Finally got Android in the car

[whats77inaname]

Well, after having this setup for a bit, I've come to a few realizations:

1) It's pretty spiffy! I have to say, I rather enjoy having my OS of choice displaying on my screen rather than the stock BMW stuff. I'm all about the ability to customize, and this setup allows me to do anything/everything I'd like.

2) I wish I had a touchscreen. This would be a lot more fun if a touchscreen was involved. I sent the touchpad back b/c a) I couldn't deal w/the visible cord and b) it wasn't as easy to use as previously thought. It had a hard time registering touches sometimes, and overall, I didn't feel it would "fit" this install very well.

3) I wish the camera recorded in HD. The camera is one of the best parts of all of this, but HD recording is not possible via the non-HD screen. The AndroidPC will play 1080p, but due to the lower resolution stock display, the camera won't record it. Which leads leads to point 4....

4) I really would like a higher resolution display. Not just talking about the CIC display, but a real 1080p display. I have a package arriving in 7-20 days (*lol*) that will help me resolve a lot of things that I'm griping about. It'll be pretty ambitious, but I think that overall, it'll be cleaner, and I'll be a lot happier about it. Stay tuned

[AlpineE92M3]

4) I really would like a higher resolution display. Not just talking about the CIC display, but a real 1080p display. I have a package arriving in 7-20 days (*lol*) that will help me resolve a lot of things that I'm griping about. It'll be pretty ambitious, but I think that overall, it'll be cleaner, and I'll be a lot happier about it. Stay tuned [/QUOTE]

Are you replacing the display?? I just got rid of my Nexus for my Galaxy S4 2 weeks ago...I wish i could replace the CIC display with my Nexus 7 and just tether my phone and be good to go!!

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by AlpineE92M3

Are you replacing the display?? I just got rid of my Nexus for my Galaxy S4 2 weeks ago...I wish i could replace the CIC display with my Nexus 7 and just tether my phone and be good to go!!

Not replace, but I am planning on augmenting it. Have to get all the parts in, but yeah, the stock display is the weak point of the entire set up.

[jdamore]

Question.. Does the video output on the video interface (for additional monitors) output the BMW ui?

[whats77inaname]

Actually, I'm not sure, I've never tried to output it, only input.

[jdamore]

Have you tried an app called iOnRoad? With your camera placement, it might work well. On the other hand, it might be annoying hahaha.

I STILL haven't been able to install my setup yet! I have some parts caught up in customs! I am iching to get this in my car!

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by jdamore

Have you tried an app called iOnRoad? With your camera placement, it might work well. On the other hand, it might be annoying hahaha.

I STILL haven't been able to install my setup yet! I have some parts caught up in customs! I am iching to get this in my car!

I use DailyRoads, it works out EXTREMELY well for me

Still waiting for something to arrive myself, I understand your pain *Lol* In my case, I'm having to reconcile the fact that sometimes less is more

[whats77inaname]

As mentioned earlier, I figured out I wanted a true HD screen. The BMW CIC screen is better than the CCC screen, but still not the best. Unfortunately, no one makes a 8.8" HD screen, so I knew that I'd I'd be going down in screen size when I got ready to make my next purchase. Given that, I was on a mission to get the largest possible screen I could.

The whole purpose of this venture is to have Android in the car, and pretty much bypass the car's navi and entertainment functions altogether. When I was thinking traditionally, I was thinking about what components to add to augment what was in place, but I slowly started to realize what I really wanted to do is *replace* a bunch of that. Instead of getting an AndroidTV and a screen and GPS....why not get a phone or tablet? So I started searching. Outside the US, there are dozens of different companies that make Android devices, quality devices, for a fraction of the cost of what we see here

. My first purchase was a Zopo C2. The rundown:

-Android 4.2 operating system, better reliability and compatibility.
-MTK 6589 Cortex A7 Quad-Core 1.2GHz CPU and PowerVR SGX544 GPU
-5.0 inch TFT 5-point capacitive touch screen with resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels.
-1GB RAM, 4GB Nand Flash, support external TF Card / Micro SD card up to 64GB.
-Supports 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz; 3G: WCDMA 850/2100MHz.
-Dual cameras: 5.0Megapixel front camera; 13.0Megapixel rear camera with flashlight and auto focus.
-Supports 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, G-Sensor, FM Radio, Multi-language, etc.

