05 Expedition Stock Radio & Auxiliary Question

[AcesOverEights]

Many thanks - I guess I will go looking for a new head unit, adapter, and harness. I think I will eventually replace the stock speakers as well...

Any recommendations on an aftermarket head unit? I have lurked over on Crutchfield but not sure what to get that will meet the needs...

Thats really a personal choice. Id say stick to a big name brand, Pioneer, Clarion, Kenwood, JVC etc etc
Just pick out what features you want. Then find a deck that has all of them. Personally, I went with a Pioneer AVH-X2600BT.
I wanted a touchscreen double din with bluetooth and android compatibility. (I'm stuck with this stupid Galaxy S4 for a while)

If you want to atleast retain the factory DVD and the steering wheel controls, you need to make sure that you have an AUX in and a wired remote input.
There are other adapters out there to keep the steering wheel controls if your new deck doesnt have a wired remote input, but I cant speak to how well they work.

 

[sarge816]

Wife wanted to stream pandora in our 05 EB with the same radio / dvd setup as yours. I looked at all the options and the easiest was a bluetooth to FM adapter using her smartphone:

Amazon.com : Incredisonic IFM-500 Bluetooth FM Transmitter

Basically, it links to your phone with bluetooth and then the built in FM transmitter send the signal to your vehicle FM radio head unit. You just find an area on the FM dial that is free of a station already, dial it in on the transmitter, and set it in memory of the head unit (just like any other station), pretty slick.

I was a little doubtful about it since it was so cheap but it got mostly good reviews and I decided it was by far the least trouble if it worked. We purchased it Dec. 2012 from Amazon and it has worked great. It even has a 3.5mm aux input if you prefer to go that route. Although some will say the sound quality isn't as good going through FM (they are right) it is pretty irrelevant if you are using stock head unit and speakers, especially if you are streaming lower quality content like Pandora radio. As reference, to my old iron ears streaming Pandora sounds in between the FM radio station and CD player for sound quality.