I'd agree, it's borderline not worth it even if you're replacing the entire system. Trying to integrate a new head unit with the existing amp is not plug and play like they say.
In my e53 X5 I started by replacing the stock head unit with an Eonon and their plug and play kit. Ran everything, and it disabled my sunroof. Adjusting the volume took forever, as you had to adjust it with both the head unit AND the steering wheel control (on the DSP), and find a setting on both at the desired volume that wasn't distorted.
This didn't last until the end of the day before I pulled it and returned it.
Next I tried the (more expensive) Dynavin N6. It at least let me retain use of my sunroof, but it still didn't integrate well with the existing DSP. Very limited window where it sounded good. Low or high volumes were pretty crummy.
But the head unit was decent, so I decided to pick up an Alpine amp to power the speakers and bypass the DSP. Well, good luck figuring out the wiring of the speakers. I was able to get about 3 of them working correctly, as in fade & pan was accurate. The rest I just spliced in to get sound to them, but they were sharing channels.
In hindsight, I would've simply kept the factory unit in tact. But then I hit a deer and didn't have to worry about it anymore. 2012 L322 5.0l NA
Santorini Black / Sand
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