You can search for add'l info on the web to see all the specs. Bang. TrueHD. Well, it came in, and it was small....smaller than what I would like to have. So, rather than send it back, I'm going to use it in my truck. I plan putting a hinge on the rearview mirror so that the mirror and surround flip up, and the phone will be mounted inside. I'll cut out the back of the housing so that the camera lens can see and function as a DVR. No need for a head unit anymore. I currently use a Samsung headset to connect my phone for audio, so I'll be using this unit now, instead. Close the lid, and bang, stealthmode. More on that later, though.

The search continued. Dynavin makes a 7" Android setup for non-M3 E9X-series cars http://www.dynavin.com/products/product_dnv_e60.php so I was trying to get as close to 7" as I could. There are several 7" tablets out, but none are HD, and they are all too big to fit in the stock display, but a phablet....after looking for a long, long time, I couldn't find anything larger than 6". I knew that wouldn't do, so I kept looking....and looking....and looking. I finally came across some stories about a Sony called the Xperia Z which was supposed to have a 6.44" 1080p screen, but it isn't slated until a Q4 release. BUT, that story led me to another story about another phablet that was released last week, with the same 6.45" screen Hot DAMN, here we go! The phone is the Firefly V65, and comes in a 16gb (V65 Lite) or 32gb variety. The specs, taken from http://android-sale.com/firefly-v65.html include:

Processor: 1.5GHz MTK MT6589T quad-core chipset

Display
Screen Size: 6.45" touchscreen
Display resolution: FHD screen, 1920*1080 pixel
Color Support: 16 million colors
Screen Technology: Multi-touch screen

Camera
Camera Resulotion: 13MP rear camera
4.9MP front camera, digital zoom

Connectivity
Connectivity Technology: GSM + WCDMA
Network Band: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz + WCDMA 850/2100MHz
Data Technology: EDGE, GPRS (HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps; EDGE; GPRS)
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
WLan: Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g
USB: USB 2.0
GPS: GPS/A-GPS (Built-in GPS chipset)

Features
Video Player: AVI、MP4、3GP、MOV、MKV、FLV
Audio Player: FLAC、APE、MP3、OGG、AMR、AAC
Image: JPG、PNG、BMP、GIF
Ringing Tones: Downloadable
Message: SMS, MMS, Email
Phone Book: 10000 contacts
Brower: HTML
Interface/Port:
Game: Downloadable
Radio: FM
G-sensor
Interface/Port: 3.5mm earphone jack / mini USB

Battery
Battery: Li-on battery 2500mAh
Standby Time: 150-200 hours

Memory
Built-in Memory: 16GB ROM + 2GB RAM
Memory Card: Support microSD/microSDHC memory card, up to 64GB, support App2SD

It also supports USB OTG! So, I ordered it, and it came in today. The plan is to concoct a housing around it so that it hides the white surround and arrange it so that it fits over the stock display so I can flip it down to see the stock display, and flip it up when I'm done. I haven't determined if the camera will bybass the stock camera for the Logitech currently mounted, but at this point, I'm halfway there. More in the next few weeks. I have some miniature linear actuators from another project, so I may automate it, we'll see. In one fell swoop, I was able to eliminate the need for an external power supply, an external GPS, and a bunch of wiring.

Here are pics....L to R....V65, C2, Galaxy S II.

[nullrouted]

How are you getting the audio from the android/cameras back into the EPS? Just using the Aux In port?

Reading this thread gave me the idea to create my own version using a Raspberry Pi as the carPC. The RPi already has a DC input for power (standard mini-usb cellphone charger) -- which means an inline battery like yours should be no problem to keep it running for days without drawing the car battery. I have many ideas such as:

Powered USB Hub (like the one you mentioned)
Storage via USB Hard Disk, 1TB
DVR for CCTV Front/Rear
USB WiFi Adapter - Tether to Jailbroken iPhone for mobile web, but also to connect to the infrastructure APs at both my home and office for automated downloading of local content such as DVD rips, TV shows, Music, etc...As well as automated upload/deletion of CCTV video data to storage servers in my company's cloud when the proper SSID connection is detected (I'm also a programmer, so some of this would require custom code of course).

I'm still working out how I'd control the screen, I see you guys have kicked around a couple of ideas including touchpads and remote mice. I wonder if there is any way to catch the input from the CIC iDrive controller itself in Linux? Maybe RS-232 to CAN or something along those lines, but I confess I know little about it currently, will need to do more research.

My other concern is the quality of video/audio with the Chinese MMI's that everyone is selling -- the Modmynav/Alekshop/etc.. kits are really all the same MMI part, and from what I've seen it looks to be the only one available. "Luckily" I suppose, the RPi has a RCA Video out port along with its HDMI port, so it can connect directly to the MMI along with a 3.5-to-RCA cable for the audio. The audio is another area where I'm not exactly sure what the best route to go is, suggestions welcome -- but if the standard solution is AUX IN i'm a little concerned because I've read that the quality can be quite low on that input.

