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Upgrading the Accord iCDTi ICE. Many Questions (& hopefully Answers too!)

DJ Wozza

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Location
SE London
Car
Accord 2.2 i-CDTi
I will be buying a 7th Gen i-CDTi Saloon (around 2007/8) soon.
It will be either the EX or Sport either with or without Sat-Nav.

so here goes with the questions.......

1) Other than the part Leather vs full Leather interior, what are the main differnces between the Sport & Executive? Ride height? ARB's? Wheels? Tyres? Standard Equipment? Also between the Sat-Nav & premium Sound versions?


2) I want to fit a Double DIN DVD HU in the lower dash, can this be easily integrated to allow the Sat Nav still to work with turn commands via say leaving the the rear door speakers connected to the Sat-Nav etc or other are other solutions possible?

3) Will my new Head unit be able to connect to the existing loom (either a custom loom mod or via an aftermarket wiring adaptor) so that the steering wheel remote controls still function?

I will be running the new Head Unit via an aftermarket 4 channel amplifier, and a 12" Subwoofer via another aftermarket amplifier (mono). I want to run new front component speakers 16.5/17cms, & will use some dynamatt or similar sound deadening to help dampen the door panel.

4) Will a simple 17cms MDF Speaker ring fit fine & will I need to modify the Door Card at all? Also any recommendations on the MDF ring thickness to be used?

5) Rear deck speakers, are they 6x9's and if so do I just need MDF rings to mount my aftermarket speakers? Suggested MDF thinkness?

6) I will need to run a fairly chunky 0AWG power cable through to the boot. Is there a known way to do this relatively easily? (in my Lexus it runs through a grommet in the bulkhead, down the back of the glovebox area to the footwell, inside the car in a hollow cavity in the door sill to the rear of the car, then up behind the edge of the rear seat thru into the boot)

7) The amplifiers will be a big drain on the standard Battery, & even when replaced with a more ICE related one I might still have Power issues at full volume, does anyone know the Amp output of the standard i-CDTi Alternator? I know the diesel ones on most cars are a bit beefier than most petrols, & wondered if there is a difference & how much so?


8) Reverse Camera: is there an easy walkthru/guide to fitting a suitable one & integrating it simply with the existing Sat-Nav? (it's very easily integrated with the aftermarket Head Unit). Also what feed to trigger the switchover have people used?



Apologies for so many questions, any info or advice is gratefully received.
Once I get my car & start my install, there will be a thread & plenty of pictures!!
 
DJ Wozza said:
I will be buying a 7th Gen i-CDTi Saloon (around 2007/8) soon.
It will be either the EX or Sport either with or without Sat-Nav.

so here goes with the questions.......

1) Other than the part Leather vs full Leather interior, what are the main differnces between the Sport & Executive? Ride height? ARB's? Wheels? Tyres? Standard Equipment? Also between the Sat-Nav & premium Sound versions?

As far as I'm aware, exec has full leather, electric seats and heated , sunroof, auto wipers, headlight washers, dual zone climate. im sure ive missed one or two out. in terms of handling same, unless alloys are specced at purchase.

2) I want to fit a Double DIN DVD HU in the lower dash, can this be easily integrated to allow the Sat Nav still to work with turn commands via say leaving the the rear door speakers connected to the Sat-Nav etc or other are other solutions possible?

rear door speakers are premium sound system only, regardles of nav. Anythings possible but will need to splice, cut, solder

3) Will my new Head unit be able to connect to the existing loom (either a custom loom mod or via an aftermarket wiring adaptor) so that the steering wheel remote controls still function?

I think a member fitted a single din to his existing hu non nav though

I will be running the new Head Unit via an aftermarket 4 channel amplifier, and a 12" Subwoofer via another aftermarket amplifier (mono). I want to run new front component speakers 16.5/17cms, & will use some dynamatt or similar sound deadening to help dampen the door panel.

4) Will a simple 17cms MDF Speaker ring fit fine & will I need to modify the Door Card at all? Also any recommendations on the MDF ring thickness to be used?
I imagine it would be ok but you will probably need to trim the plastic ring off on the door card that seal the speaker.

5) Rear deck speakers, are they 6x9's and if so do I just need MDF rings to mount my aftermarket speakers? Suggested MDF thinkness?
they are 6x9 shape?

