2001 LS430 Bluetooth options

CurryAddict · April 13

Hi everyone,

Pardon me for being a bit of an idiot, but I'm a bit confused with the Bluetooth options for my 2001 LS430 and was just hoping if you could give me some advice on which Bluetooth setup to go for?

I'm just after streaming music via my phones Bluetooth with the best quality sound and thats it (no handsfree etc)

I've been looking at the GROM BT3 but cant work out which type of cable I need. I've attached a couple of photos of my stereo and wiring loom if anyone can workout which one I require (TOY1,TOYF or 5+7 pin?)

Also, from what I've read, the grom system uses the cd player to stream the music via Bluetooth but the cd player on my car doesn't work. ( when I press the cd button it displays "error").

looking at a few older posts I've seen you can get a "bluemusic" version which is consideraly cheaper than groms. Does that use the cdplayer function and is it worth getting that one instead of groms?

Cheers

Barry

MaximusPrime · April 14

Hi Barry, funnily enough, I had my BlueMusik Bluetooth adapter delivered on Friday and went ahead to install it.

It came with a 6+6 connector, which I assumed would be a straight swap with the existing port at the back of the stereo unit, but, after plugging it in, my Nav screen has gone off completely, and with it the volume adjustment, rear camera and the radio - all gone 🙂 CD changer still worked, as did the "load CD" and "eject" options on the CD changer, and when I paired my phone to the BlueMusik dongle it allowed me to switch tracks, both from the phone and the steering wheel buttons - so it worked, to an extent! Climate control and all the other, non Nav-related screen options work too.

All that is of no use to me of course (as there is no sound), so I went back to their website and it turns out I need a 6+6 Y splitter, which will have a dedicated port for all the existing functions that my stereo came with and a dedicated port for the BlueMusik dongle, that should now arrive tomorrow.

Looking at the back of the unit - yours is different to mine (a 2005 model year), so I'm wondering if it is the 5+7 one that you need? Their website does not mention the pre-facelift LS models however.

Dongle: https://www.musikimauto.de/BlueMusic-Bluetooth-Audio-Toyota-Lexus-57_1
5+7 Y splitter: https://www.musikimauto.de/Toyota-57-Y-plug-large

I'll add a picture of what the back of my stereo looks like if it helps.

MaximusPrime · April 14

Update:

amazon sells a bundle which includes both the 5+7 dongle and the Y splitter / adapter:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-interface-1997-2003-2001-2004-2001-2010/dp/B07JQWPJ49/ref=sr_1_3?crid=1AJOZ3H10NF1O&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.P3s0327lU_EktFOn9IYf48m-47bvq8Kls3zlu_So8NvxsRBJZLbph-zdgpUrrTkNU4J1bVBvLOyqwZM4jVks7g.oDd56MnSU3zIc8bxvzN8HC7sGXCdv-mAlYhwBoDns3U&dib_tag=se&keywords=BlueMusic%2Blexus&qid=1713087735&sprefix=bluemusic%2Blexus%2Caps%2C68&sr=8-3&th=1

Edit: The middle port on your stereo definitely has 5 pins at top and 7 pins bottom, so I would imagine the 5+7 dongle and the 5+7 splitter should do the job:

Edited April 14 by MaximusPrime
Added Amazon link.

CurryAddict · April 14

Thank you for the very quick reply MaximusPrime, I’ll give that amazon link an order and I’ll let you know how it goes 🤞

cheers for clearing up the connector confusion too.

MaximusPrime · April 14

Thanks Barry - hope it goes well, keep us posted!

My 6+6 Y splitter has arrived a day early, and was a doddle to fit, plug and play 🙂 There's a bit of a lip on the back of the stereo, so I tucked the splitter cable behind that, and traced the Bluetooth dongle to the side and all the way down, to rest on insulation padding behind the lowest wooden panel on the dash (heated seats controls, etc.).

