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Nope, I use Harwoods in Pullborough. The collect from Basildon on a covered truck whenever I need anything. Can’t fault them, even helped out when I blew a power steering pipe in Marbella and needed parts shipping to the local dealer (Salamanca) to fix in a rush ( or be late for my own wedding in Portugal).
Thanks, long way from Essex, but if they collect it's all good!
morning Neil - i am in Rochester, Kent. I bought the car in Southampton and it has been looked after by Silver Lady for the last few years (which was reassuring). I have not decided where to take it for its next service in October yet (recommendations welcome!). The work i am having done (full leather re-trim, wood, privacy glass, etc) is at TOWIC (The only way is custom) in Colchester - they have been brilliant to be fair - Bentley specialists - fantastic price & service so far. I have been posting updates on the work they have done on the Fb Bentley owners page. Cheers.
Let us know how it goes and post pictures if you have the time. I'm really curious.
My Ben Hur unit has started acting up, I think it's a bad cable, but I go over bumps and the sound cuts out, I thump on it and it comes back. For $2,100 I really wish it didn't do that. I'm hoping it's just a loose cable.
I'm very curious about the volume and sound quality and especially the radio, I'm still unclear on the radio part. Others have complained that the pre-out is too low of a signal for the Bentley amp.
So if you are willing, lots of pictures during your work would be very welcomed.
hi - yeah, i will take lots of pics of the process and post here. I have done the prep work - fascia removal, cable runs to rear (reverse cam) and windscreen (road/driver cams) and removed the CD/Satnav units. I have all the other bits i need (i think).
Regarding the volume, I will have to deal with that when i get it - Neil posted a fix which seemed to work, so if it occurs i will do the same - but hoping that they have updated the firmware since last year and that deals with it (i asked the supplier about it and they said there have been multiple updates in the past 6 months), we will see.
Just waiting for delivery now. Expected in next 2 weeks following chinese new year.
yep - will do - happy to share
re. driver/road cam - the unit i bought mounts near the rear view mirror and has 2 camera's - one forward facing and one into cabin.
My road insurance gives me a discount if road cam fitted.
If i have an accident, the footage can be presented to show what happened and that i was in control of the vehicle and alert.
The discount equated to more than the cost of the unit, so i went for it.
It was not based on wanting to film myself driving my bentley!
Here are some prep work shots of the dash before head unit removal, removals of the head unit & fascia (very easy - clips to fascia and 4 x screws holding the head unit in place - new unit is a straight swap with new black fascia). Then, for those interested, some of the update shots from TOWIC for the leather re-trim (I asked then to run some cables for me while the car was stripped), the wood being prepared to go Black, the privacy glass, etc .. last pic is the original car when I bought it (since then changed wheels, done initial paint correction and other cosmetic work)
I'll post more of the head unit project when the unit arrives ...
In the meantime, when I get the car back on Monday from TOWIC (with hopefully a beautiful new interior!), I am taking on the challenge to update the headlights (LED's, Halo's, etc) so Grille & bumper off, wings loosened, wheel linings loosened, under tray released ... headlights out, polished lenses, lenses removed, halo's mounted, LED bulbs mounted ... system check for errors (fingers crossed) ... then reassemble ... yep - I'm an idiot and probably going to mess it up - but going for it next week .... hopefully complete in time for Head unit arrival ...
Cheers
Luke (stupid Bentley newbie, way out of his depth)
yep - will do - happy to share
re. driver/road cam - the unit i bought mounts near the rear view mirror and has 2 camera's - one forward facing and one into cabin.
My road insurance gives me a discount if road cam fitted.
If i have an accident, the footage can be presented to show what happened and that i was in control of the vehicle and alert.
The discount equated to more than the cost of the unit, so i went for it.
It was not based on wanting to film myself driving my bentley!
Hehe I understand. So the interior camera, is it getting its 12V from around the rear view mirror? If so, how are you wiring it? While I'm tearing things out and installing my Tesla screen, the new rear view camera, and my new front grille inserts, I am thinking about installing a set of laser blockers behind the grille inserts. I'd also like to install a 12V source for my laser detector by the rear view mirror to avoid the blatantly obvious hanging cable.
Edit: Damn man, you're going all out!! I love it. Keep us updated on the progress!
For the power to the cam's near the rear view mirror - planning to route the cables straight into the head-lining near the overhead lighting unit (hoping to stow the excess cable there that join the outward/inward facing cam's) so 3 short wires direct from headlining to top of windscreen (see attached photos). Then route the cables across headlining and down A-pillar into glove-box access and across to head unit to connect to 'Cam USB' feed on the new head unit (selectable feed, different to automatic feed from reverse cam). This the plan, but will have to see when I get the car back.
re. going all out .. errr, yeah .. sort of - been doing the usual YouTube crawling to find videos ... found one video from the US of a guy taking off the bumper (ordered a flexihead spanner to get to the 'impossible' retaining screws near the headlights) and another one about the removal of the lights. The fitting of the halo's I have done before on an old porsche I had last year - so confident with that (reasonably) providing the units I have ordered naturally sit ok on the lamps. Providing I can get the panels off (big assumption!), the rest should be alright in terms of the new bulbs, etc .. as I will test them thoroughly before re-assembling to make they work and don't have any dreaded error codes.