6) I will need to run a fairly chunky 0AWG power cable through to the boot. Is there a known way to do this relatively easily? (in my Lexus it runs through a grommet in the bulkhead, down the back of the glovebox area to the footwell, inside the car in a hollow cavity in the door sill to the rear of the car, then up behind the edge of the rear seat thru into the boot)
Same

7) The amplifiers will be a big drain on the standard Battery, & even when replaced with a more ICE related one I might still have Power issues at full volume, does anyone know the Amp output of the standard i-CDTi Alternator? I know the diesel ones on most cars are a bit beefier than most petrols, & wondered if there is a difference & how much so?
I have ran a mono class D and 4 channel amp previously no problems really.

8) Reverse Camera: is there an easy walkthru/guide to fitting a suitable one & integrating it simply with the existing Sat-Nav? (it's very easily integrated with the aftermarket Head Unit). Also what feed to trigger the switchover have people used?
there was a guide somewhere


Apologies for so many questions, any info or advice is gratefully received.
Once I get my car & start my install, there will be a thread & plenty of pictures!!
 
To be honest i would just work with the standard sat nav hu and replace your speakers and amp them. The standard unit will power your amp and speakers, allow you to keep voice guidance and you can hook up your reverse camera and xcarlink for mp3. only thing missing would be dvd.

it's a lot of work adding a double din on top of the sat nav surely, I have not seen anyone do this and can't think where you would locate it as the sat nav rom is under the sat nav display and not even sure the recess wide or deep enough?
 
Thanks Salim, I was hoping it would fit here



but you say the Sat-Nav Rom is situated behind there? I might have to forget the Sat-Nav then as I have a phone with Sat-Nav
and would rather i had a better quality Head Unit that didn't rely on speaker-RCA converters etc for the amp input,
although my JL Audio Amplifier can take them straight in. The Honda Head Unit chopping the lower frequencies when at
higher volume levels would be a real no no though, and make the install pretty pointless.

Any info on the differences between the Sport & Ex?
 
Yes the problem with the satnav is the dvd drive sits in that space reducing it to probably a single din.
 
Yes you can fit below in the non nav version. It's probably a better solution. You can fit a double din that is capable of dvd,nav etc

You could probably bypass the stock hu altogether but will loose steering controls.

Accord diesel comes in sport ,exec and difference between them is listed above. I do prefer the layout of the nav version though.
 
the American tsx has it in the boot so you can possibly get a loom to extend it
 
as far as I recall it's only the front. If you want nav and hu then you will need to do same planning and clever wiring.
 
It is front only but you can switch between drivers side only or both front speakers. Normal audio comes through the other speakers but sounds a lot quieter while instructions come through the front ones.
 
Many thanks Dave for the info. Well if I go for a Nav model, the rear door speaker feed will be replaced by that from the front doors and used only for the navigation audio feed, the rest of the speakers will be replaced by aftermarket ones, & fed by my new head unit & JL Audio amplifier. I need to see how complex the cable is between the rom unit & the Nav display, & if possible extend the cable so I can relocate the DVD Rom Drive unit elsewhere inside the car & fit a modern Double DIN DVD Head unit.
 
Looks like a Nav model is going to be off the menu. just popped into Newton Honda South Croydon Parts Dept, looked up the Navigator & indeed there is a Rom drive taking up a single din space. I looked for a connecting cable between the Nav display & the Rom drive & there is no direct cable just between the two units, it is connected via the dashboard main loom.

This means there is no relatively easy way of relocating the rom drive to elsewhere in the car by simply extending the connections without hacking into the main loom. I'm not too bad with wiring, but hacking/splicing into the main loom looks a real PITA, along with rewiring the front speakers to provide Nav audio via the rear door speakers. All this for a nav system that is a few years old now, probably with out of date map & might end up failing at some point in the next few years anyway.

My solution will probably be a Double DIN Head Unit, either with full navigation built in, or via the MirrorLink module (on a lot of modern HU), which enables the navigation from my phone to be run through the Head Unit's main display.
 
Why is that? Do you have some more details? That's a huge compromise I'm not willing to accept. No one has mentioned that at all previously on this thread. If I need to avoid a Sat Nav car that isn't an issue, but fitting a double din is essential & if it isn't possible then I need to look a another car entirely....
 
Toffee Pie any more info please? I need to know for certain if I can fit an aftermarket Double DIN Head Unit into the gap under the Honda Sound System on a non Nav i-CDTi either in EX or Sport trim levels. Bypassing the A/C is not an option.


