Team-BHP - MP3 player and Speakers for my new NHC Exi

Hello car geeks...

I need your help in deciding on buying interior accessories for my new Honda City ZX (exi)... Getting delivery of car on 8th May.. Alabaster Silver (Courtsey Honda, Okha Indus. Area, Delhi) ...really exicted :)

I would like to buy/upgrade the following accessories:

1) MP3 player FM radio?
2) Speaker system as Exi comes with 2 speakers only :(
3) KeyLess entry with answer back (Exi again lacks that)

About #1, I have an iPod and would like it to be compatible with the Mp3 player.. and should have player remote (attachable on the steering wheel).. How much this would cost? ( Player itself + installation)

About #2, Is the inbuilt 2 speakers good enough? I meant, other cars have 4 or 6 speakers .. Please recommend any good brand/particular product and the estimated cost...

About #3, the dealer said they can fit it for me.. but not sure about the price.. my friends adviced to install it from third-party as it will be cheap and better.. Any idea of any good brand and the cost involved with #3? If third party installs it, would it have any effect on the warranty of the car?

I would be also getting alloy wheels, but dont think if this is the right thread to ask for... anyways.. many thanks for all your advices/recommendations... Waiting in Anticipation for my city..

As your friend said, getting the ICE done at a 3rd party car accessories shop will work out cheaper. You can check with your dealer about the warranty. Unless the installer really butchers the wires, you should get to keep your electrical warranty. You will get an OE harness for any HU quite easily, so the butchering part will really not be needed at all.

Yes, change the OE speakers by all means. They are quite crappy, and changing them alone will make a world of difference. Ideally, you should change all 4 speakers. If that doesn't go with your budget, I'd move the OE speakers to the back, and get good speakers in front.

The NHC has provision for 6.5" speakers in front & back. You can check-out speakers from Hertz/JBL/Blaupunkt/Alpine and choose what sounds good to you. It would be a good idea to get 2-way components in front. They will sound better than co-axials. You'll need just co-axials in the back.

6.5" Comps would cost about 5K to 7K, depending on the brand and series. 6.5" coaxials will be about 3K to 5K, depending on the brand and series.

For HUs you can check-out HUs from Pio, Blau & Alpine. You'll get MP3 & FM functionality right from about 5K. Ipods can be added to most HUs via aux-in, which will cost just about 30/- for an aux-in cable. If you want to charge and control the iPod from the HU, you'll need an iPod ready HU (starts from about 6K) and an iPod Interface cable (dictated by the HU). The cable would be between 3K and 5K, depending on the HU. Not all HUs have remotes. SOme HUs will support remotes being added on. Alpine doen't as yet have steering remotes. Pio & Blau do have steering remotes. Blau's remotes come at about 1.6K. Pio's remotes should be about the same.

If you can let us know your budget for the ICE, maybe we can give more specific suggestions.

To ensure that your warranty is still valid ensure that your installer uses the correct harness and does not cut and splice wires.

Many HUs offer ipod compatibility but this also requires a proprietery cable. The HU shoudl cost you 8K+ while the cable betwen 3K and 7K depending on HU. These cables allow you to control the ipod from the HU and you can see part of the ipod display on your HU usually current song etc..). 2007 Hus are better at this than the 2004-06 models.