When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello, so I have been planning on upgrading the head unit in the car. Unfortunately I don’t like anything on the market at the moment and as such have decided to have my own unit built. I was just wondering if anyone else would be interested? It’s not going to be cheap. (Around £1500) but it is a 10.2” captive screen all glass here is what it’ll look like when ready..
Still have a lot of development work going on, but hopefully will be available for more models in the future... just let me know if interested, (no commitments). Thank you
Yes, mine was originally ntg1 2002 Bose navigation. I upgraded it to ntg2.5 HK, now want to go a step further.. I will add specs as they are finalised.. only thing I can confirm so far is that it will be a gorilla glass, multitouch display.
What will be the difference between yours and what we can already purchase through Seicane? They offer an Android unit that is plug and play with D2B and keeps the CAN bus integration. Can you make a unit that is more reliable and offer better customer support?
What will be the difference between yours and what we can already purchase through Seicane? They offer an Android unit that is plug and play with D2B and keeps the CAN bus integration. Can you make a unit that is more reliable and offer better customer support?
Seicane does not offer a compatible radio for D2B systems. Not only that, but their "plug n play" requires you to hack up the amplifier plug!
Seicane does not offer a compatible radio for D2B systems. Not only that, but their "plug n play" requires you to hack up the amplifier plug!
I would say it does, I have it in my SL, but you have to set the D2B box that came with the unit to S-class. If you set it to SL there is some miss match on the steering wheel buttons. I have not yet had the time to try the Android auto compability. You have to replace the Bose Amp, thats easy, all terminal position info is avalable here if you do some search, I fitted a 400Watts Pioneer amp and used the built in amp for the front center and the rear speakers and it sounds greate.
hello, still working on the interface coding. i have managed to find to same software mercedes have used to create MBUX. so working on that. and developing the platform to work from a app along with a virtual cockpit.
so from one headunit, development has expanded to the following:
headunit with 10.25 captive display
12.3 virtual cockpit (similar to that used in the current 2018 audi R8)
mobile app for ios
hopefully i should have some by feb 2019. that is my target to complete prototypes
2003 E55, 2003 SL55, 2014 CLS63, 2018 q50 Redsport, 1968 Camaro SS, 1999 Trans am Firehawk
Originally Posted by lagolag
I would say it does, I have it in my SL, but you have to set the D2B box that came with the unit to S-class. If you set it to SL there is some miss match on the steering wheel buttons. I have not yet had the time to try the Android auto compability. You have to replace the Bose Amp, thats easy, all terminal position info is avalable here if you do some search, I fitted a 400Watts Pioneer amp and used the built in amp for the front center and the rear speakers and it sounds greate.
d2b is the protocal for the sound system used on the 03/04 and is looped between the teleaid, amp, headunit, and cd changer. 05+ used the MOST fiberoptic system for these items. there has never been and likely never will be any converter or any headunit compatible with d2b since most cars that used it are now getting up there in age and there were so few built its just doesnt make economic sense (there are now several MOST plug and play adapters though). what you are describing is a CANBUS box, which is a different system that is used for other communications in the car, such as the steering wheel controls.
hello, still working on the interface coding. i have managed to find to same software mercedes have used to create MBUX. so working on that. and developing the platform to work from a app along with a virtual cockpit.
so from one headunit, development has expanded to the following:
headunit with 10.25 captive display
12.3 virtual cockpit (similar to that used in the current 2018 audi R8)
mobile app for ios
hopefully i should have some by feb 2019. that is my target to complete prototypes
I'm interested for my 2007 SL and February is about the right time for me.
Keep me posted
Successful installation of Seicane Android 8.0 in 2004 SL500
(Sorry for the length) I racked my brain over the decision to buy this unit from Seicane and eventually decided that the original headunit in all of its glory was just not enough for me. I received the new head unit and at first glance was very pleased with the overall appearance and original look.
I got everything set up on a Saturday morning to install it and after removing center console and many of the molding pieces to remove the stereo I thought “ok it is all or nothing at this point”. I removed the original head unit with relative ease and when I looked at the connectors from the original unit and tried to match them up with the cables provided by Seicane I was underwhelmed at best. The only one that looked to be a fit was the one that provides power, ground, and ac power. At further review I saw the connector for the CANBUS adapter was good from a pin alighnment perspective however the casing was just a bit small in some areas to fit the original plug. I am not one to be defeated very easily so I grabbed my file and went to town a bit on the original connector which took me 10 min to make it fit properly. (Can provide drawing if anyone needs it).