If I can't then I'm gonna have to look at maybe a higher mileag 8th Gen or an Audi A4
 
Hi Wozza,

I can't give you a definitive answer, however, I am in the same situation as you. I am looking at a gen 7 accord, I only want the Executive or the EX models and I am too open about whether it has the sat nav or not. I am also into my ICE so have been speaking to various car audio retailers for advice.

The main thing I keep getting is that the only real way of doing this properly is putting the double din in place of the sat nav, therefore buying a replacement for the standard kit. There are problems here though as the premium sound system in the accord has a separate amp so what you probably need to do is rip it all out and start again, the problem with that is the prices I am getting quoted for just the parts I would need are scary.

They have all said that putting a double din below the standard kit won't work. I don't know what they are basing this on exactly but they all advise against it.
 
I can find fascia adapters on eBay for the area shown here

but I think the issues on the Executive or Sport are caused by the external (Alpine) amplifier which
takes up part of the area. Logic would suggest you can just unplug & remove the Amplifier on
the Premium Sound (non Nav models), then use the space required for an aftermarket Double DIN.
Knowing one way or another BEFORE I buy the car is of massive importance.

I think on SE models of lower spec, the area is fully free to use (like in this picture)

This means it's only an easy upgrade on the SE spec.

However it gets more confusing as I saw a 2007 Sport on Auto Trader with a Double DIN
Pioneer Head Unit in that space, & no mention of A/C issues. I might try to contact the owner,
Hopefully the car is still for sale & he has the information.....

I would much rather have the Ex model & full Leather, if not then the Sport will have to do,
if not then maybe 8th Gen high miler, or an Audi A4 as I know it can fit in there!!
 
I think air con issues only present themselves if you remove the headunit as the display is used by the aircon. I also have a vague memory of it being used as a sensor too, perhaps for the interior temperature?
 
I'm happy to leave the unit in place, & run everything audio related thru my new Nav Double DIN Head Unit, but if the interior temp reading is related to the amplifier somehow, the A/C would probably malfunction, or it might stop the Climate Control from working correctly. I could live with having to manually operate the C/C but not without A/C for staying cool & defrost duties when it's cold etc.

I do hope someone can come along with full definitive info as I had set my heart on Accord EX, and now I know the Nav EX model isn't an option, I can live with just removing the amp & losing the automatic feature of C/C if nothing else is affected regarding the A/C......
 
you could probably leave the stock amp as if memory serves me it' low down below ashtray and just wire the front speakers to the rear channels disconnecting all the others then wire in your new hu. I'm fairly confident it won't mess your ac up. But removing the dvd rom will mess up the splash screen and I can't remember if it renders the touch screen useless, I have a faint recollection it stops the nav screen from booting?

did you look into searching for a dvd loom for the American tsx, I'm sure they locate the rom in the 'trunk'

it's alot of work, I would look for a ex model without nav personally. If you want nav fascia then I would look to amp the stock hu and bypass the stock amp, fit a xcarlink for mp3/ipod.

or fit a carputer with the unit in the boot and a touchscreen tft, mount the dvd further back or out the way.
 
All the effort to keep a Nav Screen working isn't wort it IMO. I am happy to buy a non Nav model EX, but these I believe come with the Premium Sound System (& lower dash mounted amplifier), & so I just need to know if I can remove the amplifier behind the lower dash without causing issues with the C/C or A/C that Toffee Pie mentioned earlier in this thread.

I asked him on here for more info, but he hasn't as yet replied with anything, so I am hoping he is in error.
 
Does anyone know if you can replace the non Nav models head unit without causing issues? As Wozza says, the amp will still be there as it is the premium sound system.
 
I'm pretty certain the amp is just a basic small amp about the size of a *** packet and shouldn't cause any problems. I also don't think the DVD drive would be too difficult to move if you wanted to. It is only the standard head unit that is needed for the air con but even that could probably be overcome if you really needed to.
 
The amp probably won't get in your way anyway but I'm 90% certain removing it won't cause any problems.
 
Yeah, the amp's a little grey box. Take out DVD drive for the sat nav and you'll see it down there. Here's a Lings diagram of the area, you can see the amp, part number 9:

B__1600.jpg


You don't even need to remove it, just bypass it to your own amp. I'll be interested to see what comes of this. Be sure to upload plenty of photos when you do the job.
 
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