Radio Head Unit Replacement ?

[Hymer22]

Hi we have a Zenec Z-E3726 which is a standard unit from new. I’m not that impressed with it have any of you upgraded yours and if so who did it and what did you go for ? TIA

 

[Landy Andy]

I have a Kenwood. And am very very impressed with it.

 

[ChrisL]

Sony Bluetooth head unit, I did it myself and also replaced the dash speakers as well, Hymer S820 on a Mercedes Sprinter.

 

[Brains]

Hi we have a Zenec Z-E3726 which is a standard unit from new. I’m not that impressed with it have any of you upgraded yours and if so who did it and what did you go for ? TIA

We looked into replacing the lousy Zenec Unit.

I got a frank answer for an installer, who said a decent unit (Kenwood, Alpine, Panasonic, Sony) with all the bells and whistles like the rear camera, up to date satnav that actually works, radio, etc would be about £1100-1300 and it would be a days work to fit it.

Also there is a struggle to find one that fits the hole, as most of the modern ones are larger and so would be mounted proud of the current location which can cause issues with changing gear.

As far as we are concerned the only 3-4 features we need are
A satnav that works
a radio
and the rear view camera
The CD player is in the 'nice to have' section
And we don't use any of the other features.

The installer simply suggested we live with the Zenec and get a decent 'stick on the screen' GPS.
So we bought the 'Avtex Camper three plus' GPS unit.

And we have switched off all the Zenec features, such as the annoying, and nearly always wrong, verbal speed warning.
I now mostly use it with the rear camera left on, it makes quite a good rear mirror.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Kenwood DMX8020DABS double din.
Had it 2/3 years now, touch screen, reversing camera and I can use Apple CarPlay, Waze, Google maps, two usb outlets etc.
I paid the extra for the wireless version which I wouldn’t now as I always plug my phone to it to keep it 100% charged anyway.

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[Detnor]

I'm with Brains in that I only use the zenec as a reversing camera. As soon as Zenec refused to sort out the memory card issue without wanting £200 to change it, I gave up. It may have been sorted now, not kept up.

 

[robnchris]

We have just replaced ours with a double din Kenwood DMX7722DABS. As we also needed an external aerial for Dab we had it fitted by a professional company Cost was £620 and took 2 hrs.
Well worth the money looks fantastic and connects to our iPhone straight away, so we have apple car play, with spotify for music and up to date maps all to hand, it reads out any txt messages and we can reply without taking our hands off the wheel.

 

[Landy Andy]

Kenwood DMX8020DABS double din.
Had it 2/3 years now, touch screen, reversing camera and I can use Apple CarPlay, Waze, Google maps, two usb outlets etc.
I paid the extra for the wireless version which I wouldn’t now as I always plug my phone to it to keep it 100% charged anyway.

Yep same unit. Love it.
Can run two cameras on it too

 

[Landy Andy]

We have just replaced ours with a double din Kenwood DMX7722DABS. As we also needed an external aerial for Dab we had it fitted by a professional company Cost was £620 and took 2 hrs.
Well worth the money looks fantastic and connects to our iPhone straight away, so we have apple car play, with spotify for music and up to date maps all to hand, it reads out any txt messages and we can reply without taking our hands off the wheel.

That is what I have fitted in my daily drive. Nice unit and under 3” deep so an easy install.

 

[Hettie's Crew]

Yep same unit. Love it.
Can run two cameras on it too

Isn’t there some way of incorporating a dash cam? I’ve not investigated that but may do if the current one dies. I do recall the Kenwood one didn’t record and store though.

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[ManTheVan]

They were a talented band. Thom Yorke could sing! Why replace them?

 

[robnchris]

Isn’t there some way of incorporating a dash cam? I’ve not investigated that but may do if the current one dies. I do recall the Kenwood one didn’t record and store though.

Personally I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, I much prefer a separate dash came, ours is connected to our phone and is positioned very low on the window screen that it can't be seen from either front seats.

 

[Landy Andy]

Isn’t there some way of incorporating a dash cam? I’ve not investigated that but may do if the current one dies. I do recall the Kenwood one didn’t record and store though.

Yes you can incorporate a dash (front camera) but it won’t record it. You can get inline devices to record as you go, or have the headunit as a separate display for a recording dashcam. But simpler to have separate items.