Your car came from Japan with the entertainment system in Japanese. We convert the factory multimedia unit to English in Dublin — and where a unit can't be converted, we replace it. Send us a photo of your radio and we'll tell you which of the two applies to your car.
Every import lands on one of these two, and the photo of your radio is what decides which. There is no third option and no in-between.
The unit stays in the dashboard and keeps every button, wire and function it has today. We load an English software package onto it, so the same screen you already own starts speaking English.
Possible on many units — but not all. That's what we check.
Some units have no English software in existence, so no workshop can convert them. Then the honest answer is a new head unit that works in English from the moment it's switched on.
A conversion is a software job on the unit you already have — and it changes the language, nothing more. Everything below is what we touch. Anything not on this list stays exactly as it is today.
Home screen, audio, phone, Bluetooth and vehicle settings menus, the on-screen keyboard and the messages the unit puts up — all in English wording instead of Japanese. Same layout, same buttons, same everything else.
The clock set to the format you expect, the date the right way round, and distance and temperature in kilometres and Celsius rather than the Japanese defaults.
They're all separate jobs with their own pages. We can often do them in the same visit — just say so when you send your photos.
Same model, same year, completely different screens — Japan sells dozens of factory and dealer options. Four things decide the answer.
Every menu, setting and message becomes English, along with the clock and date. One visit, one to three hours.
Menus become English, but the built-in maps only cover Japan — no European data exists for them.
No English firmware exists for some units. Then it's Plan B — a new radio that speaks English out of the box.
Drag each slider to see the same screen before and after. Every one of these kept its original head unit — only the software changed.
The check costs nothing and takes a message. Everything after it depends on what your photo shows.
One picture of the radio switched on, plus the car's make, model and year. That is enough for us to identify the unit.
The part number and software version tell us whether an English package exists for it — this is the whole answer, and it is free.
Plan A with a price, or Plan B with a quote for a replacement radio. If nothing can be done we say so.
We connect and save the current software before touching anything, so the car can go back exactly as it was.
Menus, settings, on-screen keyboard, clock and date format all switch over. The unit never leaves the dashboard.
We walk through the menus together before you pay, so you see exactly what became English and what did not.
Anything brought in from the Japanese domestic market can arrive with the multimedia in Japanese. The badge on the bonnet tells us nothing on its own — the head unit does.
and other Japanese imports
Real cars from the Dublin workshop: what was fitted, what it cost and whether it fits yours.
Straight answers about what a Japanese to English conversion can and can't do.
Ask on WhatsAppNo, and anyone who says otherwise hasn't seen your unit. It depends on the head unit and its software version, not on the car. Some Toyota, Honda and Nissan units take an English package cleanly; others are locked with no English firmware in existence.
That's exactly why we ask for a photo before quoting.
Two identical cars from the same year can leave Japan with completely different screens depending on trim and dealer options. The photo identifies the actual unit in your dashboard, which is the only thing that decides the answer.
The menus become English, but the maps stay Japanese — no European map data was ever produced for those units, so this isn't something any workshop can fix. Navigation that actually covers Ireland means a different head unit, which we cover on the car radio installation page.
No — that's a different job. Changing the menu language and moving the tuner off the Japanese 76–90 MHz band are unrelated to each other, and one being possible doesn't mean the other is.
We can usually do both in the same visit. It's covered on the FM band conversion page.
No. A language conversion changes the wording on screen, nothing else — it can't add a feature the unit was never built with. Japanese factory units of this age don't support CarPlay at all.
If CarPlay is what you're really after, see Apple CarPlay activation.
Most conversions take one to three hours and are done in a single visit. You're welcome to wait in the shop, or leave the car and collect it later the same day.
The menus, settings, on-screen keyboard and the clock and date format do. A handful of units keep one or two warning screens in Japanese, and built-in navigation maps always stay Japanese.
We show you the converted screen before you pay, so you see exactly what you're getting.
No. A conversion is software only — the unit stays in the dashboard, no wiring is cut, and the work is reversible. If we end up replacing the unit instead, we use vehicle-specific adaptors so the original can go back in.
It depends entirely on the unit and how much work it needs, so we price it once we've seen your photos. The check itself is free, and there's no obligation. If a conversion isn't possible we'll quote a replacement radio instead.
Snap your radio screen, send it over, and we'll tell you today whether your car can be converted — and exactly what you'd get.
Tell us what you're driving. If you can attach photos, even better — otherwise we'll ask for them on WhatsApp.
887 Google reviews
Called them and they booked me in within a couple of hours, same day. The install took less than 30 minutes. Very professional. Highly recommend!
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Got Apple CarPlay installed by Radio King. Poppy there manager was very helpful and polite. Highly recommend.
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Great service, very professional. Installed car radio in 1 hour and 30 minutes. Everything is working great with the radio.
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Got new radio and rear sensors for my Honda Vezel, very happy with it. Thank you to Poppy.
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Service is very good.
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