2008 DB9 Entertainment / Sat Nav custom replacement
 

I'm thinking of building my own touchscreen mini computer to pop in the sat nav spot. Has anyone full on yanked the original sat nav and stereo to put in something custom and more up to date?

I've gone through all the threads about updating with the overpriced Bluetooth upgrade direct from AM and that's just silly.

I've also read up on aftermarket mixed with the original stuff, the Dension Gateway setup seems like a pain in the arse for not a very modern solution. Kits like Streamblue from NAV-TV are kind of a joke as well.

Just wondering if anyone has gone full custom and if completely pulling the original stuff messes up anything else in the car.

This is my first AM, I've long been into customizing cars but nothing of this caliber, don't want to put in a new setup and then the car doesn't work, that would suck!

You can do what you say (full custom), but you will take a BIG hit if you ever want to sell the car. If that's not important, then have at it and let us know how it all turns out. I like to see custom stuff (as long as it's not my car!).

I'll keep all of the original stuff and make new dash parts so I don't mess up anything and I can put it back in if I ever do sell (which isn't likely, love my DB9!).

Sat Nav customizing
 

Let me know if you would like to sell all of your original Sat Nav components.

I spent months agonizing over what to with the navigation. Frankly, it ticked me off that a car that cost this much had a navigation significantly worse than the Garmin I bought for the wife's Honda 15 years ago.
As they say down here "The juice was not worth the squeeze" I used the cars navigation (in conjunction with my iPhone) to give me directions to the dealer 90 miles from where I live, and it was not terrible.
I have decided to update it with the latest disks and move my creative juices elsewhere :-)

I agree on the frustration of these costs, cars at this level should include updates. For now I use an FM transmitter to stream music and I just use google maps on the phone. I think I may just go crazy with it and yank all this junk and make a custom dash with 4G tablet interfaced to the steering wheel controls. But I've still not heard from anyone as to the potential hazards or problems of yanking the original equipment, less of course the value hit. But these cars are near the bottom of their depreciation wave anyways so I'm not really worried about that.

I didn't buy the car for the next guy to enjoy or feel like he got a good buy. I bought the car because I want to enjoy it! Unless I all of a sudden hate AM I won't likely sell the car ever, so I'd rather have a custom car that does everything I want.

I talked with my buddy, who is an AM tech, regarding possible problems with the car from pulling the stock stereo and sat nav. This was his reply:

"I think you will be ok.
By looking at all the systems in parts, it looks like the systems are separated.
There is a separate control unit for the climate control.
The radio system shows entertainment, phone and nav/gps.
Looks like a cool conversion."

For those of you that have had the center console apart you can see the two separate control units. I just wanted to make sure there isn't something vital to the car tied to that entertainment system before I go pulling it.

I'll have massive interest in the outcome of your conversion.

Subscribed...
I am not a fan of the AM 'in car electronics' and would love to see your project.
I just installed a Pioneer AppRadio 4 in a car, love it!
App based nav, bluetooth or wired phone, full iTunes functionality, rear camera and room for 2 more inputs!

Ok guys after doing a bunch of research and planning I've come to the conclusion that pretty much everything in the stock system is outdated and not worth trying to work with so it's all going bye-bye.

I'm going to install a Nexus 7 in the dash and put all my hardware in the boot where the stock stuff was. For all of you DIYers out there be warned this will require a little extra mechanical skill.

I've attached a pic of the plan and also a link to a power point presentation on my google drive for you guys to check out and critique. The power point has a big parts list with it. I will probably use different things here and there but it's a good starting point.

I'll document and take pictures along the way to keep everyone up to date on the build. Hopefully the finished product will be awesome, up to date, and also much cheaper than anything Aston Martin could ever offer.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_f...ew?usp=sharing


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...8a15cf1182.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.6sp...4be339e96a.jpg

So I finally got my car yesterday (3 months overseas for work so couldn't take delivery) turns out its got a Dension system and a sub box already installed. So I'm not gonna do squat to that part, dusted off my old ipod and it's now dedicated to the car. However, I am going to yank the gps system and put something new. Probably just remove the screen and put in a touchscreen if similar size.

I am still glad I planned out this tablet setup though, going to use it in my 57 Chevy that I'm building.

Just curious about how you planned to integrate the climate control display in your proposal.

I wasn't going to mess with that part, the dials would have remained the same. But the nav, trip, and light buttons would have caused a problem. So I scrapped the whole idea.