Help choosing and installing Android Auto / Car Play

[DarkKnight]

I am proud to say that I am a soon to be a Lexus IS 300h 2017 owner!

Very happy with the car I saw. However, one thing I dislike is the small 7" screen and the infotainment display 

Been researching alternatives and came across various positive reviews for Chinese Displays from Ali Express. 

My car is a 2017 Lexus IS 300h with the smaller display. I have the dial version (not joystick) - see attached picture.

I am looking for a good spec display <£500. I came across a couple but would appreciate feedback on which to get:

Option 1, Option 2, Option 3, Or any other better options?

For those who went with the process of replacing it how easy was it? I am afraid to dissemble my new car!

Is there a video guide that will be applicable to me?

[Notamech]

I would say option 1 as it has reviews of people who have installed it and it looks like it fits. Some of them do not fit properly if you look at the video in option 2 you can clearly see it does not sit flush. I bought one and returned it because of this reason.

Installation is moderate difficulty i would say. Dismantling is the easy part..the hard part is passing the wires from the screen down to the head unit. The space is extremely narrow and the wiring loom supplied is quite thick. It took me a lot of time and effort and i got several cuts because everything inside is sharp.

Several videos available on YouTube for the American 3is its pretty much the same just the sides are switched. Here is one such video. But watch 2-3 different ones just so that you cover all bases.

 

 

Just my opinion  but overall I didnt like the unit as the audio goes through the aux input and degraded quite a bit vs the default Bluetooth. Plus i found the whole switching between the two systems  i.e the default lexus for calls etc vs the android system for music and maps quite annoying. I eventually switched back to just using my phone + Bluetooth with the factory system. Didn't seem worth the close to £500 price tag in the end. Your experience might differ. 

Just make sure whatever you buy has "free returns" that way you can return it for a full refund if you dont like it. Ali express have a warehouse in the UK that you can ship it to so you dont have to send it back to china. But i think you have only 15 days to change your mind.

[DarkKnight]

48 minutes ago, Notamech said:

Just my opinion  but overall I didnt like the unit as the audio goes through the aux input and degraded quite a bit vs the default Bluetooth. Plus i found the whole switching between the two systems  i.e the default lexus for calls etc vs the android system for music and maps quite annoying. I eventually switched back to just using my phone + bluetooth with the factory system. Didn't seem worth the close to £500 price tag in the end. Your experience might differ. 

 

Thank you for your feedback!

Yeah watching the videos always puts me off buying one of these, I am afraid I will get stuck in the middle and be unable to put the pieces back again!

I thought we can use the normal audio for Bluetooth / sound without having to use the one from the unit?

What do you think about the android auto/apple car play USB sticks on Ali Express like this one? 

The other option is getting a universal unit like this, not sure if the placement will be okay with the Lexus IS?

[Notamech]

1 hour ago, DarkKnight said:

Thank you for your feedback!

Yeah watching the videos always puts me off buying one of these, I am afraid I will get stuck in the middle and be unable to put the pieces back again!

I thought we can use the normal audio for Bluetooth / sound without having to use the one from the unit?

What do you think about the android auto/apple car play USB sticks on Ali Express like this one? 

The other option is getting a universal unit like this, not sure if the placement will be okay with the Lexus IS?

Yes you can use the normal factory Bluetooth for audio but i dont think your phone can simultaneously send audio to the factory system and use the Bluetooth to connect to android auto. Also when connected to the android side of things e.g when using android auto the audio on your factory system by default switches to aux. So I dont think there is a way of running your songs through the factory unit while having maps etc up on the android unit. Unless I am wrong. I only had it for 3-4 days before uninstalling it and returning it. Perhaps someone who has one currently can shed more light on this. Also i dont think you can get stuck halfway. At the most you might not be able to push the wires through and decide to call it off and reassemble the factory unit back.

The USB you shared wont work as that is a wireless adapter i.e if your system already has wired android auto/ car play then you can make it wireless with this usb. It doesnt add it to a system that doesnt have it.

A universal unit might work if you really need a larger screen. But its pretty much the same as using your phone. Perhaps order one on amazon or something see if you like it else return it. I think a brand called carpuride is quite popular in this space.

Personally I just find using the phone very convenient. You just need a good mount. You can play spotify and run maps simultaneously when connected via Bluetooth. Google assistant actually understands voice commands and it works for changing artists etc as well on spotify. Plus if you're playing from a playlists you can switch tracks etc using the steering buttons. With the ~500 i saved from returning the android unit and putting in a bit more i was able to upgrade my phone to the latest s24u during the pre order discounts and this phone is something i use most of the time so its not £500 locked in the car and it just made more sense to me than investing that much in a gadget that i would use only when in the car.

[DarkKnight]

30 minutes ago, Notamech said:

Yes you can use the normal factory Bluetooth for audio but i dont think your phone can simultaneously send audio to the factory system and use the Bluetooth to connect to android auto. Also when connected to the android side of things e.g when using android auto the audio on your factory system by default switches to aux. So I dont think there is a way of running your songs through the factory unit while having maps etc up on the android unit. Unless I am wrong. I only had it for 3-4 days before uninstalling it and returning it. Perhaps someone who has one currently can shed more light on this. Also i dont think you can get stuck halfway. At the most you might not be able to push the wires through and decide to call it off and reassemble the factory unit back.

The USB you shared wont work as that is a wireless adapter i.e if your system already has wired android auto/ car play then you can make it wireless with this usb. It doesnt add it to a system that doesnt have it.

A universal unit might work if you really need a larger screen. But its pretty much the same as using your phone. Perhaps order one on amazon or something see if you like it else return it. I think a brand called carpuride is quite popular in this space.