Overall, great thread, very cool install -- Thanks for the inspiration as well!

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by nullrouted

How are you getting the audio from the android/cameras back into the EPS? Just using the Aux In port?

I'm using a Samsung HS3000 Stereo wireless BT headset. I have a thread about that here, as well.

Originally Posted by nullrouted

Reading this thread gave me the idea to create my own version using a Raspberry Pi as the carPC. The RPi already has a DC input for power (standard mini-usb cellphone charger) -- which means an inline battery like yours should be no problem to keep it running for days without drawing the car battery. I have many ideas such as:

Powered USB Hub (like the one you mentioned)
Storage via USB Hard Disk, 1TB
DVR for CCTV Front/Rear
USB WiFi Adapter - Tether to Jailbroken iPhone for mobile web, but also to connect to the infrastructure APs at both my home and office for automated downloading of local content such as DVD rips, TV shows, Music, etc...As well as automated upload/deletion of CCTV video data to storage servers in my company's cloud when the proper SSID connection is detected (I'm also a programmer, so some of this would require custom code of course).

I was thinking about using an external 1TB SSD via USB OTG, but I settled for the 64GB microsd. I also have a 64GB USB stick that I use. Between that, and the 16gb on the phone, I figure I have more than enough storage. Apps like Macrodroid will allow me to do a lot of what you reference, when configured. Mainly, once the unit connects to the home wifi, I want it to backup video taken that day to my NAS, then delete it, and execute a couple syncs (music folder, etc).

Originally Posted by nullrouted

I'm still working out how I'd control the screen, I see you guys have kicked around a couple of ideas including touchpads and remote mice. I wonder if there is any way to catch the input from the CIC iDrive controller itself in Linux? Maybe RS-232 to CAN or something along those lines, but I confess I know little about it currently, will need to do more research.

I haven't delved that much into it, either. Due to life in general, I'm not able to research as much as I'd like; hopefully others can take the ball and run.

Originally Posted by nullrouted

My other concern is the quality of video/audio with the Chinese MMI's that everyone is selling -- the Modmynav/Alekshop/etc.. kits are really all the same MMI part, and from what I've seen it looks to be the only one available. "Luckily" I suppose, the RPi has a RCA Video out port along with its HDMI port, so it can connect directly to the MMI along with a 3.5-to-RCA cable for the audio. The audio is another area where I'm not exactly sure what the best route to go is, suggestions welcome -- but if the standard solution is AUX IN i'm a little concerned because I've read that the quality can be quite low on that input.

You have PM.

Originally Posted by nullrouted

Overall, great thread, very cool install -- Thanks for the inspiration as well!

Thanks!

I shot some 1080p tonight while out with friends, so I'll put some of them up over the next couple days. Videos came out *really* well.

[nullrouted]

For the controller idea I found this:

http://www.peak-system.com/fileadmin...inux/index.htm

USB-CANBus adapter. Apparently the CIC controller has 2 CAN output wires CAN Low and CAN High, not sure if that makes up one CAN channel for purposes of this adapter or two. In any case it seems theoretically possible, though expensive, that we can use our iDrive controllers for input to a Linux box.

From here I would guess we'd need a slick interface design that at the very least accounted for selection via spinning the iDrive wheel, and allowed for selection via the click-down. This would be very involved, but the payoff would be worth it.

[renedis]

the CCC and CIC system works via an linux distro system called Wind River VxWorks.
It is a pain in the ass to figure out and reverse engineer the drivers for the idrive knob.
I've tried this without any succes.

I've also searched for an 8.8 inch full HD screen without succes.
I can only find 8.8 inch add on touch screen modules.

The Kindle Fire HD is also near 8.8 inch but has a different aspect ratio.
The aspect ratio of the original 8.8 inch screen is 23:10 (or 25:10?).
CCC has 640x240 and CIC 1280x480 resolution.
CIC has 4 times better resolution, but I do not know if only the screen is replaceable from CCC to CIC.

From the beginning my plan is to use a android phone as multimedia device as it has GPS, GSM, 3G and all the other needs build in with video RCA out.

The only thing i'm doubting about is what to buy?
- Dension iCon Drive
- Multimedia input like modmynav.com

iCon drive has steeringwheel control support (next/prev/play/pauze) and 1 RCA input
modmynav idea is much cheaper and has 3 RCA inputs

[whats77inaname]

I'd go w/modmynav. The ability to add 2 add'l inputs is great.

