Trying to Decide - X940BT, X850BT, Z140BH

[capt512]

Hey Everyone,


The vehicle I will be referencing is a 2003 Mercury Marauder (faster Mercury Grand Marquis with factory sub and amp). It is completing stock and will be mostly staying that way. So I am looking for everything to be factory looking and the least amount of modifications possible in case I sell it. So I will NOT be putting a sub box in the trunk, want any buttons on the faceplate surround to match interior light color or darn close.

The factory radio is going out and a replacement will run me almost $300 so I figure I mine as well spend a little more and get a nav unit.

The Marauder forum members have largely suggested the Pioneer Avic-X940BT, a member on Crutchfield Forums suggested the Avic-X850BT, and a few videos online suggested the Avic-Z140BH over the 940.  I am looking to spend no more than $600 for the H/U total, and have found all of the above for that price range, new in box.

 

The X940BT I like because of the volume knob vs the X850BT & Z140BH.  The 850BT seems to be alot more available for whatever reason, is this a newer or older unit than the others?  The Z140BH I have seen multiple places as mentioned as an upgrade to the x940, as it includes HD radio, voice selection, and a few other options. It also includes a 7" screen vs the 6.1" of the others, which I really like (I have a Note 2 as my cell, so clearly I like big screens). 

 

However I am worried about the motorized screen... Is this something I should worry about, or with this higher end units are the motorized systems stable?  Are there any other things I should know that are upgrades with the Z140BH vs the X940BT? I am leaning more between those two, 1 for the volume knob, the other for the screen size.

 

Thanks everyone!

[RonS]

Don't know squat about Mercurys, but I'd say the HU motor will do fine. After all, it's a 10yr old car.  I installed my Z110 in a brand new car 3 yrs ago and it has been fine. But then I don't open it much.  Just don't abuse it. You're not still using CDs are you?

 

Since you mentioned the cost vis-à-vis replacing w/OEM, keep in mind you'll also need adapters and likely a cage and face-plate unless the stock radio is double-din standard - which I doubt.

[capt512]

Thanks for the reply.  I am currently using burned CDs in a disk changer +1 disk in radio, with the stock system, not really any other option with it lol.  You do bring up a good point though, that I will be using MP3s on SD so I won't need to open and close it much.  I know I will need a steering wheel adaptor, and install kit.  I see the Z140BH includes HD radio & traffic...don't know if I will use either? How big of SD card does the Z140BH support?

[capt512]

I spent some time on Crutchfield tonight looking through customer reviews on the zt140bh and saw LOTS of bad reviews stating the nav was way off, the interface was hard to use due to button size, the sound from the H/U was horrible, and was slow to respond?  This is strange as the X940BT had much better reviews...is this something to worry about with the Z?  I was leaning towards it, but after reading sooo many bad reviews I am now reconsidering the X940BT....

[VBLUE42]

They both use the same software so what sucks for one should suck for the other. What sucks is all a matter of opinion though.

[RonS]

Since you talked about being able to go back to OEM, make sure you get a factory harness adapter. That will reduce or eliminate cutting/tapping wires.  You'll still want to tap for Illumination, VSS, and maybe Parking Brake and Backup sensors.

Yeah, don't put much faith in those reviews AFA diff between 940 and 140.  Either will sound much better than OEM, but you might want to upgrade your 10yr old speakers. 

 I'd recommend downloading the manual (same one for both units). You might find it on Crutchfield or the Pioneer site. Go to the back and examine the spec differences. The Z140 uses SD, the x940 uses microSD (not a big deal unless you have a lot of SD cards).

Also, look in the manual for SD file limitations. The is a limit on the number of files and folders.  This limit makes an SD greater than 32GB kinda meaningless - unless you fill it up with movies.

 

BTW, the x940 doesn't come with HD or traffic tuners. They are extra cost options

.

Actually, forget the SD and get an iPod. The AVIC iPod user interface and integration is so much better than the SD interface - which is just a bad file explorer. No search, and IMO hard to use for a big MP3 collection. In order to be usable at all, it requires careful organization. Whereas, with the iPod, uoe can use voice commands like "Play the artist xxxx",  or "Play the playlist yyyyyy", or "Browse the artist zzz" and it lets you chose from the list of albums where that aritst is found. Once the album is selected you get a list of the track titles in that album for that artist.