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Thread: XTRONS aftermarket head unit install / review thread

  1. #1
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    XTRONS aftermarket head unit install / review thread

    Hey guys,

    I am doing a new head unit install in my 750 after Franco got me motivated.

    The product I am using is not an endorsement, there are many to choose. I chose this one because xtrons is an England company and they have been around for a while. I am going to document the whole install to make it easy for people and to show a proof of concept with these E39 units. I will be doing the DSP canbus trick in the trunk and I will be splitting the screen to make it fit. I also hope to test the DSP off trick without the need for software.

    So anyway, here are the specs:

    Octa Core Android 6.0 Car Stereo DVD Player GPS Radio for BMW E39 OBD2 Screen Mirror

    7" HD Multi-Touch Screen Car DVD Player
    32GB ROM+2G RAM Android 6.0 Operating System
    Octa Core 64Bit Processor @1.5GHz
    Smart User Interface Design
    True 4K Video Enjoyment
    Full RCA Output
    Dual Zone Function
    Built-in Radio Tuner (RDS Enabled)
    1024*600 Superior Visual Enhancement
    Region Free DVD Player
    Steering Wheel Control Ready (CAN-bus Box Provided )
    Super-clear 1080P Video Enjoyment
    Wireless Screen Mirroring (Smartphone Entertainment Sharing)
    Car Standard Radio Module NXP6686: Smoother and Faster Radio Signal Receiving
    Power Amplifier Chip: TDA7388 High-fidelity and powerful audio effects
    Supports Tire Pressure Monitoring System Function (TPMS Optional)
    Diagnose Your Car Status (OBD2 Adapter Optional)
    Supports DAB+ Digital Radio
    USB DAB+ Adapter (Optional)
    Reversing 4-LED Camera Included
    Applicable Models & Years
    BMW E39 5 Series 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

    Pretty nice specs! I doubt E39 aftermarket units get much better than this. This should be about the last of them before companies stop making them due to E39's leaving the road in droves.

    Here is the unit: *****PROJECT NOTE: I CHANGED UNITS TO THIS ONE

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Android-6-...YAAOSwSlBYz2N7

    I ordered the kit on Saturday and DHL delivered it on Tuesday out of Hong Kong!


    shot-1.jpg


    shot-2.jpg

    To move the head unit to the trunk so the DSP amp can stay awake I got this harness off Ebay for $5

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/BMW-Factory-...Nb0kpA&vxp=mtr

    My car has no nav up front, just radio cassette, if you had factory nav up there you just need the extension cable to bring the plugs up to the front. Both style connectors are included with the kit and you can order the extension cables for $59 if you need them.

    So far everything seems great except one of the cover caps for the screws is missing! I contacted them about it and will be getting it soon but that is the first glitch. The user manuals are written very well as expected from a name brand England company.

    This thread is for just making it all work. Not to promote one brand or get people coming on saying stuff like xx is garbage etc. These are all cheap android units that do lots of cool stuff, if they break they break, not much more cost than a few abs cables, I'm all in with all the bells like dvr, back up cam 4g dongle, plugs etc for $450

    More to come soon, as you can see in the pics I got the wide screen bezel from the scrap yard for $3

    Still waiting on the plug for the trunk mod to get it going plus my water pump went!

    Another hurdle has been jumped, I removed four screws last night and the box and screen separated no problem. There are three delicate cables connecting the screen to the box but they do have room to slide over without modding so I may not touch anything and just mount it up but if it's tight or there is any possible stress on the cables I will be modding those with an extension.
    Last edited by xboss; 03-26-2017 at 03:24 PM.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  2. #2
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    nice
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  3. #3
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    Nice Xboss. Since you have a non nav car. I'm 95% sure you don't have to do the DSP trunk trick. Just plug the 17pin connector from the radio to the 17pin connector in the car. As long as pin 16 (remote on) is provided with 12v, the OEM amp should stay on.
    Last edited by MJ DOOM; 03-15-2017 at 06:29 PM.
    Spaceships & Woodgrain.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by MJ DOOM View Post
    Nice Xboss. Since you have a non nav car. I'm 95% sure you don't have to do the DSP trunk trick. Just plug the 17pin connector from the radio to the 17pin connector in the car. As long as pin 16 (remote on) is provided with 12v, the OEM amp should stay on.
    Great to know MJ, the info online is a bit foggy, so you are saying to just run the 12v purple switched power line to 16 and good? Not even the need for coding the DSP amp to not active?