[whats77inaname]

I think I've figured out how to get everything I want with the tablet. Given that, the motorized 135i CCC navigation screen will be here on Wednesday. A non-navigation M3 dash will be here Thursday.

Stay tuned, this is going to be interesting, I promise

[RickTreat24]

its good to see a few of you guys paving the road for the others..

[whats77inaname]

Looks like a good fit

[socrates42]

this is great subscribed

[Jozi]

Signed up just so I could follow this thread!

Can I ask why you changed from a Android box thing to using a mobile device?

I'm looking into doing either with my E30, I can't go over 5" or so screen size if I want the screen in the roof.

You don't happen to know if there are apps that can read data from various inputs around the car? For myself it will really just be from the engine as there isn't much else in the E30 that readings can be taken from.

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by Jozi

Signed up just so I could follow this thread!

Can I ask why you changed from a Android box thing to using a mobile device?

I'm looking into doing either with my E30, I can't go over 5" or so screen size if I want the screen in the roof.

You don't happen to know if there are apps that can read data from various inputs around the car? For myself it will really just be from the engine as there isn't much else in the E30 that readings can be taken from.

Hey, Jozi. The reasons for the switch were 2 fold: 1) the CCC monitor is not HD, so the camera won't capture 1080p video, it's "dumbed down" for lack of a better term, to low grade video and 2) b/c the CCC monitor isn't HD *lol*

There are a couple nice apps out there now that connect via a BT OBDII connector, but the E30 isn't OBD II, so I don't know if they'll do you much good.

You mentioned not wanting to go over a 5" screen. The Zopo C2, shown in the comparison pictures, is a 5" HD screen.

[Jozi]

Oh yes I remember reading that now.

Did you look into getting a lcd screen which would fit and also work with your previous setup? I had a quick look at the Zoppo lastnight, dimension wise it's probably as close as I'll get it to fit where I want it.

Any idea do those apps work with an M52 (OBD-I I think)?

I've got a lot to learn and research, I wanted to use a pc but I think a Android device will be more than capable!

[Koldun]

If you are going to cannibalize a phone for the screen, why not use the Samsung Galaxy Mega? That thing has a 6.3" screen, IIRC.

Did you ever investigate incorporating that leap motion device to control the screen?

I see you are also in Texas, you need to do this to my car.

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by Jozi

Oh yes I remember reading that now.

Did you look into getting a lcd screen which would fit and also work with your previous setup? I had a quick look at the Zoppo lastnight, dimension wise it's probably as close as I'll get it to fit where I want it.

Any idea do those apps work with an M52 (OBD-I I think)?

I've got a lot to learn and research, I wanted to use a pc but I think a Android device will be more than capable!

Yes, I did. The only other LCD screen that would fit the CCC screen size is the CIC screen *lol*. Unfortunately, that *still* isn't a true HD screen. The tablet is 1920x1080 w/a pixel density of 342ppi. The screen is so sharp, when I was looking for HD "M" logo art to use for wall paper, it would show all the imperfections of all the non-HD art I was looking at *lol*. The screen is pretty much the top of the food chain for tablets that small at this point. It's the same screen that the new Sony Xperia ZU will be using.

As far as the apps I've seen, I'd try the free version of this one:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...iNi.bmwhatFull

It says it supports E39 and older, so you might have some luck. I also have Torque Pro b/c it offers this:

and you can overlay the instrumentation over a real time map. This can be used on the track to help clean up mistakes and to see how the car is performing in certain sections....

Originally Posted by Koldun

If you are going to cannibalize a phone for the screen, why not use the Samsung Galaxy Mega? That thing has a 6.3" screen, IIRC.

Did you ever investigate incorporating that leap motion device to control the screen?

I see you are also in Texas, you need to do this to my car.

I'm not planning to cannibalize the screen. It would be too much of a pain in the @$$ to try and figure out how to make the screen accept the input from the CCC unit. The Samsung Galaxy Mega screen is smaller than the unit I'm using.

I'm fabricating an enclosure that the tablet will sit behind. This enclosure will then sit in front of the 1 series screen. Miniature linear actuators will be shipped shortly, and they'll allow me to raise up this setup so that I can see the OEM screen, as well as to utilize the camera. The entire setup will fold down into the dash, just like the OEM 1 setup.

Leap still hasn't shipped my d@mn Motions, even though I signed up for the preorder, so I'm still waiting But, on the plus side, I was going to use the Leap so that I could interface w/the unit more seamlessly. The tablet is touch screen, so that is no longer an issue.

Funny, I drove out to Stafford 2 weeks ago to pick up the dash *lol*