Ok now I had power, CANBUS, and antena connections I was ready to tackle speakers. As mentioned already d2b fiber was only in the early models of the SL R230 line (I think 2002 through 2004). As luck would have it there is no plug and play module available so I knew I was in for replacing or bipassubg the original amp. Of course the long 6 foot cable that Seicane sent with the unit was meant for this purpose however none of the connectors they put on matched up with anything in the car so once again I was stuck with having to figure out a solution. After many hours testing options I settled on running my own fabricated 14gage wire for all 8 speaker outputs. I found that the connector for the speakers on the Seicane had prongs that fit a small female Alison connector really well so I bought a bunch of those and put 8 of them on that end to connect my speaker wire to the head unit (sounds ghetto but trust me it actually is pretty good and after connecting them all up and running cables I taped it up to ensure nothing came lose). So after temporarily connecting the other ends of the speaker wires to the connector that once went in the original amp (behind drivers seat under cubby) I was able to test and see what it sounded like. Not terrible but certainly not what we are used to as the original Bose system sounded pretty good but only powering 4 of the 8 speakers (one being the sub). I decided to get a 4 channel amp from Best Buy (kicker was the brand). I tested by connecting power off of the power wire on the original amp plug ( I will add an attachment of the port map of that connector.. not a great picture but can type it up if anyone needs it), once I was able to test with the amp and the sound was fantastic I ran the 5 rca cables from the head unit to the amp location and then connected everything up so that the amp would reside in the little cubby now that the 10disc CD player was no longer needed. I essentially powered the two door tweeters, the front center speaker, and the rear speakers (which are tied to gether so only one cable) from the head unit and then tied the sub and two door mid speakers to the amp. After all of that and running the cables nice it is AWESOME.
The head unit itself is really great as it is completely customizable and since I purchased both the car play USB adapter and the ODBII connector I also have CarPlay for my iPhone and real-time engine stats dials as needed.
I would encourage anyone who is a DYI’er to give it a shot and I don’t mind offering any help I can to assist you in your journey. I was quoted $3500 to have this done and it cost me a weekend (some undue stress because I had to figure it all out as there are no real instructions anywhere) but it ended up costing me abou $700 for everything. Ping me if you need asssistance and we can arrange to talk off line.
(Sorry for the length) I racked my brain over the decision to buy this unit from Seicane and eventually decided that the original headunit in all of its glory was just not enough for me. I received the new head unit and at first glance was very pleased with the overall appearance and original look.
I got everything set up on a Saturday morning to install it and after removing center console and many of the molding pieces to remove the stereo I thought “ok it is all or nothing at this point”. I removed the original head unit with relative ease and when I looked at the connectors from the original unit and tried to match them up with the cables provided by Seicane I was underwhelmed at best. The only one that looked to be a fit was the one that provides power, ground, and ac power. At further review I saw the connector for the CANBUS adapter was good from a pin alighnment perspective however the casing was just a bit small in some areas to fit the original plug. I am not one to be defeated very easily so I grabbed my file and went to town a bit on the original connector which took me 10 min to make it fit properly. (Can provide drawing if anyone needs it).
Ok now I had power, CANBUS, and antena connections I was ready to tackle speakers. As mentioned already d2b fiber was only in the early models of the SL R230 line (I think 2002 through 2004). As luck would have it there is no plug and play module available so I knew I was in for replacing or bipassubg the original amp. Of course the long 6 foot cable that Seicane sent with the unit was meant for this purpose however none of the connectors they put on matched up with anything in the car so once again I was stuck with having to figure out a solution. After many hours testing options I settled on running my own fabricated 14gage wire for all 8 speaker outputs. I found that the connector for the speakers on the Seicane had prongs that fit a small female Alison connector really well so I bought a bunch of those and put 8 of them on that end to connect my speaker wire to the head unit (sounds ghetto but trust me it actually is pretty good and after connecting them all up and running cables I taped it up to ensure nothing came lose). So after temporarily connecting the other ends of the speaker wires to the connector that once went in the original amp (behind drivers seat under cubby) I was able to test and see what it sounded like. Not terrible but certainly not what we are used to as the original Bose system sounded pretty good but only powering 4 of the 8 speakers (one being the sub). I decided to get a 4 channel amp from Best Buy (kicker was the brand). I tested by connecting power off of the power wire on the original amp plug ( I will add an attachment of the port map of that connector.. not a great picture but can type it up if anyone needs it), once I was able to test with the amp and the sound was fantastic I ran the 5 rca cables from the head unit to the amp location and then connected everything up so that the amp would reside in the little cubby now that the 10disc CD player was no longer needed. I essentially powered the two door tweeters, the front center speaker, and the rear speakers (which are tied to gether so only one cable) from the head unit and then tied the sub and two door mid speakers to the amp. After all of that and running the cables nice it is AWESOME.
