wusty23jd

I. Introduction
After successfully installing a Carpuride W701 unit in my 2005 Acura TL, I decided to also install one in my wife’s 2007 Acura RDX. Since posting a few pictures on social media, people have been reaching out to me and requesting that I detail my installation, so that’s what this thread is for.Please note that I created a thread for my 2005 Acura TL, which follows a similar (but far more detailed) process:Given the amount of time that went into creating the above thread, I may periodically be sharing hyperlinks to certain posts, rather than detailing each step in this thread. Before diving in, here is a teaser:

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II. Deciding on Carpuride
If you’d like to learn more about why I chose Carpuride over other brands, please refer to Part IV within my other thread. I detail all of the key features that most CarPlay/Android Auto units come equipped with and outline the key differences between them all.

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III. Installation
Now that you understand the reasons why I chose my Carpuride W701 unit, I will take you through my installation method. My installation required a great deal of time, resources, and patience. I know that I went quite above and beyond what Is practical, but for me, it was 100% worth the effort to maintain an OEM look.
Below is a picture that outlines my current layout and future plans:

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A. Navigation System
Technology models come equipped with a navigation screen in addition to a sub-display screen for HVAC and radio controls. My end goal was to replace the OEM navigation screen with the Carpuride unit, so having the sub-display screen still functional was critical for my integration.

In order for this type of tablet integration to work on base model RDXs, one of the following methods must be performed (I had to proceed with Option 2 for my 2005 base model Acura TL):

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B. Navigation Screen Re-Routing
Now, in order for this method to be successful, I had to find a new way to install the OEM navigation board. The solution that I came up with was to make a custom extension cable and re-route the navigation board to my glove box.

Using spare cables and PCB connectors that I gathered from the salvage yard, I did exactly that. Now I have the option to plug in the OEM navigation screen when needed for any sort of troubleshooting.

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C. Power Source
Rather than simply using the cigarette power adapter that came with my Carpuride unit, I decided to hardwire the unit to my interior fuse panel with a timer delay. This makes the assembly completely hidden and also allows for a 3 second delay while the vehicles engine turns over. Heavy draws of power during the ignition process can cause unnecessary wear and tear on tablets, so a timer delay seemed like an obvious choice.

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D. Toggle Buttons
Because the Carpuride unit is mounted behind my dashboard, I don’t have the access to the unit’s power button. Therefore, I wanted to add an external button in case I needed to restart the unit or if I wanted to turn it off while driving. To accomplish this, I decided to route some wiring from the Carpuride cigarette power adapter to a toggle button in the lower cubby compartments.

During this step, I decided to add a install a second button, which functions as the reset button for my iSimple device.
While the lower cubbies were apart, I also decided to re-route my iSimple Aux and USB cords. I implemented this setup in my wife’s 2007 Acura RDX quite some time ago and it gives it a nice OEM look.

*I installed an iSimple device several years ago in order to get Bluetooth streaming (hyperlink below). It was also nice to have the iSimple device for this retrofit, because I used the auxiliary input to keep all of the Carpuride’s cords hidden. I still have the OEM auxiliary port free as well.

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E. Screen Mounting
As I stated above, my plan was to replace the OEM navigation screen with a Carpuride unit. Therefore, the first thing that I did was remove the OEM navigation screen bezel from the vehicle.

Once the OEM navigation bezel was removed, I disassembled the screen itself from the PCB board, plastic housing, and metal casing.


Because the Carpuride Unit fit so snugly inside the plastic housing, I had to cut out a small piece so that the power button wouldn’t stay compressed.





Next, I used Dremel to grind down all of the little nubs inside the top rail of the housing. Doing so allowed the Carpuride unit’s screen to sit flush













After the nubs were smoothed over, I applied a thin layer of foam tape to the inside of the housing. This helped protect the screen from scratching during installation and test fitting.



With the modifications to the plastic housing complete, I once again used my Dremel, this time with a cutoff wheel, to remove various sections of the metal casing.

As you’ll see in the below images, I cut a rectangular section on the right side of the metal casing so that the cords could come out the back. I also cut a long rectangular section near the bottom of the metal casing so that the Carpuride unit would fit securely.





Please note that cutting the metal casing all the way to the left and ridge edges made it quite flimsy. As you’ll see, the Carpuride is not as thick near the left and right edges, so cutting the casing this far iinto the casing is not required. The metal can be kept in-tact where my fingers are located below:

Later, I pulled a spare metal casing from the salvage yard cut it the “correct” way. I apologize that I didn’t get a picture of the updating metal casing. If I ever pull the Carpuride unit out, I will try to take updated pictures.





After my cuts were completed, I drilled four holes in the back of the metal casing, so that I could install 4 bolts with vacuum caps.





