Complete Infotainment upgrade - 2005 LX 470

[SeasportNZ]

Hi guys. I've spent the last couple of months upgrading the Infotainment system in my 2005 LX 470 (NZ RH drive model). I thought I'd start a new thread here, as I think this info will be useful to others planning to do the same thing. I'll post updates to this thread, as I get time, to go over various aspects of the install, and how I solved the various problems encountered.

General Overview
My LX is in excellent, if not exceptional, condition. It's done 170,000km (105,000) miles. I've owned it for the last 14 years. Not planning to sell it any time soon It tows my boat well, and is great for holidays, but a bit too thirsty for a daily runner. We have a late model Corolla for that. So I figured spending a bit of money to upgrade the electronics to 2026 standards was worth it.

What I did:

1. Installed a Teyes CC3 2K screen/head unit, replacing the factory screen
2. Replaced the rear camera with an AHD (high def), starlight camera
3. Installed a switch to control the antenna operation
4. Replaced the factory amp (Pioneer in my case) with a new DB Drive Neo5V2 amp (4 x 115W, 1 x500W)
5. Replaced the factory speakers: Focal Evo PS 165 FSE Flax (front), Focal Evo PC 165 FE Flax (rear)
6. Sound deadened all the doors
7. Added a subwoofer in the rear cargo area: Alpine SS-SB10 (a 10" shallow loaded enclosure, perfect for saving space)

As an aside, I used AI (Gemini Pro or Deep Research) frequently during the upgrade. This was a gamechanger. You have to be careful with hallucinations, but I was able to quicky get answers to things that might have taken me ages otherwise.

Here's what the dash looks like now

Here's a few videos showing the system in operation. I'll post updates following covering various aspects

 

[SeasportNZ]

Here are a couple more videos:

 

[SWCruiser]

are
you controlling the climate also? looks great!

 

[SeasportNZ]

are
you controlling the climate also? looks great!

Yep. It all works. The video above now shows this.

 

[gt7058a]

Nice work!

Did the wiring harness they provided have extra connectors that you didn’t need to use?

The same unit seems to apply to all years LCs and LXs, but I know from nav delete threads that there were several variants in nav configurations. I’m curious if they created a universal wiring harness for all the variants.

 

[SeasportNZ]

Teyes CC3 2K

General comments

• Overall, it's a really nice upgrade to the late 90's early 2000's original factory technology and I definitely recommend it
• I'd rate the hardware at 5 stars. I am very impressed with the hardware. The screen is really good, high res and plenty bright enough. Touch works well. Reliability has been excellent so far
• Software - I'd rate is at 3.5 stars. It's pretty good. Some of the apps (like the Equaliser) are very good. You do get phantom apps popping up from time to time, e.g. when you hit the FM button on the original radio, a second radio app pops up which does nothing. Ditto with the aircon sometimes
• Usability - I'd rate at 3 stars. It takes a while to get used to how to use it. I'm still struggling with how to use some of it. Music appears out of nowhere
• Documentation - I'd rate it at 1 star. The hardware documentation isn't too bad. Software/user documentation is non existent except for quite a few videos on the Teyes websites (s). The latter are pretty good, but you need to play them at half speed to see what is going on.
• Development seems to haven been a collaboration between the Chinese and Russians

Installation

• Others have documented this on this forum.
• It's pretty straightforward. You remove the various trim panels and remove the original screen and radio unit. You get left the bare screen/radio opening as below

The screen that comes out looks like this

• You pull the above unit apart and remove the screen, but keep the radio/tape part (which doesn't do much afterwards). You do keep the black box in between the radio and the screen.
• This is what it looks like when you dismantle the unit above
• 

• Note that the black plastic box at the back goes back in
• Connect up all of the plugs to the Teyes unit. Remember that some of them plug into the back of the original radio. You will have a few connectors left empty as shown below

• It's a very tight fit getting everything back in place. The photo below shows the unit just prior to refitting it. It does pay to tidy up the wires as best you can. Otherwise, it becomes a real spiders nest