Personally I just find using the phone very convenient. You just need a good mount. You can play spotify and run maps simultaneously when connected via Bluetooth. Google assistant actually understands voice commands and it works for changing artists etc as well on spotify. Plus if you're playing from a playlists you can switch tracks etc using the steering buttons. With the ~500 i saved from returning the android unit and putting in a bit more i was able to upgrade my phone to the latest s24u during the pre order discounts and this phone is something i use most of the time so its not £500 locked in the car and it just made more sense to me than investing that much in a gadget that i would use only when in the car.

Thank you, your reasoning makes sense. I might try a universal unit and see but like you said a phone might make more sense. I have a magnetic phone holder in my current car and it is very easy and convenient so far, so can probably stick with that too.

[DarkKnight]

On 6/2/2024 at 9:20 PM, Notamech said:

Installation is moderate difficulty i would say. Dismantling is the easy part..the hard part is passing the wires from the screen down to the head unit. The space is extremely narrow and the wiring loom supplied is quite thick. It took me a lot of time and effort and i got several cuts because everything inside is sharp.

Several videos available on YouTube for the American 3is its pretty much the same just the sides are switched. Here is one such video. But watch 2-3 different ones just so that you cover all bases.

I think I night end up getting one to atleast get an experience. I have looked at several videos.

A question, when you installed it, how do you know which connectors plug where? 

[Notamech]

4 hours ago, DarkKnight said:

I think I night end up getting one to atleast get an experience. I have looked at several videos.

A question, when you installed it, how do you know which connectors plug where? 

Good it does help boost your DIY confidence. And its a Toyota in the end its one of the easy to work with cars.

The connectors should be fairly obvious as the sizes of each plug / socket are unique. Essentially all you are doing is plugging any wires that originally went into your factory head unit into the chinese wiring loom and then then from the chinese wiring loom back into the head unit again. Basically creating a bypass through the android screen. Trust me all that is easy the real difficult part for me was passing the chinese loom through that tight space from the screen to the head unit. Once installed it does look nice though but for me the novelty wore out quickly and I started to have buyers remorse partially because of the fact that mine didn't fit correctly. Hence if you're buying id recommend getting the 1st option with reviews and pictures of others having fitted it. I think nunoo and navirider were brands i seen that had good reviews but i stupidly went after fancy higher specs. 

[DarkKnight]

2 hours ago, Notamech said:

Trust me all that is easy the real difficult part for me was passing the chinese loom through that tight space from the screen to the head unit.

Have you tried putting some wire as a guide? I saw videos where people have used a wire to guide the parts through this tight space. See here for example. Not sire how helpful it would be in that narrow space.

[Notamech]

13 minutes ago, DarkKnight said:

Have you tried putting some wire as a guide? I saw videos where people have used a wire to guide the parts through this tight space. See here for example. Not sire how helpful it would be in that narrow space.

I did...i bought a wire pulling kit on amazon especially for this it still didnt help. The main issue was even with that method the connectors / plugs on the chinese loom were broad and since there were 3- 4 of them, they would get stuck mid way and i had to put my hand in there to pull it through. But depending on your factory head unit you might have fewer connectors. I think the premium nav headunits have fewer connectors. I have a 2014 executive so mine came with the knob and it had 3 or 4 connectors that needed to be plugged into the head unit plus the sockets for the 3 -4 factory wires to plug into. Also attaching an image of what i mean by it didn't fit properly as you can see it was meant to slot under the top part of the dash but it sticks out a bit. But seems like this is specific to the brand i purchased and a nunoo unit should be good.

[DarkKnight]

11 hours ago, Notamech said:

I did...i bought a wire pulling kit on amazon especially for this it still didnt help. The main issue was even with that method the connectors / plugs on the chinese loom were broad and since there were 3- 4 of them, they would get stuck mid way and i had to put my hand in there to pull it through. But depending on your factory head unit you might have fewer connectors. I think the premium nav headunits have fewer connectors. I have a 2014 executive so mine came with the knob and it had 3 or 4 connectors that needed to be plugged into the head unit plus the sockets for the 3 -4 factory wires to plug into. Also attaching an image of what i mean by it didn't fit properly as you can see it was meant to slot under the top part of the dash but it sticks out a bit. But seems like this is specific to the brand i purchased and a nunoo unit should be good.

Ah that doesn't give me much hope with the wiring! I am getting a 2017 IS which also comes with a knob.

I can see what you mean from those pictures. 

I'm probably going to test without the unit for a bit and see how I get along with just the phone. Thanks for your help, will let you know if I go ahead with fitting the display!

 

 

[Notamech]

9 hours ago, DarkKnight said:

Ah that doesn't give me much hope with the wiring! I am getting a 2017 IS which also comes with a knob.

I can see what you mean from those pictures. 

I'm probably going to test without the unit for a bit and see how I get along with just the phone. Thanks for your help, will let you know if I go ahead with fitting the display!

 

 

Sorry didn't mean to dissuade you. Its definitely doable but just takes time and patience. I would say set aside 3 hours if you plan to do it and wear gloves if you have to put your hand in there to pull the wires. 

 

 

[DarkKnight]

12 hours ago, Notamech said:

Sorry didn't mean to dissuade you. Its definitely doable but just takes time and patience. I would say set aside 3 hours if you plan to do it and wear gloves if you have to put your hand in there to pull the wires. 

 

 

Haha don't worry you didn't. I would have gone ahead with it straight away if it was worth it even though it is hard to fix. But have read people having issues with sound, the integration bot being seamless and occasionally other stuff breaking. Like you said not sure its worth spending that much on a fix that is not 100%. I will see how I get along with phone & Bluetooth, also might try a portable AA/CarPlay Head Unit from amazon, which is much cheaper than the Chinese units and allows me to save Battery on my phone in long journeys.