    This is the kind of stuff that is not very clear online.
    Last edited by xboss; 03-15-2017 at 07:08 PM.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by MJ DOOM View Post
    Nice Xboss. Since you have a non nav car. I'm 95% sure you don't have to do the DSP trunk trick. Just plug the 17pin connector from the radio to the 17pin connector in the car. As long as pin 16 (remote on) is provided with 12v, the OEM amp should stay on.

    yep 100 % right on this Lucky you

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by xboss View Post
    Great to know MJ, the info online is a bit foggy, so you are saying to just run the 12v purple switched power line to 16 and good? Not even the need for coding the DSP amp to not active?

    This is the kind of stuff that is not very clear online.
    listen
    listen plug up the radio up front then if you ave no sound you need to connect the oem radio to the back 3 wires I did it before
    Last edited by franco90; 03-15-2017 at 08:03 PM.
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  6. #6
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    xboss call me checkur inbox
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  7. #7
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    So these are the wires i conected.

    Connect pin 16 from the round pin plug - - with the wire from pin 4 on the Big AMP Plug
    Connect pin 9 from the round pin plug - - with the wire from pin 8 on the Big Amp Plug
    Connect pin 15 from the round pin plug - - with the wire from pin 15 on the Big Amp Plug
    Connect pin 5 from the round pin plug - - with pin hole 5 on the DB25 plug
    Connect pin 7 from the round pin plug - - with the IBUS wire on the smaller plug on the amp (should be white with yellow spots)


    This is the wiring for the 17 pin, so i'll try and find the 40 pin wiring diagram for your radio so you can locate these wires to connect to.
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  8. #8
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    you have dsp so follow what I told you on the phone or the post above
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by xboss View Post
    Great to know MJ, the info online is a bit foggy, so you are saying to just run the 12v purple switched power line to 16 and good? Not even the need for coding the DSP amp to not active?

    This is the kind of stuff that is not very clear online.
    Its should be plug and play. On the xtron 17 pin harness it will provide 12v over pin 16. Connect xtrons 17 pin plug to the car's 17 pin plug. And you will have 12v feeding the remote on wire which will turn on the DSP.

    Non-nav oem car, no need to code amp. Nav oem cars, have to recode amp to non nav setup. Thats how we got the nbt retrofits to work with the oem amp.

    Customers with OEM DSP amplifiers

    If the sound cuts off after 30 seconds or so, please note that your DSP amplifier will need to be recoded.

    You will need to have the following tools available for coding: BMW Standard Tools 2.12 with NCSExpert, a Windows laptop, a WIFI connection close to your car for remote coding (If applies).

    The coding settings are as follow:
    1. Read the AMP module with NCSExpert in Manipulation mode
    2. Edit the module settings a find the value : BEDIENELEMENTE
    3. Change the value from "bordmonitor" to "mid_basis"
    4. Save the new configuration file
    5. Run SG_CODIEREN in NCSExpert
    Last edited by MJ DOOM; 03-15-2017 at 09:53 PM.
    Spaceships & Woodgrain.

  10. #10
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    Well dang, that sounds awesome. I will be checking it out tomorrow!
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  11. #11
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    Hey guys,

    I found a fitment issue. This unit is the brand new style fit for E39 that solves the not so flush finish the older models had. E39 MK units mounted to a separate frame compared to our MK units. I believe the old style android 5.1's they are selling are the ones that will drop right inside our E38 wide screen frames but I am not 100% on that.

    So, I will have to make a couple custom parts to get this to fit perfectly. The old style ones that fit E53's better must be what fits right. Oh well, this one has 4g and octa core and android 6.0 and stuff so I'm still glad I got it but def. bummed that I screwed up the fit.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  12. #12
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    Yeah the e53 style models fit better. Xtrons makes a octacore, Android 6.0, e53 model.

    maxresdefault.jpg
    Last edited by MJ DOOM; 03-16-2017 at 02:15 PM.
    Spaceships & Woodgrain.

  13. #13
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    OH damn cars never are easy to make anything work lol
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  14. #14
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    Is it an issue with the attachment to the bracket? Or that it doesn't fit the dash well? You're not going to need to hack up the faceplate are you?

