This won't be for the purists but it's totally reversible to stock and I think it works nicely once I finish off a few small details...
I have a big and quite heavy folding samsung phone, so after a few silly moments with makeshift phone holder arrangements falling off mid drive (almost out of the window once) I decided to do something better...
First attempt was to run a very small Chinese android MP3 player inside the sunglasses holder, but it was just too small and slow.
Eventually settled on a far bigger unit called Carpuride W103 which does android auto, apple carplay, screen mirroring and standalone operation. It bluetooths to your phone and can output sound to FM, Bluetooth or Aux out cable.
Original thought was to fix it between the mechanism slots in the sunglass holder after taking the front cover and the mechanism out. But that didn't look right as it wasn't centralised to the vents and the angle wasn't ideal. So I went with using the original metal wire rod which the cover attaches to, glueing it into the up position, and then attaching the Carpuride to it with very small cable clips over the wire and glued to the back of the unit (the type you use to run a wire along a wall). This then fits nicely tight to the driver side, and is dead centre. The bulk on the back of the Carpuride also slots perfectly into the recess. You can lift the screen up from the bottom and it swivels round on the rod, so you can still put sunglasses behind it 😎
All the connections are on the left side of the unit, and the power is coming from the radio harness switched live and neutral so it comes on with the radio. I'm using Bluetooth audio to the continental, as the only aux in is on the front of the radio.
This then left a mess on the left of the unit to cover... I managed to buy another sunglasses holder, but in the wrong colour which I cut the end off and shaped around the unit. It needs a bit more tidying up and to be made black so I haven't fixed it permanently yet (I have kept my orignal black sunglasses holder intact for any future reversal to stock). Unfortunately you can see the wire rod from the passenger side but I prefer that to having the unit off centre. Will probably make that black too. And that carpuride logo is annoyingly big so I might find a black MB decal. Otherwise I think it is pretty much perfect. On an LHD car you might need to use some right-angled power cables to let it sit as tightly as it does on my RHD car.
Car now feeling thoroughly modern for entertainment and navigation!
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I have a big and quite heavy folding samsung phone, so after a few silly moments with makeshift phone holder arrangements falling off mid drive (almost out of the window once) I decided to do something better...
First attempt was to run a very small Chinese android MP3 player inside the sunglasses holder, but it was just too small and slow.
Eventually settled on a far bigger unit called Carpuride W103 which does android auto, apple carplay, screen mirroring and standalone operation. It bluetooths to your phone and can output sound to FM, Bluetooth or Aux out cable.
Original thought was to fix it between the mechanism slots in the sunglass holder after taking the front cover and the mechanism out. But that didn't look right as it wasn't centralised to the vents and the angle wasn't ideal. So I went with using the original metal wire rod which the cover attaches to, glueing it into the up position, and then attaching the Carpuride to it with very small cable clips over the wire and glued to the back of the unit (the type you use to run a wire along a wall). This then fits nicely tight to the driver side, and is dead centre. The bulk on the back of the Carpuride also slots perfectly into the recess. You can lift the screen up from the bottom and it swivels round on the rod, so you can still put sunglasses behind it 😎
All the connections are on the left side of the unit, and the power is coming from the radio harness switched live and neutral so it comes on with the radio. I'm using Bluetooth audio to the continental, as the only aux in is on the front of the radio.
This then left a mess on the left of the unit to cover... I managed to buy another sunglasses holder, but in the wrong colour which I cut the end off and shaped around the unit. It needs a bit more tidying up and to be made black so I haven't fixed it permanently yet (I have kept my orignal black sunglasses holder intact for any future reversal to stock). Unfortunately you can see the wire rod from the passenger side but I prefer that to having the unit off centre. Will probably make that black too. And that carpuride logo is annoyingly big so I might find a black MB decal. Otherwise I think it is pretty much perfect. On an LHD car you might need to use some right-angled power cables to let it sit as tightly as it does on my RHD car.
Car now feeling thoroughly modern for entertainment and navigation!
