2005 Cmax Android radio

dr.fuzzenstein

I'm looking to upgrade the existing radio in my Cmax, it's a Blaupunkt which was good in it's day, but some speakers have stopped working, the display has missing lines and the Sat Nav is comical to say the least, you need to insert the CD and it will only show you an arrow instead of a map.

What I'm looking for:
I am utterly clueless when it comes to Android Headunits but I have an idea of the features.
Decent wattage and good sound are important, I likes me chuunes
Compatibility with the steering wheel control of my Cmax desirable but not a must
Sat Nav with a big display would be very much desirable
Bluetooth to my phone for music and hands-free would be great
Good radio with (maybe) a DAB as well as FM function

The question:
Is all the above possible without it needing a data connection?
Maps and music I can store at home if need be or maybe use my phone as a hot spot? German data plans are miserable, I got 2 gigs...

I have already checked out a few on Amazon, but bear in mind I have no idea about the brands, I don't know which is the equivalent of Sony or Goldstar:

https://www.amazon.de/Navigation-NAVISKAUTO-Multimediasystem-Lenkradsteuerung-R%C3%BCckfahrkamera/dp/B013SRSI96/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.de/Android-Autoradio-Fiesta-kapazitiver-Touchscreen/dp/B074PN35D1/ref=sr_1_fkmr3_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1517407225&sr=8-2-fkmr3&keywords=android+headunit+2006+cmax

dr.fuzzenstein

Oh dear

dr.fuzzenstein

OK, update!
The radio in the first link is out because it's Windows.
The second radio I kinda like and it has all the right features, but it has not a single review, so I'm wary of bying a cat in a bag.

After a bit of searching I found this baby:

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07782KJ69/ref=psdc_1382767031_t4_B074PN35D1

It seems to have all the right features, it's Android, the price is right (honestly, wouldn't trust anything cheaper) and it's 2-DIN, so "should" fit.
And the reviews are looking good.
Anyone got anything? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

edit:

No matter how hard I look, I always end up with the HIZPO:
https://www.amazon.de/Android-Autoradio-Fiesta-kapazitiver-Touchscreen/dp/B074PN35D1/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517570954&sr=8-1&keywords=hizpo+android+focus+cmax&dpID=41thTDdiOML&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Has to be somethig to it, does anyone know anything about that radio?

dr.fuzzenstein

I think it has to be the Pumpkin.
Pretty much flying solo on this thread...
If I buy it (and I'm not sure if and when) I'll update you with pictures of fitting it into my Ford.

Guy:Incognito

I put an Eonon android unit in the missus 07 Touran a couple of moths back. Very happy with it and she loves it. Gret for a bit of netflix in the car

Afaik Eonon and Pumpkin (and probably a few more) are basically the same inside.

dr.fuzzenstein

OK, the plan was to do the timing belt, have a look at the suspension and make do with the existing radio and my mobile phone as a sat nav and music player and not buy a radio for at least 6 months.
Any guesses what happened? Yep, I bought the Pumpkin. I have the discipline of a 6 year old.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/aw/d/B07782KJ69/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A2CBYLR9KGD8YE&psc=1

I'll let y'all know how I get on with fitting it, fitting the reverse camera, making the steering wheel control work and if the OBD function is of any use.

dr.fuzzenstein

First phase of the project complete!

Removing the old radio, comparing the connectors, fitting WiFi and Sat Nav antennas, pulling some wires (hehe) and ordering missing bits and pieces.



The starting point



Of course I always use the appropriate tools!





Connectors!




So as you can see I ran into some size issues. I have ordered the appropriate frame in the meantime.

dr.fuzzenstein

This is where I placed the hands-free mike, let"s see how that works out



Cable runs along the existing antenna and GPS cable



How to pull your wire



Complete chaos



Placement of WiFi antenna and USB connectors for added storage and 3G stick for dataconnection.

dr.fuzzenstein

Finally, a question.
My car has a built in sat nav antenna (it's in the radio areal)



This is the one I placed



And these are the connectors.



