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Android Head Unit install

238K views 915 replies 73 participants last post by  Chauncy 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I just got my new android head unit that I purchased from Ali Express, I install it and my initial impression are wow!!!! So much better than the stock head unit. The sound clarity and level is like day and night when compared to the stock head unit. It brought out loud bass and clear highs that I could not hear with the stock head unit.

Installation was straight forward, just plug in 2 cables on the back of the unit start the car, they provided all the cables that you need.

The unit is well made, I am impressed with the quality, nice screen, high resolution, crisp images and fonts.

I tried using the stock GPS cable, but when I plugged it in, I could not get a good GPS signal, so I plugged in the GPS receiver they provided.

I used the bluetooth, both audio and phone and quality was very good.

The radio was able to tune in into stations that the stock radio would miss and quality was way superior

2 issues I have encountered so far:

1- The steering wheel control do not work, not sure why. I contacted the seller and waiting on a response.

2- My engine light came on after I install the unit, and I do not know how to reset it or turn it off.

I just did a quick and dirty test, I will run more test this weekend and post a more detailed review. I am heading to NJ tomorrow, so I will be able to test the GPS navigation.

I could not find instructions on how to remove the head hunit on the 2015 nissan murano online, so I decided to figure it out myself. It wasn't hard, just need to be patient, I lost 3 screws, they all fell in the compartment below.

I can post detailed instructions on how to remove the head unit if you guys are interested.

I am going to install a backup camera next ( I have an eye on the Boyo 375HD).

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Quad...droid-4-4-CAR-DVD-player-For/32548646527.html

Stay tune for more....

BTW: I was outside working on the car, when all of a sudden a thunderstorm hit, hails started falling down, it was like the car was being hit by rocks. I quickly drove back to my garage and look for any damage. Luckily, the car held very well, I could not see any damages to the body of the car, paint scratches or dents. I will do a more thorough inspection this weekend when I wash the car. Hopefully, my insurance Geico will cover it if I see any damages.

Here are some install pic... I took a video, but need to upload it to youtube later:
( I did not remove the plastic wrap on the screen )









You need this kind of screwdriver to remove the stock radio:




Engine light came on after I install the new unit:




 
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#3 ·
You are so right!!!

Last time I took my car to the dealer and told him that I am planning on installing LED headlight, he told me that he would not look at the car unless I put the original halogen back.

I am very experienced when it comes to electronic, so it's not like I don't know what I am doing.
 
#4 ·
If the dealer is giving you grief about the headlights then you need to find a new dealer and tell the current one to take a hike. I saw that you posted that a couple of weeks ago.


Do you have a SV, SL, or platinum? Does the surround cameras work? So many questions. LOL


Again, good job tho. Interesting to see how this works for you as the weeks go by. One thing I noticed about the seller was they have only had the store sine late 2015. Hopefully that won't be a problem for you. Time zone difference for support could be a pain as well. Trade offs I guess.


Engine light...possibly airbag related?
 
#5 ·
Hi HDTVsportsfan,

I have the SV, no Bose, I heard that the Bose system was so tightly integrated into the car, so it might be harder to put an aftermarket unit if you have the Bose system.

About the seller support, I just got an answer from my question about the steering wheel control.
Also delivery was about 2 weeks, very well packed. I research the manufacturer of the unit and they make head unit for luxury car such as mercedes, Range Rover, etc... SO far I am satisfied with the unit and their support

Here is the email I got back, although their english is not the best, but I can understand:



Glad you mentionned it, but I did not even check the backup camera. I wasn't happy with the original backup camera anyway, I am planning on replacing it. I saw 2 cables labelled backup camera, and backup power.
 
#6 ·
Here is the video demo of the radio.

I was inside a garage and as you can see reception was excellent, there are some station I could not get with the stock radio.

Keep in mind, that on this video, I still had the plastic wrap on the screen, so it will be much brighter when I take it off.

https://youtu.be/7qf8FHIbkF0
 
#7 ·
Nice, but:
1. Issues with dealer is a no go for me and I can't travel to another city to find another dealer
2. Engine light is a major issue and if it's airbag related it's even worse then
3. Numerous issues with steering controls not working, backup camera, even their GPS unit may be not as good as built-in.
4. In general lot's of gremlins in electrical wiring - who knows what this chinese crap unit will do to electrics of Murano if engine light already came on (not to mention lost 3 screws - that would bother me a lot)
5. Worst of all - this crap unit may stop working any time now, I've seen many of those stop working after a month or a year. And then you have to deal again with complete replacement again. In best case scenario driving with dead head unit until that seller from ali-express will aree to send you new one for free and then do it all over again - yack. In worst case - when out of warranty - it's just money lost and dead head unit without music, GPS, backup camera or steering wheel controls, issues with engine light, airbag system and who knows what else?

