I went the new oem harness route. It took my installer 4 days to do the job and everything works fine. I took some pictures midway through the install of my car gutted. Had to do it to get to all the harnesses. Hopefully the pictures work. [IMG][URL=http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc2472lo12se.jpg]

 

Nice congrats...
could you add some more pics and maybe a breakdown of your costs (parts + labor) ?

 

wow that is totally stripped. I thought it was easiar.

 

That's some major surgery dude. I don't know if I could bear to see my car like that. How much did that cost.

 

This first time I say the car I said to myself what the hell have I got myself into. After the initial shock of my car totally gutted, seats,carpet,headliner,center console,and the whole dash. The labor cost me $1400.00 The shop felt that they under estemated the job so they called Acura. They wanted $2500 for labor and 4 days. So I guess I got a deal.
All my navi parts, display screen ,hfl switch, dvd rom unit, clock unit, gps antenna were $2000.00 All the parts were new except the dvd rom unit which was a take off from a wrecked TL. My parts guy also threw in an oem xm reciever, oem amplifier, the floor harness, and a brand new dash harness. I had to buy the headliner harness ($165.00 shipped). Dan....k sold me his trunk piece that holds the dvd rom unit ($100.00) I bought the Helm Technical Service Manual which helped my installer drop the dash and steering column.
All in all I am happy with the install and everthing works great and the install is gaurenteed. I guess another member did this same install himself and it took him 15 hrs. Geez he must be a frinkin geneus!!!! I asked my installer if he would ever do something like this again. He said he would but for no less that $2000 for the labor.
i will post another pic showing my dash sitting on a trash can. EEEEEEEKKKKK[IMG][URL=http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc2470lo5at.jpg]

 

when they put that back together did you notice any new rattles................btw nice job

 

I had one rattle in the passenger side column before the install. It went away but there is a new one. I thinks it is the center speaker in the dash. I have learned to live with all the little creaks and rattles with this car and most the time I have the tunes turned up so loud I dont hear the rattles.

 

congrats on the install. glad everything worked out! i think your installer went the hardest route possible! most of that stuff didn't need to be taken out.

sucks for them, great for you. 1400 is a great deal.

 

OMG! I can't believe they had the car that stripped down! I would have crapped my pants!

I don't know... still seems easier to take the hit and just get a new car.

 

I thought a year ago that upgrading to a car w/navi was the way to go. I had my tl for sale in the local paper for about 3 months. I thought I had it priced fair but no takers, so I looked at trading it with my broker I originally bought it from. I was taking a 6000.00 hit on trading to a brand new tl w/ navi. Also I had to look at the sale tax that I would be paying and all the extras that would have to be installed on my the new car, trunk spoiler, tint, window felt.
I have about $3500.00 in the factory navi and I know I should have ordered my car with navi, but financing my car over the period of 6 years im sure the $2000.00 add on would come out more than what I have in this install. Plus at the time I was going to upgrade to a 05 or 06 there was not that much difference from my 04.
Changing gears a bit.. one of the members informed me that all the tear out was not nessessary. Both myself and my installer were fooled my the Helm electrical manual. It showed the floor harness as running up the passenger side. Not!! it ran around the both the passenger side AND the drivers side of the cabin. We were hoping that the dash would not have to be dropped, but it had to so he could install the dash harness.
I travel all over town with my job and so far I LOVE THE NAVI! If anyone out there in TL land is thinking about doing the navi install, there was a couple of work arounds involved so feel free to PM me. I will try to post some larger pictures of the install, Im somewhat new to posting picts as you all can tell.

 

Great job on the Navi. Maybe you learned some during this process to help some of us regarding upgrading. Do you know if its possible to upgrade to a dvd/rom navi using the original monitor. My dealer doesn't think so but I am not trusting them. I have a 99tl Navi. Just bought it with 33K miles and couldn't be happier. Also am looking for a new/used monitor. Previous owners must have cleaned it with sandpaper. Looks good at night but shows all scratched up in the daylight. good luck with your Navi.

 

Wow, that's quite a big job!

I suppose this thread could be a decent lesson to anyone on the fence about whether or not to get the navi with the car. There have been several people getting the navi installed, but I don't recall any threads where someone has had it removed.

 

Yes it was big! Im not sure if this was the way to go. Maybe making your harness is the way to go. I think there can still be alot of gutting with the pre made harness route. I had been messing with this install since the first of the year, collecting all my parts and dealing with flakey installers. I just wanted to get it done! I would like to thank all the members that helped me out with parts and info. Dan...k, Skeedatl, Trashcan(where the hell did he run off to?) And especially Brian at Ultimate Audio ACURAZINE ROCKS!!!