Ford Focus Replacement Stereo Advice

Stellios

Stellios

Stellios

Soldato
Joined
27 Aug 2004
Posts
17,122
Location
Geordieland
Hey guys,

Had a Focus for just over a month now and it still has the orignal CD player in it, which IMO makes the dash look very sorry for itself so I want to replace it with something a bit more swish. Im assuming its a double DIN player, but im struggling to find any good ones.

There are 2 that have caught my eye up to now but i dont know whether they are any good, they are the 2 below.

THIS
and
THIS

Does anyone have any advice or knowledge about either of those units, or can anyone recommend a good unit to replace the standard one with? Im looking for one that can either take an Ipod input, or an USB input and ideally bluetooth would be nice but isnt essential. Budget is around £300.

Thanks guys, any advice is much appreciated.
 
Do as I did with the Mondeo,

Buy a fascia adapter off the auction site and wiring adapter and it will take standard size stereos.
 
Hey guys, does anyone know much about the Alpine X303? the x305 is the one that first caught my eye but I think the screen looks a bit tacky.

This is a very sexy unit and I can get it with the bluetooth module for just over £300, Then im left to get the remote control unit and a fascia which is about another £50 so its about what I expected to pay.
 
I've got the X001 which is an older version of the 305. Superb, the ipod control is brilliant and the screen isnt tacky at all
 
I used a blanking plate in my MK1.5 Focus.

There are however ones which give you a little shelf/cubby hole. Rare as rocking horse crapola though. At least when i wanted one.

Make sure you take a note of the Aerial connector on your Headunit, the Foci has an ISO one iirc.
 
Stellios do you plan on buying the wiring kit to allow your steering controls to work with your new head unit? (That's assuming you have the audio steering stalk)
 
Ricochet J said:
Stellios do you plan on buying the wiring kit to allow your steering controls to work with your new head unit? (That's assuming you have the audio steering stalk)
Click to expand...

I'm assuming its similar to the mondeo, being the same controls - the kit was expensive (about £75 IIRC) but works well with the alpine, albeit a little bit slower than the main controls
 
Ricochet J said:
Stellios do you plan on buying the wiring kit to allow your steering controls to work with your new head unit? (That's assuming you have the audio steering stalk)
Click to expand...

I never did for mine, it was about £35 back then. To be fair the controls on the Focus are not exactly stellar and, correct me if I am wrong, provide no Folder/Disc Up/Down controls.

My Sony HU had an IR remote control and that was fine for me.
 
Thanks a lot Iain, Ive read a lot of good thing about this range of units like and it appears to be the one ill settle for I think, maybe the 305, maybe the 303, that'll depend on cash flow at the time :)

Am I right in saying that all I need are listed below as I keep finding cables and things I need to add to my list.

-The headunit
-The steering remote cable
-The radio interface cable (can someone tell me what on earth this thing is?)
-The wiring adapter
-The fascia for the dash
-The bluetooth unit (indecided on whether to not get this and get the X305 instead)

Also, last quick question, but its probably only relevant to Focus owners. Has anyone took the rear USB connector from teh headunit and fed it into the draw thing thats in the dash? Its an ideal place to keep an MP3 player connected 24/7 and keep it totally out of view.

Cheers guys.
 
The steering controls are not usually as simple as just cabling. It will probably be a controller that interfaces your HU wiring with the Focus one.

Get an adapter harness to save you chopping up the Focus plugs or the Head Units.
 
Stellios said:
Also, last quick question, but its probably only relevant to Focus owners. Has anyone took the rear USB connector from teh headunit and fed it into the draw thing thats in the dash? Its an ideal place to keep an MP3 player connected 24/7 and keep it totally out of view.
Click to expand...

You can take it out by applying some force and it will come out. What you need to do is drill a hole on the back of this small drawer to allow you to feed the USB/IPod cable in. There is access from the back of the drawer to the back of the head unit but it's going to be difficult feeding the wire through such a small space. The best thing to do when feeding the wire is to remove the middle two vents (again, easily removed with a bit of force and by applying a wedge in between the dash and the vent). Removing the centre vents means you have more access and can feed the wire easily from the back of the head unit to the back of that little drawer. (I hope that's clear!)
 
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