Had the opportunity to drive a friends ND Miata over the weekend and came away pleasantly surprised with the usefulness and simplicity of Mazda's interface.

This started another round of researching aftermarket options for our R58 and I came across this product.
Has anyone else discovered options that might match or surpass OEM levels of integration with MINI's engine management, communication, entertainment, etc? It's alright if the solution doesn't try and cram a square peg into a round hole. I love my center speedo, but the infotainment design is awkward for my taste.

 

I been looking at this for a while, have anyone actually seen it install in a r56?

 

Consider me interested too. I want to know how well the GPS does; I'm interested in the backup-camera integration, the audio streaming, and what looks like decent phone call support. I figure I'd pay as much as or more than that for all the things I want to add individually.

 

seem like there are a few choice, anyone brave enough to try it out?
http://www.aliexpress.com/price/gps-...per_price.html

 

I'm starting to talk myself into it... I think I'll start a thread in the R56 forum because it's more likely that someone else there has one. Sadly, our R58s just don't get the same amount of loving that the R56s do.

 

Oh, looked in the Nav and Audio forum - someone's already done the work for us. I'm excited...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ereo-unit.html

On the other site Danjor mentions, look for "Aftermarket DVD/Nav system"

 

Has anyone tried this out in the meantime?
I was looking at the new ones sold by "Seicane" with the Android Version. But there are very few reviews on it - as I could tell, there are many people ordering this kind of aftermarket Touchscreens for r56, but there are few that make a review after installing them :(

 

I have one (the 4.4.4 version, but the hardware is almost certainly the same) and use it daily. I haven't done a full review on it because my job has taken over my life recently... It fits, but it has a number of quirks. (the built-in microphone is garbage, for example, but it's solvable w/ a $10 external mic) If you have any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer as many as I can.

accessories to avoid - ANY of the cameras they sell. They don't fit; get a decent license frame backup cam instead and wire it in. (probably the best feature) Avoid the "DVR camera" too. It's crap; buy a dedicated dashcam instead if you need one. Avoid the bluetooth OBDII dongle; it won't work with a MINI. There are other bluetooth dongles that WILL work, just not the one they sell. Go figure.

One other quirk - this may be a big one for many people - the speedometer is ONLY available in Km/h. No Mph! It's unreadable, too. (they'll tell you it's "out of stock" or some other nonsense. It simply isn't available, period.) You may as well forget it's even there. It's just a series of LEDs behind a plastic; it would work fine in theory, but it just isn't readable. Plus, if you set cruise control - your speed setting will show up on the tach in Km/h then it will go back to Mph. It doesn't bother me, personally, but I can see that driving other folks nuts.

 

Hi, could you send me some pics pls or a small video (I can send you my email, if you're willing to send me some)

The Mph thing wouldn't bother me at all because here in Portugal we use Km/h
Anyway, I can always use the digital speedometer that appear in the "Revs" display.

 

Just ordered one of the Seicane android 5.1.1 units. Hopefully I can take it apart to swap the Kph overlay to a Mph overlay.

 

Do a search in Google for "android head unit" and "Hui Fei Type"- take lots of pictures of the innards when you have it open. There are alternative firmwares available by a guy called "Malaysk".

http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/Hui_Fei_Type

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...postcount=7614
NOTE: this particular version may or may not be appropriate for your device - read up and be absolutely certain of your chipset.
Totally worth it, though. Much nicer UI and better responsiveness than the stock ROM - not sure how Seicane's 5.1.1 units are.

I had the same thought about the MPH overlay - let me know how it turns out, but I'd just as soon just cover mine up. The LEDs just... ugh. I wish we could use the OEM speedometer thing. You'll see - I'd say, install it far enough to test and then try it.

 

Following because I am looking at a seicane unit for my r57

 

Thanks for the info. I browse XDA a lot, was reading through the Android Auto section before I purchased. Thanks for the heads up on the speedo. I'm going to connect it before I take anything apart and see how it looks.

 

So I got the unit and installed it before taking it apart or making any changes to make sure it works. The GPS card slot doesn't recognize any cards and I barely have any radio reception. I believe I have to hook up the blue ant wire to the ant amp (white?) wire on the harness. I'll take a look at it again this weekend.
I emailed Seicane about the GPS slot so we'll see how they want to proceed.

 

I'm working on installing one of these as well. I'm also having issues with radio reception and after some reading was thinking that the antenna amp was maybe not getting power.

What did you end up figuring out?

 

Any updates? Pictures or videos ??

 

There should have already been a memory card in the GPS slot, or one should have been in the packaging.
You may have chosen the wrong radio connection - it is easily confused with the satellite connector, which will give you pretty much no reception.

 

Bump.

Anyone else have feedback on these units? Thinking about trying one.

 

I contacted Seicane, or at least I tried to. All I got was being added to the email list with some sales events but no answers to my questions. I can imagine any install or warranty issues being a royal pain.

 

I can say from experience, they do some technical support if you have questions after you buy from them. I had the best luck emailing their support, however that was a couple years ago now so who knows what it's like now. I still use the thing every day so it isn't all bad. The main issue is installation.
If you're enough of a techie to know how to root an Android phone or tablet, the process is similar for the head units. I use a custom ROM made by a Russian(?) dude going by Malaysk. His work greatly improved the usability from stock, though maybe the newer stuff is better (?)

 

Does anyone know if they are compatible with the Harmon
kardon system?

 

Yes, but if I remember correctly I had to cut a wire.

 

I've been looking at these for a few days. There are lots of different options on aliexpress.com, with all range of prices. The one I am currently looking at has Android 8 and 32G RAM, for $429. I'm an Android guy from the very beginning, so I am not worried about rooting and using the Android system. I keep looking for an option that has MPH. So far, I haven't found that.

 

I haven't seen ANY MPH ones. I've been trying to find one that you can just drop a SIM card in and use Waze or something but I think they are really all pretty much the same.

Does anyone know if you have to wait for this thing to boot up every time you turn the car on, or is just in sleep/low power/standby or something when the car is off?