So, I recently received a 2008 Honda Accord from a parent and traded in my car and so on. The car has the factory navigation with the "premium speaker" package and 6 disc changer.

If I am wanting to install a head unit, most likely double din, am I going to have to go completely custom on this? I havent seen any dash kits for the navigation model. I have seen a video of the navigation screen being replaced with the double din but, that seems a bit far. Maybe it's not that bad though. I considered a single din and keeping in the glove box, but I dont know.. seems like a ugly install move, but i guess it can be locked and protected, and can maybe not have to worry about dash replacement..

So, any solutions for starting with a head unit replacement? It seems that the Accords are kind of hard to mess with, especially in my situation with the navigation. Thanks.

 

Yes, a tricky task. Requires dedication. You could pull the entire system and sell it to someone wanting to upgrade, we get those requests. But they will need wiring also, making the task more difficult.

Hopefully it is a high end double din and not cheap off-brand. The latter wouldn't be worth the effort.

Many of the videos you see are pro installs. Even customizing the mounting kit is a substantial amount of work and skill.

Maybe pay a shop $500 or so to do it?

 

Well, ****! I realize that this thread was originally posted over 12 years ago, but it seems to be relevant to my specific situation, so, I thought I'd post a comment and see if the OP, or anyone else, responds.

Did you end up doing the stereo upgrade for your 2008 Accord? If so, would you care to share some details with me? Did you change out the radio and all of the speakers? Just the radio? All of the speakers? Just some of the speakers?

I just recently got a 2008 EX-L (with navigation) and I would really like to try to take out the factory radio and put in an aftermarket stereo, with Bluetooth and a USB port included. I would also like to upgrade the speakers. However, I don't know if this EX-L has a factory-installed amp, and I don't know what to try to do about the subwoofer that's apparently mounted on the back deck, along with two rear deck speakers (6.5" models, I believe).

My first priority would be to try to change out the factory radio head unit and put in an aftermarket stereo. It looks like a double-din head unit would fit properly, but I don't mind if I end up getting a single-din size heard unit and having a little compartment place to out things in (assuming that the installation kit would have that little plastic area below where the head unit would be mounted, like installation kits on older models has). Also, I have no idea what to try to do, or what can be done, with the factory CD player in the lower dash area. If the CD player could be easily removed and some sort of plastic tray/compartment could be installed, that would be fine with me.]

As for the speakers, I have to think that the factory speakers are not of particularly high quality, so, some reasonably-priced Alpine, Kicker or Pioneer speakers (in the $40-$60/pair range) would be a noticeable upgrade, with regards to sound quality and volume. And I'm not especially concerned with the factory-installed subwoofer. If I could just disconnect it and have it not be used, that'd be fine; or if I could buy a different/better subwoofer and easily mount it in the same place, that'd also be cool.

With regards to there being a factory-installed amplifier, if there is an amp, would it simple to just leave it as-is and use it to power some aftermarket speakers? If not, would it be easy to replace/upgrade it to an aftermarket amp? Or, could the amp be bypassed and just use the aftermarket stereo to power the speakers?

And for the record, I am not really concerned with keeping the navigation system, nor the XM Radio, functioning. I can always use Google Maps or Waze on my phone; and I was temped to give Sirius/XM Radio a try (after getting to check it out, during a free listening event on Memorial Day Weekend, 2 days after I got the car), but I figure that I could always get an aftermarket XM Radio receiver, if I want to. Plus, I wasn't sure if it would even still be practical to use the factory-installed XM Radio equipment that's in this Accord, since it's now over 13 years-old.

I'm sorry for the lengthy post. If the OP sees this comment and wants to respond, or if someone else sees this and wants to offer some feedback, please know that a reply would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Welcome!

The dash mount for an aftermarket double din radio into a NAV dash is here: Metra Online

The upper screen will be lost and will go black. You can consider what you'd like to put up there - maybe a Garmin GPS unit or something. Maybe a photo. Your call.

When just upgrading the HU and speakers you can reuse the factory wiring and factory amp. This wiring interface lets you feed a signal to the factory amp: Metra Part # 70-1730 | Honda wire harness | Metra Online
Then you just need speaker mounting and wiring adapters: Metra Part # 72-7800 | Honda wire harness | Metra Online & Metra Online

Retaining steering wheel controls is doable from Axxess or PAC kits, depending on the radio selection.


You will spend more than $50 for a pair of speakers. You'll be in the $150/pr and up range. You get what you pay for here. Main area of concern is depth because the glass is behind the speaker when rolled down. The factory mounting kits gain depth and help bring the speaker closer to the door panel but you need to be aware of protruding tweeters with coax models. A front component set is recommended to replace the factory separate tweeter/woofer. This incurs additional wiring hassle because the component set comes with a crossover. Usually, it's easier to mount the crossover on the door (behind the plastic cover but where it stays dry) to reuse factory wiring into the door but run new from the crossover to the woofer/tweeter. Any subwoofer upgrade would be best in a new enclosure as the rear deck will rattle a lot with any more output. At that point, you're using a new amp for the sub(s) but can continue using the stock amp for speakers. You can install a new speaker amp also, you just increase complexity.

Here's another 2008 Accord thread: https://www.hondaaccordforum.com/for...gestion-65504/

 

I have a 12 coupe and went with the 10.1 inch android that replaces moves the top screens below the radio. No dash kit needed and it comes with everything you need to move the screen from the top to the bottom. There are a lot of how to installs on you tube.

 

How’s the sound quality on that radio? Which model do you have and does it come with apple CarPlay ?

 

Guys, can you please advise that after replacing the factory radio, does the small display above vents show climate control settings?
I think that it will loose clock and volume. I am not certain about climate control displays like temp, vents settings, etc.

 

Got the headunit installed, took me almost a week(part time) to get it all going,

Connected the headunit to auxiliary input of factory amp, in the middle glovebox. I was lazy as I didn’t want to remove the factory radio

There is a small gap between the LCD and facial. I had to make custom mounting brackets to hold the headunit as the facial clips were too weak.


Factory connector for GPS display. Disconnected the display and used the signals (power, ignition, light and factory backup camera from the connector)

Wiring ready for headunit connection


Backup camera wiring is on the connector that connects to factory display on the top middle part of the dashboard.

Disconnect the connector from display and leave it disconnected l, if you plan to use factory camera with your headunit.
Camera works on 8VDC, here are the pins that require power connections,
27(Red) = 0 V, 26 (green) = 8V, 11 (Gray) = 0V.

For Camera video signal a RCA connector has to be soldered to following ,
13 (white) = + ve video signal
12 (black) = -ve video signal.

Verify video signal on a cheap display, as wrong wiring can damage your headunit.
This is how I got mine working. Your’s might be bit different to mine.
I had factory nav + factory reverse camera.

I have added details in the following post,

https://www.driveaccord.net/threads/...d-unit.572076/