• Note the little box at the lower LHS of the picture above This is the Canbus (car digital bus) interface. The correct setting on the Teyes unit are: XP, Toyota, Landcruiser, LC 100 (2002-2007), HIGH. Factory code to get access to these is 168
• What I learned during the upgrade is that the Series 100's went through a digital upgrade during the early 2000's and the 2005 model is mostly digital. Steering wheel controls are all digital. So the learning buttons for the steering wheel controls on the Teyes software do nothing.
• Everything maps well to the steering wheel buttons. Original volume control doesn't work - but does mute the sound when you press it
• One thing that doesn't work well is the car radio antenna control. Teyes has a wire for this (G8) but it goes to 12V whenever the car turns on and stays there. I can't tell any difference between this and the Amplifier power control output (A1). I had to fit a switch to use the antenna properly. I'll describe this separately.
• I got the rear camera working fine. I'll also describe this separately
• I used the RCA audio outputs from the Teyes to drive the new amp. I'll also describe this separately.
• I did get the system working pretty well with the original amp and speakers. I sort of wondered if I really needed to upgrade the amp and the speakers when I heard it. But I'm glad I did, as the new sound system is on a whole other level to the original system. It's awesome
• Note that my audio system was the Factory Premium model (Pioneer amp) - not the Mark Levinson. There are quite a few differences between the two - not the least that the ML has more speakers. I'll talk about that a bit more when I describe the audio upgrade
• I did put a data SIM card in mine. This gives me maps and music without running Android Auto or using Bluetooth. Don't think the phone app works with this though.
• USB ports and SIM card holder come out in the glove box

 

[SeasportNZ]

Nice work!

Did the wiring harness they provided have extra connectors that you didn’t need to use?

The same unit seems to apply to all years LCs and LXs, but I know from nav delete threads that there were several variants in nav configurations. I’m curious if they created a universal wiring harness for all the variants.

Yep. See my new Teyes CC3 2K post. There were two form memory. It all plugged together pretty well. Things to take note of 1) keep the black plastic box & 2) don't forget to plug the connectors into the back of the old radio unit ( I did at first)

 

[SeasportNZ]

Radio Antenna

• If anyone still uses FM radio, there are a few issues to sort out with the Teyes unit.
• The Teyes CC3 2K has an antenna output wire (pin G8). Unfortunately, this wire is energised whenever the Teyes is powered on. If you connect this wire to the antenna control, the antenna will be up whenever the car is turned on. Not so good if you use a carwash!
• The car antenna is controlled by a dedicated relay (A31) which is triggered by a signal from the Radio and Player (R37) (From Electrical Wiring Diagram available for download on this site)
• Other people have reported weird antenna behaviour using the Teyes . If you press the FM button on the original radio, or a button the rear radio (I believe), the antenna will go up. But a phantom FM radio app will appear on the screen and you will get no sound. This maybe the default Android radio app, or maybe an older radio app. I don't know. But it makes the FM radio essentially unusable.
• What I did to get around this, was to use a new switch to control the antenna. This is shown in the picture below. I used a couple of switch blanks in the centre console. The LHS slot, I used for a phone charger/volt meter.

• The new switch basically disconnects the Teyes Ant signal output if you have the switch in the off position, and connects the Teyes Ant output signal to the car relay's ANT input when in the on position.
• You need to cut the Black/Red wire in one of the Teyes connectors behind the head unit and connect one end to the switch wire as shown in the wiring diagram below. Make sure you connect the switch to the right end of the cut wire (not the wire that goes back to the car's Radio and Player).

• Now, when I have the switch turned on, the antenna will go up (always) and it will stay down when the switch is off

 

[Coin]

Great information, thank you!
I'm in the same boat. I have a 2003 LX with CC3 2K, aftermarket amp, speakers and sub. However, I cannot get the steering wheel controls to work.

