Hi everyone,

As many have seen my piggybank is now focused on the vacuum system of the NTM 2007 GT I bought.

As soon as the money tree refreshes I want to upgrade the infotainment system which was back burnered by the mechanical.

I have read most of the threads on the various systems and don't want to flog a dead horse again but these things are generally upgraded all the time. Secondly, I would like to start discussion within a single thread on the various options.

My first premise is that aesthetics are a VERY personal matter so I would like to focus on FUNCTIONALITY and price (value). So *I* prefer something that preserves the original 'furniture' in the car but that is just a personal preference. I would also like something that preserves the original CD, Sat Radio, etc. Again, just a personal bias.

That said here are my thoughts on the different options and my gleaning of what I have read and others have documented in discussions. Any comments welcome. What is correct / what is not correct??

1. Nav-TV Ben-HUR
a. most expensive option requires unit and a radio
b. preserves the original veneer and close to original look
c. complete OEM CanBus and native car functions??
d. Supports CD, etc

2. Tesla Style
a. mid range cost
b. lots of $$$ options from different sellers on EBay and many Android OS levels - price and tech descriptions vary widely (and optimistically )
c. 'b' causes a bit of confusion on what is really supported, in particular Suspension and native TPMS
d. supports CD?
e. not sure of SAT Radio??
f. Chinese tech support IMHO is always eager but suffers from language problems -
g. Mozart Electronics has a version which claims to be gremlin free but not sure that is the case and is $600-700 more expensive

3. X-Carlink
a. retains original system but,
b. requires removal of the CD player and
c. since it is apparently subsystem with a 'video/function' switching system it retains full functionality of OEM car systems?
d. replaces the original screen or at least adds clear touch panel (not sure which see NVC below)
e. reasonably low priced under $1K
f. more involve DIY install - remove CD player, add and secure modules

4. NVC (Korea)
Seems to be the same as the X-Car Link. Looks like X-Carlink packaged the NVC system. I have contacted NVC and they do not sell the resistor/capacitive clear touch panel as part of the offerings.

In summary, if those who have the various systems could comment on the TRUE functionality and support experiences it would be much appreciated.
One overall question I have is what is the unit outputs in the first two 'plug and play' units. They both seem to completely replace the OEM head unit but do not specify if they have pre-outs to the Bentley amp, what levels, or if they are designed to drive the speakers direcctly.

On the aesthetics side how good is the wood grain on the Tesla units? Seems to me the piano black would look better in equipped cars. 'Faux' wood grain is very difficult to pull off - interestingly Mozart seems to have both light and dark wood grain whilst the China direct units are only dark or black. (as the young woman in opening scenes of WestWorld answered to the question of whether she was 'human' or not, 'if you can't tell the difference does it matter?)

As always, thanks for all your help and comments.

Jim

 

Here is my impression:

1. Ben Hur (my choice that I installed). Dated looking and plastic, only allows a Double-DIN radio on what was once considered a big scree, but now looks small. Too expensive (although I bought mine straight from England and didn't pay VAT so I saved $500) but the damn thing comes with excellent instructions, excellent customer service and can use top-end radios. I've used both the best Alpine and the best Kenwood. I liked the Alpine better.

2. Tesla-style. This seems like it is a kluge, sent out to market without good customer support, testing or followup. I love the look of these things (other than the plastic bezel) but it really seems not-ready-for-prime-time in some ways; some options don't work at all, other guys have had trouble with volume, others have had problems accessing the car controls that you access through the infotainment. I keep waiting for it to be actually better than the Ben Hur (instead of better-looking, I've made that mistake in the past, lol) before I pull the trigger. I'd love a big screen and I think it really makes the car look modern.

3. Car Link. This reminds me of the old cassette-tape converters for CD players. Just a poor workaround that is better than nothing but not befitting a Bentley. But, who cares about the CD player in the glove box? I had that removed, I think I gave it to Johnny for whatever reason he could find to do with it. It just takes up space unless you're planning to listen to Salt n' Peppa from 1989 on your ballin' CD collection. And who uses Bentley nav in this decade?

My conversion was to replace all ten stock speakers with Focals (the stock speakers are junk, Johnny took those too), add a 12" sub in the pass-through with it's own big ol' amp, Ben Hur and a top-end Kenwood. I had an Alpine prior that died, it was the bet.

Now my stereo is perfectly acceptable, I went too big on the sub so a lot of music is muddy and the tweeters in the A-pillars are too harsh, but whatevs, I can set off car alarms when I'm feeling it. The speaker placement is terrible in these cars anyway, not much you can do with the raw materials given to you from Bentley.

So sort of "I want it to start, run and have a good radio", I'd go with the Ben Hur. If you're more of a "I love tinkering and don't mind if the infotainment is not quite perfect but I love the looks", then Tesla-style. If you're "I am in over my head in this stupid car that costs $.50 per mile in fuel", then the GROM.

The stock Bentley 10-channel amp is fine, I was surprised by that. Replacing ten channels is a huge undertaking.

 

Here are the speakers that came out (junk):

 

I bought two sets of these to replace them

 

 

Wow dude - those look awful! I have some focals in my Boxster and they sound really good.

There's a thread on the Phaeton site about an Aliexpress Android ZAB - is that something new?

https://www.vwvortex.com/threads/found-a-phaeton-for-sale-in-the-usa-with-an-aliexpress-android-zab-installed.9520686/#post-115767266

 

I think there is a Chinese developer who is doing these for all cars, you can find the Tesla-style stuff for Fords and Chevrolets that look almost identical but cost 1/4 of the exotic car products.

Again, I think it's the future but they simply don't have the bugs worked out, they have some good engineers figuring out the physical plugs and interfaces but I think you're mostly on your own once you unbox it.

 

I think you are spot-on here. There is some 'genius' who came up with the idea to change the factory radios in various older vehicles to the Tesla-style of touchscreens. They got a hold of a good enough set of engineers and developers and made it happen. As the Chinese generally are GREAT at duplicating existing products, I am sure they did not do this alone.

However, as with every new model they seem to have kinda rushed to get the screens out on the open market. They didn't hire English translators or English experts to translate everything technically correct, they kinda did more of a word for word, or the best Google could do. They didn't even bother to capitalize all of the words in the same menu, which shows a bit of an unprofessional rushed behavior in my eyes. I have only seen my Bentley screen, but I imagine the screens for the other makers are similar.

Why do they not take the time to update the product? I understand that this means more money and time involved for them, but if they market the new updated version correctly it would also appeal to new people that they are getting the latest and the best. Similar to how everyone just NEEDS to have the latest iPhone just because it sounds so much better than their previous "old" version. I'm sure they could even get people with 'older' screens (like myself) to PAY for an updated firmware/software, if my screen was so able to be updated virtually.

With that said, I am still very much happy with my install. :-)