The head unit itself is really great as it is completely customizable and since I purchased both the car play USB adapter and the ODBII connector I also have CarPlay for my iPhone and real-time engine stats dials as needed.
I would encourage anyone who is a DYI’er to give it a shot and I don’t mind offering any help I can to assist you in your journey. I was quoted $3500 to have this done and it cost me a weekend (some undue stress because I had to figure it all out as there are no real instructions anywhere) but it ended up costing me abou $700 for everything. Ping me if you need asssistance and we can arrange to talk off line.
This needs to be a new thread and could you add photos of your setup??
(Sorry for the length) I racked my brain over the decision to buy this unit from Seicane and eventually decided that the original headunit in all of its glory was just not enough for me. I received the new head unit and at first glance was very pleased with the overall appearance and original look.
I got everything set up on a Saturday morning to install it and after removing center console and many of the molding pieces to remove the stereo I thought “ok it is all or nothing at this point”. I removed the original head unit with relative ease and when I looked at the connectors from the original unit and tried to match them up with the cables provided by Seicane I was underwhelmed at best. The only one that looked to be a fit was the one that provides power, ground, and ac power. At further review I saw the connector for the CANBUS adapter was good from a pin alighnment perspective however the casing was just a bit small in some areas to fit the original plug. I am not one to be defeated very easily so I grabbed my file and went to town a bit on the original connector which took me 10 min to make it fit properly. (Can provide drawing if anyone needs it).
Ok now I had power, CANBUS, and antena connections I was ready to tackle speakers. As mentioned already d2b fiber was only in the early models of the SL R230 line (I think 2002 through 2004). As luck would have it there is no plug and play module available so I knew I was in for replacing or bipassubg the original amp. Of course the long 6 foot cable that Seicane sent with the unit was meant for this purpose however none of the connectors they put on matched up with anything in the car so once again I was stuck with having to figure out a solution. After many hours testing options I settled on running my own fabricated 14gage wire for all 8 speaker outputs. I found that the connector for the speakers on the Seicane had prongs that fit a small female Alison connector really well so I bought a bunch of those and put 8 of them on that end to connect my speaker wire to the head unit (sounds ghetto but trust me it actually is pretty good and after connecting them all up and running cables I taped it up to ensure nothing came lose). So after temporarily connecting the other ends of the speaker wires to the connector that once went in the original amp (behind drivers seat under cubby) I was able to test and see what it sounded like. Not terrible but certainly not what we are used to as the original Bose system sounded pretty good but only powering 4 of the 8 speakers (one being the sub). I decided to get a 4 channel amp from Best Buy (kicker was the brand). I tested by connecting power off of the power wire on the original amp plug ( I will add an attachment of the port map of that connector.. not a great picture but can type it up if anyone needs it), once I was able to test with the amp and the sound was fantastic I ran the 5 rca cables from the head unit to the amp location and then connected everything up so that the amp would reside in the little cubby now that the 10disc CD player was no longer needed. I essentially powered the two door tweeters, the front center speaker, and the rear speakers (which are tied to gether so only one cable) from the head unit and then tied the sub and two door mid speakers to the amp. After all of that and running the cables nice it is AWESOME.
The head unit itself is really great as it is completely customizable and since I purchased both the car play USB adapter and the ODBII connector I also have CarPlay for my iPhone and real-time engine stats dials as needed.
I would encourage anyone who is a DYI’er to give it a shot and I don’t mind offering any help I can to assist you in your journey. I was quoted $3500 to have this done and it cost me a weekend (some undue stress because I had to figure it all out as there are no real instructions anywhere) but it ended up costing me abou $700 for everything. Ping me if you need asssistance and we can arrange to talk off line.
Does your radio work. All Chinese Android units have horrible reception. We have one in ml63 and I hate it.
04-12-2018, 09:22 PM