Here is the final fitment:

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F. USB Mounting
The Carpuride units also have a USB input. During my installation, I decided to install the iSimple USB extension inside my center console.

During my first attempt, I drilled a hole in the lower right side. Unfortunately, when I went to install the USB extension cable, I found out that the hole was too low to the floor and the cord was hitting one of the metal frames. Therefore, I had to drill a second hole to the left side as seen in the photos below.

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G. Reverse Camera
Once again, having an Acura RDX already equipped with the technology package made this step easier as well. I basically removed the OEM camera and retrofit a new aftermarket backup camera into the same location within the the trim molding.

The only hiccup that I ran into is that the reverse camera bolts were so rusted that I stripped them and had to use a Dremel to get them out. Thank you Michigan winters .













After the reverse camera was mounted, I fed the wiring through the trunk lid via the OEM rubber grommet location that was used for the OEM reverse camera.





I grounded the negative terminal to a bolt that I found near the top of the trunk lid.



After everything was successfully wired, I proceeded to fed the yellow RCA cord through the roof and all the way to the main center console. Because the cord was thin enough, I simply tucked it inside the C pillar area. I didn’t bother removing everything inside the trunk and the rear seats just to hide a 2 foot section of cord. It would have added an hour or so to the installation.







After getting past the C pillar, I zip tied the cord to the OEM wire loom that runs along the door sills and fed it across the footwell to the main unit.

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H. Microphone
For several years, I had been using an iSimple microphone that I installed to the outside of the OEM map light housing. However, moving forward with the goal of maintaining a 100% OEM look, I decided to purchase a different microphone that fits the same shape and contour of the OEM microphone inside the map light bezel. I spliced and added a JST connector to both ends for an easier installation.

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I. Electrical Hazard
One day, I was about halfway through a 2-hour drive and the audio cut out completely. I restarted the Carpuride unit and also reset the iSimple device. After doing this maybe 3 or 4 times in a row, everything began working. After another 10 minutes or so, the audio cut out again. This happened several times.

Perplexed, I powered everything down and continued my drive (PS – this is why toggle buttons are a life saver). When I got home, I took apart everything to see what the issue was.




Firstly, I found that the auxiliary cord on the iSimple device was loose. I thought this was the issue, so I reinforced the connection with electrical tape.

Secondly, and more importantly, the iSimple device was extremely hot. When I went to grab the unit, I noticed that the OEM amplifier was the source of the issue. Because I had mounted the iSimple device on top of the OEM amplifier, the heat protruding from the amplifier was causing the iSimple device to overheat and shut down. I do find it strange that this only recently became an issue given the iSimple had been mounted that way for nearly four years. Maybe it was because I also had mounted the timer delay on top of the amplifier? Either way, I re-routed the iSimple device to my glove box, allowing it to breath more. Similar to the navigation screen, I really liked this idea so that I could have access to the unit at any given point in time. However, the drawback is that I no longer can use my glove box for storage.

Since re-routing the iSimple device, I have not had a single issue in over 2 months of normal use.

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J. Steering Wheel Controller
My future plan is to hardwire the Carpuride SWC and remap my HandsFreeLink buttons.

Below are a few pictures of tests that I performed when I opened up the controller and tested the step down converter.

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K. Final Pictures

Matt_ATX

Wow.. thanks for this. Tons of good information.

I don't think iSimple still sells the Honda/Acura specific device anymore. Do you know if one of their other units integrates easily or would someone need to search out the old unit on ebay or something?

Thanks,
Matt

wusty23jd

I really like the iSimple devices, because they offer the most input options. You can obviously use bluetooth, but you can also use USB, port 1, and port 2. This allowed me to still have a "spare" auxiliary port in the rare event that I also wanted to connect something else to my radio other than the hidden Carpuride. Most other devices just have a USB and Aux input.

Grom also offers a similar product and is a fairly reputable company. However, I personally don't have experience with them:

https://gromaudio.com/store/bt3_adap...interface.html

I have a 3g Acura TL and I know the most popular brands used are iSimple devices or USA Spec devices. If you navigate to USA Spec's website, you'll be able to enter your vehicle's specific information and find out which device suites your needs (ACU or HON3 version):

https://www.usaspec.com/p-314-bt45-acu.aspx
https://www.usaspec.com/p-315-bt45-hon3.aspx

dexdiman

Wow, this is a fantastic write up! I'm currently going down this route as well. I won't be going as deep as you but I will be stealing an idea or two. *wink*

I have an alternative to retaining the factory steering wheel controls with the screen/carplay replacement. You've gone pretty far down the iSimple route and may not want to swap that whole system out, but for someone attempting this new, this might be an alternative.

