P38A Should I put a modern touch screen radio in my car? [. . . . and other questions]

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Montyjohn

Montyjohn

Well-Known Member
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I really can't decide whether to put a modern Android touch screen radio in my 2000 P38 or not.
On one hand, I would really like a reversing camera, DAB radio, decent modern built in sat-nav and a Bluetooth connection to my phone for calls and music. Anything else it would offer would just be a bonus. Probably not going to be watching Neflix down the motorway.

On the other, I prefer an original looking car, and I really don't like cars that look like they've been butchered, or have things bolted onto them dangling off the dashboard. I like a clean OEM looking interior without the tat.

I normally avoid aftermarket radios, as the line-up from Halfords (or anywhere else) look terrible. They are all flashy epileptic inducing bling that just ruin cars.
The newer android units however blend in a lot better subject to how well they are fitted.

This is what I have in mind, fitting a shallow 9" units as space is limited (my interior is dark grey without the wood effect).
I have a 3D printer, so I would print the bezel and fill/sand and paint to match interior colour, so I think I could get a pretty tidy result.

My current standard radio works (although most of the speakers crackle so that would need sorting).
If I buy a spare black button console trim thing I should be able to make this reversible, but before spending the money I can't decide if it looks naff or not.
I struggle to know about such things until I've finished them, so looking for opinions.

radio.jpg
 
Personally i think modern tech looks out of place asking side mechanical buttons from the 1980s
I tried replacing the head unit with an old alpine i had, same era as the car and it just looked crap
But that's just me
 
I do tend to agree. I guess what I'm trying to convince myself of is if the tech contrast will look minimal enough to justify the benefits.

One benefit of the change is whilst I do like the look of the P38 dash, I think it's a little busy with so many buttons that the screen cleans it up a bit.

But will it stick out like a sore thumb?
 
I'm old school too. I like actual real buttons you can use without looking.. i have this weird idea that it's safer to look where you're going but apparently it's not true. According to current car design 🫣🤔
Will it stick out? I guess it depends on your eye. Some p38 had satnav, so i guess it depends on the colour scheme and style you use for the screen.
Maybe a matte/anti glare screen protector might help it blend in?
 
Aside from the ability to fit a reversing camera they don't bring much more than a decent phone mount and bluetooth connection would get you, and can look a bit jarring, I've always found the radio reception a bit rubbish compared to proper single DINs as well.
 
Montyjohn said:
I really can't decide whether to put a modern Android touch screen radio in my 2000 P38 or not.
On one hand, I would really like a reversing camera, DAB radio, decent modern built in sat-nav and a Bluetooth connection to my phone for calls and music. Anything else it would offer would just be a bonus. Probably not going to be watching Neflix down the motorway.

On the other, I prefer an original looking car, and I really don't like cars that look like they've been butchered, or have things bolted onto them dangling off the dashboard. I like a clean OEM looking interior without the tat.

I normally avoid aftermarket radios, as the line-up from Halfords (or anywhere else) look terrible. They are all flashy epileptic inducing bling that just ruin cars.
The newer android units however blend in a lot better subject to how well they are fitted.

This is what I have in mind, fitting a shallow 9" units as space is limited (my interior is dark grey without the wood effect).
I have a 3D printer, so I would print the bezel and fill/sand and paint to match interior colour, so I think I could get a pretty tidy result.

My current standard radio works (although most of the speakers crackle so that would need sorting).
If I buy a spare black button console trim thing I should be able to make this reversible, but before spending the money I can't decide if it looks naff or not.
I struggle to know about such things until I've finished them, so looking for opinions.

View attachment 312308
Click to expand...
A Big NO
 
I thought about it for mine... but I have the Clarion head unit with balanced line level outputs to separate door amps. I wouldn't mind loosing the steering wheel controls, but I'd also have to find and fit a head unit that can supply balanced line level outs....or just line level outputs and also fit balancing transformers.... It all becomes too much hassle! I prefer the look of an original unmolested interior too.

