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Thread: E36 Tablet install

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    San Jose, CA, USA
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    1996 BMW 328is

    E36 Tablet install

    Hey everyone!
    Planning to install a tablet into my e36 as a the main headunit, seeing all these posts with unfinished installs doesn't really help with installation, but I'm gonna give it a crack.
    Contemplated putting in a full android double din or one of those slimmer Mech - Less double dins, but decided that the amount of hacking into my heat box would be too much for my taste.

    Cost is another issue, Double Din units are right around $200+ for the cheapest ebay ones that are android and work half decently.
    A used First Generation Kindle Fire or Nexus 7 is right around $30.

    My requirements for a good headunit include: Subwoofer capability, ability to use Netflix/Youtube for road trips, GPS (Preferable Waze) and ability to store music locally. A tablet fits this perfectly, as some Android double dins don't have the ability to install certain apps.



    If using a Kindle Fire, be sure to root and flash to a decent ROM.

    For tackling the bezel, I run a 3D print shop as my day job, and I plan on just designing a bezel to fit seamlessly and look OEM, 3D print and then finish to make the part smooth like OEM. PM me if you'd like to get one of these for your e36.

    Cable management: Right angle cables for USB and for the AUX, I plan on hooking up the aux from tablet to a small passive mixer (in glovebox) then to the headunit in the trunk.
    This will allow me to have one aux input for audio from the main tablet interface, and a second aux input for any phones from my passengers, extra inputs, etc.



    A little bit about the audio set up I have:
    *Super basic Panasonic Single DIN Nothing fancy.
    *Hifonics Brutus Amp mounted to sub enclosure
    *2 12" Memphis subs in a custom enclosure

    Very basic subwoofer single din headunit setup.

    Stay Tuned! Tablet, Cables, and mixer are all ordered and on the way, I will be designing the bezel as soon as I get the tablet in.
    Hopefully this thread will help people out who are looking to install a Tablet.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    West London/Heathrow - UK
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    7,203
    My Cars
    03 530dT - Ex Police Car
    Hi,

    Welcome to the forum firstly!

    For your project, enthusiasm is great and I can fully understand where you are coming from ! However, there's some aspects which detract significantly for using a basic android tablet to be used as a car audio head unit.

    1. Sound Quality - This will be low due to the very basic onboard audio IC and circuitry, i.e it's basic/generic level in quality. Headroom, dynamic range etc will be very 'limited'. An output via a headphone socket is also similarly low level in the quality department. As you plan to add a 'mixer' on the output from the tablet, that'll further degrade sound quality and then once you amplify the even lower quality signal, you'll most likely end up with a fairly lousy sounding setup. If you are happy with that level of audio performance, then no problem, press on ahead!

    2. Power management - You'll need to incorporate a suitable power supply which will soft power up and down when the ignition is switched on/off. The Power button on the tablet will be on the side of it's casing and once that's fitted in your 3D printed bezel, how will you access it? I think by using the intelligent power supply and the 'Tasker' app, you can work this aspect out. It's another level of spend to get the correct power supply and an aspect of setting up to get it right.

    3. Once the Tablet is installed, it might not pickup GPS signal very well. I know sometimes, unit's can be sensitive enough to pick them up with no line of sight of the sky, so perhaps the tablet you use will be like that. If not, then you'll have relatively lousy GPS reception.

    4. The tablet itself - This isn't rated for automotive use. A car interior has extremes of temperature and humidity. There's also things like dust, UV and vibration to consider as well. I know San Jose will get very hot in the summer so temps inside a car and then behind and inside the dashboard will be very hot indeed, this may well affect operation of the unit. The internal battery of the tablet could also overheat etc. In short, it's the wrong item for the application and this will usually mean a quicker time to hardware failure/malfunction.

    5. 3D printing - I've spoken to a number of specialist and high end 3D specialists and asked them about making a bezel for automotive use via 3D printing. I was told by each one that for 'home' based 3D printers, the material isn't automotive interior use rated and won't have the characteristics for the above automotive interior extremities. The material also won't be UV resistant and the consensus from each is that a printed piece won't last too long in a car interior and over time will expand/shrink many times and eventually fatigue will set in and the piece will crack/deform. I asked if there's any special or suitable material for use in home 3D printers and they all mentioned they didn't know of any. I then asked if some of their £600,000 -£1million professional/industry level 3D printers could do what I was asking. The material concern was mentioned again, as the material they use for 3D prototypes whilst very strong and able to be printed using the very very fine resolutions those pro/industry level printers can do, it still isn't the right grade. Plus even if it was, it'd be price prohibitive.

    The above is what I've found out and perhaps my last round of discussion here was around 10-12 months ago. I asked also the same about having a 'skeleton' 3D print and then use car rated fillers and paints etc to 'cover' them. This would work much better but the '3D' print that's been coated will still expand/shrink and over time that'll cause the 'cover layer' to split. However, the time for that to happen will be much longer than a non coated 3D print. By coating the cost and manual labour time is increased and if you don't mind that, then perhaps every 12-18 months you can make a new bezel once the existing one begins to fail.

    There's some absolutely fantastic Pro Level car audio installers and fabricators I know of, both in the USA and over here in the UK, every time they've done a 'tablet' install, they've used an iPad or iPad mini. This is because it's possible to get high quality audio output from the device in Lossless format files. By then using a suitable high quality DAC, the resultant audio quality is fantastic/excellent. This 'excellent' signal is then fed to high end sound processors and then also high quality amplifiers and speakers. The result is fantastic audio performance at the level that it could compete in the professional classes of car audio competitions. If you *must* do a tablet install and do want excellent performance then this is the correct way to go about things.

