Hello,
I have a 2011 S cooper hatch with the stock nav in center of Speedo without Harmon Kardon. I have a high end JL Audio system I installed. I used an AudioControl 6 channel high level converter and it’s sucks for sound. Anyone know of options that I could update with a regular aftermarket touchscreen with Apple Car Play? Seen loads of options when it’s not a factory Nav but none really for this one...... I would love to install an Alpine 9” touch screen or even a 7” standard one. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would suggest ditching the LC7i and getting a direct adapter from Integral Audio. https://integralaudio.com/x9331-wiring-harness.html

The stock head unit doesn't add any EQ so there is nothing to correct. You should read through this thread from Kevin: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-upgrades.html

He does an amazing job of decomposing the stock system. Your best bet would be to get his adapter harness, cut out the LC7, and take the front channel feeds from the stock radio and feed them into your amp setup.

@Kevin@Integral Audio Care to comment?

 

Thank you for the info on the adapter harness. Wish I would of tried that before going to the AudioControl. I might give it a try. Looks pretty promising. I do like swapping the LC7i with the one that has the 5 band eq on it though, already wired up and will fit where I put the LC7i, don’t even have to hook the wires up to the terminal.
Another big issue I have with the stock radio, no Apple Carplay and touchscreen. Really like those features......

 

Full disclosure, I recently installed Kevin's complete Soundstage plus Phantom Subwoofer in my R55 so I am a bit of a fanboy of his.

The EQ would be a good idea assuming it can take the speaker level inputs the H/U would be feeding it via Kevin's harness. The sound quality can be very good in these cars provided you design and tune the system properly.

The big reason I am advocating for not replacing the stock system is that BMW/Mini systems are very integrated into the car. For example, if you were to replace the head unit with something aftermarket, you will be unable to set the date/time in the car if the battery is disconnected at some point. The only way to set that is through the H/U. In my opinion, it is better to just deal with the lack of bells and whistles.

I do understand the lack of Carplay. I like Apple's interface much better than pretty much anything else out there. I did do one thing that I like very much though. In the center arm rest there is a base plate that will accept a Snap-In adapter. This was a thing BMW was doing back when the car was made (before carplay and everything wireless). You could get an adapter that was custom fit/designed for your phone. You dock your phone in it and it integrates with the car. It is pretty obsolete now but it provides a great functionality still. What I did was I picked up an old iPhone 4S and the associated BMW Snap-In adapter for it. The iPhone is set up without cell service (don't need that) but is does have all of my music loaded onto it. I also have the iPhone join my wireless network at home which allows me to sync the phone so it always is up to date with my music library; all while the car is in the garage. Once it is snapped into the car, it functions as a media storage server for the car which you can access through the "CD/External Devices" icon. The car can then read the entire library and it even displays the album art on the screen.

As for the lack of touchscreen, I actually prefer the joystick. I have had BMW's previously and I have found that interface much easy to use while focusing on the primary task at hand (driving). You also avoid the mess of fingerprints on the screen that develop with a touchscreen.

 

I added a DSP (rockford dsr1) by tapping into the frontoutputs of my stereo (high level) before the amp. (right were your audio control is)
from there i connected to a jl 500/1 for my sub, 300/4 for my midrange and tweets and a 300/2 for my midbasses
my speaker are focal tweet and midbass with a different 3 inch midrange in the door.

no i dont have car play but for sound its great