Hello everyone. I am new to this forum and felt my experience could help those of you looking to upgrade their vehicle to the new 2012/2013 GM Hard Drive Navigation. I purchased everything I needed off of eBay. Here is a list of what you will need. My radio was used so it came locked and needed programming. See the bottom of the thread and I will explain this.

1. GM hard drive radio. This one has the map built in and does not require a nav disk. There are different part numbers for radios so I checked with some gm parts sites to make sure it cross referenced to my vehicle.

2. A wiring harness kit sold on eBay by a company OEM-GM-Radios. This kit includes the harness, including vehicle speed sensor wire and vcc connection to the onstar module. The kit also includes an extension wire from the xm tuner to the radio and the FM cable conversion.

3. A navigation antenna. Check your particular model.

4. A new usb cable from radio to your console. Mine came with usb from the factory but the connector on the back of the radio is different.

Everything you need is sold by OEM-GM-Radios. Speak to Matt there as he is very knowledgeable.

My install was pretty straight forward. Youtube has some great videos of it.

1. Install the green and white wire from the kit to the vss wire (same color) near the left kick panel. This was found near the black box that has all the wires there along with orange and green plugs. The wire is easily spotted. Tap in to the wire with a t tap connection. Do not cut this wire!

2. YouTube videos didn't show this step. You will either have a brown plug to the back of your radio or you won't. If you have the brown plug you can just plug it into the brown female plug on the harness. If you do not you will have to hook up the harness to the vcc module. The vcc module is located under the radio and is a silver box. It is label continental or LG. Keep in mind that access is very tight. The vcc module had a single female plug left open to plug in the male end of your harness. Keep in mind the plug only goes one way and you should hear a click if it is installed right.

3. Disconnect the black harness and yellow plug to the xm tuner. Plug the extension to the yellow antenna and leave the black plug disconnected. The tuner is behind the glove box and is a silver box. Run this up to the back of the radio opening.

4. Pull out the center console near the cup holders. The top part pops out very easily. Do not take out the whole console or unscrew anything. Under his you will find the usb connection. Disconnect the original usb cord and replace it with the new one purchased. Run this up to the back of the radio opening.

5. Install backup camera per manufacture instructions. I bought an after market camera that attached to the license plate. I'd did drill a hole behind the license plate to run the wires through. You will have to take off the inside plastic panels on the lift gate. Run both the power wire and the video wire with the existing harness for a clean look. Run the power wire all the way to the tail light. You will need a lighted power probe to see which wire gets power when the backup lights come on. Tap into that wire only and ground your camera to a clean ground screw in the area. Then run the yellow video cable all the way to the front of the vehicle and behind the radio. On my install I needed additional wire for power and ground. I also needed an rca extension to reach behind my radio.

6. Install navigation antenna. Take off left a pillar cover and pop off dash piece closest to the window. Install the antenna just to the right of the defroster vents or on top of the dash if the antenna isnt installed to a metal square. Route wire towards the back of the radio.

7. Install all connections to the radio. Each one has its own way to connect to the radio so you won't get confused. The rest is plug and play. Connect the yellow camera cable to the rca input on the harness and tape so they don't come apart.

If your radio is a new radio you are ready to go. If your radio is used and locked you will need one more step. Here is what happened to me. I took my radio to have a vin relearn done at the dealer. The dealer said they tried to program my radio and were unable to. I read different peoples stories of dealers doing programming and some not being able to. In my case they were unable to.

I ended up sending my radio along with a picture of my RPO label located in the glove compartment to the same company I bought the wiring harnesses from. The company is OEM-GM-Radios. Talk to Matt there as he is very knowleadgable.
My radio was done the same day and I received it in a week there and back. The radio works great. No issues what so ever. These guys did what the dealer couldn't do. Please let me know if you guys guys have any questions and I will help you out.

 

good write up, but do you have photos?

 

Thanks. I took some pictures that I will upload as soon as I can.

 

Looking forward to the pics. This is exactly what I am trying to do.

BTW, I did not find a company called "OEM-GM-Radios", but did find "oemradios" and they do carry a bunch of GM radios. Is that who you mean?

Thanks!

 

They are one in the same company. The oem-gm-radios is their seller name on eBay. They have everything you will need and can program your radio to your vehicle. I'm trying to figure out how to load the photos. However, you tube had some good videos about the type of install whether it's the regular navigation or the hard drive navigation. Harnesses are different between the two though.

 

ok, thanks. I'm checking them out now.