There's no right or wrong way to do this, really comes down to what you are starting with, and what you want to have in the end...
This one for example;
2007MY L320, with the 600W Harman Kardon, factory navigation.
Got the special kit from the UK to keep the factory touchscreen and instrument cluster menu functional.
Ditched the factory amp and fitted a $50 amp to run the subwoofer, the doors speakers are run from the internal amp of the head unit.
If the car didn't have factory navigation would have been a bit easier.
If the car had the base audio without fibre optics would have been much easier, but maybe a bit more expensive if we had to add a subwoofer.
If the car had the Logic7 it would have been a toss up between keeping the awesome sound, or updating the head unit...
And just as an FYI, if you have Rear Seat Entertainment, there is no way to keep it functional if you fit an aftermarket head unit, even keeping the factory touchscreen, the rear seat entertainment will be lost...
There is an Apple CarPlay / Android Auto kit available now that works with the factory touchscreen, so that would be another option for those cars with factory nav, rather than swapping the head unit.
Oh and one last thing, there were a handful of cars built with factory navigation, and base audio, so no fibre optics.
So if you have factory navigation you should always check under the drivers seat for the amplifier with fibre optics before you buy stuff...
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