Just a heads up to all who are considering buying a aftermarket head unit for your S2K... I recently purchased my S and the head unit was locked. The dealership didn't have the code to unlock it so I was forced to get an aftermarket unit. To be honest though the stock one wasn't that great anyways. So I took the car to best buy, picked out my favorite Bluetooth hands free head unit and paid the fortune to get it installed including connecting the audio controls on the dash. I have a few takeaways from this experience that you should know if you are considering an aftermarket unit.

1. If you want to connect your audio controls on the dash be sure to verify that the unit you are purchasing supports that connection. The first unit I picked out couldn't be connected to the dash audio controls. There is a secondary wiring harness that has to be used to be installed.

2. Check the size... The second unit that I picked was installed and after it was installed we found out that with the faceplate on the radio door (or whatever you want to call it) could not close. So... If I have my faceplate on I cannot close the radio door. However, if I take the head unit off I can force the door shut with a little elbow grease.

This is annoying to me, but not a huge deal. Hopefully you can take these into consideration before purchasing an aftermarket head unit.

 

I don't think any after market head unit would works with the dash controls but a lot of people install this dash control interface from modifry. Of course it still may not be compatible with your particular head unit but it's the only way I know of to fix the dash control issue. And I'm pretty sure you can get the code from Honda (I'm surprised a dealer couldn't help), possibly through owners.honda.com.

 

I could not get my code through honda because they required info from the very first owner, however, it is written down in the owners manual.

 

In the past when I had this happen to me my dealer asked for the bar code that is on the rear of the head unit, then they would look up the unlock code by using that serial number ?

For dash control functionality everyone should use the Modfifry DCI, Bob is a member on here and no other aftermarket unit is as bulletproof as his, he even has plug and play harnesses.

Sorry to hear of your issues, hopefully you are enjoying the new beats.

 

Your dealership sucks. Sorry to hear

 

Had same problem with fitment when I did mine. I just made new brackets for the for the head unit and now everything is good. I'd buy from Best Buy but shy away from getting it installed by them. I've seen them use crimp connector and wire nuts, generally speaking anything automotive related should be soldered with a few exceptions. Try take the radio out and use the brackets it came with it might help sink the head unit a little farther into the dash for a better more functional look.

 

^ This. Most are going to require a DCI/SWI. Covered in countless threads in the Electronics subforum. Used to be in the Audio FAQ as well but was removed for some reason.

 

I bought a new head unit and had the same problem where the door would press the volume dial which muted the music! Very annoying! That head unit actually died after one day (cheap JVC).

So I got it exchanged at Halfords for a Kenwood, the volume dial still hits the door but not as much and it doesnt affect the music playing, also had the autoleads stalk adapter and although the mute button on the dash doesnt work anymore, if i hold volume up or down it now skips the track!

 

Just so you know, both the head units i went for had bluetooth handsfree and were DAB digital radio

 

just to clarify, at you saying that the Kenwood radio worked with the stock volume controls out of the box? Did you have any adapters in the middle. I have an eclipse deck that is driving me nuts. If I don't need a DCI, I'll buy one this weekend.