Ignition on - nav screen came back to life, as did the reverse camera and volume controls work again - result! Paired the phone again, double tap on the CD button and it worked right away. The sound quality is brilliant, as good as any FLAC files on my CDs, very happy with the way it turned out. Steering controls work too - up and down to skip tracks, and there's zero input delay, it just works! I've turned the engine off fully, then back on and it started playing again, without me having to touch anything, as close to OEM as you can get 🙂

BigBoomer · April 15

I've had the BlueMusic module for about 3 years now and the only problem I have had with it is that sometimes my phone just decides not to connect to the BlueMusic, so I have to go in to the phone and tell it to connect.

Yes, yours looks like the 5+7 but I don't know of anyone else that has used the 5+7 Y-cable with the BlueMusic module.
I believe you will need the 5+7 Y-cable
https://www.musikimauto.de/Toyota-57-Y-plug-large
and the 5+7 BlueMusic module
https://www.musikimauto.de/BlueMusic-Bluetooth-Audio-Toyota-Lexus-57_1
or the 5+7 BlueMusic with HandsFree if you make/take calls when driving.
https://www.musikimauto.de/BlueMusic-Bluetooth-Audio-Handsfree-KitToyota-57

Please do let us know if you get it working.

CurryAddict · April 18

Hi everyone,

My Bluetooth adapter with the splitter arrived today and it does look like it fits.

However, over the last few days I've been taking the door cards off to inspect my speakers because the sound quality has been really bad since I bought the car which wasn't long ago. I've noticed that 90% of the foam is perished from each door speaker and the subwoofer on the rear shelf is a cheapy aftermarket for some reason.

Also I remember noticing a few months back, when I had the volume to reasonbly loud, the sound would cut out. I originally thought this would be because of the terrible speakers but now upon inspection, Once they're refoamed, they should be back to new quality.

Looking about on the forums and various youtube videos, the amplifier is the main culprit.

Instead of chancing it or sourcing another used one that will probably fail in the near future too, I'm now looking at installing my own single din radio which I found a good write up from over the pond (https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-3rd-gen-2001-2006/905011-how-to-single-din-head-unit-and-amp-in-ls430-with-factory-nav-ml-no-adapters-needed-3.html)

This would also replace my broken cd player. I'd need to source an amplifier that'll probably have to sit in the boot, Although it wouldn't look ideal and spoils the oem look, it would definitely last longer and it also means I'd have the option to connect my phone to it via Bluetooth and usb direct. I wouldn't have to spend quite abit on a used Mark Levinson subwoofer either which do go for alot of money!

It does look like a right chew on to be honest, but I think its the way to go for me personally and also I should beable to get some help from a friend who is very knowledgable with electronics.

Thanks for the help again and I will definitely send some photos and info once its finished!

Cheers

Barry

The-Acre · April 18

Practically every LS430 suffers with the speaker foam breaking up, there are kits available to repair them though. The amplifiers are also prone to failure but you can get them repaired/rebuilt.

MaximusPrime · April 18

There's a video on replacing the foam that surrounds the amplifier, works out a lot cheaper than having it replaced altogether. Might be of help:

BigBoomer · April 18

Better yet fit the Dayton Audio subwoofer. Sounds great and only cost £60.

The Amp will probably be fine once you refoam the speakers.

Replacing the entire audio system is a LOT of time, expense, and hassle and probably won't give you a better sounding system,but it's your choice. If I were to do that I'd probably go the Android route where it replaces the Nav screen and not bother with a CD player at all.

Malc1 · April 23

On 4/18/2024 at 2:21 PM, MaximusPrime said:

There's a video on replacing the foam that surrounds the amplifier, works out a lot cheaper than having it replaced altogether. Might be of help:

4 Paws are always a useful additional tool

Malc

CurryAddict · May 7

Hi everyone,

Just a quick follow up with the progress.