I was an early adopter of chinese crap units back in 2013, but then I decided it's not worth it. Their numerous head units working on Android mostly - have various bugs in software, freezes etc. Often sound quality is subpar and even screen is so-so. Just my 2c.
 
#9 ·
Well, thank you for your feedback.

So the Nissan engineers could not figure out how to get a single app (nissan connect) to work properly, I mean it is useless the way it is, and it's been around for more than 2 years. So what are you left with? And you call this a chinese crap?

Maybe you had a bad experience with one of these unit, but I don't think you should label them as chinese crap. At least they are trying, and they are the only one I can find that build these android unit, make them available and affordable around the world. There is lot of research and development that goes into building these units. For $500, you can get everything Android has to offer with no limitation as to what you can put in it or how you want it to look like; right now you cannot even buy a android smartphone for less than $500.

I paid 40,000 for a car with a crappy audio system and an outdated GPS, low resolution display, no cloud connectivity at all. Now, even Ford has better technology than Nissan.

The first thing I noticed after I installed the android unit is the sound improvement, it was such a big difference. I was planning on replacing my speakers, but after I heard it with this new head unit, I might just keep them.

So far, I have had a good experience with this unit. It fits the Murano perfectly, I can put anything I want in it, it has everything you would want in a car. It is a stripped down version of android, but you can go to google play and download anything you feel will be useful to you in the car. It is not perfect, as I have issues with my steering wheel control and my engine light is on, but I don't think it is that big of a deal, I am sure they will figure it out.

I am just giving you my first impression as I have never own this kind of unit before. I like the build quality, it is not worse than the original head unit. I like the resolution, so much better than the original head unit. I like the fact that I am in total control of the unit, I don't have to schedule a date to drive to nissan to have them update my map every year or so.

I have driven 3 hours to New Jersey from MD, listening to music, while the GPS was running and running Bluetooth (ODB2), and I have not seen any glitches. It has been very responsive to all my commands :)so far.
 
#8 ·
Eddie from Crutchfield says you lose your surround cameras if you upgrade. There isn't an output/jack, they are hardwired to the receiver. I have seen several units with multiple USB ports and other ports in the back. Sounds like someone just needs to create a harness of some sort maybe. Either way, if Eddie is correct I won't be upgrading any time soon. I like my cameras.
 
#11 ·
Not sure why the new head unit would cause a check engine light to come on, usually that is for an emissions issue, and really should have nothing to do with the stereo....

If it wasn't such a pain I would suggest that the new unit be disconnected and see if the light still comes on, or put the original one back and see if it's still there

Or, take the car to the dealer and have them check it out, the car is under warranty still, right ?

.
 
#150 ·
I pulled the head unit on my 03 to send it out to a company to fix an issue with the CD player - Information I found on this forum back in the day. Maybe it was because I tried to drive it a bit without the unit, but it did not like being driven without out it, so I let it sit for a few weeks. When I re-installed the head unit, the check engine light was on. Took it to my mechanic and he said he had to clear several warnings. I told him that I had pulled the unit and tried driving it and he said that would do it.
 
#12 ·
Hey Gate,


I'm pretty sure the engine light will eliminate for a whole host of others issues besides emissions. For some reason airbag popped into my head the night I read his original post. But I don't see how now that I think about it. Although, the cabin has airbags everywhere. So what that means is I don't have a clue. Ha..
 
#16 ·
Well, the engine light went out this morning, on its own, I did not do anything.

There is a small white module that sits underneath the radio, I remember when I unplugged it, there was a warning in the dash and messages like Press Brakes and Power to Start Car would not show up anymore. Maybe, once you unplugged that module, it will reset once you plug it back in.
 

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#18 ·
I'm a bit indifferent on this. We all did pay for some features that are either barely working at best in some cases or not working or available at all. On the other hand, next to the GPS I really haven't found myself missing any of the Apps part or whatever. Maybe I'm missing how much or what this Nissan Connect can do for me/us.


At least for right now for me, it's the principle of thing. We did pay for it, it should do and work as advertised.
 