I'm just going to live with mine as it is, and have an old skool satnav stuck to the windscreen, and a bluetooth hands free kit with it's own speaker!
 
The original stereo in Green P38 was completely knackered, so I went the Android route. 2-DIN display, with the 1-DIN head unit under passenger seat. This one has transformers balancing the line outputs to the HK amps.

Blue P38 never had a stereo, so after the rebuild & got a Pioneer DAB head unit. There a reasonable good Pioneer IOS & Android app which give lots of useful features. Speaker outputs are floating, so original test was to connect them directly to the HK Amp inputs. Was expecting to need either attenuators, or transformers for the Phone outputs, but the levels are just about perfect, with no noise, hum, etc.

I like both, but will never chop the Autobiography dash to fit a screen in.

IMG_0606.JPG


IMG_0607.JPG
 
My daily E39 was retrofitted with a Xtrons android by a PO back around 2016 & for an old car (1998) it blended in well with the black plastic/wood inserts dash.
The only thing I don't like about it is that when reversing at night the screen (reversing camera activated) is so bright as to cause a distraction when looking in the door mirrors, despite the screen illumination control set at minimum brightness.
Academic at the moment though as the screen will only stay lit for a few seconds after starting the car, then flickers a few times before going blank .. all other functions of the unit work perfectly however.

Difficult to find a audio repairer these days though, they just want to flog you a new set-up :(
 
We had an old xtrons in my wife’s freelander. Worked ok at first but would randomly reboot & reverse camera was crap. Replaced about 2 years ago with a joying unit which works perfectly.

Generally beware cheap China android & do the research. Decent units will be £300.
 
pwood999 said:
We had an old xtrons in my wife’s freelander. Worked ok at first but would randomly reboot & reverse camera was crap. Replaced about 2 years ago with a joying unit which works perfectly.

Generally beware cheap China android & do the research. Decent units will be £300.
Click to expand...
Mine worked perfectly during my near 5 years of owning the car (so around 7 years since installation) until 3 months ago when the aforementioned screen problem started, so not a bad service life for a budget item.

Looks like a replacement may be on the cards, but ICE is low in priority for me when it comes to car running costs.
 
pwood999 said:
We had an old xtrons in my wife’s freelander. Worked ok at first but would randomly reboot & reverse camera was crap. Replaced about 2 years ago with a joying unit which works perfectly.

Generally beware cheap China android & do the research. Decent units will be £300.
Click to expand...

I was going to go with Joying as I like the ribbon screen connection as it has less constraints, but at the moment I'm leaning towards EKIY. They use the same hardware as Joying, and the reviews on EKIY put them on par with Joying byt they are a lot cheaper.

Plenty of very good reviews for them on YouTube.

I know absolutely nothing about audio systems, so a little unclear on how much of a headache getting amps/speakers to work is going to be. Any pointers would be much appreciated.
As these units are affordable, (£150) I'm tempted to just get one, build a harness for it, and see if I can get it working before making any cuts to the dash. I might temporarily hold it in place and learn what it's like to live with before progressing.
If I change my mind, I can always sell it.
 
MrGorsky said:
I wouldn't mind loosing the steering wheel controls, but I'd also have to find and fit a head unit that can supply balanced line level outs....or just line level outputs and also fit balancing transformers....
Click to expand...
As I understand, with the android units you can tell it what the steering wheel buttons are so they can work with any steering button on any car. Unless I'm missing somehting.

As for line out, I've not figured this out yet, but sounds quality is quite low on my priorities. I think I'm unusual on that front, but as long as it's clear and I can hear it, that's enough for me.

The EKIY units I'm looking at have a optical digital output, so I assume you can get a aftermarket amp that allows you as many lines out as you want.
 
Montyjohn said:
As I understand, with the android units you can tell it what the steering wheel buttons are so they can work with any steering button on any car. Unless I'm missing somehting.

