[garioch43]

PART 1

Having unsuccessfully tried to repair the faded pixels on my information display unit on my 2002 4.4 HSE, I decided to bite the bullet and go for a complete head unit replacement.

[attachment=4:2pgrk7h3]Dash.jpg[/attachment:2pgrk7h3]

I selected a relatively inexpensive 7” touch screen unit from Chinavision, as I will probably sell the vehicle in the next couple of years and didn’t want to leave c. £500.00 of kit in it when I do – although I’m sure it will help sell the car.

http://www.chinavasion.com/product_info ... -and-dvbt/

The system in my vehicle was the basic option, with the single CD/Radio unit in the dashboard and the amplifier in the left compartment in the rear. This meant that all the connections from the new head unit could be connected to the existing loom. The connections between the head unit and amplifier use the “balanced” pair loudspeaker wires for Front Right, Front Left, Rear Right and Rear Left, so the “phono” connections are not required.

Fitting the head unit

After removing the top of the dashboard – covered in other threads – I removed the CD/Radio and information display (MID) housing. There are 4 screws on the top and 2 at the bottom front – behind the facia pieces at each side of the housing. The bottom ones are in a slotted hole, so these only need to be partially unscrewed.

Having taken out the CD/Radio and MID units, I cut out various pieces of the housing to allow the double DIN head unit to fit.

[attachment=3:2pgrk7h3]001.jpg[/attachment:2pgrk7h3]
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There are two slots on each side of the housing which, if you are lucky like me, will match up with threaded holes on the new head unit. This means that you can position the face of the head unit to protrude appropriately.

[attachment=0:2pgrk7h3]005.jpg[/attachment:2pgrk7h3]

 

[garioch43]

PART 2

To fill the gap at each side of the unit and to match the angle of the facia, I made up 2 wooden wedge shaped packing pieces 110mm x 50mm and tapered from 12mm to 23mm thick and glued them in place with Evostik.

[attachment=4:m7f3d4xr]006.jpg[/attachment:m7f3d4xr]
[attachment=3:m7f3d4xr]007.jpg[/attachment:m7f3d4xr]

These were then covered with carefully cut-to-size pieces of 3mm thick black ABS plastic sheet, which I got from my local car audio specialist. If you want to finish it off with a different material, such as leather, you should alter the thickness of the wooden wedges.

[attachment=2:m7f3d4xr]008A.jpg[/attachment:m7f3d4xr]


Preparing the dashboard

In order for the modified housing and double DIN unit to go back into the dashboard, it was necessary to cut out a section of the plastic moulding above the centre air vents and, using a hot air gun, squashing the plastic ventilation pipes down.

[attachment=1:m7f3d4xr]009.jpg[/attachment:m7f3d4xr]

[attachment=0:m7f3d4xr]010.jpg[/attachment:m7f3d4xr]

Gently place the housing with the double DIN unit in place, making sure that all the cables and connectors are out of the way, until it sits properly in place.

At this point, you can adjust how far out the facia of the unit protrudes.

Be careful when cutting out the plastic, as the ventilation pipes are directly underneath. I invested in a Dremel tool and suitable cutting attachment, which made light work of this part of the job and was useful in modifying the housing assembly.

http://www.dremel-direct.com/acatalog/3 ... _Case.html

When heating the pipes, wear a heavy glove and gently push down on them. If, like me, you melt some holes in the pipes, patch them up heavy-duty electrical tape.

 

[garioch43]

PART 3

Now for the wiring…

You will need a harness adapter to convert the Alpine plug to suit the connector on your new unit. If it is a standard DIN connection, then a PC2-75-4 will do the trick.

[attachment=2:1ejr2j91]012.jpg[/attachment:1ejr2j91]
[attachment=3:1ejr2j91]027.jpg[/attachment:1ejr2j91]

My unit had a non-standard connector, which came with trailing leads, so I cut the DIN plug off the adapter and spliced the two together.

[attachment=1:1ejr2j91]013.jpg[/attachment:1ejr2j91]

Strangely, the adaptor does not have a termination for instrument illumination, so I had to cut the red/grey wire going to PIN 13 of the Alpine connector and splice it directly to the new harness. This is the yellow wire in the photo.

[attachment=0:1ejr2j91]024.jpg[/attachment:1ejr2j91]

For neatness, I bound the wires with wiring loom tape.

