Hey there crew, I have a project I'm working on to which I can't find a solid answer in the forums. I currently have a Jun 05 R52 with chrono. I would like to remove the current center cluster and put in a nav screen. I do NOT actually want the factory nav though. I just want the idiot lights in the bezel to work properly since I'll be replacing the screen and guts with something more modern.

From what I understand, the VIN is stored in multiple locations... Some seem to say a retrofit will not take, while I also seem to read into NCS expert being a possibility. However, my dilemma is slightly different since I will not be using the oem nav module. Is possible I'd be able to get this to work? I found a nav setup similar to the cluster setup I have now. Below is what matches up from the stickers:

Hardware Index - NO match
Software Index - MATCH
Bus Index - MATCH
Can Index - MATCH
Diagnostic Index - MATCH
Coding Index - MATCH
AI Level - MATCH
Modification Index - NO Match

Basically, I purchased a dirt cheap old nav unit (03) for parts (knowing it wouldn't work in my vehicle) as a plaything to mess around with in hopes of getting it to work. Its a ri-pi running OAP with a 6.5" screen, capacitive touch, BT, etc. Anyway, now that I do have this thing working, I'd like to see if I can properly install it in my R52. A couple pics attached. I like the OA project and the thought of having android auto in the car. So far, the whole project has been under $150, but buying this bezel that matches my current setup (mostly) is about $350... so it just went from being a pet project to something I needed to put a little more thought into.

Thanks for any positive thoughts... or reality checks.

 

Yes, the nav bezel is different... you will need to get one.

The VIN, mileage and other details are stored in the Chrono PAC, you will need to code the nav system to match your car. You should be able to change everything except the miles on the odometer.

I'm doing the opposite swap, going from NAV system to Chrono PAC... have the program, waiting for the cables. I did put the Chrono PAC in one day, but some lights stayed on and code's were set that couldn't be cleared.

Good luck on your endeavor

Bryan

 

Thanks for the response. So I'm guessing if the info is stored in the Chrono, then I shouldn't have any issues with plug and play on a used nav bezel. Guess there's only one way to find out for sure. Looks like I'm going to take the plunge.

Hope you get the lights and codes on your own swap figured out.

 

you are still going to have to get the NAV unit coded to your car...otherwise you will have warning lights on in your speedo and the NAV unit until you do.....let me find my write up about what I am going through right now.....I will post the link in here

Bryan

 

here is my first attempt at swapping the NAV for the Chrono Pac......I now have the re-coding program and the connection cables arrived the other day....I will play with mine over the winter to get this working....I hope....you can read just the link below, or if you have nothing to do for 30 minutes or so...you can read the entire thread about this car I picked up last year

Bryan

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4473420

 

I'm interested in what you're doing, but my car already has factory nav. I'm less smart on electronics than any other automotive system, so it's safe to say I'm clueless and looking to replicate what works.

I'd like to have a touchscreen android device in place of my Nav screen, with all the other dash functions intact, and the touchscreen powered and charged so that it runs when the engine does.

Is that what you're building? If so, please post the how to details. I'm assuming mine will be simpler since I'm not swapping over from chrono?

 

Bryan - thanks for the link. Lots of stuff there for me to catch up on and I'm very appreciative that you're sharing your experience. You've got a lot of worked socked into the "Mini from Hell". My wife is on her 2nd R52. After the first was totaled in an accident I tried to get her to pick up an F56 (I think it had just come out) or an R57. Test drove a few but she stuck with a used R52 and is adamant that Mini was at its best with the 1st gen R series.

Husky - Yes, I'm using OAP so that android auto is essentially the HU. Since you already have nav tied to your system I would imagine (not sure) that there would be a few less hurdles for you. If I can get this working I'll post pics of how I made it happen and a parts list. I've got a few unique challenges since its my wife's car and she's particular. If you wanted to try to get a head start you can read up at https://bluewavestudio.io/ for a basic setup it's pretty simple. My wife just likes to make it difficult on me lol.

After I fried the last video driver due to a poor soldering job (for manual brightness control), I picked up another and received it a few weeks back. House projects have kept me from working on this as much as I'd hoped, but I'm going to try to have it up and running before the new year. I'll update here either way.

Oh, and my wife said if you're doing the pulley reduction... that she when 15 on the first R52 and 17 on the second... 17 hits the spot.

 

I did some research on the 15 & 17 reduction pulleys for my R53.....I had read a number of times that the 17% pulley is not really recommended for everyday street use.....too much heat is built up and the inter cooler may not be big enough to cool the intake air charge......

It's just what I have heard & read

Bryan

(and here is the picture of my NAV unit showing the numbers on the tag.....like we discussed in a PM...I'm not probably going to let this go if and when I get the Chrono Pac up and running.....)

