I received my Xtrons HU today. On opening the box I was pleasantly surprised with the way the unit looked - from the front it looked better than expected. The black plastic facia is a good match to factory but the silver knurled buttons look and feel very cheap. Size wise, the body of the unit is quite a bit smaller than the RNS-E
The clips, on the side of the HU that hold the unit in place, look pretty flimsy and as
@ab1702 mentions above I'm not they would last beyond several removals (to be fair today is the first time I've removed my RNSE). I tried my stereo removal tools in the slots but the pins didn't engage the lock/clip, there was too much space - this would be a concern once the unit was pushed into place.
Wiring the unit up was straight forward - you can't go wrong but the RCA cables feel a little loose.
Fitting into the car - once I'd connected the aerial, sat-nav and quad-lock I needed to switch the car to ACC before it the unit would boot. This makes sense for it's first start but unlike my RNSE, with the car switched off I couldn't get the Xtrons to switch on (always needed to be in ACC) which is a bit annoying. The HU did boot up very quick, faster than the RNSE.
Tuning a radio station, the sound was sharp and as expected the Bose worked fine but there was hiss which is quite prominent. I unattached and reattached all RCA plugs and the quad lock but there was no change (the blue wire was correctly connected too). On starting the car the sound was even worse, almost like there was a microphone under the bonnet playing engine noise into the cabin. Turning the HU off (while the car was running) gives a loud 'pop' though the speakers followed by a deep beating sound working in unison with a high-pitched buzz. As I drive mostly with the radio off this noise won't work with me. I unplugged the HU and silence...
There had been many previous posts about fitment which was my main concern prior to purchasing. So when pushing the unit 'home' into the cavity and seeing how much play there was I was quite a disappointment (I'm not sure why when I was expecting it). I'd fitted the rubber from the RNSE to the top and sides but it wasn't secure. The HU did however sit back, so it wasn't sticking out at the front - it just wasn't secure!
I ran a scan and 2 new codes were detected - 02503 Phone output wire to Radio, 01300 Control Module for Navigation. I cleared the codes but the errors returned. I appreciate I still have the factory items fitted but I not keen on keeping error codes.
I spent more time tuning the unit but lost interest to be honest. I'm not sure if I want to persist with getting it 'perfect' - it should work OOTB. I know I'm being fussy and for £269 (inc discount) I shouldn't really complain but it seems to be the most common feedback hasn't been listened too. For now, I've re-fitted my RNSE; I may give it another go in the weekend. Oh, and the fault codes have gone...