In the CANBUS settings, I do not have an option for "XP". I have an "XP(Simple)", but that doesn't include LC100.
I am able to get HVAC working with LZ, Toyota, LC100, High. I have tried every option that even resembled a LC, and nothing else worked better.
I just updated the firmware to the 11/11/25, and still no option for "XP". Any idea how to update the CANBUS options? I would love to get the steering wheel controls operational.

Great info on the antenna! I have been wondering about this as well.

 

[SeasportNZ]

Great information, thank you!
I'm in the same boat. I have a 2003 LX with CC3 2K, aftermarket amp, speakers and sub. However, I cannot get the steering wheel controls to work.

In the CANBUS settings, I do not have an option for "XP". I have an "XP(Simple)", but that doesn't include LC100.
I am able to get HVAC working with LZ, Toyota, LC100, High. I have tried every option that even resembled a LC, and nothing else worked better.
I just updated the firmware to the 11/11/25, and still no option for "XP". Any idea how to update the CANBUS options? I would love to get the steering wheel controls operational.

Great info on the antenna! I have been wondering about this as well.

Hi. Great that you are finding this useful. More to come.

Re the Canbus settings, I just went through mine. It seems the Teyes software has been updated recently to set this. When you go into Settings - Device - Car model, you can either set it directly or run the Teyes app which walks you through it. I actually get different settings for the Teyes and Direct (go figure)
This is what mine is set to for factory setting: LZ(HZ), Toyota Landcruiser, 2007-2015 CD High
This is what I get using the Teyes app: LZ(HZ), Toyota, LC100, High
Both seem to be the same.

Re steering wheel buttons, this vintage of LX went through an analog to digital transition in the early 2000's. My steering wheel buttons are controlled by the digital Canbus. It may well be that your buttons are analog. Essentially, the button circuit is a big resistor network and the resistance when the button is pushed, identifies which button it is. There is a Teye's app which allows you to map your buttons. Have you tried this? This only works with the analog system. You can get to this in Settings, or there is an app called Control with a picture of blue steering wheel on it. Try this.

 

[Coin]

Yes, I tried the analog setup and it does not recognize any input, so I have to assume mine is also digital.

You mention the “LZ(HZ), Toyota, LC100, High” Canbus setting.

Do your steering wheel controls work with this setting, because this is what I’m using.

 

[SeasportNZ]

Yes, I tried the analog setup and it does not recognize any input, so I have to assume mine is also digital.

You mention the “LZ(HZ), Toyota, LC100, High” Canbus setting.

Do your steering wheel controls work with this setting, because this is what I’m using.

Yes. Mine are working fine. Is everything else working? Does you antenna go up when you press the FM button on your old radio? Did you plug the connectors into both ends of the Canbus box?

 

[Coin]

Yes, everything else works well, it's just the steering wheel controls that don't work.
I guess I need to check the connections in the steering wheel. I did pull the wheel off several months back to sew a new leather cover on.

 

[SeasportNZ]

Yes, everything else works well, it's just the steering wheel controls that don't work.
I guess I need to check the connections in the steering wheel. I did pull the wheel off several months back to sew a new leather cover on.

This is what Gemini says. I can't verify if it's true though.

