Ready for summer upgrades!

[Wookster78]

Hi all,

Been a while since I last posted, been getting the car ready for the summer and done a couple of upgrades that modernises the car in my opinion. Maybe not for all the purists out there but I have always been about customising to my liking.

Anyway, first up installed a new android CarPlay headunit, all in only cost me £150 off eBay and my time to get it to fit. Meant to be for an X3 but took the punt on it. It’s slightly too small at the very top, (slight gap) but to be honest I don’t really notice and the rest fits well. Upgrade is Awsome, has full dsp equaliser and can custom the sound to really sound pretty good. CarPlay is seemless and works brilliantly and can even customise the interface so all steering g function works. Bluetooth is through the headunit with built in mic and also works brilliantly.

Next fitted a reverse camera to work with the headunit, also works perfectly and goes on as soon as you put in reverse. Did this with a cable direct so it’s nice and reliable.

My aluminium trim was all scratched from previous owner and had annoyed me for years. Took it all apart, ground down all the deep gauges, re-brushed it with 80 grit wet and dry and stained it with gun metal black oxide. Re-brushed again and now have a custom brushed look that I really think goes with the black car and dark interior.

Oh and finally took the plunge and fitted a qualife limited slip differential on a 3.38 ratio diff, all I can say is just wow what a difference! Love the car even more now.

Couple of pics below

 

[inkey$]

Looks really good, OP.
Does the screen impact your view out front, or is it okay? I guess probably not more so than a standard nav screen being up.

 

[Usel]

Dash trim looks beautiful imo

 

[Wookster78]

Thanks for the positive feedback guys. For the nav screen, nope does not impede view, I had the original flip up screen before and it’s only really a little higher than before. You can always raise the seat though is you are having trouble

 

[Usel]

In the photos it looks like a driftwood type grain. Great job!

 

[Calps]

The dash finish looks amazing, really great job!

Equally impressed with the nav replacement - it's something I've been debating for a while. Would you have an eBay link for the unit you got? Presume you also picked up a non-nav until for the radio? How was fitting everything? Any extra harness/adapters needed, or dashboard chopping?

 

[Wookster78]

Yeah pretty straightforward really, all plug and play for the unit. EBay link is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165708266176?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=zzhDGo-tROS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=yLmfazmVT4O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I did buy a donner head unit also on eBay for £25 which was also just plug and play swap out for the old navigation unit.
Need to sand down the little bits of plastic on the front to make it smooth. Also had to do a slight mod and reverse the screws so it pushes the back of the unit into the dash and keeps it secure. I made an offer on the unit and got it for £145.

No additional harnesses are needed, no additional dash chopping either, just a bit of sanding and slight mods to the head unit surround.

 

[paddy wright]

Interesting and unique look

 

[Calps]

Yeah pretty straightforward really, all plug and play for the unit. EBay link is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/165708266176?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=zzhDGo-tROS&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=yLmfazmVT4O&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I did buy a donner head unit also on eBay for £25 which was also just plug and play swap out for the old navigation unit.
Need to sand down the little bits of plastic on the front to make it smooth. Also had to do a slight mod and reverse the screws so it pushes the back of the unit into the dash and keeps it secure. I made an offer on the unit and got it for £145.

No additional harnesses are needed, no additional dash chopping either, just a bit of sanding and slight mods to the head unit surround.

Thanks for the link [ref]Wookster[/ref]. The price makes this quite tempting, even as a test to see if I like it or not - other android units I've looked at are €500+ (possibly due to different specs/HW) which is a much bigger gamble to take.

One thing that is not 100% clear from the listing - does this actually run Android Auto? The eBay listing mentions Android Carplay, and I can't discern if this is a mistake (and it should say Android Auto) or an amalgamation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, designed to create the impression that it runs Android Auto. It mentions that they provide yearly map updates, which is making me think it's not the case.

In any event, I'd also very interested in your review of it after a few week's use if you were willing to update us.

 

[Wookster78]

Yes it does run android auto and apple car play, it runs android auto only with a cable plugged in but does wireless apple car play. I only have an iPhone though so not tried out the android auto functionality. I also looked at alternative that were £500 plus and decided to have a go at this one for the price. In all honesty it’s excellent in terms of functionality, speed and operating the touch screen.

What’s good is the fact that you can use and program steering to what ever you want the buttons to be, you can add a reverse camera and DAB and it works very well with apple CarPlay. Sound is also great even with the 8 speaker system setup that I have.
Only issues are the slightly off fit in the dash but for the functionality I am willing to live with it. If you do get one, PM me and I can give you more details on how I fitted it.

It comes with Sygic maps with the system which is fine and you can update but to be honest I always use google maps off my phone via apple car play so will probably never use it. But as it’s android based you can get any mapping software to work from the android store.

It shows up as apple car play on the phone as if official but it’s a built in app on the head unit called ZLink, when it starts it gives the options for car play or android auto

 

[Athos]

So I have the sat nav and the DSP etc. To do this I would have to swap out the head unit to a business CD (to drop the sat nav) and then install this?

I am in the us and noticed that the link above will not ship to the us.... I did find this is it simular to the one you fitted?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3944349552...szzIEoz6TgIyvG/BfBAkDQvTc1sS|tkp:BFBM6LbezfRh

 

[Wookster78]

Yeah you would need to ditch the old nav unit and switch to a standard business CD unit, although it does not allow the Business Unit to work on its own anyway so it would possibly work with the old nav system in place, didn’t try it though.
Looks to be a similar unit, menus look the same and unit looks near enough the same.

 

[Troy1998]

Going to order this screen looks great. Also got the nav setup all ready, did you manage to get any money back for your old pop up screen.

Also love to hear what you did to re-trim that dash looks great, is it a wrap?

 

[Wookster78]

Actually still got the old nav, suppose I could sell it although not sure there are many keen on that old tech, maybe someone would be interested. Dash is actually just a bit of time using some sandpaper in a single direction then applying gun black oxide to stain the aluminium and a quick re- sand to get the grain effect. Not hard but takes a bit of time and a steady hand

 

[Jasco]

Yeah you would need to ditch the old nav unit and switch to a standard business CD unit, although it does not allow the Business Unit to work on its own anyway so it would possibly work with the old nav system in place, didn’t try it though.

I know you have said that the radio doesn't function with the screen- But do the cables that come with the screen plug into the radio at all?
I am trying to identify if it's possible to fit the screen and remove the original radio entirely, replacing it with a blanking plate or storage area.

 

[Wookster78]

Hi, yes the cables that come with the screen do plug into the back of the head unit so I’m guessing it needs to be in place. The old unit turns on and you can view and use all the modes but there is just no sound as the android unit takes over using the aux input.

 

[Chengy]

Hi, yes the cables that come with the screen do plug into the back of the head unit so I’m guessing it needs to be in place. The old unit turns on and you can view and use all the modes but there is just no sound as the android unit takes over using the aux input.

Hi wookster, thanks for posting, considering getting the screen to replace my failed pop up one.

Is it literally plug and play, just connect to the head unit like the current screen does from factory?

I have the radio unit that comes with the nav, so thinking of getting the business unit like you have in yours to be on the safe side.

Thanks!

 

[Wookster78]

Yep just plug and play, comes with the correct wiring harness and works straight away without any mods, apart from getting it to fit and sit just right in the dash