 

[garioch43]

PART 4

To remove the 6CD changer in the glove box, just pull the unit out and remove the 2 small connectors. You will find a number of large square holes at the back of the glove box. I pulled the loom with white wires up into the dashboard, as these would no longer be required. I left the other loom with the Brown and Red/Green wires, as these carry ground and +12v connections respectively, which could be useful in the future.

I picked up a BMW MID unit on Ebay, so that I can change the time on the analogue clock in the centre console, so I extracted the wiring and plug for this device from the loom going to the CD/Radio and MID units back as far as I could, enclosed it in a plastic cable tidy and fed it under the dashboard to the glove box.

[attachment=4:eoaybhy6]015.jpg[/attachment:eoaybhy6]
[attachment=3:eoaybhy6]016.jpg[/attachment:eoaybhy6]

This unit does not have the “information” function, so I intend to get a Range Rover MID unit in the future, which will allow me to control the trip computer settings as well. When I do, I’ll cut the facia down and fit it properly into the back of the glove box. The BMW unit fits snugly in place, without any modifications.

[attachment=2:eoaybhy6]030.jpg[/attachment:eoaybhy6]

The radio antenna connector is a proprietary one, so you will need to get a PC5-100 adapter to covert it to the standard DIN aerial plug.

[attachment=1:eoaybhy6]017.jpg[/attachment:eoaybhy6]
[attachment=0:eoaybhy6]018.jpg[/attachment:eoaybhy6]

 

[Moto One]

Hey 43

Great post. :thumb:

Mark.

 

[garioch43]

PART 5

I mounted the GPS antenna on top of the dashboard with a Velcro pad and ran the cable to the centre of the dashboard, where it terminates on an SMA connector.

[attachment=3:8yg5njtv]023.jpg[/attachment:8yg5njtv]

My unit has a DVB-T (digital TV) tuner and came with a little antenna and 3 metres of cable. As this was not long enough to reach the back of the vehicle, I bought a 5 metre length of RG58 coaxial cable and 2 x crimped SMA male connectors and a female-female adapter.

I ran the iPod cable between the centre of the dashboard and the glove box.

While I was at it, I ran 3 x “phono” cables to extend the Auxiliary audio left, audio right and video inputs to the glove box to cater for future devices, such as a PC gaming console.

The head unit also had a “handbrake on” input wire to inhibit the video screen while the car is in motion. If you can be bothered to extend this to the micro-switch beside the handbrake lever, then good luck! As an option you can connect this wire to ground to “spoof” the handbrake on signal. This was not necessary in my case, as this option was programmable in the set-up menu.

The Chinavision system also came with reversing camera input, a subwoofer output and audio phono outputs. If required, these should also be extended to a convenient location to avoid the need to take the dashboard to bits at a later date.

I ran the cable from the centre of the dashboard, behind the passenger airbag, down the through the left hand footwell bulkhead and underneath the various door sill panels and pillar covers to reach the rear left void and terminated both ends with the SMA connectors. I cut a 300mm length of the cable from the TV antenna which came with the system, with the SMA connector on one end and, having bared the centre core at the other, pushed it into the small connector in the rear left void which goes to the window antenna and taped it securely. Using the female-female SMA adapter, I then connected the cable from the head unit to the fly lead.

The signal provided by this set-up is not brilliant, so I plan to source the TV antenna amplifier module (Range Rover part number XUO 000040, BMW part number 65 25 6 990 093) to boost the signal. This will require a “radio on” power feed, which I will pick up from the white wire going to the radio antenna amplifier mounted nearby. If this works well, there is also a TV antenna in the window on the other side of the vehicle, so I might get another amplifier for that side and extend the antenna and power cables to it and use a signal combiner of some kind to join the two together – but that’s another project!

Although my unit came with 3 wires for steering wheel controls (Common, Key #1 and Key#2), I discovered that the signals from the buttons on the steering wheel use the iBUS circuit, so cannot be used.

Re-fitting the housing

Before fixing the head unit housing in place, I created a pad from tin foil and used gaffer tape to fix it over the vent pipes, to reduce the chance of heat rising through the head unit and causing problems.

[attachment=2:8yg5njtv]011.jpg[/attachment:8yg5njtv]

I also attached pieces from Velcro pads where the bottom of the facia pieces at each side of the unit meet the dashboard, as there was a small gap which looked unsightly.

[attachment=1:8yg5njtv]025.jpg[/attachment:8yg5njtv]

I connected the wiring loom plug to the unit, sat the housing in place and tested the screen tilt mechanism in all its positions, to ensure that it did not foul on anything.

