I boiled over this for quite some time. When I found the $80 ring on ebay, it sealed the deal. The Blu 7.0 will function as a Android media player which can pull wifi from my hotspot for Waze usage.

Ring installed with no issues on my previous base radio R56. No cel, all ring functions work as expected even the speedo ring.




Blu phone arrives tomorrow, will then post installed photos

 

 

do you still get the door gong sounds? ie flasher noises and warnings?

 

Alright I will have some more detailed steps this week but here is the rough in. The 7.0 Blu cell phone really was a stretch but I was fighting on putting in something smaller and masking it. I never had cracked open the speedo ring and the gearing in there is actually quite substaintial for the ring to spin around. Due to this the screen has to set back 1/4" and not flush like the stock nav. This does have some perks though- 7" screen which gives you some more edge from driver or passanger angle, the phone is also $85 on amazon warehouse right now, and keeps the speedo functional. It would be possible, by killing the speedo guys, leaving the lights though, and then getting the screen flush, there is just quite a bit to cut through and part of that is the speedo track.

The only control I will need a stylus for is the WAZE main bottom left nav button. Parked it is a simple press but while driving i seem to require a few tries to get my finger to land correctly since it is set back a bit.

For movies while parked having the full screen real estate was great





So not too shabby for under $200. All that is left is a Kenwood bluetooth amp ($150) to repower the stock speakers and im all set. Bonus the slot where the old CD player existed now has a single DIN pocket installed behind it with power, nice place to throw the extra passanger cell or other charge up item.

 

All of the warning noises appear to be baked in to the radio so when you take that out they are all gone.

 

That's what I figured. Oh well. Any chance we could check out some measurements? I know I'm probably asking for too much here but a man can dream

 

I will be able to get some shots with calipers for measurements soon. So far so good. only issue i need to work around is the power. Unlike an ipad or iphone, this BLU phone does not seem to auto power on (in the even the battery is drained, on running the car the BLU battery gets charged but it still needs a side power button press in order to get it going). Fortunatly i drive every day and this BLU has a big enough battery to sit idle over night...still would like to figure out something more permanent. Long term I would like to figure out a remote screen from the device but this is working for its need.

 

 

You're my hero! I had this idea a while ago but never the stones to pursue it. Great eBay find. Keep us updated!

 

Awesome. Well done sir.

 

I found out the Blu 7.0 has an FM antenae on the headphone set so I will be breaking the unit down to add that back in. I will provide a follow up with more shots.

 

Adam,

Any updates on the project? How has it been holding up?

I'm going to attempt this with my Mini. Will be shopping for a tablet or phone to fit the space.

Kazi