Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

Picked up a 2014 MDX SH-AWD Tech / Rear Entertainment / Advance yesterday, after years of being away from the brand. Vehicle drives nicer than the Mercedes ML, acceleration feels on par with or better than the ML (4.6L V8), and the equipment I purchased exceeds any comparable offering from Benz except for the Bang & Olufsen stereo, and the massage seats.

Interesting config I have; no running boards, no fogs, but hitch and tow package, roof rails, along with some adhered wind deflectors that are a hair dryer and an afternoon away from being removed (unless someone here says "For the love of God! Leave them on there they are a God-Send!)

I'm already (as all car geeks will) shopping the advance running boards, splash guards, fog lights, and "common upgrades" such as replacing bulb X for a brighter LED (namely backup lights, fog lamps potentially, and some of the interiors like the visor).

Not crazy that the running boards look like you're doing some xacto knife work to install them - and would love insight on if that's a big PITA or not. Also looks like the fogs are a front bumper pop and drop - and with all the sensor arrays installed, I'm curious what I'm getting into on that front.

I have the all-season mats, but have become a big fan of the weathertech liners in recent years; they've been awesome on my Ridgeline. REALLY want a trunk mat that folds with the seats, as this "Daddy-Wagon" is going to essentially be the soccer-assault command center.

Also interested in any power-adders that aren't a huge ordeal but don't compromise sound/ride quality. I invested a mint in my 4G TL hunting for ponies that just never appeared (and am switching to this from a 600hp/700ft/lb Mercedes and in go-go withdrawl). K&N filter is on order already, as it's returnable in Amazon land if not satisfied.

As I understand it, the 2018 is FINALLY getting CarPlay (seriously, why is this feature such a huge ordeal with manufacturers....I do software for a living, this is a easy, turnkey stuff) and wondering if anyone's started hunting down retrofitting the new software on the old head units, or if they've found a crashed one and plucked the stereo yet.

neoshi

Huh, so is it an Advance or a Tech? Sounds like an Advance w/ RES if it came with roof rails, but they could have been added quite easily as well.

The AA/CP head unit in the 18 is not just a software change. It is hardware AND software. Things like both the touch screen portion (now capacitive instead of resistive) of the head unit and the upper screen were changed. There's also a new control unit with an added "smartphone" button, a new AA/CP CPU unit, apparently a TCU change, a new harness, and a couple of other things. It won't be easy, but hopefully someone will attempt it.

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

It’s an advance, I believe. Has the lane keeping, adaptive cruise, vented seats, park sensors.

doesnt have a heated wheel, which surprised me as well.

has the rear AC controls and entertainment wide screen.

Additional curiosity....how in the #%% do you get the front license plate bracket off?

neoshi

Yeah the heated steering wheel from 14 was an option no matter what trim you got.

You take off the license plate first, then you will see two screws that go into the bumper.

By the way, if you want to retrofit smartphone mirroring in your 14, I have a Naviks unit I'm about to put up for sale.

like2ace

What’s wrong with the Naviks? Doesn’t work?? Asking because I was looking at phone mirroring Naviks myself.

neoshi

Oh no it works as described. It's actually quite nice to have Waze on the screen. Just that my phone doesn't have MHL capability because it uses DisplayPort over USB-C, so mirroring requires me to use a wifi device that interferes with the audio output from my phone. You can just use aux to bridge the gap though. For me though, I tried it for about 2 weeks and thought... well, I can turn on the wifi hotspot, mirror the device, even have my wife watch movies while I drive, but she always falls asleep while I drive and I only care for navigation through mirroring. My phone's screen is plenty big for navigation and I just whip it out and slap it on my windshield mount and go, so I have limited benefits from it. I know someone out there will use it to its full potential, so its better off with someone else than me.

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

The license plate bracket is a little more complicated than a couple screws. (I've torn down and personally rebuilt a D motor, 2 B motors, and J motor and done or helped with more motor swaps, stereo installs, brake kits, and suspension changes than I can recount - I'm a little past bumper screws )
It has some rivet type push pins. There are 3 holding it on. I've driven the expansion cores out of them, but the center one will NOT release. I'm not really into yanking on it until something crunches; there's too much resistance on it. Something is seriously cleated in something besides ABS plastic.

Pseudomaniac

iTrader: (1)

Curious about this Naviks thing too. I've seen a few of the online videos. None of them ever seem to clarify how you get the upper screen to act like the upper screen normally acts in the car, and not just as a TV screen.

I put an old Apple TV 3 I had laying around on the rear HDMI and electric plug, and use my iPhone as the Wifi network. Allows the kiddos to stream anything they want in the back with the apple TV remote, or using the phone as the remote, or casting/projecting from any iOS device in the car to the TV. No snips, no clips, no disconnects - just an AppleTV between the console and the drivers seat. Can't imagine improving on that a whole lot in the back, or a situation where I need the front screen to display what they're watching - but it WOULD be nice to be able to wirelessly mirror the phone to the top navi screen.

like2ace

Not to hijack the thread but upon further research, the Naviks install looks quite complicated. Where did you get it installed and which phone do you use which doesn't have MHL? I think iPhones do have this. But yes to invest $500 all said and done for limited use defeats the purpose. I wish there was a local Naviks installer in Houston to consult.

neoshi

Oh man... someone really used a really beefy and unnecessary positive attachment method for your MDX. I wonder if you need to remove the bumper to get to the back of it to remove the pins. While the bracket does have 3 attachment points, the bumper only has two dimples. It sucks when someone uses that third because if you ever try to remove it and put plugs in, it's right on the apex on the bumper, so the plug doesn't sit flush, or people drill it slightly off, so it will bother the heck out of you.

neoshi

So about Naviks, there is a button that it comes with that you press to basically "intercept" the video feed to the top screen, allowing the Naviks unit to be the new video processing unit for it. You can also tap into the RES unit to display the video up there as well, but it requires a few extra steps. But like you, I find it unnecessary and would rather isolate the video unit for the RES to the standard provided inputs.

As for the install, it is actually quite easy. I took my sweet time to not damage any trim parts and it took me about an hour to get everything hooked up. There will be some minor annoyances like the screws holding the head unit in from the bottom are a hassle to reach and the front four are the type of screws that pull itself into a hole and hold in place rather than threading in. You will see what I mean if you install one. After those, it's just a yank, undoing two harness heads in the back to plug into the Naviks harness, and plugging the other end back into the head unit. Then you just reinstall everything. The most time consuming part is figuring out how you want to mount everything to prevent rattles because the space is wide open without a RES DVD player on Tech models and still relatively open on the ADV with RES (and you could easily mount via double sided tape I suppose to the top of the DVD player). When I decided to take it back out, the process took me about 15 minutes total. It really is quite easy. I'll try to find the PDF of the install manual tonight, mark up where their instructions are not exactly clear, and then post it up for you to see. I probably should have taken a video lol but it really is quite an easy DIY.

I use a Pixel, which lacks MHL capability. iPhones do have it easy, as you can just use the lightning to hdmi adapter. Samsung S7 and later I think also still support MHL (S6 does not, so beware), so also an easy plug in process.