[attachment=0:8yg5njtv]026.jpg[/attachment:8yg5njtv]

Satisfied with the job so far, I carefully connected up everything else and pushed all the various cables down into the void in the bulkhead, making sure that nothing got trapped as I installed the housing for the last time and screwed it down.

Don’t, like I did, forget to make sure that you can reach the small connector for the centre front speaker… :doh:

After testing all the functions to make sure all connections were properly made, I replaced the top of the dashboard and side vent housings.

JOB DONE!

 

[garioch43]

PART 6

The finished article.

Not bad, if I do say so myself.

[attachment=1:1m0gl2op]032.jpg[/attachment:1m0gl2op]

[attachment=0:1m0gl2op]031.jpg[/attachment:1m0gl2op]

Thanks to Bill Wilson at Autosonic in Aberdeen for his technical advice and "Tim" for his moral support (you know who you are). :clap:

 

[axle]

:thumb: :clap:

 

[Guest]

:thumb:

 

[RWDRIFT]

beautiful work. I love it.

 

[mightymousemighty]

Hi Mate,

Just bought myself a 2004 HSE. I was planning for a vogue (sat nav and gatgets etc) but got such a good deal on the HSe and lets face it such a old satnav is not gonna be the best.

I fancy an aftermarket unit, and i saw your thread on double din screen fitting. To cut a long story short I would rather have the double din as no matter what all these shops say I think the qaulity of the screens is much better.

Whats the update on your screen is it working out ok for you?

I would rather get a shop to fit it, whether or not they would be happy with such modifications anyway is another matter, which is why your post is so intersting. I have heard that some peopke are selling a fascia only for over £100 for a 5 series BMW and i am intregued by your fitting. Any idea where I could get matching wood or leather instead of the abs you fitted?

I have the original MID unit in good condition and I would like to keep it like what you did in the glovebox. Did you have to modify the glovebox to lcoate this MID unit?

Another coupke of questions sorry...

Do you have a photo of the dash before you modified it i.e cutout the plastic piece?
Searched the threads with no joy, any idea where i can find how to dismantle the dash?
Also would be interested in sourcing a second MID housing in case i screw it up anyidea where I could get one cheap?
You also mention the slots and screws lined up? Do you think this would this be the same for other double din units?

Cheers mate for all your help in advance
Allan

 

[Jerome]

Hi Garioch43,
My name is Jerome from Mauritius and I think that your article is going to help me hugely.
I just bought aPioneer AVH 3250BT head unit and hope to install it as successfully as you.
Hope I'll get the same result. :!:
A small question:Is the Alpine connector the one still attached to the Range Rover head unit or does it have to be ordered because the Chinavision has the same configuration as The Alpine aftermarket head unit.?
Thanks and cheers!!!!

 

[Jerome]

PART 6

The finished article.

Not bad, if I do say so myself.

[attachment=1:2u8c77ng]032.jpg[/attachment:2u8c77ng]

[attachment=0:2u8c77ng]031.jpg[/attachment:2u8c77ng]

Thanks to Bill Wilson at Autosonic in Aberdeen for his technical advice and "Tim" for his moral support (you know who you are). :clap:

beautiful job.Hope I can do mine as well as that
Jerome

 

[LEBoyd]

The radio antenna connector is a proprietary one, so you will need to get a PC5-100 adapter to covert it to the standard DIN aerial plug.

Is this the PC5-100? (http://www.ebay.com/itm/EUROPEAN-AN...CT27AA06-AAN2106-40-EU100-VWA3B-/261010596955)

I assume this will require a new wire from the headunit back to the antenna connection in the LH side (LH drive) rear compartment. Correct?

 

[feeder]

loved reading this thread!

its exactly the information im looking for!

thanks

 

[woofster]

Sorry to bring back on old post but this was an excellent informative thread that I had to dig around for!

I'm curious as to how these aftermarket sat nav systems function for the L322, more specifically as it pertains to a 2006-2009. I'm assuming that you wouldn't lose any functionality at all upgrading from the MKIV sat nav?

 

[BartsL322]

Hi, Just curious as my arial is not working properly on my new retrofit headunit:
I have a arial cable (Farka ??) from head unit to the back of the car.
Now on the radio unit (in the back) there are two arial cables entering the unit.
Both can be connected to my cable, bit both do not give any result.
Looking at the unnerving, just under the window, inside the booth-cabinet. I notice a white unit which looks an amplifier to me.
Is this the unit to be used as my antenna-signal-provider for my head-unit ?

let me know please... all works fine, but NO radio....