Mark .buddy, why do you keep on calling the white section of the 40 pin plug the TV input? It's most confusing for everyone. When you had a pop at me and posted the drawing of the connector you were referring to, you had in fact pointed at the CD Input connections in to the BM54 unit in the boot. I had the same idea, bud, but from the other end of the car  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

That diagram I posted was just one I found on the net, someone else put the lines on it. I was highlighting that the TV source in to the plug had left and right. I have always been talking about the plug that goes in the BM54 in the boot. It's where all the sources feed in. Some of the pins are tv input. Some are cd, some are tape....

Apologies if I have caused confusion.

If you have to select tv as a source each time you start the car, then that will be a pain. It was the idea I was proposing to simply replace an already existing source with the android one.

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

mjdronfield wrote:

I was just thinking of those people without the AUX in mod on their BM54, ie without the female RCA phono plugs or the 3.5mm jack plug like you fitted to mine.

With a bit of a rewire, they could fool the system and get whats required.

Agreed, the easiest way would be to have the AUX in connectors added to the BM54.

I understood you could not use the "factory" AUX source input (already in the BM54 plug) without the latest firmware on the BM54. Is this incorrect ? And then it had to actually detect something connected to it before it was available as a source ?

Leaving my system as is...... very happy with it.

Look what I've found !!!!!

http://www.incarexpress.co.uk/view_product.php?partno=CTVBMX001

Links in to the CD changer wiring and emulates the CD changer, plus it has Phono connectors, all you'd need is a phono lead to go from this to the new head unit, about 2 foot long! You should be able to just piggy back the I-bus lead into the white / grey / yellow wire that plugs into the emulator, as they are all connected to a common point just above the fusebox. Well that's were it is in the BMW, knowing Land Rover they will have found it necessary to re-locate this some where else, probably behind the rear wiper
The only down side to this is, it only has the 3 + 6 pin connectors, and they are molded into the unit, which is a pain for me as I'm on 10 pin . But I'll cross that bridge next  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Bridge crossed and sorted
They also do another one for boot connection with the 40 pin connector, CTVBMX003, so I'll just cut the plug off and join the wires with a soldering iron. And to put the icing on the cake, I just got it off fleabay for £15 , new but second hand, chap thought that it charged Ipods as well, but that is a different interface, CTABMIPOD005.2. Still if all you want is an Ipod interface, you wont find cheaper, under £40 on fleabay. Makes a mockery out of the Land Rover aux input at £300+, plus it gives Ipod control from the steering wheel  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Not that I have much idea what you lot are talking about... but.... how will the volume control work, doesn't that come via canbus from the original head unit?? does it mean you have to go in the glovebox to turn it up?? Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Volume will come from the steering wheel, it will be as if you are playing a CD, and as the Android unit has programmable buttons, in theory, you should still be able to control it but leave the volume side to the CD, thus accessing the DSP!!
Oh and not forgetting that you don't have to rip out half the interior to wire it up  Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

You can't program the buttons to do nothing on the Android unit, they come set from the factory and you can only change what they do.... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Looks like the right combination of connectors will allow interface through cd connector then. Saves running loads of wires to the rear of the car as you say, but the aerial will still need to be run if you want to use those built into the car.

Interesting to see how you get on.

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Seeing as most people opt to make their own aerial leads, I cannot foresee any problems with running a single coax from the boot to the dashboard , and then putting the connector on. With a bit of luck should be able to run underneath the threshold plates! Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

Getting around the "B" pillar is the killer, the black plastic trim has no space at all under it, if it goes under the edge of the carpet it is bent through two right angles and is vulnerable to people in the back standing on it... it's only four bolts and a plug to remove the front seat and do the job properly, stripping it out until you have good access is not hard or time consuming...

Having said that I'd be tempted to take the aerial lead up the "A" pillar and under the headlining to the rear, there are far less wires up there and the interference will be much less... "A" pillar trims just pull off and releasing the door seal gives access to the headlining, just make sure you keep it away from the airbags... Pete

__________________________________________________
2014 L405 Autobiography SDV8 4.4 Loire Blue Ebony interior
2011 L322 Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8 Baltic Blue. Parchment over Navy Interior. Sold
2012 L322 Autobiography 5.0 Supercharged Ipanema Sand, Jet Interior. Sold
2002 L322 Vogue 4.4 V8 Epson Green, Ivory over Aspen Interior (Fatty Offroader) Sold
-Click for Project Fatty off roader-

