# Replacing OEM head unit with another OEM (LT -> LTZ)



## alishmas (Feb 2, 2013)

Hi..

I'm new here and I have a project in my mind, so I decided to start a thread here.
I would be glad if you could give me some inputs regarding my project.

I have 2012 chevrolet cruze 1.6 LT 4d Manual (EU) and I have already replaced my stock radio with this:
09 11 Chevrolet Cruze Car GPS Navigation TV DVD Player | eBay

It has been working good, but the problem is that I don't have access to vehicle's settings anymore, so I'm planning to go back to stock radio system.

I was wondering if I could have the stock radio and add another devise to my car (tablet or GPS navigator) and after doing some searches I found this project:
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/36-audio-electronics/8792-7-android-tablet-dash.html

The project above is actually what I have decided to to, but since my car's stock radio is the basic one with one row screen, I started to think if I could also upgrade the stock radio to the version with multi row screen. I already found some OEM units on ebay, but I'm just wondering is it possible to do that?

Here are some pictures of my car's OEM system:























Here are those parts on ebay:
The screen:
Chevrolet Cruze 2012 Information Display Screen 12783136 | eBay

The radio:
Chevrolet Cruze 2012 Radio Receiver 22815634 | eBay

What do you guys think about this upgrade? Is it going to work?

ps: I could only change the screen, but I'm not sure is it compatible with my head unit.

Thanks.


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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

Welcome to the forum.

It is my understanding the receivers are vin specific so normally a swap would not be successful. Not sure if a dealer would be able to reflash or if those Amazon receivers would work but I'm interested to find out as well.

May I ask if you had any other issues with that unit? I haven't had to change my car settings since the first time I've done it. What are you needing to change?


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## alishmas (Feb 2, 2013)

Hi Mick and thanks for your replay.

There are several reasons why I want to use the OEM unit. 

First of all I want to have possibility to change some settings when required. There is not any specific change I want to do now, but the Idea of not accessing those settings is just unacceptable. I didn't know all these when I purchased the unit.

Second reason is that those chines units has poor sound quality. The os is very slow and steering wheel controls do the job but with 2-3 sec of delay.

Another reason is that when I use turing signals I hear very annoying and cheap sounding ticking sound from a little speaker came with that unit. Also when I'm on rear gear and the parking sensors are activated, the beeps of the sensors are also coming trough that little speaker and the sound is as annoying as the sounds of 1980 computers. Oh, I don't even want to describe the seatbelt or key left on key ignition warnings... 
The original unit generates much better system sounds and they are played trough the front left speaker, which makes the quality better.
I might sound crazy but these are serious reasons for me.
The dealer said that they don't know is it possible to change the original unit to the one sold on LTZ versions here.


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## alishmas (Feb 2, 2013)

Is the screen also vin specific? I could only swap the screen...


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## JediSamReye (Jun 27, 2012)

I have dome this thing with a Cadillac and the way it works is the radios "brain" the silver box checks the cars internal vin on start up and if it doesn't match the per programmed one then it will just say "theft lock active" and say nothing else. I was able to take it to a dealer and have then unlock it, but call around because the first place I called I had to talk to three people before I hit someone that understood what I was saying then they told me it was going to be $199 to unlock..... I called another dealer, they knew right away what I ment and quoted me $60 and they did it in around an hour 

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## Mick (Dec 31, 2011)

That's what I figured. Wonder if those Amazon units come "unlocked" or you'll need to pay that fee.


Sorry you didn't find us first alishmas, we could have saved you the trouble with not knowing that you would lose settings functionality and probably swayed you away from buying that unit as there haven't been very good reviews on them.

Although the display wouldn't be "vin specific" I'm not sure if your unit would communicate the information needed for the bigger display. What information shows on on the 1 row display? 
Or even if they have the same connectors. 
Ask around in the audio threads to compare with someone who's removed theirs.

I would contact the seller to ensure that online system will be able to be used out of the box without a trip to the dealer. Good luck.


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## alishmas (Feb 2, 2013)

Thanks you guys for your answers. 
I talked to a guy who has removed the ltz display from his car, so he will let me try that on my car before I buy one.
It may not work, but it is absolutely worth to try. 
I'll talk to local dealer about the vin relearn, so if I swap the unit, they do the vin relearn for me.


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## JediSamReye (Jun 27, 2012)

Yeah let us know how it goes! Hopefully it's easier then my caddy one was, the wire harnesses were plug and play but the base stero harness was missing two cables, one that ran to a GPS antenna and one cable that had to be run from you vss cable. Without those two the car couldn't use the navigation part, granted Dvd, cd, xm etc worked fine just no navigation with out the extra parts.


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## mido (Sep 28, 2011)

alishmas said:


> Hi..
> 
> I'm new here and I have a project in my mind, so I decided to start a thread here.
> I would be glad if you could give me some inputs regarding my project.
> ...


I had the same screen like yours and replaced it with Roadrover and so far it's great
Ruído na Central Multimidia Roadrover Cruze - YouTube

i know somone here in the forum tried to change the screen with the 4 lines OEM one and things didnt work..u need to find somone to reprogram the car to be able to accept this screen


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## alishmas (Feb 2, 2013)

Hi..
I didn't try changing the screen... The dealer said it will not work!
I talked to my dealer and asked about reprogramming swapped head unit. They said it is possible to vin relearn the system, but the bigger screen will not work with my own head unit, so they advised me to try to swap the head unit and the screen completely, but still they are not sure is it going to work or not. Nice!!!
Unfortunately there is not any information on the internet about cruze's oem head unit upgrade to another oem.
I just don't want to buy all those parts and test if it works or not since I can't return them :/ 
I will update you if I find any answers.


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