One of the things I regret losing when switching to an aftermarket radio was the loss of the factory steering wheel control (SWC). I know there are a few radio offerings that allow you to retain the SWC, but they seem pricey and just weren't worth it to me. Now that Android radios are more common and cheaper, I noticed there are units made for the Chrysler 300 that have built-in CANBUS that allows you to use the factory SWC and a pretty affordable price. That got me thinking that those units might work in my 2006 Dodge Magnum RT AWD that came with the factory REC nav. I bought the cheapest unit I could find for approx. $150 shipped, but the price can go over $500 if you choose models with more powerful processors and ram. I didn't know if the factory Magnum connector was wired differently from the 300 so I was prepared to relocate any pins that didn't match up. When I received the radio, I plugged it in and everything worked without needing to modify the pin locations.
For whatever reason, I couldn't embed the photos I uploaded to google. I uploaded the same pics to Imgur and here they are.
The next issue to tackle was the radio bezel. The aftermarket radio comes with a nice bezel that the unit sits in very nicely, but the top 1/3rd of the 300 bezels is very different than the Magnums.
I didn't want to chop up my OEM nav bezel so I purchased an aftermarket bezel for Magnums/Chargers. Let me just say that the aftermarket bezel is much thinner and more flexible than OEM, but once installed it is pretty rigid. The only way to install the unit was to attach it to the face of the bezel as it is too large to fit from behind.
I was not very happy with the way the unit looked sitting outside of the bezel. It looked as bad as it sounds -- like a tablet that was glued onto the bezel -- so I decided to Franken-fit the two bezels. I chopped off the top third of the 300 bezels and chopped off the bottom two-thirds of the Magnum bezel and allowed for a 1/4" overlap.
This is what is looks like with the two different bezels combined. Keep in mind it's not a finished product, the two pieces will remain separate instead of trying to combine them, but I still need to fill in and paint the lower bezel.
I just wanted to share this info with any Magnum owners feeling like the aftermarket has left us behind It's nice to be able to control the volume from the steering wheel because the mechanical volume knob has been replaced with annoying touchscreen buttons. The only con so far is the unit only comes with FM radio only, no AM. I assumed that AM would be included and didn't realize it until I was looking for some AM stations.
For whatever reason, I couldn't embed the photos I uploaded to google. I uploaded the same pics to Imgur and here they are.
The next issue to tackle was the radio bezel. The aftermarket radio comes with a nice bezel that the unit sits in very nicely, but the top 1/3rd of the 300 bezels is very different than the Magnums.
I didn't want to chop up my OEM nav bezel so I purchased an aftermarket bezel for Magnums/Chargers. Let me just say that the aftermarket bezel is much thinner and more flexible than OEM, but once installed it is pretty rigid. The only way to install the unit was to attach it to the face of the bezel as it is too large to fit from behind.
I was not very happy with the way the unit looked sitting outside of the bezel. It looked as bad as it sounds -- like a tablet that was glued onto the bezel -- so I decided to Franken-fit the two bezels. I chopped off the top third of the 300 bezels and chopped off the bottom two-thirds of the Magnum bezel and allowed for a 1/4" overlap.
This is what is looks like with the two different bezels combined. Keep in mind it's not a finished product, the two pieces will remain separate instead of trying to combine them, but I still need to fill in and paint the lower bezel.
I just wanted to share this info with any Magnum owners feeling like the aftermarket has left us behind It's nice to be able to control the volume from the steering wheel because the mechanical volume knob has been replaced with annoying touchscreen buttons. The only con so far is the unit only comes with FM radio only, no AM. I assumed that AM would be included and didn't realize it until I was looking for some AM stations.