8.4" Radio Head Unit (Difference between Mopar & Nismopar)

[cjb0609]

Hi All,

I just purchased a new 2022 Jeep Gladiator Willys. Unfortunately, there were a number of creature comforts missing in the vehicle I got off the lot. One of them is the 8.4" head unit. I currently have the 7" unit. I've been doing a lot of reading on this site and other places (so hopefully I'm not asking a question that has already been answered elsewhere) regarding upgrading the 7" unit to the 8.4" unit. I also considered some 3rd party upgrades (Insane Audio, Alpine, etc) but came to the conclusion that I would prefer to have the genuine stock experience.

That being said, I know the part number of the head unit I need (based on other postings and the guy that made the youtube video of replacing it in the dealer parking lot) 68472596AK. That unit is able to be purchased direction from Mopar ( 2021-2022 Jeep Gladiator Multi Media Radio 68472596AK | Mopar Estores ) for significantly less ($1,400) than some of the other sites that folks here have purchased units from (e.g. Infotainment.com).

After a lot of reading, I understand that Infotainment.com sells refurbished units, which is why they require the anti-theft code (and much more expensive, too). I don't believe an anti-theft code is needed for a brand new unit like you would purchase from Mopar directly. I have been in touch with another company (Nismopar) and they claim all of their units are brand new, do not require anti-theft codes, but they do require you to provide your VIN (which buying from Mopar you cannot provide your VIN). 2020+ Jeep Gladiator JT 8.4 New Radio NAV Upgrade | NisMopar

So what I'm trying to understand is - is there any difference between the units provided by Mopar directly and Nismopar? Or would I simply be wasting an additional $400 on nothing by buying from Nismopar instead of Mopar directly? Nismopar asks for you VIN before purchase. I don't know if there is a legitimate process that they perform with your VIN to make it work right with your exact vehicle or is it simply just for show to try and make you believe there is some added benefit by purchasing the same exact item from Nismopar but at a much greater cost?

I also understand there is no possible way to update the uconnect software in the future after you install it (over-the-aire updaet), regardless of where it has been purchased from (Mopar, Nismopar, Infotainment, etc.) as it has to have come from the factory installed with the vehicle. Possibly you could via USB but I've been reading there are issues with being able to download the software based on VIN from the uconnect site as well as the potential to brick the head-unit. I suppose that's the one thing I could live with if I decide to stay with a stock part instead of going with a 3rd party head unit.

Sorry for the long post, but I have read tons of other threads on here and there appears to be a lot of confusion on the intricacies around going from the 7" to the 8.4". Hoping to get that all cleared up before I decide to spend somewhere between $1,500 - $1,800. Definitely don't want to make the wrong decision.

Thanks in advance!

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[rharr]

If i had $1500 to spend on a radio, i would skip all the mopar difficulties and just buy a Phoenix brand unit.

I think this is the unit that a few folks on here have installed and are happy.

https://phoenixautomotiveinc.com/co...navigation-radio-for-jeep-gladiator-2020-2021

 

[cjb0609]

Thanks for the reply. That's quite an intriguing head unit, but I have been impressed by some of the others as well and after doing the research on them there is usually some thing or things that just aren't the same because it is not a stock radio (boot up time is slow, backup camera doesn't work, etc.). May be little things but sometimes it's the little things that end up driving me crazy. Haven't read anything about this one yet, but maybe I'll take some time to look into it.


Edit: Yup, was just reading about it. Since it is an Android tablet obviously there is no Apple Carplay. Dealbreaker for me since I'm pretty heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem.

 

[jcarbs]

I'm curious why you chose not to go with the Insane JL4001. I understand you keep almost everything that you get with an OEM head unit. I've read that regardless of what you choose, the one thing you definitely lose is the USB port in the center console except for charging. I've looked at all the options and just can't convince myself to pull the trigger on that much money just yet. So in the meantime I sit with my 7 inch unit in my Willys.

 

[rharr]

Totally understand, and there maybe better options out there. The thing that grinds my gears is how almost everything these days seems to be locked to a vin with no options out there for DIY to easily do the work themself's. These chinese radios interest me since they just skip the who OEM vin crap from the start.

I have a cheap chinese smartphone that has worked really well for me for the past few years and has been a fraction of the cost of a brand name phone. If china wants to know where i am and what i am doing, fine i have nothing to offer.

My point is china has gotten really good at making knock off brand android based smart systems using google source code.

 

[cjb0609]

I'm curious why you chose not to go with the Insane JL4001. I understand you keep almost everything that you get with an OEM head unit. I've read that regardless of what you choose, the one thing you definitely lose is the USB port in the center console except for charging. I've looked at all the options and just can't convince myself to pull the trigger on that much money just yet. So in the meantime I sit with my 7 inch unit in my Willys.

I don't recall exactly since I've researched maybe 4 or 5 different head units over the last couple of days but there had to have been some OEM feature that I did not want to lose. Maybe this is the one that on the backup camera it loses the feature of having the predictive lines of where you are going in reverse? That's something I value pretty heavily, but not sure if this was the one that lost that feature or not, but every one of these that I have read it's always some little OEM feature like that which you lose that ends up being a deal breaker for me. Other than that, I would muc rather prefer one of these 3rd party head units. There is just always some small compromise that I haven't been willing to give up yet.

