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Two questions:
1) Any recommendations for a head unit? I need double DIN, aux line in, BT, CD, and to connect it to the existing stereo controls next to the steering wheel. Don't need sat nav.
2) How difficult it's it to fit a new one? The local ICE shop said £95 to fit any unit on top of the unit cost. He said it would take 30 mins. This seems very expensive to me but Halfords told me it was £95 too (fitting kit & labour).
The problem is that on my better days I'm a ham-fisted muppet.
Is it a DIY job or should I just pay the local shop to do it all?
Can't say specifically for the transit but generally standard head units are easy to replace. You may need a special pokey tool to release it, just Google that. Then the old one slides out, new one slides in. Should be a big multi way plug and you may need an adapter, easily bought online.
As for double din head units there are a huge range of cheap Chinese ones with android that get mixed reviews. If you want branded the kenwoods seem well regarded
It's easy enough to do but £90-ish doesn't seem too bad if that's going to cover the wiring converters and the doodah to make a non-OEM unit talk nicely to your van's steering wheel/column controls.
It's a few years since I last did it but the bits to integrate an aftermarket unit to my old Mondeo were £40+. The fitting kit alone for my current car is about £100 to make it work with the steering wheel controls (and. apparently, retain function of the parking sensors!).
What year transit is it?
I think up to the MK 6 (2006?) the head unit, although appearing to be a double unit, isn't quite as big as a double din so you have to create a larger hole for the unit to fit.
MK7s seem fine to take a double DIN, not sure about the newer vans though
Second Alan's comment on the mk6 being slightly smaller than a double DIN. Although if you've got steering controls then it's unlikely to be a mk6.
It's a Mk7 2009
The steering controls are on a stalk - it's just volume up & down and a mode button that seems to only work to move to the next radio station stored in the memory
If it's the same as our mk7 transit then it's the same as my c-max.
You need a plastic trim panel to fill the hole left by the ford radio, you can get them to fit double or single din units, the single ones have an extra cubby hole underneath, may or may not be useful to you. You also have to do a little sawing of the inside of the dash to get it to fit (not neat sawing, just lobing off some plastic clips/brackets so the DIN sized metal cage will fit into the hole).
I'd say if you're prepared to pay the shops price for the radio then £95 tp fit it isn't too bad, as others said there's at least £40 of wiring and plastic bits.
DIY you could probably save a fair bit on the unit itself shopping online, then a bit of research to get the right loom parts. IIRC it's something like
Unit -> standard connector (that no car actually uses?)
standard connector -> ford
And the same again for the steering wheel controlls
And another for the ariel.
So it's a couple of evenings work, one sorting out the looms to order, one actually fitting it.
I DIY'd it and got an ex display unit from halfords so saved quite a bit Vs having someone else do it.
Also if its a DAB headunit you can get an aerial spliter that can then connect to AM/FM and DAB on the headunit.
That works OK in my van (2008 MK7) but the wing mounted aerial location is a bit pants. Was much better on my roof mounted MK6 van.
It's a pretty straight forward swap once you have all the bits but it can add up to a fair bit once all the components are taken into account. £90 doesn't sound too bad if all the kit to fit is included.
Mine was a single DIN as I didn't need a screen but you can also get a single with a flip out screen although not sure how good they are.
thanks