The gold one is the new one and the green one the existing one.
If I splice the connection of the existing one to the new one, is it possible to use the car's built in sat nav antenna? I reckon it could be better than the one that came with the kit.

kao123

I recently got the same pumpkin model for my 2010 Mondeo, I stuck the WiFi antenna and the GPS receiver under the trim on the passenger side windscreen pillar and they both work pretty well there, GPS takes about 60 seconds from startup to get a lock, I don't have a built in one to compare it to but so far it works pretty well.

dr.fuzzenstein

kao123, did it fit right awy or did you have to order a surround?

Well, I have ordered this surround:



https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B012A9Z7QU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

kao123

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

kao123, did it fit right awy or did you have to order a surround?

Well, I have ordered this surround:



https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B012A9Z7QU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I didn't have to order any surround facia, the one I got is designed to fit the Mondeo as is. I had to remove a plastic bar behind the head unit though, the canbus just didn't fit otherwise.

kao123

And this is it fitted, they made it so it just replaces the existing head unit.

dr.fuzzenstein

OK, the surround arrived and I managed to fit the radio. With that I also got adapters from the Ford ISO fittings to the radio's own.
I am kind of 90% happy with it, fit is not the greatest and will take some further fettling to sort out.
But I have WiFi set up, Google Play Store and Maps, radio reception is actually better than my old Blaupunkt unit so far and most importantly I have over 40 gigs of music on a memory stick that is hidden under the dash.
Still to do: Improve the fit of the radio, install the reverse camera that came with it, set up Bluetooth for the phone, connect the steering wheel volume control, connect OBD and finally, the rear speakers of my Cmax gave up the ghost. Will have to trace the wires to see where the problem lies. I'll keep you posted! This could be March though, as I have some holidays coming up and installing a reverse camera is no joke!



The Kabelsalat! In this pic you can see the original Ford connector, the adapter that came with the surround bezel and the radio's own connections. Horrific but it works. Don't want to go chopping wires unless I absolutely have to. One advantage of this amount of cable, well, have you ever fitted a radio where the cable was just long enough to give you an inch clearance? It's a screaming nightmare.
Just about visible in the background, the old radio. I actually got some proper pull tabs to remove it, which I should have had in the first place. Eagle eyed readers will have noticed the notch in my air vent. :(



This little gizmo is a 64 gig memory stick loaded up with over 40 gigs of music, so there's a little room for more.
As long as I have the complete Queen, Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep and Deep Purple I am happy!



And this is the finished article!
I have to admit I wanted something that fits flusher and better, but I'll keep working on it.

kao123

It's all looking pretty good now.
I have done pretty much the same, I ran the 2 x USB into the glove box and I popped a 128GB SD card into the SD slot on the right hand side of my unit (non GPS one) and it recognised it no problem, so many many albums to be had now.

I also got a reversing camera included, I connected the cables to the back of the Head Unit but the same as yourself I haven't had the time to install it, there's a good days worth of scrapped knuckles and swearing involved there.

They threw in the number plate camera for me so I'm not 100% sure on how it's going to fit yet.

Once I confirmed everything was working over a few days I flashed the ROM on mine to add a few features, one of which was Viper4Android which improves the sound output no end, compared to the stock sound anyway.

kao123

About the rear speakers not working, just a thought there is an EQ on the head unit and also balance control, you can drag the sound to any of the speakers, maybe this is set to fronts only?? - Hopefully that's all it is, might save you the hassle of tracing cables.

Thankfully the canbus connector supplied with my head unit worked with the steering wheel straight away so no messing around there, it was a tight fit to squeeze everything in though.
Bluetooth to the Phone works pretty well out of the box, a dialler would be nice on the head Unit, I'm looking on XDA-Developers a lot to see what else I can tweak :-)
OBD works well too, except when I plug in the dongle I have I can't close the "cubby hole" cover where the OBD connector is, need to find a dinky little slim line one, I have the cheapo EBay ELM327 one, it works just fine, just can't leave it connected all the time.