As for the rest of the project beyond the Head unit & Headlights work - TOWIC are doing the main works on the leather, wood, privacy, etc ... I am just doing cosmetic stuff. Mechanically the car seems solid, but as we know that can quickly change (hopefully she won't ££ hurt me too much .. vacuum lines!!). It was error code free when I bought it (testament to last owner and Silver Lady garage), but I am investing heavily ££ in it at the start with all of this work to get the car how I want it / have dreamed about (hahaha!), so we will see. I realise I am unlikely to get back this ££ investment if/when I sell, but for me, for this car, its not about that. I am loving every minute of it, to be honest.
I'll try and load as many pics and progress reports I can, if people are interested. As I said, I have learned a lot from these threads and I think its good to share to keep these beautiful machines alive & kicking!
I've added links to the one i ordered, the seller and extras I needed to buy, in the video description. Hopefully i've covered off most peoples questions but happy to answer any follow ups people have. The seller marked down the value to 150USD so import charges were minimal, and they sent by UPS so it arrived in a few days. They were also super helpful in follow up messages and usually responded within a few minutes when they were online.
Finally, I know i recorded in Portrait. Normally I hate doing that but my main camera failed half way through so i started again on my phone and completely slipped my mind to film in landscape - it does suit the Bentley screen better though
Hope this helps some of you out. If it does and you decide to order, please can you use the referral link? Aliexpress
Here are some prep work shots of the dash before head unit removal, removals of the head unit & fascia (very easy - clips to fascia and 4 x screws holding the head unit in place - new unit is a straight swap with new black fascia). Then, for those interested, some of the update shots from TOWIC for the leather re-trim (I asked then to run some cables for me while the car was stripped), the wood being prepared to go Black, the privacy glass, etc .. last pic is the original car when I bought it (since then changed wheels, done initial paint correction and other cosmetic work)
I'll post more of the head unit project when the unit arrives ...
In the meantime, when I get the car back on Monday from TOWIC (with hopefully a beautiful new interior!), I am taking on the challenge to update the headlights (LED's, Halo's, etc) so Grille & bumper off, wings loosened, wheel linings loosened, under tray released ... headlights out, polished lenses, lenses removed, halo's mounted, LED bulbs mounted ... system check for errors (fingers crossed) ... then reassemble ... yep - I'm an idiot and probably going to mess it up - but going for it next week .... hopefully complete in time for Head unit arrival ...
Cheers
Luke (stupid Bentley newbie, way out of his depth)
Hey Luke, hope your build is moving along in the right direction. What kind of tool did you purchase for the front bumper?
Hi all - as promised - an update on the car, now nearly done ... TOWIC finished their work (leather, privacy, wood, etc) and I have now nearly completed the head unit upgrade (big delay due to Chinese new year delivery), but received it yesterday and just finished. see photos below. I still have the reverse camera to finish (finding the the right wire for the reverse light, but its mounted and connected to the head unit) and a few other bits of configuration to complete.
First impression of the tablet head unit ... I am really pleased with it.
Connected to inbuilt CarPlay no issues ... using wifi hotspot and bluetooth from iPhone.
I have BBC News channel playing split screen with satnav as the standard screen
All steering wheel controls and car functions working via the Bentley can bus unit that comes with the unit.
I have done a couple of videos showing the unit when I was connecting it all and the finished result. I didn't go into the detail on functionality because Neil covered that in his video.
Overall, I think it really improves the interior of the car - and brings it bang up to date in terms of tech - interested what others think.
Luke unboxed organised ... sort of! screen into car spaghetti junction! Screen in position, receivers fitted and usb/4g sim holder in position in useless drinks holder under arm rest. surround fitted with air vents/clock connected system powered up and tested with steering wheel controls and car functions view of unit integrated into car with ignition off Finished result
Everything looks wonderful, Luke! Including the leather and such.
Did you have to do anything regarding the volume? If so, what did you do, and what parts did you purchase? The reason I ask is because I'm having a difficult time finding the Pyramid NS60 in Europe. That's the adaptor Neil mentioned that he added to increase the volume levels.
I have the Pyramid NS-60, but am unclear exactly how to put it inline. I would assume the output (RCA Jacks) go to the RCAs from the wiring harness and the line level (Gray Gray/White, Green Green/White) go to the outputs of the head unit. @neiloakley did you add RCAs to those wires or cut the RCAs off the head unit harness?
A couple issues I have had with mine. I am getting a flicker on the right side of my screen every so often. I have contacted the seller and have been going back and forth with them, but no solution yet. They did have me check some voltage settings behind two password screens.
The other small issue I have noticed after having the unit for a while now, I am getting some rattling from the plastic trim at the top where it flexes a bit. I bought some weather stripping from the hardware store and going to add it next time I have the trim off.
