Android Auto head unit, preserve RS monitor

I've ordered the same Infinities and all the fitting parts so will have a go at that at the weekend .. will see how it sounds with the factory tweeters left in and disconnect if necessary. Hoping that putting the new speakers in and wiggling the door loom plug will bring everything to life.

Back on the HU fitting topic @FreakyKiwi .. what did you do with your GPS and 4G antennas? I'm really tempted to stick the 4G antenna inside the top of the facia frame (so immediately above and behind the HU itself) and stick the GPS antenna either to the back of the facia frame or on the dash immediately behind the facia frame .. both would really help reduce the ammount of cables I need to run/hide and I figure these positions are definitely no worse than my phone when it's hung on the airvent holder.

 

Infinities fitted and they make a big difference even on original hu (planning to fit the android hu over the next few days). Leaving the factory arkamys tweeters in help lift the sound without confusing things too much.

Took quite a while drilling out the old one and then shaping and fitting the sound deadening (didn’t go too crazy with it, just around the speaker and in behind it) .. but worth it.

Not audiophile quality .. but a big improvement! Looking forward to getting the hu done any playing with the dsp

 

Nakamichi used to do amazing cassette decks back in the day

Mine has recaros which I read somewhere have less space underneath.. I saw one for sale that had recaros and a Focal isub fitted so there must be 63mm of space under there. The Nakamichi is 79mm though so not sure if it would fit. If you decide to go ahead with it I’d be really interested to hear how you get on. I like the idea but put off because of having to run power through the firewall and seats out to fit.

Glad the wiggle fix is holding up for you

 

Yes, just the brand name left now … happened to so many once great companies.

Active sub in the spare wheel well should fill the low end nicely .. and I guess not THAT much more effort, mainly just longer cables

 

Fitted the Android HU and overall very pleased

The HU - AliExpress Hizpo 9" inch S5 (8Core 4G 64G) https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...t_main.30.5f511802LEwvuu&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm
Very impressed, boots up really quickly, screen is very sharp, bright and colourful with good viewing angles, sound quality is good (vs stock HU) and the DSP allows lots of adjustment, RDS tuner seems to lock and hold onto FM stations better than the stock HU, USB ports work well (I have a 256GB thumb drive plugged in with a load of FLAC music which it plays very happily). I fitted the supplied GPS antenna on the back of the facia and it gets a fast and accurate fix for Waze and Google Maps. Haven't tried the 4G capability yet. Carplay works really well and smoothly, BT music playback is good. Steering wheel controls work, it does nice things like go into dark mode based on the headlights etc .. great bit of kit for the money!

The facia - AliExpress Gamnew https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...t_main.25.5f511802LEwvuu&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm
It's ok and does the job .. great way to have original screen (esp with RS Montor) and an Android HU ... but a bit disappointing in a few areas. Plastic looks cheaper than the original Renault trim, the gap for the original screen is too big so I had to pack it out to avoid it rattling around, the original screen is laying down at an angle that makes it more difficult to read, no screws or clips provided (reused clips from original facia and bought some M3x8 screws), the openning for the new HU is sized for the screen only so the buttons down the side of the screen and the reset and mic holes are blocked (I drilled 2 little holes)

The control panel - AliExpress NaviRider OEM Style Control Panel https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...st_main.5.5f511802LEwvuu&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm
It's not perfect .. but really pleased I got it! Much better IMHO to have this panel rather than the original disconnected HU. It is much shallower so leaves lots of space behind for all the cables ... and can map functions to the buttons which makes the overall integration feel more 'factory'. Downsides are that the 'map' and 'res card' buttons are fake / not usable, it's a bit cheap feeling overall, and it really could benifit from <- and -> buttons (I've mapped those functions to buttons 3 + 4).

The wiring harness - Aliexpress Upindo Adapter with CAN Bus Decoder for Renault Megane 3 Fluence https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...t_main.15.5f511802LEwvuu&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm
All works well and flexible connectivity, only downside is that the wires from the canbus box to the HU are pretty short which means you have to have the two very close together / you can't hide the canbus box down behind the original HU / control panel .. but I fitted it all in so it's fine I guess.

The DAB module - AliExpress Podofo DAB + Antenna With USB https://vi.aliexpress.com/item/1005...t_main.10.5f511802LEwvuu&gatewayAdapt=glo2vnm
Rception is woeful could be that I haven't fitted the antenna properly or something ... when it works it's good and the DAB-Z app works well, but mostly the reception is terrible and you just get lots of squealing noise and not the radio station you're trying to listen to. Hopefully will find a way to improve this.

Fitting was pretty straight forward ... I used the video the FreakyKiwi shared as the starting point but also removed the glovebox to make life easier (and to run the USB leads and SIM holder into).

Overall - I'm really pleased with the outcome! Thoroughly modernised the infotainment system, added SatNav and CarPlay and impoved the sound quality for comparatively little money some minor downsides ... it is quite a big lump on the dash but it blocks more of the bonet than of the road so doesn't really get in the way, it's quite far forward on the dash so using the touchscreen on the move is tricky / the steering wheel controls and control panel really help, I can't find a way to set the clock on the factory display so it just blinks a random time.

 

push both buttons on top of steering controls until clock starts blinking (i think there's a beep too) press vol up to set hours and vol down to set minutes. press top buttons again to save.
that's how i set it on my car with aftermarket HU.

 

Thanks for sharing @AFPT .. but unfortunately doesn't work for me

The clock starts blinking as soon as the display comes on (when I open the drivers door) .. pressing the two buttons on top of the steering controls switches to RS Monitor as normal and pressing them again switches back to the "Renault Sport" logo ... pressing and holding (even up to 20secs) does the same. Tried various combinations of pressing and holding on the steering controls but no joy. Anything I'm missing?

 

I tried it this morning to be sure it's the right procedure and it worked but the clock doesn't blink.
It flashes "00:00" and beeps once to show it's in set mode and after a few seconds without input it flashes again and goes back to normal.
I don't have RS monitor and my stalk only has 2 buttons on top. Some have buttons on the back. Maybe try those?
Other option is to plug the stock HU back in but not an option for you because the screen can't be unplugged from the stock harness.
Third option is to use DDT4ALL with a CAN2 cable.

 

did some searching on the french forums and looks like i was wrong... you don't press 2 buttons, only 1...
i guess 2 buttons worked for me because i don't have the RS monitor.

Long press the media/source button until it flashes "00:00" and then set time with vol +/-

 

Nope, that doesn’t work either sadly thanks for looking into it tho.

I tried long presses on each of the steering control buttons but no joy. Also tried various combinations of buttons but also no joy.

if it really starts to bug me I might try plugging the old head unit back in temporarily to set it .. although I guess I’d need to do it each time daylight savings happens.