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Double DIN head units

Ricochet J said:
I did skim read the thread but wrongly assumed you wanted an OEM look. My bad, disregard my original post. :)
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I've already reached a compromise where I'm as close an OEM look as I'm ever likely to get without significant compromise on features and interface, or significant additional expense with custom fabrications. The Janus Design bezel is specifically designed to match exactly the finish and plastic texture of the OEM radio and climate control panel.

Yes, there is an expanse of blank plastic either side of the screen but there is an expanse of black plastic either side of the screen in my parents E60 as well. Infact it was driving that the other day and looking at the screen and realising that either side of the screen was a huge featureless slap of blank plastic that made me think 'Well hang on...'.
 
I'd get the Sony myself, The simple reason is it uses tom tom and I refuse to give any other nav the time of day after trying others.

Looks a nice unit.
 
Dunno anything about car audio, but how else would they hide the microphone cable if they didn't pull apart the plastics? I know nothing about this stuff which is why I even used Fox's thread to help me buy this :p
 
Once the old head unit is out you will likely b-able to thread the cable quite a way to where you need it.

I understand though if you aren't used to car audio and taking bits of trim off, Clips can snap and cause nightmares.
 
Clown said:
Dunno anything about car audio, but how else would they hide the microphone cable if they didn't pull apart the plastics? I know nothing about this stuff which is why I even used Fox's thread to help me buy this :p
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Come off it even I managed to hide the microphone cable for the bluetooth and I'm a DIY retard :p

I wouldnt even consider paying somebody else to fit car audio and I'm the kinda guy who sends his car to the main dealer for a brake fluid change :p
 
Reckon I can work it out from the manual?
I'm going to sleep now but I'll try and have a quick look at the manual at work, might give it a go when I get home tomorrow.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Fox :)

If you have any questions about this thing when I have it set up, I'll be happy to help, though the Civic bloke seems to have it covered.

[TW]Fox;19956960 said:
I wouldnt even consider paying somebody else to fit car audio and I'm the kinda guy who sends his car to the main dealer for a brake fluid change :p
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I'd probably pay a guy to put oil in for me ;)
 
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Manual and a few posts for help on here and I'm pretty sure you would be fine tbh.

What car is it? BMW also?
 
Old head unit out, facia adaptor in (if needed) plug in iso adaptor, fit mic, slide back head unit and done

Unless you have wheel controls you are wanting to work the new head unit?
 
I'm not going to read all 5 pages.
I've only read the OP.

My advise is to make sure the head unit can use various nav programs and maps. This will allow updating and swapping when needed. Also check reviews on how fast it swaps between music and nav commands. If it takes ages or even if there is any lag at all then it is very frustrating listening to music while using the nav. This is usually controlled by the nav software.
 
Interesting, didn't know you could retro-fit headunits like this to give you nav, audio, phone etc. If my '99 Focus wasn't only worth slightly more than the price of one of these units I might consider it! That said, my car only has 60k miles on the clock and I don't plan on shifting it anytime soon so I might just go and double its value... :p
 
I have the Dynavin unit in mine. Does it reek of quality? No. Is it functional and feature rich? Yes.

Some of the menu's are a bit of a mess. The CD and USB menu's in particular are rubbish. Whereas the bluetooth A2DP and radio menu's are quite nice. The Nav works well and has guided me to many places without fuss and the A2DP works great and is a brilliant feature that much more expensive products sometimes lack. Using the bluetooth to speak to people on the phone is also easy and clear.

The reason i got my Dynavin was to improve the look of the dash, be able to play MP3 cds, have a bluetooth handsfree kit and A2DP support. If you're looking for high quality, i would recommend looking elsewhere as there are a few niggly problems with it which i should think could be fixed very easily, but Dynavin are hell bent on adding more and more rubbishy features and never perfecting any of them. For instance, the bluetooth phone book only brings up numbers - no names, sometimes the Nav will come up with "OUT OF MEMORY" in Chinese, the bluetooth takes a couple of minutes to connect if you haven't got your bluetooth on before u start the ignition, the CD player is slow to load the next track and you can only skip one track at a time (ie, you can't keep pressing skip track, you have to press skip track, *wait 3 seconds*, skip track *wait 3 seconds*).

Going from something like HDD iDrive to Dynavin would be like going from an iPhone/Android to a Nokia N95. A good feature rich piece of kit, but no where near polished enough to be a serious contender.
 
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I'd be more tempted with a Dynavin had they not totally ruined the asthetics of the E39 unit by insisting it could be installed without removing the radio bracket. The E46 one looks great, the E39 only looks only slightly better than going aftermarket so I may as well go aftermarket and get something that works.
 
Fox when you do get one can you write a review and take a few pics please mate? Been looking at all kinds of these for the porsche but have no idea what they are like or what to go for.
 
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