  15. #15
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    I will def not cut the new radio face plate. It wont fit in the bracket because we need the E53 version. These new E39 ones have changed shape to fit them perfectly. Since this kit came with a missing cover cap I may see if I can swap units and pay $35 or whatever for the shipping.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by MJ DOOM View Post
    Yeah the e53 style models fit better. Xtrons makes a octacore, Android 6.0, e53 model.

    maxresdefault.jpg
    By fit better do you mean drop in place or still a bit of wonkyness to deal with? It looks like the one in that pic sticks out on the bottom. If still not quite right I will just use the one I have.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  17. #17
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    I plugged it in. It booted right up but never made sound. Seems very fast and responsive.

    On to the trunk mod. I hope this image from xtrons does not apply with the dsp mod in the back because I dont have those four pins on my harness plug.

    plug.jpg
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  18. #18
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    I would check the 16 pin on the back on the car side 17pin plug and see if you have 12v. Or check the white remote-on wire at the dsp amp and see if it has 12v when the radio is on.
    Last edited by MJ DOOM; 03-16-2017 at 09:14 PM.
    Spaceships & Woodgrain.

  19. #19
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    Will do, did you see that post about E53 fit. I looks off a bit as well, if so I'll just make this unit work. I want to try to flush it up.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  20. #20
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    I think it looks off is because he modified the non nav bracket to fit the radio. Car has to be a euro 94/95 with that HVAC setup.



    Another android e38 install. Can't tell if the gap is there though.

    Last edited by MJ DOOM; 03-16-2017 at 09:43 PM.
    Spaceships & Woodgrain.

  21. #21
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    I'm on the fence now because the xtrons-usa ebay seller is telling me to return the whole thing just to get my missing screw cap!

    So now I have the choice of keeping what I have minus the cap or paying like $35 or whatever to DHL it back and if I do that I might as well swap to the E53 version but I am not super impressed with the curved fit of that one as well.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  22. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by xboss View Post
    I'm on the fence now because the xtrons-usa ebay seller is telling me to return the whole thing just to get my missing screw cap!

    So now I have the choice of keeping what I have minus the cap or paying like $35 or whatever to DHL it back and if I do that I might as well swap to the E53 version but I am not super impressed with the curved fit of that one as well.
    lol wtf makes absolutely no sense...

  23. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by mooll View Post
    lol wtf makes absolutely no sense...
    I'm glad this gives me the chance to swap to E53 style at least but yeah, that is why I'm reviewing it because what a joke about the missing piece.
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

  24. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by xboss View Post
    I'm glad this gives me the chance to swap to E53 style at least but yeah, that is why I'm reviewing it because what a joke about the missing piece.

    LOL
    my seller is charging me $30 to send me 2 plugs for my radio. I lost both of mine. LOL
    I guess I have to buy them
    LOL
    El Cid 1999 IL
    DUDMD Tune/DINAN CAI/19 in Style 95 Rims/Bilstein's Shocks/Eibach Lowering Springs/OEM Folding Mirrors/Custom Cupholder/Custom Wood Sunshade/Sport Steering Wheel/Euro Center Console/Leather Shifter/Rearview Camera /Luke Custom 10 in Sub Box/Cross Drilled Rotors/Rear view Camera/BMW OEM Monitors/BMW E38 Picnic Tables/Vanity Headrests/OEM Roof Rack/Strut Bar/Dinan MAF and Dinan Throttle Body and Dinan tunning /BM53 Radio upgrade /Custom Innovadrive NXG39 modify and Alpine ILX-W650 touch screen radio.

  25. #25
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    I would be irate if I had the right unit and they wanted me to send it in for the one cap. Since I need the E53 version I was able to tell them I wanted to trade so at least the $30 is not a total waste for me .

    It will be a little over a week until I revive this thread. I have tons of other jobs to do anyway, whole front suspension all lemforder and a new fuel pump!
    ---- Processing Individual ----
    Z1XX Upholstery
    Seats front and back in Epingle / leather englishgruen,
    As Schl.Nr. B9EG.
    Front seat backrest in Montana Englishgruen (No. 8 174 861)
    Other interior equipment as for Volleder Nappa englischgruen,
    Schl.Nr. P5EG

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