#20 ·
i know how you feel how about our cars radio, as well most of the folks here.. just reading this thread now and about the radio, someone in an FB altima community put in the same radio (13-15 altima).. it worked perfectly, no engine lights on, and the steering wheel buttons worked as well.. I know its an asian brand radio, made for teana - which is the altima.. it looked great on the altima and even on the murano.. they looked very similar..

I know at one point, nissan will go to car play.. rumor has it that its next year.. who knows.. i just wish that they will offer us, an upgrade of some sort.. wishful thinking..
 
#21 ·
Here I am again with my quest for the perfect android head unit.

I just received this new head unit from hong kong, was not expecting them to deliver today since it is a holiday.

Anyway, since I do not have my car, I won't be installing it today, will have to wait next week.

Stay tuned!!! Apparently, this one is much better than the first one I got. Well see...



In the meantime, I am sharing my gallery when I replaced my head unit on my 2005 nissan altima. I literally built a computer around it since I did not like the head unit it came with. This was a big project, took me 2 months, and worked wonderfully for 2 years until I sold my car:
https://goo.gl/photos/zFYaDHTDKVuYKnp66
 

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#25 ·
Thanks GateKeeper, that was back in 2007, back then it was all about Blackberry and android was just maturing.

------------------------------
Shipping was very fast, I ordered it on Thursday and received it on Monday from DHL.

This one is little bit more expensive than the first one I got, it looks much smaller, it is running quad core @1.8 GHz 16GB Storage Memory and 1 Gb of RAM, it has 2 SD cards for storing your maps, and plenty of USB ports. You will still be able to use the original USB ports from the car, but not the AUX, they give you additional cables for AUX.

This one is plug and play with the 2015/2016 Nissan murano (except the one with the Bose system), meaning you should not have to deal with splicing cables, and should retain all the original car functionality including the backup camera and steering wheel controls.

Here is the link...

For those of you who are interested, I would say hold on until next weekend when I install it in the car. I will do a thorough review and let you know what is working and what is not and let you know whether it is worth buying or not.

They just release this version 2 weeks ago and it is running android 4.4.4, I powered it on on my bench to do a quick test, but not everything was working right, maybe because it is not connected to the car.

MXTRON For Nissan Murano 10.2 inch Android Radio Navigation Pad
 

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#27 ·
This is because the Bose system is so tightly integrated with the car, it does not use the same wiring harness as the non Bose system. I am sure it can be done, but you will have to do some modification to the cables, and not sure if you will still be able to use the Bose subwoofer.
 
#28 ·
Thanks Assad for keeping us updated on this. I unfortunately have the Bose as well and I am incredibly disappointed with the tech in this car and its lack of connectivity with my Note 5 running Android M. One of the reasons I bought this car (traded in my 2006 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S which I loved) was to get the new tech but I feel like I am still in 2006. Oh well...sorry for venting. Best of luck and please keep us updated on your project!
 
#30 ·
Hi N1ghtcrawl3r,

They are shipping me a new one, should receive it this friday, will let you know how it goes.

The problem is that the 2015/2016 Nissan Murano has 3 version for the Audio System.

1- The Plain one (no navigation) - It has 2 connectors (1 X 20 pins and 1 X 32 pins)

2- The NAV ( with navigation, no Bose system) - It has 2 connecors (1 X 20 pins and 1 X 40 pins)

3- The NAV+ BOSE (Navigation with Bose System) - It has 2 connecotors ( 1 X 20 pins and 1 X 40 pins + a Bose amplifier)

The Unit I received had one 20 pins and one 32 pins connector. The 20 pins connector match perfectly, but second connector did not match since I have the NAV without BOSE. Everything worked perfectly, except the steering wheel control and backup camera.

Most of the Murano in China have the Plain Audio system

I requested they ship me a new one with the correct connector, and upgrade it to Android 5.0.1 which is the latest lollipop.

If this works, it would have so much potential, it's like having a android tablet in your car, and with all the apps can you put in there without any restrictions. Let's cross our fingers...
 

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#33 ·
+1

agree!
 
#35 ·
Thanks for the update Assad! Really Really appreciated :). I'm curious to know what I would have to sacrifice in order to upgrade to a unit like this, and then make a decision. Since I have the Platinum with BOSE, i may not have that option at all. But if they do come with a BOSE version of it with the appropriate connectors, this would still give me an idea regarding steering wheel controls. voice controls and backup camera. So, I'll wait with bated breath for the next update.
 
#36 ·
HDTVsportsfan,

Did you know that 50% of the stuff around you is made in china?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is a quick update:

I received the Unit this past friday and install it in my car. Unfortunately, they were still working on the 2nd connector to match my car, so it wasn't included. I just got word that they shipped it today.

