that are out of place on the dash. Geez, why didn't I bite the big one and get one that was loaded already??????

 

if he *only* replaces the stock speakers (non-bose), it will sound ALOT better.

anyone?

 

Well what about the navgation system. If it is possible to swith in the OEM navi, doesn't that require the small Bose headunit?

 

Navi does require the single DIN tape deck unit, the navi is sold with a 6 disc changer in the trunk. Not only do you have to worry about the stereo, you have to worry about your climate controls as well, as with the navi there are all integrated into the navi unit.

 

YUP, its not just a screen with a Map, like most of you guys think. It is also a Single CD player, and all the other things Scott mentioned.... Thats why it's a $2K option. If you really want Navi, its cheaper to get an Alpine, or Pioneer one..

 

How is that? you have the Nav unit of $1300-2100, then you have the head unit $800-2000 (the top end of both prices being Kenwood).

 

You can get an alpine DVD based navi unit, and then also have the capabilities of actually adding video (both DVD and TV) to one of the other head units. Also the nissan navi is a cd based program, so if you want to really go on a road trip, you better have all of the disc otherwise your S.O.L. I just think in order to install the Nissan Navi after-the-fact, it is going to cost a lot of $$$$. Might as well just trade the car in on a New Max with the Navi already included.

 

Let me ask you a question, the standard bose headunit runs for $1800 from DaveB. A Nav headunit is well over $3000. WHY??????????

Dixit

 

if clarion made a special model, just for one car model, it would cost ALOT more than a regular din. Plus the nature of how they must be made for years later, plus cost to inventory them, and you get one overpriced radio.

Thats no excuse for $1800, but I understand it.

 

I've thought about the Alpine unit... (I think it's the same as the one that MaineI30 has/used to have in his car).

Question- where could this unit be installed w/o having to rip out my bose headunit and getting an aftermarket headunit, etc.?

 

both Alpine and Kenwood (and others) have screens that accept Nav input. The screen can be mounted any number of ways and sound routed to the HU with a modulator.

the gen that mainei30 had is really cheap right now.. the new gen alpine has come out and many owners of the old one are selling cheap. But I havent met many people that liked the older alpine. I hear the new one is quite nice..

 

I'm not sure how much, if at all the NAVI is wired into the ECU. It must know your speed, because it knows how much time you are away from your destination, and it also locks you out of certain functions is the car is moving. It could be calculating your speed by satellite tracking but who knows.

 

It definitely uses satellite tracking for your speed, etc. Some units acuracy is within 2-3 feet range (ones with WAAS enabled). Typical receiving is 1hz for position which is good enough for measuring your speed. (based on last position to new position and time it took to get there)

 

yes.. it would be connected to the ECU. OEM Nav (and upper end units like Kenwoods) do require a speed sensor input. Reason being, when you breifly lose the sats, it can estimate your next position or two (1 sec intervals). Plus, these system use your vehicle speed to verify what its getting from the sats. Its biased between the two to correct for the 10-20ft drift you'll have.

I havent been anywhere the WAAS has locked. I didnt think WAAS would be out of testing phase until 04? Yeah, I know there are a few towers scattered around, but too few to actually count on.

From what I gather, Nissan puts the GPS in the trunk, on the right side, behind the liner. thats where the Nissan Communicator option goes as well.

 

How about a laptop computer with GPS and mapping software like Delorme or Rand McNally?

 

What is the Nissan Communicator option?

Scott

 

my favorite laptop of all time.. import from Japan.. used 2 camcorder batteries. had all ports on board. sadly, it couldnt keep up with Delorme's hoggy program (p266mmx). I should have just gotten another program, but instead I upgraded and sold this off. Now that I realize Street Altas Deluxe is poo, I should try to get this back.

http://www.adpub.com/tim/gps.jpg


Nissan sells an Onstar like option. you can see it in the last few pages of the parts catalog that was posted here a few days ago

 

In the manual, it says the GPS is somewhere behind the dash, and not to put electronic equipment such as cell phones there because of interference.

 

First: Anything is possible, so yes, it CAN be done

Now, The Argument: Is it worth it? Not in my opinion (key word OPINION)

I have the ESM and have looked it over, as I was wondering the same thing. Here's the deal. Nissan has a different master harness for cars that have NAVI. It's the same harness layout, but the connectors are different. So far, I've gathered that they have 3 different main harnesses for each transmission type. That makes a total of 6 different main harnesses for the Max.

Harness 1: Auto without BOSE without NAVI
Harness 2: Auto with BOSE without NAVI
Harness 3: Auto with BOSE with NAVI
Harness 4: Manual without BOSE without NAVI
Harness 5: Manual with BOSE without NAVI
Harness 6: Manual with BOSE with NAVI

The ESM states that there are different connectors (and different number of pins in those connectors) based upon the options installed in the car. I have verified that there are at LEAST 4 different harnesses, as I have worked on both a M/T and A/T with BOSE, and a M/T and A/T without BOSE. The wire colors are different for the audio if it has BOSE (search for my 2002 wiring chart) than if it doesn't. I can confirm the M/T and A/T differences, but this should be pretty obvious.

I said all of that to say... it can be done, but probably not plug and pray. It would require running some wires yourself. As to which ones, I dunno, since I haven't had the honor of working with the NAV harness yet. In my opinion, I wouldn't do it, and here's why. You get the NAVI HU from a JunkYard. Then you try to plug it up, but you are still missing the GPS modules, CDs, A/C controls, Tape Deck, and CD Changer. Now if you go and add all those parts to the cost of the NAVI unit, you're closer to aftermarket units (if not way over). I don't necessiarly care for aftermarket NAVI systems, because they don't have the "stock" look, but they are still an option. But you say "I got a package deal for $2000" and now you have all the parts. Now you gotta install it. ESM is $210.00 right now at Nissan North America. You'll need it to hook the system up to integrate with certain functions of the car. Time-it takes alot to research it, trust me, as I installed my own car alarm (no one else in the area had done so when I did it). It took me 2 weeks just to weed through the ESM pages to find out which wire goes where, what color it is, etc, because DEI and others are incorrect in their wiring colors. Then, the final question... does it work? If it does, great, and I'd love to see a writeup, as you may convince me to do it myself as well. But until then, it's not an adventure that I'm personally willing to take.

Hope this helps!!!?

This is my opinion, and as always, you are entitled to yours. Yours doesn't have to agree with mine, and it may not. Just remember, it's an opinion, and I'm entitled to have it, even if you don't agree.

 

Studman, thanks so much for the write up. It was very informative. Well, I'll have to look into a bit further. I was hoping, rather wishfully, that it was just a swap out the pieces kinda deal. Obviously it is not. I can get the Bose speakers for dirt cheap as well as the amplifier. I'll have to call some local salvage yards and see how much the center console bits cost as well as all the wires behind the dash. Considering that all the cars on the lot that had the Bose/Navi system when I bought mine were around $29K with discount and mine was $24K with discount, I'll have to weigh carefully how much money I'd be willing to spend to do something like this.

 

Somebody is going to do this eventually...so let's try to inspire that person!!! Go team go! Hell, it might be me if I had a Nissan dealer/mechanic who was willing to work with me on it to get named and listed on Maxima.org as a choice for NW board members (I'd pay him too, of course...just under the table preferably).