HOW TO - Installing an aftermarket headunit in a '05-07 Focus‏

[#Russ#Es#]

There's been a few threads about installing aftermarket headunits in a Mk2, most being about the plug and play units from China. As I had no need for a DVD Player or integrated GPS in my Focus (given I might use my Navman once a month at the most), I chose to go down the brand name path. I actually bought a single DIN facia a few years ago (that I no longer need, PM if interested) after initially planning on installing an Alpine single DIN. After seeing this unit, I changed my mind. Double DIN definitely fills the space a lot better, and this unit has an OEM look, the button and display colours are fully customisable, and it produces a pretty decent sound. But most importantly - it supported USB.

I researched online and found some handy info on the XR5 Turbo forums. Although a remote comes with the headunit, steering wheels controls would be handy to keep. I gathered up the bits and pieces and result is this:



The headunit was released early this year and apparently its selling out everywhere, which is interesting given JVC aren't the strongest brand when it comes to car audio. I had a few issues with a local car audio place waiting on a new shipment from JVC, so ended up going with Ryda - $350 (not delivered).

For those not sure about going down the Chinese DVD/GPS headunit route, brand name is also very easy to install if you do a little homework. You may not get the same features for the price as a Chinese unit, but you get good after sales support, if something goes wrong you don't have to send stuff back to China, and you're less likely to get a clunky, poorly designed UI.

There are plenty of people that say the Mk2 needs a CAN-BUS interface (which cost up to $100) to install a aftermarket headunit and use the steering wheel controls. You don't. Car audio places will tell you the same thing - don't listen!!

N.B: The following parts relate to 2005-2007 Focus models (square headunit).

• Autoleads PC99-X50 Interface Lead will connect your OEM plug to your new headunit's ISO plug.
• Aerpro Universal ISO harness - because car audio manufacturers don't agree on using the universal (ISO) connection, I also bought this to connect the plug supplied with the headunit to the ISO connection of the Autoleads Interface Lead and wired it up myself.
• Autoleads Steering Wheel Control Patch lead - you will need a brand specific patch lead for the steering wheel controls, model number will be PC-JVC, PC-SON, PC-KEN, etc for a JVC, Sony or Kenwood.
• Double DIN or single DIN facia fitting kit specific to the 2005+ Focus.
• Antenna Adapter to connect the OEM (Fakra) radio antenna connection to a DIN connection.

There is a specific procedure to follow when installing the patch lead to get the steering wheel controls to work, but its pretty easy. Complete installation took around 15 mins.

Cost all up of connections/facia's/etc came to around AU$150 including shipping. Steering wheel controls work perfectly - all the buttons work in the same way, except when you hold the track up/down button you move to the previous/next album when using USB - very handy! USB works very well, have 20gb of music on a 32gb USB stick and it takes around 10-15 secs to load. Only negative is that if you turn the ignition on and the USB finishes loading, it has to read again when you start the car. Pretty sure this is the same for most headunits that read USB. I just make sure I turn the unit off before I turn the ignition off so it doesn't try to load the next time I start the car.

Bluetooth (calls + music) is also handy and works well, although I have only used it a couple times.

A few pics:



Because of the carbon fibre wrap, the facia trim is a very tight fit. Might need to sand one side a little. Undecided if I want to wrap the facia in the carbon wrap...

Day mode colour scheme:



Night mode colour scheme:




Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask here or PM.