 

The board in the Chrono Pack center gauge is responsible for more than just those gauges. It also runs the gauges on the column as well and I believe some other functions use it as a BUS or hub in the CANBUS system. You will lose all the gauges in the car unless you figure out a way to run the Chrono Pack board somewhere in the circuit (maybe strip it down and tie it off behind the dash?). Since you seem to have figured out a screen and how to make everything play nice with your Raspberry Pi, why not mod the dash where the original radio is to drop the switches and HVAC and just run the system there? It should have plenty of space to run the Pi and the daughter board and a cooling fan too (if needed). I am also wondering what you are going to do for a fuel gauge, or is that part of the nav?

 

Ha, yeah no doubt. My wife got a larger intercooler... and she doesn't drive that often tbh. She just has a bit of fun really.


What you say makes complete sense. I thought my wife would go for the double din (panasonic, or sony, etc) similar to some of the other posts I'd seen on here, but she just doesn't like the look. She prefers a more OEM look.... I say that, but meanwhile the amount of aftermarket parts she has brings a tear to my eye (because of pain in the wallet). So I decided I'd give this a try.

I plugged this thing in just for a test, and I was surprised that the TPMS sensor was the only one that didn't seem to turn off. The others (including the fuel gauge lights) seemed to work.... notice, I said seemed. I couldn't fully examine this as it was late at night and I was exhausted and I didn't check to see what codes were popping up. I plan to try to tackle this more during some time off and between family visits over the holidays. Knowing that, like the countless others before me whom seem way smarter, I'll probably not get very far.

Things I'm considering
1 - Taking a crack at NCS expert and seeing how far I can get with the current project unit
2 - Taking the electronics out of the current center cluster, shoving it in a box under the passenger seat. Extending the connections to it, then soldering wires from the LEDs to the LEDs in the dummy unit in the center console. The fuel gauge is a concern there though, would need to do some more digging
3 - De-solder the data chip on the back of the current unit and see what happens when I put it into the project unit.
4 - Pray for a deal on a new unit to avoid some headaches (hey, it could happen)
5 - Open to ideas!!???

At the end of the day, my wife said if I can't get it to work she'd prefer her car stay as it is. Which is fine by me. I've had fun playing with the project and using it as learning experience for an idea for another car. I'll just sell the parts off once I've given up if it comes to that. I don't really know what I'm doing, but I have the internet... I know how to read... and luckily, I don't mind taking a chance, screwing up, hopefully learning something along the way and then trying again.

Other than figuring this last part out, I have the HU in a position I'm happy with. Its got the BT and hotspot connection, runs AA, makes and receives calls like a pro, solid sound, screen mirroring, etc. I've made a little progress into getting the OBDII info up and running, but I'm hoping the guys at bluewave will release something to fill that need in a few months because I'm sure whatever they come up with will be leaps better than what I can do.

 

Here are a couple of pics of this thing on the bench with all the guts shoved inside. I can try to record a video of it working if interested.

 

That's some pretty nice work... I'm glad you can do that, I would be afraid to touch that.

You might remember that I'm trying to replace my NAV system for a Chrono PAC.... I have the program and cable... I have been reading the information book that came with the CD program.... I may have bitten off more than I can handle at this point. From what I can tell, one wrong push of a button, and the car may never be the same again.

Now I'm kinda scared to even plug the car into my laptop....

Bryan

 

Well... That certainly beats the Bluetooth speaker builds I have done!

My other concern would be the need for the handshake between that unit and the BCM and PCM since they all have to agree on the car's VIN and odometer reading. Then again...if you know what chip is storing that data it isn't really that hard to swap it between units.

 

This is amazing. Is this something an electronic novice could pull off?

To recap: I have factory nav and find it worthless and a waste of dash space. I would happily swap it to most anything else. Ultimately I would like to have the screen display virtual gauges from an OBDII reader. Android Auto would be amazing.

Is this a fairly easy swap for an existing NAV car? Parts list? Video how-to?

Thanks,
Greg

 

I would think you could do this. You won't have to worry about programming your chip like I do since you already have a nav unit. I only made it as far as I did through persistence and following the path others created before me. My biggest hurdle by far was my poor soldering skills. We have to use a 6.5 inch screen in our cars, because of that we can't use the official RPi screen. That means if you want the option do dim the screen you'll need to solder a few resistors and capacitors to the board for pwm. I learned best from studying one of the jagdroid guys (http://bit.ly/2tbDLPW). I don't yet have the ability to pass OBD2 data through the screen. I'm still working on that, but so are the guys at OAP and its planned in a future release. I'm sure what they do will be way better than what I achieve so I'm not in a big rush there.

