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After reading another members positive comments on these units I decided to order one and see for myself. They are available on ebay but I got mine direct from Erisin. Sent them an email and got a super best special price including can bus adapter and shipping to Australia for $362AUD. I ordered it Thursday afternoon and received the unit the following Monday. It was shipped with DHL.
I opened it up and found the can bus adapter was inside the box of the head unit. It looked to be reasonably well made. After sitting and looking at it for 10 minutes I managed to figure out how all the cables worked. I removed the old head unit (RCD200) and plugged the new unit in while sitting on the dash just to power it up and give it a quick test before I actually mounted it properly.
The first obvious problem was the aerial connections for the radio were completely different. I will have to source an adapter cable like this BMW / VOLKSWAGEN EURO ANTENNA ADAPTOR: EU-06 | eBay I made sure to leave the 2 ends accessible under the tray so I would not have to pull the entire unit to fit the adapter.
I also extended the handbrake earth wire to make things a little easier then earthed it to some steel under the dash. This allows the DVD player to play work while the car is driving (yes I know its illegal). I also wrapped all the pre-cut insulation on wires for alternate fitting ( non canbus etc) in electrical tape.
It also comes with the metal spring tabs that need to be screwed to each side of the unit to allow it to lock when slid into position in the dash. Very easy to fit but I don't think they hold the unit in place as well as the factory ones on the old unit.
It has cables for the TV and GPS aerial as well as a cable for an Iphone/Ipod that need to be routed up to the dash to allow them to work. I decided to drill a hole in the removable tray the sits in the dash above the radio. I made it just large enough to squeeze the largest plug through then the two smaller cable could just squeeze through as well.
With everything wired up I did a test fit with out the spring tabs fitted so I could slide it back out easily if there was a problem.....and there was! The cables for the TV and GPS aerials were hitting the vertical brace that helps support the rear of the unit. This stumped me for a while, looked at different ways and tried to drill it out but due to its shape it was not easy, in the end I just broke the vertical piece off and the unit slipped straight in. I then pulled it back out and fitted the spring tabs and slid it back in. It was snug and secure.
Now for the fun part, testing it out. Initial reaction was.....^%$#% bastid thing just ate a dvd and will not eject it, turns out the slot the dvd slides into was slightly out so it was getting stuck just inside the bottom lip. I put my finger tip on the lower edge and applied a small amount of downward pressure as I pressed the eject button and out it came. I have tried it a few more times and it seems to have got a bit better.
I then connected my Iphone 4 via bluetooth and the hands free worked well. I could also play music with bluetooth but could not see my entire music collection on the screen, only the current album I had I selected on the Iphone. When receiving a call it would only display the number and not the name of the caller. The phone book in the unit only seems to remember the last 20 numbers dialed. It does not display the name, only the number which is a shame. It would be nice to get my entire phone book in there so I could see who was calling etc.
The DVD/CD player worked well playing a movie however due to the angle of the dash its hard to view it from the middle row of seats. A model with adjustable screen angle may be a better option if you want to view it from the rear. Sound quality seemed good and was adjustable front/ rear and left/right with a cool little icon you move around on a display of a car to show where you want the sound.
I then had a play with the GPS, it has an iGo map in it. It seemed to have lots of functions. I had a quick drive around the neighborhood and it seemed to work well but needs more testing/exploring of its functions.
I also connected the Iphone by the cable and it also worked well allowing me to play music as well as charge the phone. It also has the ability to connect to a multifunction steering wheel but I don't have one so not sure how well that works.
I have a bunch of pictures I snapped of the install and will try to get those posted soon. Will report back in a week or so after I have had some more time tom play with it.
I opened it up and found the can bus adapter was inside the box of the head unit. It looked to be reasonably well made. After sitting and looking at it for 10 minutes I managed to figure out how all the cables worked. I removed the old head unit (RCD200) and plugged the new unit in while sitting on the dash just to power it up and give it a quick test before I actually mounted it properly.
The first obvious problem was the aerial connections for the radio were completely different. I will have to source an adapter cable like this BMW / VOLKSWAGEN EURO ANTENNA ADAPTOR: EU-06 | eBay I made sure to leave the 2 ends accessible under the tray so I would not have to pull the entire unit to fit the adapter.
I also extended the handbrake earth wire to make things a little easier then earthed it to some steel under the dash. This allows the DVD player to play work while the car is driving (yes I know its illegal). I also wrapped all the pre-cut insulation on wires for alternate fitting ( non canbus etc) in electrical tape.
It also comes with the metal spring tabs that need to be screwed to each side of the unit to allow it to lock when slid into position in the dash. Very easy to fit but I don't think they hold the unit in place as well as the factory ones on the old unit.
It has cables for the TV and GPS aerial as well as a cable for an Iphone/Ipod that need to be routed up to the dash to allow them to work. I decided to drill a hole in the removable tray the sits in the dash above the radio. I made it just large enough to squeeze the largest plug through then the two smaller cable could just squeeze through as well.
With everything wired up I did a test fit with out the spring tabs fitted so I could slide it back out easily if there was a problem.....and there was! The cables for the TV and GPS aerials were hitting the vertical brace that helps support the rear of the unit. This stumped me for a while, looked at different ways and tried to drill it out but due to its shape it was not easy, in the end I just broke the vertical piece off and the unit slipped straight in. I then pulled it back out and fitted the spring tabs and slid it back in. It was snug and secure.
Now for the fun part, testing it out. Initial reaction was.....^%$#% bastid thing just ate a dvd and will not eject it, turns out the slot the dvd slides into was slightly out so it was getting stuck just inside the bottom lip. I put my finger tip on the lower edge and applied a small amount of downward pressure as I pressed the eject button and out it came. I have tried it a few more times and it seems to have got a bit better.
I then connected my Iphone 4 via bluetooth and the hands free worked well. I could also play music with bluetooth but could not see my entire music collection on the screen, only the current album I had I selected on the Iphone. When receiving a call it would only display the number and not the name of the caller. The phone book in the unit only seems to remember the last 20 numbers dialed. It does not display the name, only the number which is a shame. It would be nice to get my entire phone book in there so I could see who was calling etc.
The DVD/CD player worked well playing a movie however due to the angle of the dash its hard to view it from the middle row of seats. A model with adjustable screen angle may be a better option if you want to view it from the rear. Sound quality seemed good and was adjustable front/ rear and left/right with a cool little icon you move around on a display of a car to show where you want the sound.
I then had a play with the GPS, it has an iGo map in it. It seemed to have lots of functions. I had a quick drive around the neighborhood and it seemed to work well but needs more testing/exploring of its functions.
I also connected the Iphone by the cable and it also worked well allowing me to play music as well as charge the phone. It also has the ability to connect to a multifunction steering wheel but I don't have one so not sure how well that works.
I have a bunch of pictures I snapped of the install and will try to get those posted soon. Will report back in a week or so after I have had some more time tom play with it.
2 Enjoy!!!
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