I have 2 HDS 5's on the boat. Can I replace the units with an upgraded model and simply swap the wires out or is there more of a process to upgrading one's electronics? First time boat owner here so please excuse my ignorance. I'm trying to soak up as much information as possible and I appreciate all the tips and knowledge that this forum provides.

Depending on what is wired into the 5's now and what you want. The simple answer is yes. Staying with Lowrance, the power cord and the blue connections will work. If you want the NMEA2000 and/or eithernet, that may need to be changed. The older NMEA network is not compatable with the newer units, however there may be some adaptors (don't remember for sure) The eithernet will have yellow connections.
John

To upgrade from your HDS 5 Key Pad units to any of the newer HDS touch units, there will be no need to change anything except the mounting bracket. The NMEA network change that Jones Trolling Motor is referring to happened long before any of the HDS units were out. If you have any of your current HDS 5's networked, when you purchase the new HDS units, the power cable is the same, the Broadband Sonar transducer is the same, the NMEA network is the same, an Ethernet network is the same. The only difference is if you happen to have an LSS-1 on your HDS 5 System. The LSS-1 ducer will work with any of the new touch units but you will need to get a converter cable for the LSS-1 to plug into the back of the new HDS touch units. With that being said, I would recommend if you want Structure Scan, get a new LSS-2 transducer or the new 3D transducer if you upgrade to the HDS Gen 3 units.