Guy:Incognito

What's the integration like on the Ford? The eonon I put in the missus touran has more of the vw info than I was expecting. You get the diagram of the car to show doors and the boot open, bit of diagnostics plus stuff like an info screen that gives you fuel level (in litres), checks washer fluid level, oil temp etc.

I went for a dash cam with it (there's a dvr app) so it's just a small camera up behind the rear view with no bulk of an integrated screen or battery or anything. Its just plugged straight in to the USB and record to the non GPS sdcard.

Guy:Incognito

kao123 wrote: »

About the rear speakers not working, just a thought there is an EQ on the head unit and also balance control, you can drag the sound to any of the speakers, maybe this is set to fronts only?? - Hopefully that's all it is, might save you the hassle of tracing cables.

Thankfully the canbus connector supplied with my head unit worked with the steering wheel straight away so no messing around there, it was a tight fit to squeeze everything in though.
Bluetooth to the Phone works pretty well out of the box, a dialler would be nice on the head Unit, I'm looking on XDA-Developers a lot to see what else I can tweak :-)
OBD works well too, except when I plug in the dongle I have I can't close the "cubby hole" cover where the OBD connector is, need to find a dinky little slim line one, I have the cheapo EBay ELM327 one, it works just fine, just can't leave it connected all the time.

I have one if these for my doblo https://m.lightinthebox.com/car-extension-16-pin-obd-male-female-transformation-line-16-pin-flat-line-60-cm-long_p5125688.html?currency=EUR&litb_from=paid_adwords_shopping&country_code=ie&utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&adword_mt=&adword_ct=200063152203&adword_kw=&adword_pos=1o2&adword_pl=&adword_net=g&adword_tar=&adw_src_id=1463064549_855202026_45035858298_aud-346682122756:pla-325364244681&gclid=Cj0KCQiA2Y_UBRCGARIsALglqQ2msetvyk_81VIGsZVelNTwkLVmzQpYHuFazGC5LgFv6CfVe4QNcckaAr1REALw_wcB

That's the first link that came up in Google. I got mine on ebay

kao123

Thanks for the link to the cable, might get one so I can have the dongle connected all the time.
It doesn't show me any of that info on the Head Unit, I get steering wheel controls, phone answer\hang-up, volume up\down next\previous track and skip between certain apps,that's about it.

My 2010 Mondeo didn't show that much to be honest, doors open and the likes I think can be added with tweaks after looking on XDA-developers but , it's the standard Converse+ I think.

Everything still shows up on the regular center ford display which I've read some people have trouble as they stop working.

I plugged a Microsoft USB webcam I had lying around and the built in DVR app picked it up fine and it works no problem, I can select which storage device to save the recordings to such as SD\GPS SD\USB.
Overall it works much better than I expected, I just need to install the rear view camera and run the cable for the dashcam and I'll be happy enough with my purchase.

Guy:Incognito

https://www.eonon.com/Car-Video/Cameras/R0008.html

That's the camera the missus one came with. Lovely neat little job.

dr.fuzzenstein

kao123 wrote: »

About the rear speakers not working, just a thought there is an EQ on the head unit and also balance control, you can drag the sound to any of the speakers, maybe this is set to fronts only?? - Hopefully that's all it is, might save you the hassle of tracing cables.

Thankfully the canbus connector supplied with my head unit worked with the steering wheel straight away so no messing around there, it was a tight fit to squeeze everything in though.
Bluetooth to the Phone works pretty well out of the box, a dialler would be nice on the head Unit, I'm looking on XDA-Developers a lot to see what else I can tweak :-)
OBD works well too, except when I plug in the dongle I have I can't close the "cubby hole" cover where the OBD connector is, need to find a dinky little slim line one, I have the cheapo EBay ELM327 one, it works just fine, just can't leave it connected all the time.