Another one I looked at seemed fantastic (maybe it was the Alpine) but it required you to replace the media hub in the vehicle (where the USB-A and USB-C ports are today on the dashboard). It replaces it with 2 USB-A ports and you lose the USB-C port. With everything moving to USB-C (even iPhones) not having that future proof is something I didn't want to lose. Of course, I could simply buy an adapter, but I don't want to have to use an adapter. Stuff like that. Maybe I'm too picky!

 

[jcarbs]

Not picky, totally understand, that's why I'm holding back. Everything I research from the 8.4, to the Stinger, Insane, and Alpine I find things I don't like. Good luck and interested to read how the upgrade works.

 

[be77solo]

Hey, I went from 5 to 8.4 using nismopar about 2 years ago and still couldn't be happier.

The only reason they need the VIN is so that it is literally plug and play when you swap the units. Easy swap, best thing I've done to my Jeep for daily use. I can't recommend nismopar enough, unit shipped the same day.

If you want to stay factory and upgrade, they are THE source. And no, I have no affiliation with them, they just offer a great product.

EDIT: I went back to my purchase email, it is now $200 more. I paid $1599 for the kit. But, they also include the Bezel, so it's literally a 5 minute plug and play with them.

 

[cjb0609]

Hey, I went from 5 to 8.4 using nismopar about 2 years ago and still couldn't be happier.

The only reason they need the VIN is so that it is literally plug and play when you swap the units. Easy swap, best thing I've done to my Jeep for daily use. I can't recommend nismopar enough, unit shipped the same day.

If you want to stay factory and upgrade, they are THE source. And no, I have no affiliation with them, they just offer a great product.

Awesome to hear and thanks for the input. My understanding was the unit directly from Mopar was plug and play as well. The guy that performed the replacement on YouTube recently got his directly from Mopar as well. Nothing else he needed to do other than unplug the old and plug in the new.


That’s why I was wondering if there truly is some difference by buying from Nismopar and spending an extra $400 to do so. Nothing concrete I have found yet that says the unit from Nismopar > Mopar in any way. Was hoping to understand if there was a difference. Otherwise I’ll happily keep an additional $400 in my wallet.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Mine came with the 7” of the lot. Knowing that if I would upgrade to the 8.4, I wouldn’t get uconnect remote start or upgrades, I don’t see the draw. Yes, a front trail cam could be added, but I’d be well past $2,000 by that point. The only thing I’d like with the 8.4 is mobile remote start, so if I don’t get that, I’m not going to risk my oem features. Just my opinion, from someone who’s also given this some thought.

 

[be77solo]

Awesome to hear and thanks for the input. My understanding was the unit directly from Mopar was plug and play as well. The guy that performed the replacement on YouTube recently got his directly from Mopar as well. Nothing else he needed to do other than unplug the old and plug in the new.


That’s why I was wondering if there truly is some difference by buying from Nismopar and spending an extra $400 to do so. Nothing concrete I have found yet that says the unit from Nismopar > Mopar in any way. Was hoping to understand if there was a difference. Otherwise I’ll happily keep an additional $400 in my wallet.

K

 

[cjb0609]

Mine came with the 7” of the lot. Knowing that if I would upgrade to the 8.4, I wouldn’t get uconnect remote start or upgrades, I don’t see the draw. Yes, a front trail cam could be added, but I’d be well past $2,000 by that point. The only thing I’d like with the 8.4 is mobile remote start, so if I don’t get that, I’m not going to risk my oem features. Just my opinion, from someone who’s also given this some thought.

Yeah, I have no need to use the phone app Uconnect functions so that’s not much of a loss for me, personally. Not being able to do software updates kind of is, but still think I could live without that.

 

[WILDHOBO]

Yeah, I have no need to use the phone app Uconnect functions so that’s not much of a loss for me, personally. Not being able to do software updates kind of is, but still think I could live without that.

I’m not trying to sway you either way. I’m genuinely interested though why you want to upgrade. What features does the 8.4 have that the 7” doesn’t, that you want?

 

[cjb0609]

I’m not trying to sway you either way. I’m genuinely interested though why you want to upgrade. What features does the 8.4 have that the 7” doesn’t, that you want?

The size is ridiculously small. And CarPlay doesn’t even take up the 7” so that is even smaller. Backup camera has black bars on the sides so is smaller than the full 7” as well. My wife has the 8” in her Wrangler and it is much nicer so I have experience with using both.
Other thing is I listen to sports radio a fair amount and not having the HD radio station for the AM channel kind of sucks. HD FM radio quality is 1000x better than regular AM.

 

[WILDHOBO]

The size is ridiculously small. And CarPlay doesn’t even take up the 7” so that is even smaller. Backup camera has black bars on the sides so is smaller than the full 7” as well. My wife has the 8” in her Wrangler and it is much nicer so I have experience with using both.
Other thing is I listen to sports radio a fair amount and not having the HD radio station for the AM channel kind of sucks. HD FM radio quality is 1000x better than regular AM.

Makes sense. I either use Apple car play with a music app, or Sirius, so I don’t have any quality issues. But I certainly get it being tough when you jump into your wife’s Jeep and it’s better. Of course my wife’s car interior smokes anything a JT or JL will ever see. So she still gets to win.

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