The steering wheel buttons on the 2003 Lexus LX 470 (US Model) are Analog (Resistive), not CAN bus controlled.
While the vehicle does utilize a digital communication protocol (Toyota's AVC-LAN or BEAN) for communication between the head unit, amplifier, and navigation components, the buttons themselves operate on a simple resistive ladder circuit.
Here is the technical breakdown:
1. How It Works (Resistive Ladder)
* Mechanism: The steering wheel switch assembly contains a series of resistors. When you press a button (e.g., Volume Up), it closes the circuit at a specific point in the "ladder," creating a unique resistance value on the signal line.
* Signal: The factory radio detects this specific voltage drop and executes the command.
* Wiring: The signal passes through the clockspring (spiral cable) usually via a single signal wire and a ground wire (sometimes two signal wires depending on the specific trim/setup).
2. Integration with Aftermarket Units (e.g., Teyes/Android)
Since you are likely looking at this for your upgrade project:
* Direct Connection: Because they are analog, you can typically wire these directly to the Key 1 (and Ground) inputs of an Android head unit without needing a specialized CAN bus decoder box just for the buttons. You would then use the head unit's "Steering Wheel Learning" app to map the resistance values to functions.
* The "CAN Bus" Confusion: You will often see "CAN Bus Decoders" (like those from PAC, Axxess, or the boxes supplied with Teyes units) listed for this vehicle. These are generally required to turn on the factory Mark Levinson amplifier (which uses the digital AVC-LAN protocol) or to retain the factory reverse camera/navigation audio, but they often pass the analog steering signals through as well for convenience.
Summary
* Buttons: Analog (Resistive).
* Amplifier/Nav Control: Digital (AVC-LAN).
If you are wiring a new head unit, you can usually tap into the factory harness (often a 20-pin connector) to grab the analog steering signals directly if your Canbus decoder isn't picking them up correctly.

 

[Coin]

Interesting. I’ll look into that some more.

 

[SeasportNZ]

Interesting. I’ll look into that some more.

I asked Gemini if mine was analog and this is what it said. (Disclaimer - this may be wrong!)

Yes, your 2005 Lexus LX 470 also uses Analog (Resistive) steering wheel switches.

Despite the 2005 model having updated interior electronics (like the Gen 4 navigation system and Bluetooth capabilities), the underlying engineering for the steering wheel buttons remained a resistive ladder circuit, just like the 2003 model.

Why this matters for your Teyes CC3 2K Installation​

Since you are installing the Teyes unit yourself, this is actually good news. It gives you two ways to connect the steering controls, and one is often much better than the other:

Option 1: Via the CAN Bus Decoder (The "Plug-and-Play" way)Most Teyes harnesses for the LX 470/Land Cruiser 100 come with a small black "CAN Bus" box. This box reads the analog resistance from the factory wiring, converts it to a digital signal, and sends it to the Teyes unit.

• Pros: Easy (no cutting/splicing).
• Cons: Can sometimes be laggy, or certain buttons (like "Mode" or "Voice") might be hard-coded to functions you don't like.

Option 2: Direct Hardwiring (The "Engineer's" way)Because the switches are analog, you can bypass the CAN box entirely for the steering controls. You can tap the factory steering wheel signal wires (usually found in the 20-pin connector) and connect them directly to the Key 1 (and/or Key 2) and Ground wires on the Teyes harness.

• Pros: Zero lag. You can program any button to do any function inside the Teyes "Steering Wheel Learning" menu (e.g., make the "Voice" button launch Google Assistant or toggle your front camera).
• Cons: Requires identifying and splicing 2-3 specific wires.

Technical Note​

The signal leaves the steering wheel as analog resistance. It only becomes digital data (AVC-LAN) once it hits the factory Gateway or Navigation unit. By tapping the wires before they hit the factory ECU/Nav unit, you get the raw analog signal perfect for the Teyes.

Would you like me to find the specific pinout or wire colors for the 2005 steering wheel harness to help you identify them?

 

[Coin]

I believe '03-'05 LX's are the same. The '06-'07, is where the next update in digitization occurred. If your steering wheel controls work, then mine should as well. When I get a chance I will check out my steering wheel wiring and make sure it is all intact.

Thanks for all the info!

 

[SeasportNZ]

I believe '03-'05 LX's are the same. The '06-'07, is where the next update in digitization occurred. If your steering wheel controls work, then mine should as well. When I get a chance I will check out my steering wheel wiring and make sure it is all intact.

Thanks for all the info!

No worries. Yeah. I reckon it could be a wiring problem too.

 

[Vthelexus]

Excellent upgrade/write up. Can you please post how you replaced rear camera?

 

[implayaz9]

Following. Was most of it plug and play?