AVIN ANDROID E39/E53 Multimedia Stereo/Navigation

[//m320is]

Absolutely, thats how I do it in my own car. I run the siriusXM app and stream the audio to the stereo via bluetooth audio. You could probably also just run the SiriusXM app right on the Avin but I have not personally tried that. I think I would prefer to run it on my phone anyway as I could "take it with me" and continue listening when I leave the car.

Sure this works for the folks that have cell service, but for those of us who don't need an actual hardware interface, but like you said before too small of a market. I do have 4 cars these could go in, I will have to figure something else out.

[James39]

This sounds like a perfect unit, I just can't bring myself to spend $800 on a car-specific radio when these e39's are at least 10 years old. The parrot, while not as custom as this, has a capacitative screen and seemingly better internals, at close to $400.

What makes this unit so damn costly?

It's worth every penny, but I don't have that much to spend on a radio for a 15 year old car either

[Dragonlove]

This unit has a beautiful designed interface, however I`m concerned on hardware specs as Androids tends to get real slow once you start adding apps.

Do you have the specs ?

I understand your concern, but this is a car player not a Smart phone, for myself i do not need to install that many apps, the only app i installed was Sygic, for the rest there is apps for Radio, playing music/videos from Sd or Usb cards, app for Dvd and so on... I guess i will install Spotify though and i'm also looking into an solution to get Dab in my car (You can compare it to the US Satelite radio)

The prize was a bit high i can say that, but not compared to what you get, then Dynavin came with their first unit i bought that (No Android version) i also managed to install Tomtom on that, but not withouth problems, i also tried to get Wifi working on it, but i never got it working (1st gen you needed to do some hacking to manage this)

So i went back to a Pioneer 1din player and thought that there would never come any new car player with the features i wanted, i even thought about the Parrot Doubble din player, but the design didn't apply that mutch to me.

So i ended up with this Avin player.

Sure there is somethings that should have been better/different on it, sutch as loose the Dvd part no need for that as we have Usb and Microsd, Android 3.0 or higher and so on.

But all in all, i'm quite happy with this.

Finally some word of advice for people's that get this for the E39.

*If you got a Preface E39 you will need to buy an Radio adapter from BMW to be able to connect the radio antenna from the car, the part number for this is 61126913955
*Along with the Gps antenna there is 2 brackets that you need to use to install this unit, the original bracket needs to be completely removed (regardless of you had a casette player, cd player or nav system in there before) It doesn't say anything about this in the manual so i tried to mount it in the original bracket but it was very offset then i tried that.

also the screws that came with the player was kinda short, the M4 screws (I think they are M4) so i needed to replace those with longer one's, anyone familiar with Hualigan players in E39 should know what i'm talking about with the brackets as the Hualigan has the same solution (Otherwise you should not compare this with a cheep Hualigan, cause its way superior compared to it.

*Also one good idea is to ground the unit directly with a wire, i got a rumbling noise from my subwoofer then the sound was completely turned off, then i grounded it the sound disapeared (Guess this also comply to E46 or X5)

[jeffb325]

thanks for posting your experience, lots of good info there, its good for you guys that have had a few different units in your cars to share your experience as you can better compare/contrast these units.

With regards to the antenna adapter, im going to talk to Avin about it....

[huzz456]

Hi

Very interested in getting one of these sent over to the uk for my x5 e53. I currently have a similar head unit that I've just installed but it has a very poor viewing angle indeed. Video is unwatchable and most other things are washed out at best and lack detail. If I lead forward and view the unit dead straight then it's fine but soon as I sit back its crap. So I'm wondering what the viewing angle is like in this unit, is it fine viewed from a normal driving position in the x5?

Many thanks

Pete

[jeffb325]

I havent seen one in an X5 but the screen has a fairly decent viewing angle....I cant imagine it being much of an issue.....

I guess it probably does have a lot to do with your height and seating position though.

Edit: I just put one on the bench and tilted it back to an X5 like angle.....looks fine to me. At this angle the LCD washes out some when viewed straight on, but not angled like from the seats.

[huzz456]

Great thanks for that

[huzz456]

With this unit running android 2.3.4 will there be some apps that won't run on it? I quite like the n7 music player but not sure if it will need a newer operating system to run on? Although I'm not happy with my screen at the mo on plus side it does run android 4.04 so don't want to swap one problem for another.

[Dragonlove]

With this unit running android 2.3.4 will there be some apps that won't run on it? I quite like the n7 music player but not sure if it will need a newer operating system to run on? Although I'm not happy with my screen at the mo on plus side it does run android 4.04 so don't want to swap one problem for another.

It says it works with Android 2.2 and up, so that shouldn't be an issue

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....nplayer&hl=no

[crdiscoverer]

Hi Jeff,

Still rocking my Dynavin D99+ (Android) here. Is this a worthy upgrade from that one? Is the scrolling in Android really so much better than it is in the Dynavin? I go crazy scrolling to change Android settings and then the friggin' screen jumps back to the top. There are some very nice touches in this Avin unit, but all in all it is more like a Dynavin D99++ but of course I haven't played with it, hence my questions. Is everything running over Android, even the radio? Does it use the same Dynavin bracket? Does the clock reset when the sleep timer expires?