A couple years ago I installed a BT45-HON Bluetooth unit in my car. This unit retains the factory steering wheel controls, converting the CH +/- buttons to track skip/reverse. I picked up this unit because it can connect to the car via Bluetooth. I did a quick and dirty hookup in my car and I was able to use the factory CH +/- buttons on the steering wheel to control the music. It was really easy, straight forward, and just worked. I think what happens is since wireless Carplay is over Bluetooth it allows you to connect to the head unit for Carplay, and also the BT45 unit for audio. The AEROLD unit supports wired Carplay but I'm pretty sure the iPhone disables the ability to use Bluetooth audio when wired. So it has it's limitations but it's easy.

wusty23jd

Thank you very much for the kind words. I appreciate your feedback.

Essentially, the iSimple and BT45-HON do the exact same thing, so the iSimple itself isn't a limitation. Before my current setup, we used to connect our iPhones to the RDX this way and we were able to use the CH +/- to skip tracks as well. It was a super nice feature.

In case I didn't clarify, I have the Carpuride W701 Pro model which support dual-Bluetooth. The problem with Carpuride's Bluetooth feature is that the audio is extremely slow, almost at 0.5x speed and I'm not sure why. Bluetooth quality was just "okay" as well. I never liked using auxiliary inputs before, but the sound quality that you can get through this connection is unparalleled. It's hard going back to Bluetooth audio for me.

In your setup with the Aerold unit, are you saying that your phone is 1) connected to the the BT45-HON and also simultaneously 2) connected to the Aerold unit for CarPlay? If so, I've connected my iPhone audio to the iSimple device this way to maintain steering wheel controls, but they only worked part of the time. When I would hit CH + for instance, the songs would continue skipping until I manually touched the screen to click Play. It was odd. Maybe that's a Carpuride problem? I'm curious to hear more.

dexdiman

Ah ok, I must have missed that. I also have never heard of iSimple.

Interesting. I don't know much about Carpuride other than hearing their name researching these little carplay units, and I haven't had that issue with the Aerold. Time my tell different.

Yes, as far as I can see. When I setup the Aerold unit to connect to the car via Bluetooth, a screen popped up saying to connect my phone directly to the car's Bluetooth (the BT45 unit). Then it just worked. I had Carplay on the screen and sound was playing through the vehicle. I don't think the Aerold unit is connecting to the car at all. The phone is just splitting duty and using two Bluetooth connections at the same time. I just did a quick and dirty test and have only used it for about 10 minutes to verify everything as I had hoped before starting to rip apart the car, but during that time I had no issue skipping/reversing and the audio sounded just as good as before. I'd be curious with more time if I run into the issue you saw with the skip/reverse not functioning like it should.

wusty23jd

That's great additional feedback. I think what you are saying is exactly right. Your phone is basically connecting to two different Bluetooth devices at once and your Aerold device is basically just a screen that displays CarPlay.

It's been some time since I've tried my Bluetooth configuration. Maybe I'll have to try it out again and see if I yield different results.

dexdiman

Thought I'd chime back in here. I've been running my carplay setup for a couple weeks now and aside from a couple quirks it's been really solid. I haven't had any issue with skip/rev like you mentioned earlier. I decided not to mount the new screen in the OEM location (even though I could have) as the screen feels a little too far away. I do like your idea of relocating the OEM screen to retain it's function so I might do that. In the mean time I just unplugged it.

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I'm glad to hear that your Bluetooth skip/reverse buttons have continued to work favorably for you. It would be great if we could somehow find a way to have a physical Siri button work as well.

I do have one question. When your phone attempts to connect to two separate Bluetooth devices simultaneously, do you ever have issues with your phone's audio output connecting to the Aerold unit first instead of your RDX's stereo? I've read that some people have that issue when using portable units that offer dual-Bluetooth. Additionally, I've read that some people experience their phone's audio output switching from the car stereo to the portable unit whenever Siri is pushed.

dexdiman

I haven't experienced that issue, but the head unit takes longer than the OEM system to get up and running so my phone has already connected to the car's Bluetooth before Carplay starts. There is a little audio quirk, when the head unit gets up and running and Carplay connects it will play the audio through the car then switch to the unit for a second or two then switch back to the car and play totally fine until the next time I start the car up. Almost like head unit is finalizing the Bluetooth connections. I have yet to use Siri so I don't know about the audio coming through the head unit. I never setup the mic on the unit as I still use the car's OEM calling integration.

aceventurafan

Does anyone know what wire I need to look at for the steering wheel control? Im installing one of those modules to keep the UP/DOWN vol controls for my aftermarket Alpine stereo. Thank you,

Jamey

RDX_indy

awesome write up. Thanks!