Jimny Gen4 SZ4/SZ5 GJ/HJ radio nav notes

Here are some notes about the radio / nav headunits in the Gen4 Jimny.  I'm posting these in case they are useful to others, I claim no special expertise.  Please feel free to supplement with your own info!

If you are removing the radio from your Gen4 Jimny, look up Martin's videos on YouTube .  He has a helpful step-by-step showing you exactly how to do this correctly.

Now some notes on the radios themselves.



Above is a pic of the back of the SZ5 / GJ / Comfort+ (depending on what Suzuki calls the hi-spec model in your market) radio unit.  This is the radio with a 7" touchscreen, navigation, etc.  The connectors, from left to right, are:

1) Blue round "FAKRA" type connector: GPS antenna
2) Dark grey connector: primary radio antenna
3) Black FAKRA connector: secondary radio antenna
4) White connector: AUX in 
5) Light grey connector: overhead microphone
6) Green connector: backup camera
7) Brown connector: USB
8) White connector: ?
9) Large black connector: speakers, steering wheel controls, power

If you have a SZ4 / HJ / commercial i.e. low-spec radio, without the touchscreen, the rear of your unit will have fewer connectors:



You can see that there are many fewer connectors in the photo above, but the ones that are present perform the same functions as their counterparts on a GJ unit.  That means that a GJ radio will plug directly into an HJ Jimny, and work with no additional changes.  That said, if you want to use the navigation function in a GJ radio, you will also need to add a GPS antenna (sometimes called a "puck" because of the shape).

There are no mechanical changes needed to fit the SZ5 / GJ unit into an SZ4 / HJ Jimny -- the housing fits in the same way.


Note on sources: The first photo comes indirectly from Bosch, at this link . Second photo is from my own Jimny.


 

SZ5 / GJ radios are rather hard to come by, though, as there just aren't that many Gen4 Jimnys out there in the first place.  There are aftermarket units that will fit the Gen4 Jimny binnacle, and indeed the aftermarket radios have larger 9" screens and are typically much more sophisticated than the OEM units from Bosch.  If you decide to go aftermarket, you have two options.

The first is to buy a radio that comes prefitted with a Jimny-type surround:



The second is to buy a radio frame / surround / fascia to fit the double DIN 9" screen radio of your choice:




If you take the second option, you have more choice in radios but you also need to make sure you get all of the adapters needed.  Suzuki uses specific connectors; they are not universal.
 

It might be the case that you want a touchscreen in your commercial / HJ Jimny, but don't want to fit some fancy aftermarket unit. Some love the bells and whistles, some find them fussy and distracting.

It is possible to fit a radio from another Suzuki car. These units will have the correct, Suzuki-type connectors on the back, so they will be plug-and-play as far as that goes. These radios will have 7" screens and the typical Suzuki interface, so they will look like an OEM installation. They are all pretty good quality, being made by Bosch or, in some cases, Blaupunkt. But there are two potential hurdles in using a radio from a non-Jimny Suzuki.

The first is that not all of them will have the full suite of connectors. Some Suzuki cars have touchscreens but no navigation; those units typically won't have GPS antenna connections. Other radios may have a built-in microphone and no connector for the Jimny's overhead mic. Still others won't have the secondary radio antenna connector, which the Jimny has (I believe) to help improve reception, so if you listen to the radio a lot you will want to avoid those.

The second hurdle has to do with the mounting. The bracket screwed to your Jimny's original radio, you can fit most any other Suzuki radio's housing. But many of the current Suzukis have radios with integrated faceplates which won't fit the Jimny's binnacle.



In the photo above, from German eBay, you can see that the radio unit is the same but the decorative surround would definitely not fit a Jimny. (This is from an S-Cross model.)

And even if your Suzuki-sourced radio is an ordinary double-DIN type, with a 7" rectangular screen and no exterior decorative surround, you still have the problem of finding an appropriate frame to fit the Jimny's binnacle. Suzuki does not sell the SZ5 / GJ frame piece as a separate part. So you have to go aftermarket for that bit as well.

I'll post some more radio info after I take some more photos in the near future. Just thought I'd put these notes up in the meantime in case it was helpful to someone.

Here I'm posting mostly about the external characteristics of these radios, but if you're interested in the software there's an active discussion group for the Bosch SLDA at this link .  This covers some of the technical details of the Bosch units' operating system and software, and there is also a lot of information on how to update the maps in the units that have navigation.