Instead of purchasing new aftermarket door speakers I went ahead with keeping the original Mark Levinson's and buying the speaker refoam kit from the US (simplyspeakers). This mean't I wouldn't have to faff around making adjustments to make aftermarket ones fit and it really wasn't a bad job either, would highly recommended to anyone with worn out foam.

Once I fitted the refoamed speakers, the sound quality was still terrible!

Turns out, my aux casette player was absolute dog sh*t and that was one of the other problems all this time!

As soon as I put the radio on the sound difference was insane. Also my rear aftermarket subwoofer which I thought wasn't working correctly, is now working perfectly fine! I'm kinda surprised how good the sound quality is considering the car is 23 years old.

I can now also put my music very loud without the amp cutting out so maybe that had something to do with the lack of foam on the speakers or the cheap aux casette tape.

I really don't listen to the radio, so I did go ahead fitting that bluemusic Bluetooth adapter but I do have a problem.

I can connect to the Bluetooth but since my cd player isn't working and displays "error" I cant get the Bluetooth to bypass the cd function.

I did take the cd player apart and have a look inside, but I couldn't see anything obvious, there wasn't any cd's inside either.

I also connected a power supply to it on the bench and it was mechanically functioning correctly.

The one thing I did notice though, is that the faceplate of the cd player doesnt emitt any lights like it should do? No responce when you press load or the eject button either.

If I can't get it fixed then I suppose I'll just have buy a working used one instead.

DomTurner · May 7

Does the error have any more detail or does it just say "error"?

CurryAddict · May 7

@DomTurner It just displays "error" unfortunately.

I'm trying to workout if there's a way to trick the cd player to think it working normally, maybe by solidering a wire to certain point or whatever.

I'll do a bit more research later on.

MaximusPrime · May 7

Hi Barry, happy to hear that the refoam kit did the trick! 👍

As far as the adapter - I don't think you need a functioning CD player to make the adapter work, all you need is a working DISC button, which you tap twice and it should switch to the Bluemusik dongle for you, I could be wrong, but it's worth a try!

CurryAddict · May 7

@MaximusPrime It worked!!!

Thank you so much, I'm very pleased it actually did the trick 😀

I'm going to leave it at that then, sorted for a very long time!

Cheers again everyone for the quick responses and useful information!

BigBoomer · May 8

Glad to hear that it's working well for you. :thumbup:
I find the ML system to be excellent, especially considering it's age.
Yes, the foam on the speakers falls apart and the Amp's suffer from the "lead-free solder" issue like many of LSes the electronic parts, but the sound quality is excellent.

When you say your "Aux cassette player" do you mean a cassette Aux adapter?
I had one of those and you are right that they are dogsh!t in terms of audio quality, but mine was more muffled than distorted.

CurryAddict · May 8

Yeah, sorry that’s what I meant @BigBoomer

It was the very first thing I bought for the car (£10 from Halfords) but it’s absolutely horrendous for any sort of music. You could probably get away with it if you were just listening to podcasts etc

DomTurner · May 8

I've always found the Bluetooth FM transmitters to do a decent job, I bought one for my first car on amazon for £15 and it still works now 4 and a half years later.

Nothing compares to an actual CD/direct phone input and it's nice to have the steering wheel controls too. Also something that I never see mentioned is the "Set" button next to the steering wheel volume controls, I use it a lot more than I thought I would for example pulling up somewhere late at night/early morning and being able to set the volume to 10 with the press of a button.

BigBoomer · May 9

18 hours ago, CurryAddict said:

Yeah, sorry that’s what I meant @BigBoomer

It was the very first thing I bought for the car (£10 from Halfords) but it’s absolutely horrendous for any sort of music. You could probably get away with it if you were just listening to podcasts etc

I used one when I first got my LS but the quality was poor so I soon opted for a Bluetooth>FM adapter but even that wasn't good enough.
The BlueMusic module is perfect for playing music in the car and at that price is very good value.
I did consider a VAIS or a full Android replacement for the SatNav screen, but they are both quite pricey and don't add enough functionality for me to consider them worth the extra cost.