As for line out, I've not figured this out yet, but sounds quality is quite low on my priorities. I think I'm unusual on that front, but as long as it's clear and I can hear it, that's enough for me.

The EKIY units I'm looking at have a optical digital output, so I assume you can get a aftermarket amp that allows you as many lines out as you want.
Click to expand...
Good job everyone is different, I have worked on computers all my life, I detest screens in cars, I don't need the distraction. The fact that all modern cars have them ensures that even if I win the lotto I will never buy one.
 
Montyjohn said:
As I understand, with the android units you can tell it what the steering wheel buttons are so they can work with any steering button on any car. Unless I'm missing somehting.

As for line out, I've not figured this out yet, but sounds quality is quite low on my priorities. I think I'm unusual on that front, but as long as it's clear and I can hear it, that's enough for me.

The EKIY units I'm looking at have a optical digital output, so I assume you can get a aftermarket amp that allows you as many lines out as you want.
Click to expand...

If you have the posh stereo, that's the Harmon Kardon speakers and Clarion (early) Alpine (later) stereo install, they operate on balanced line level outputs to separate door speaker amps. It reduced interference, and makes the sound quality brilliant... but it also means it won't play nice with many off the shelf head units. You can get a lot of noise, buzzing and hum if you try and just replace the unit without any modification to the wiring. It's to do with plugging an amplified signal in to another amp. People have made little looms to attenuate the signal (attahced below). But what you really need to do it provide balanced audio to your door amplifiers, or skip the amps all together, and just wire your speakers in to the back of your new head unit.

If you have the standard stereo in your car, then none of this applies!!!

The attached is how @Clarky130 did it. I'm not sure he's on here any more.....
 

Attachments

  • P38 Harman Kardon Aftermarket HU how-to.pdf
    522 KB · Views: 240
Last edited:
Montyjohn said:
As I understand, with the android units you can tell it what the steering wheel buttons are so they can work with any steering button on any car. Unless I'm missing somehting.

As for line out, I've not figured this out yet, but sounds quality is quite low on my priorities. I think I'm unusual on that front, but as long as it's clear and I can hear it, that's enough for me.

The EKIY units I'm looking at have a optical digital output, so I assume you can get a aftermarket amp that allows you as many lines out as you want.
Click to expand...

Yes, most China Android units support the analog steering buttons on the P38. Simply a matter of connecting the P38 wires to the "key1" & "key2" inputs. Then understanding the head unit programming for each button (which varies per vendor).

For the audio, you might get lucky and find the speaker outputs are floating, and simply work connected to the HK inputs. The head unit power will be lower, because it driving high impedance inputs instead of 4ohm speakers.

If you want to use the line outputs with transformers, you will need five of them. One side connects to the head unit phono outputs. The other side connects to the HK twisted pair wires. The HK amp & head unit grounds remain the same.

Also make sure the head unit "amp control" wire connect to the P38 wire that turns the HK amp on !!

1710154385194.png
 
Datatek said:
Good job everyone is different, I have worked on computers all my life, I detest screens in cars, I don't need the distraction. The fact that all modern cars have them ensures that even if I win the lotto I will never buy one.
Click to expand...
In some ways I agree with this, hence why my Blue P38 has a normal stereo !! I only need Sat Nav when I'm going somewhere new, but that's not often these days. My phone does it perfectly and can be voice controlled, hence compliant with the law.
 
pwood999 said:
In some ways I agree with this, hence why my Blue P38 has a normal stereo !! I only need Sat Nav when I'm going somewhere new, but that's not often these days. My phone does it perfectly and can be voice controlled, hence compliant with the law.
Click to expand...
I have a tablet the I use for GPS when going to a place that is difficult to locate. The advantage of the tablet over an in car unit is that I can plot the route I want to take on the kitchen table rather than use the route the GPS wants me to take.
 
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