[Alpina540i]

Could I use this ///AVIN headunits 4 speaker outputs directly connected to the German Audio Specialties DSP Passive Crossover network to power my existing BSW speakers?

Or would I definitely need a secondary amp in between?

Does the backup camera input overlay the parking aid lines or is that in the camera you use?

My existing camera overlays the lines by itself and I wouldn't want the lines doubled up.

[jeffb325]

Could I use this ///AVIN headunits 4 speaker outputs directly connected to the German Audio Specialties DSP Passive Crossover network to power my existing BSW speakers?

Or would I definitely need a secondary amp in between?

Does the backup camera input overlay the parking aid lines or is that in the camera you use?

My existing camera overlays the lines by itself and I wouldn't want the lines doubled up.

Ask the first question on the German Audio Specialties Crossover thread, I think Luke would be the best person to ask. I suspect it would probably work but not very well as taking deck power (which is minimal) and splitting it 10 ways is not going to be very much power per speaker....Also it might put to much load on the head unit which could cause problems....

Backup camera lines are a function of the camera used, not the head unit.

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Hi Jeff,

Still rocking my Dynavin D99+ (Android) here. Is this a worthy upgrade from that one? Is the scrolling in Android really so much better than it is in the Dynavin? I go crazy scrolling to change Android settings and then the friggin' screen jumps back to the top. There are some very nice touches in this Avin unit, but all in all it is more like a Dynavin D99++ but of course I haven't played with it, hence my questions. Is everything running over Android, even the radio? Does it use the same Dynavin bracket? Does the clock reset when the sleep timer expires?

The scrolling works good, its a non issue.

EVERYTHING is on android, it is NOT a split system. The Radio is basically an android app. It comes with a basic mounting plate, its not like the dynavin bracket. I dont recall how the clock works but I have not seen a single mention of it so I would assume....well there is nothing to talk about there.

[crdiscoverer]

Thanks, Jeff. Helpful as always. If I manage to sell my D99+ I will definitely upgrade to the Avin. I have used M3evo's ROMs and I followed his thread in the E46 forum. I remember when he started entertaining the idea of a new, improved head unit. Obviously he was far more ambitious back then (he mentioned faster processors, high-def capacitive touchscreens and newer Android releases), but in the end you understand the compromises. The CPU thing for me is a non-issue since you're not playing Asphalt, and the slower Dynavin is more than up to the task: Waze runs just fine and it's a rather heavy app. The Android version is also not that much of a deal breaker since most apps still support 2.3. The only thing that would've been nice is a capacitive touchscreen.

[jeffb325]

but in the end you understand the compromises.

Very true but you would be surprised how many people don't understand the compromises that it takes to do something like this!

[ROYALIFE]

highly interested in a purchase after i recover from coil over purchase....lol but my question is....i have a DSP car so therefore id need the cross over *(which is a life saver!)* so after all is installed and buttoned up, the Avin + crossover + Aftermarket amp..would that still allow steering controls to work?

[Alpina540i]

Yes it would, but the real question is does the phone buttons on the wheel still control the bluetooth.

[ROYALIFE]

good to know. =]

[jeffb325]

highly interested in a purchase after i recover from coil over purchase....lol but my question is....i have a DSP car so therefore id need the cross over *(which is a life saver!)* so after all is installed and buttoned up, the Avin + crossover + Aftermarket amp..would that still allow steering controls to work?

Yes the steering wheel controls work.

Yes it would, but the real question is does the phone buttons on the wheel still control the bluetooth.

Yes the phone buttons work.

[jeffb325]

highly interested in a purchase after i recover from coil over purchase....lol

we will be here when you need us!

[larinah]

<troll> "Hey - I saw this unit, and I was curious if it works with cars that have DSP?" </troll>

Ok ok - don't kill me for cracking a joke.

In all seriousness, though, I've been drooling for this Avin unit, the DSP crossover, some sort of aftermarket amp, and a sub.
You should put together some sort of package deal for it....Avin + DSP crossover (with amp and/or sub add-on options).
This way you could buy, at a discount (if you can still make it so you profit), the Avin head unit, DSP crossover, aftermarket amp, and sub all in one nice package with a bit of a discount. Add solid DIY instructions so we wouldn't have to piece it all together from all the existing DIYs, and you'd have yourself one sweet "kit."

Keep this stuff coming guys, and thanks for all the hard work!

...This

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@Jeff, Crossover is sold out Arrrgghhhh!!!

[jeffb325]

@Jeff, Crossover is sold out Arrrgghhhh!!!

Yes it is....waiting on GAS to produce more.

[scott99540it]

this looks amazing! Ive been pretty happy with my $400 *****, but this is on another level.

[CinciKid]

So if you want to use Google Maps with this does it have to be tethered through your phone?

[crdiscoverer]

Google Maps can store data offline. If you saved the regions when you had internet, you can navigate offline later. I believe it does attempt to look for an internet connection when you first open the app, so you might need a quick tether just to open it.

[jeffb325]

this looks amazing! Ive been pretty happy with my $400 *****, but this is on another level.

Basically yes.

If you want to use the nav offline you are best off getting an offline navigation app, there are a bunch of options in the google play store.

Google maps CAN cache a route but you still need to connect to create it and connect to reroute or modify it.