Depending on what you plan to do, your parts list might be different that what I post below. You might need more... or less. For instance, my wife gets motion sick looking at backup cams so she didn't want one added. She also prefers manual dimming control (instead of light sensitive automatic) so I used a rotary encoder for this - you could decide to scroll through the menu with one instead. Also, tools. I already had a soldering gun, crimps, connectors, etc. Things can add up quickly if you have to buy them.

Parts List:
- Navigation unit and bezel from 1st gen cooper
- Raspberry Pi 3 or Raspberry Pi 4 (I'd go with the 4 personally)
- Hifi DAC**
- Microphone**
- Bluetooth adapter
- 6.5 inch LCD Screen (AT065TN14 is what I used)
- Video Driver Board (Make sure its 800*480)
- Capacitive Touch Panel
- 12v Timer (or you could shutdown using alt method)
- 12v - 5v converter
- 5v relay
- USB Hub
- Standoff posts
- Rotary encoder
- Resistors and capacitors (for dimming)
- Wire and connectors
- HDMI Ribbon cable (could get on adafruit of aliexpress and buy parts to make your own or just shop around for a good deal on one already done)
- Camera (so you can add a reverse cam if you want)
** The Mic and Audio DAC could be combined as a USB set (not what I did though)

Before I go further, let me just say that there are some super smart and very helpful guys over in the OAP forum. There are lots of different hardware options to choose from, I just picked what I liked best. Feel free to browse the forum over there is you'd like to get some ideas on what you could do to improve on this. - https://bluewavestudio.io/community/

I'll put some links to parts down below. There are so many parts you can probably find an alternate for or cheaper somewhere else. I won't have a lot of amazon links... that being said though, you could probably find a lot of this on amazon. I don't really shop amazon (personal preference). Word of warning, pay attention to what you buy... this guy made the mistake of buying one of the controller board that was 800*600 rather than 800*480. I did this trying to use mostly what I already had, or had easy access to. It could be made more compact and cleaner with a little more thought.

- Raspberry Pi 4 - http://bit.ly/37l794W
- Raspberry Pi 3 - http://bit.ly/39qF7H0
- Screen, Driver, Touch Panel kit - http://bit.ly/37hYa4D
- Screen and Driver (would still need touch)- http://bit.ly/2t9SFX5
- Screen and Touch (would still need driver board) - http://bit.ly/2rHFigk
- Video controller board (This is the one I used) - http://bit.ly/3568ZW6
- Open Auto Pro - http://bit.ly/2Q8HRl1
- Timer (if you follow a setup similar to mine... there are other solutions for gracefully shutting the Pi off) - http://bit.ly/2Q8HRl1
- 12v - 5v converter - https://ebay.to/2ta4cWm
- Rotary encoder - https://amzn.to/2ZBgvqK
- HDMI Ribbon cable - http://bit.ly/2MEcwEA
- Microphone - https://amzn.to/39mSubp
- Bluetooth adapter - https://amzn.to/2F6egCc
- Audio DAC - http://bit.ly/2MGqc1X
- Crimper kit - https://amzn.to/2QucJLN


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I don't have time to do a full write up currently. Once that programmer I ordered arrives in a few weeks and I can successfully get this integrated into the system I'll post updates and a guide of some sort.

 

This is really helpful!!!

Thanks for taking the time to write it up.

I'm going to have to do a lot of research because most of what you wrote is Greek to me. 🙄

I'll be watching for your guide. I'm going to be more than a few weeks before I am ready to start. 😳

 

I was watching some of your vids, you are def a better builder than I sir!

Got the mileage figured out on this thing. Now, just working on getting the VIN taken care of.

 

Quick photo of this thing hooked up in the car.

 

Can't believe no one posted after this before after pic. Looks amazing!

I just recently picked up an 03' MCS with the OEM Navi. Was thinking of just coming up with a way to have a mount for my phone that would kind of go in that spot. I suppose if the screen weren't there, I could come up with a way for my phone to snap in pretty easily. Of course, with inevitable changing of phones over the years, the sizing becomes an issue.

 

Somewhere in the forum, someone did a 3d print (or similar) that was circular and went over the old screen. It had a spot for a galaxy note to be mounted. They ran torque on it I believe. It didn't look bad by any means, I just wanted something a little more stock looking. I did a quick search and couldn't find it... but I'm sure I've seen it on the site somewhere.

 

i was thinking of getting a mount like this. Maybe putting some kinda of screen protector film over the stock nav screen. Then I could even use a mount that flies on maybe. the screen has a mpg average, but other than that, doesn’t really serve a purpose. The NAV system is so antiquated and the screen is pretty dim.

 

Yeah, that should work. then the phone would stick off a little like a tesla style floating panel.

This person took that style to the next level - https://www.minitorque.com/threads/r...nstall.202322/

For fun, check this out - https://pinshape.com/items/21483-3d-...ni-integration