This new unit has lots of improvement over the previous one I bought.
- First, it has a faster processor 1.8GHz ARM R16
- The screen seems brighter
- They upgraded the android to version 5.0.1 which is lolllipop
- Everything I tested seems to run very smooth.

Installing this Head Unit will not void your warranty in anyway, this unit is made for the 15/16 murano and such you do not have to cut any cable or add anything to the existing wiring harness, it is plug and play. If you do not like it, you can just put back the original radio without any issues.

Installation is very easy, all you need is 2 sets of screwdriver and some steady hands.

What do you gain in installing an android Head Unit?
- Basically everything Android has to offer, you can go to the app store and download any app: music, video, streaming, pandora, spotify, maps, etc... No restrictions
- Better maps: I have installed Sygic, Google Maps and Waze.
- No need to go to the dealer or wait for map updates, your maps are updated over WIFI
- This particular head unit has a 10.2 inch screen, pretty big screen
- You can specify how long before the unit shuts down after you turn off the car ( 5 min to 1 hr ). I have set it up for 1 hr, and the unit boots intently when I start the car. Cold boot is around 20 sec...
- The radio works very well, it picks up more stations that the factory radio. It also displays the name of the station and the song being played. It uses the factory car antenna...
- You can use the factory GPS with this unit by using an adapter found on amazon. I am using it now and it works wonderfully.
- Better sound, it sounds definitely better than the factory stereo (non bose). I can't speak for the bose system since I have never heard it.
- Better resolution that the factory head unit, this one is 1024X600
- Built in Bluetooth and WIFI
- Backup camera and steering wheel support ( to be verified once I received the other connector)

What will you loose over the factory head unit?
-
You will loose the turn by turn navigation that is display on the dashboard, since that is specific to nissan navigation.
- You will loose your XM radio. If you need XM after installing the head unit, you might go with the online version or with a small XM module connected to AUX IN and using the existing XM car antenna.
---- If you have the Bose System
- You will loose the AMP and the SUB feature. Although you might make it work, but I am sure you might need to move some wire around. I don't know how the Bose system sounds so I cannot compare the 2.
- The unit has a PREAMP and A SUB setting (WIRE), I guess you could connect that to the head unit. I also noticed that the Bose system has extra connector for the Tweets, this unit does not have that.
So if you have the Bose system, all functionality will work, but it might not sound the same, WORSE OR BETTER, I don't know???
- All around camera??? Not sure, since I do not have that feature on my murano
- The vendor is very helpful, and they strive to earn your business. They have lots of experience in the AV car industry. So, if you need help with the BOSE, you would need to send them a picture of all the connectors that are plugged into the back of the radio and the wiring diagram.
They make similar android head unit for high end car such as Mercedes and BMW...

I have been playing with it since I received it, no major issue so far. I will do a complete review once I received the 2nd connector for the steering wheel control and backup camera.
 

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#40 ·
Thanks for the update Assad.


And well, yea, I'd be surprised if it's not more than 50% actually. Which most of it is crap. With that said , please don't take that as I'm questioning your decision on this. I find it very interesting and am curiously waiting for further updates. I have the SL with tech package and Bose, so I am curious about this and half considering giving it a shot. Frankly, waiting for you to finish this project up.


Best of continued luck to ya.
 
#41 ·
Installed Infinity Speakers today

I still have not received the connector for the steering wheel control and backup camera, hopefully next week.

I was at the dealer this friday to get my oil change, there was a platinum with Bose in the lot. I checked it out to see how it sounded. It sounds 10X better than the non Bose system. The Audio system for the non Bose is crap ( literally ).

So today, I installed 2 new front Infinity Kappa component speakers that I bought from amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B41LZ1M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The installation took 4 hours, removing the front door to get to the speakers is very easy, the factory speakers are 6.5 inches. The speakers they put in the Non Bose version is really cheap, it looks like speakers you would pay $10 at the audio store. I guess they want you to pay $1000 more to get the Bose.

These infinity speakers have better sound than the Bose, the clarity and the high are pretty good. The Bass is also really good, but you would need a subwoofer to really complement these speakers.

Here is a video of the install and demo of the speakers:
https://youtu.be/lLHx8OFvguw
youtube said that the audio is copyrighted, so they removed the audio :-( from the track I was playing to demo it

Here is the Vimeo with audio, not sure if they will remove the audio or not:
https://vimeo.com/176870959
 

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