Sadly no. In the Blaupunkt under Fader the rears are greyed out. it also doesn't see them.
When I measured the resistance on the cable, the circuit for the rear speakers is open, while at the front it is not.
In the past only one rear speaker worked, no w the second one is gone as well.
Just a matter of tracing cables and hopefully not finding rats...

dr.fuzzenstein

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

What's the integration like on the Ford? The eonon I put in the missus touran has more of the vw info than I was expecting. You get the diagram of the car to show doors and the boot open, bit of diagnostics plus stuff like an info screen that gives you fuel level (in litres), checks washer fluid level, oil temp etc.

I went for a dash cam with it (there's a dvr app) so it's just a small camera up behind the rear view with no bulk of an integrated screen or battery or anything. Its just plugged straight in to the USB and record to the non GPS sdcard.

No integration so far, the steering wheel buttons don't even work yet.
Just the basic radio and mp3 set up, the rest will follow

Guy:Incognito

You might get lucky and the wire break could be on the speakers themselves.

kao123

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

No integration so far, the steering wheel buttons don't even work yet.
Just the basic radio and mp3 set up, the rest will follow

There are settings on the head units to change the canbus type, it's usually under "factory settings" passcode is 126, on my unit I can select the car canbus type, again though mine was set to "Ford Mondeo" and everything so far seems to work, there's a big enough list of them in there.
Might be worth a look on yours to see if a different canbus selection will give you more steering wheel functions.
It does need a reboot if you change it.

kao123

I did find this though, it seems the rear speakers not working is not an isolated thing - http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/android-headunit-rear-speaker-fix-no-extra-parts-needed.285385/

Worth a shot I suppose.

TherapyBoy

kao123 wrote: »

I did find this though, it seems the rear speakers not working is not an isolated thing - http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/android-headunit-rear-speaker-fix-no-extra-parts-needed.285385/

Worth a shot I suppose.

Might not be the same problem. Some of the Audis came with a factory fitted rear amplified sound system, the oem amplifier needed to be powered or otherwise rewired to get the rear speakers to work with an aftermarket unit. Not sure if the Fords had this.

ratracer

I spotted this thread and am now intrigued. I reckon my 2010 Focus will get a new entertainment system in the near future, thanks OP!!

dr.fuzzenstein

ratracer wrote: »

I spotted this thread and am now intrigued. I reckon my 2010 Focus will get a new entertainment system in the near future, thanks OP!!

Make sure you get one that fits your particular model of car.
I got a generic 2 din and it doesn't quite fit right and that annoys me a tiny bit every time I look at it. Mind you, it's not so bad, but it does ruin that integrated look a bit.
But on the whole, very happy.

colm_mcm

Could you re drill the brackets for the radio, seems to be sticking out a bit more than it should.

dr.fuzzenstein

colm_mcm wrote: »

Could you re drill the brackets for the radio, seems to be sticking out a bit more than it should.

The brackets aren't even in use as they will not fit.
It's also sticking out because it's not quite finished.
The problem is that the surround and the radio are 2 separate manufacturers and to get it to sit flush, I will have to get the dremel out and butcher it a bit.

colm_mcm

No better man

dr.fuzzenstein

Better late than never, an update!

The rear speakers, they both were kaputt, no idea why or how. Replaced with new ones and everything works.*
The steering wheel controls, they were the resistance type, you need to hack the cables, hook it up to the Android unit and then program the functions in the Pumpkin.
Everything's working as well as it could.
The system crashes and reboots every now and then, Google maps crashes, the MP3 player sometimes stops and starts again a second later, the steering wheel controls sometimes don't work, the radio is not as good as the stock Ford CD6000 after all, so the whole system feels like it's been thrown together and the kinks weren't really ironed out.
99% of the time it's great, I can have mp3 running, navigate with maps at the same time and make and receive calls, all without issue.


* Except it wasn't that easy. Ford speakers require a special surround and I couldn't be arsed, so it hacked and butchered a mashup of the old and new speakers.
One tip for that. Get a rivet gun. Screwing them in is too fiddly.