Over the last two or three weeks I've followed with great interest the discussions about fitting the ES9357A head unit, while still retaining all or most of the Range Rover's original sound system.
I haven't understood much of it, but I've read it!
And after having read thus far one can see some fundamental questions that beg to be asked.
The most significant has to be, why ever go to all this trouble, with so many maybe's, and if buts, in order to keep units that are a lot of years out of date, are known to be prone to damp ingress and subsequent failures, and are over complicated? Especially when everything that they did is easily covered, plus much more, by the replacement head.
Initially the fear that 'would be' installers had, seemed to be the cutting of wires for the speaker feeds. But unplugging all the old original units, removing them, and connecting just twenty speaker wires to the eight head unit wires seems easy compared to all the twoing and froing being suggested recently. There is plenty of info on this thread now about how to make those speaker changes.
Another question that comes to mind is to ask who amoung the advocates of the 'keep everything' lobby have actually bought one of these head units and tried out these ideas? It seems to be all speculation with no actual trials, and it would have been so interesting to have read about people's triumphs and failures.
Maybe I'm missing the point, and it's all about the challenge of working through these nutty problems speculatively.
I suppose there are some folk who have the extra heating on their vehicle, and therefor to whom keeping the original head unit is important.
But if the keep everything lobby is really just concerned about the quality of the audio output from the new head unit, wouldn't it be better to work through ways of improving that, without keeping everything!
I've now worked out the changes needed to get the sub woofers on line, I've done it on my car, and it sounds great.
As soon as I have time I will do a chart similar to the last one, showing the connections needed.
Now I'm working on what value resistors and capacitors are required, added to the speakers in the doors, to make high pass and low pass filters.
It will be interesting to hear peoples' responses to my questions 😇

Dave

Well, to be blunt, if you want it right, don't replace half an active system with half a passive system. You need to rip out all the bmw kit, including the speakers (which are not designed to work passively) and refit all new kit to go with the new android unit. There we go. No wire cutting needed, for those that want it simple. All things being equal, an active system will sound better than a passive system, so it's simpler but not as good. That's called a downgrade.

I've just been trying to find a way to interface properly to the existing system. That will keep it as an active system. The best of both worlds. Good sound and a nice modern screen with all the extra features. No need to rip the door cards off and muck about. Various ways of interfacing to the existing system, which we have explored, but as you say, not tested. Though the extra aux in on the bm54 is tested and is used for all sorts of things such as the feed from a DVD player or ps2 etc.

All the above is fact. Not open for debate. No twoing and froing. From here on in, it's what level of compromise you are willing to accept. If you want to wire a passive 4 channel amp to 10 channels of active speakers, there is nothing to stop you. Who knows what the load on the amp is now......

It's up to you..... I wouldn't do it, but then I'm mad enough to spend a daft amount of money on a tri-aktiv LINN system in the house, just so I can hear performers taking a breath whilst singing

There are many options here. Keeping the existing head unit as well as the new one causes it's own issues, as indeed does not keeping it.

......now I really fancy dropping an engine from the BMW M5 into my car.... Should I try and get it to connect to the existing gearbox, or should I replace more of the drivetrain with bits from the bmw to make the install easier but end up with it being 2 wheel drive......

You sort of get what I'm saying....

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Last edited by mjdronfield on 14th Nov 2014 5:47am. Edited 2 times in total

Dave, it would appear that you are attacking the problem from the other end, so to speak. I can see that by trying, and hopefully succeeding, to get all the door speakers to work properly, which is a worthy thing. I personally haven't got the time to construct, and try, passive crossover networks. When it has all been done actively buy BMW / LR. Plus I also get the feeling that the Nav Head does more than just adjust the clock, so I'd like to keep it. Doing away with as much troublesome components as possible, is an appealing idea, and to that end the DVD Nav head will be number 1 on my hit list, along with the TV tuner if possible, the CD changer has already gone!
I haven't done anything at the moment, because I cannot afford to buy the head unit, and I already have an interface that supports Bluetooth and an Ipod, plus I have a Tomtom. So I have already bypassed most of the dated crap that L/R supplied. But, it is not the neatest of solutions, having wires going across the dash for the Tomtom. And the TV dose not work at all (analogue). So when times are better, and the Hang Over stops breaking down, not holding my breath on that one , I will be updating the factory unit for the android type one. Until that time comes, I'm doing as much research in to the install as possible, so that the downtime is kept to a minimum. As I'm self employed, and FFRR is a business tool, downtime is very expensive for me. Yesterday I couldn't spell Engineer... Today I are one!
Inventor of the 'Guide-o-Matic automatic wheel alignment tool'
Former long term L322 owner, Up/Down graded to a Classic Tractor!

sub woofers ? ..resistors ? capacitors ?

Personally speaking Dave its talk like that that encourages me to keep it all and go for the plug and go option...i'm totally unfamiliar with audio systems and vehicle electrics and its through threads like these that solutions to problems are found and yes I have purchased a head unit,adaptors etc etc...and at the end of the day if it doesn't work i'll have learnt a lot trying and always have the option of getting someone else to rip it all out and wire all that coloured string together because I just wouldn't be comfortable doing that.

I view it as ''modding''...modding being making something do what it was never intended to ...I mod watches ,phones , and computers...this is just an extension of that