    Do take a look at the Alpine iLX-007 and Parrot Asteroid Smart car audio head units which are shallow depth. People have fitted traditional depth double din head units by modifying the innards of the dashboard so perhaps none or not as much modifying is needed with those two head units? if they're relatively easy to fit, then those would be the much better choice as everything about them is car audio 'suited'.

    Good luck with everything, post pictures of your progress !

    Cheers, Dennis!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    San Jose, CA, USA
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    1996 BMW 328is
    Thanks for all the tips and help, I'll be taking it all into consideration on this project.
    As for the 3D printing portion, feel free to PM me. I happen to have one of those Multi Hundred thousand dollar machines and am capable of printing off materials that are rated for automotive interior use on my smaller machines that I've custom built.
    In Redwood City our company has a full warehouse with 11+ printers.

    Didn't go too much into detail of it, but that "coating" you mentioned would def. not hold up.
    However, a carbon fiber part would, and I'm almost 99% sure has been used more than once for interior pieces
    I've made many mounts and clips for outdoor usage, with clips and mounts for inside a car, 3+ years later none of them have failed (yet)
    If you'd be interested in getting a print drafted and made, I'd be happy to help you, and not with the insane cost that most people quote you.
    You'd be surprised at how cheap prints actually are material wise, the costs involved are the time spent on drafting the model and the time it takes to print.

    As for the cooling of the tablet, I plan on installing a few brushless fans behind the tablet to hopefully keep the heat down to a minimum, and I'm one of those dweebs who uses a sunshade for the windows :P

    Now to continue on!
    Thanks for all the advice Dennis!
    And again reach out to me about getting prototypes or final products made, I'd be more than happy to help.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    San Jose, CA, USA
    Posts
    4
    My Cars
    1996 BMW 328is

    Got the tablet test fitted

    Got the tablet test fitted today, settled on a Used Kindle fire with matte screen protector for now,, have a long road trip coming up and it would wkrm fine for movies and music.
    Interesting enough, the kindle fire 1st and 2nd gen are the exact same size as the nexus 7, almost down to 2 mm I believe, so I can just install and upgrade later.
    The tablet cost me $20 on Craigslist, was in great condition, and already had a anti fingerprint screen protector installed. Pics to come tonight.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2016
    Location
    San Jose, CA, USA
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    My Cars
    1996 BMW 328is
    The $20 kindle has now been rooted and flashed to CM 10.1 running android now, no more amazon software, allowing google play store access.

    Decided that I'll be relocating my current headunit to the glovebox, and hooking the tablet through the aux to keep sound quality degradation to a minimum as Dennis mentioned.

    Will not be using a passive mixer, if passengers want to plug in their own device, they can open the glovebox and hook up their phone to the existing headunit.

    Where the single din headunit is located, I will be relocating the OBC (more for aesthetic purposes than anything, plan on using the torque app via tablet anyway).

    Here's some rough test fitting, will fab up an aluminum bracket to mount it permanently then designing the bezel next.

    For the power to the tablet, I'm wiring in a second 12v cigarette lighter port that I will hide behind everything, which I will be installing a push button switch to, to power the tablet and turn on and off the screen, ex. when your tablet/phone is plugged into a charger the screen lights up, so the power switch turns on and off direct power to the tablet, thus waking the screen up.

    More progress soon!

    13324150_1142253795826995_1064168540_o.jpg

    13313916_1142253802493661_770354875_o.jpg

    13288420_1142253745827000_1883346140_o.jpg

    13324408_1142253842493657_451690250_o.jpg

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Fremont, CA
    Posts
    298
    My Cars
    1993 BMW 325is
    Nice. I just did this with a kitkat unit from joying. I just used a pneumatic recip saw and went to town, though. haha.

    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/at...8&d=1465085660

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    NYC
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    99 IL/13 SXT/04 Audi A4
    Quote Originally Posted by BMWT02 View Post
    Nice. I just did this with a kitkat unit from joying. I just used a pneumatic recip saw and went to town, though. haha.

    http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/at...8&d=1465085660
    What Model is that
    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
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Fremont, CA
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    298
    My Cars
    1993 BMW 325is
    I don't know. Just look up Joying KitKat double din. It's the only one that'll show up.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    NYC
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    99 IL/13 SXT/04 Audi A4
    Quote Originally Posted by BMWT02 View Post
    I don't know. Just look up Joying KitKat double din. It's the only one that'll show up.

    GOT IT thanks
    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.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2019
    Location
    California
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    98 e36 m3
    Any progress on the install? I just got an e36 and grabbed a 7in tablet to throw in there and just wanted to see how the final wiring worked out and how the sound quality is. I wanna do a clean install along with great functionality.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    West London/Heathrow - UK
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    03 530dT - Ex Police Car
    Quote Originally Posted by Leoplurodon909 View Post
    Any progress on the install? I just got an e36 and grabbed a 7in tablet to throw in there and just wanted to see how the final wiring worked out and how the sound quality is. I wanna do a clean install along with great functionality.
    There's very few Android tablets that have a digital pre-amp output so sound quality will be less if you use the headphone output socket. If you plug in a high quality DAC to the USB port of an Android tablet, I'm not sure that has an audio output. Apple's Ipad devices do have a digital audio output and when you then partner with a suitable DAC, you then can/will get high quality audio to which then you can send that 'clean' signal to your choice of amplifiers and then speakers.

    You'll have to research if any newer/current Android Tablets do have a clean digital audio output as perhap there's more nowadays that have it.

    Seeing as Gumstix only has 4 posts on this forum, seems he doesn't post here anymore.

    Cheers, Dennis!

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