So I got bored one day and had a tablet that I recently bought so I decided to install it in my TL...
took me 4 hours in total from start to finish.


Some words of advice to anyone that is going to be doing this mod, get the Grom audio usb adapter...


turned out great...


here's a few pictures...
for those of you who are wondering... I used a first generation Nexus 7 32gb.
I know a few people on here have done this already, but I haven't heard of anyone doing this mod with using the grom audio usb adapter... it works AWESOME!!!


when I turn my car on, it turns on the tablet and when I switch to the usb (which says CD-C on my top display in the car) it automatically opens the app to play music and it starts playing music all on its own! it also pauses the music on the android when I switch the stereo to radio or cd and then resumes it again (from exactly where it left off) when you switch back to the usb input in your car. best thing about using the grom usb adapter is that it also charges the tablet while playing music from it! and those of you who are not familiar with the usb adapter, you can use your factory stereo buttons to skip songs and ff/rw them also.

 

looks great, i might do this in the future..

 

Dang...looks good...i really want to do this same thing with an iPad mini and isimple but I don't have Nav version.

 

that looks great! I wonder if you could trim out more of the plastic on the factory trim piece and fit a even bigger tablet in there? good job though!

 

you can do this on the non nav version also, when I was doing research on converting mine, I came across a lot of people who also installed a tablet In the non nav version. I didn't look into it too much but it looks a little more involved because you have to relocate that hvac screen. search google images.


this works really well if you have the usb adapter and the alinq app for android. im not sure how well it would work with the apple products.

 

I'm sure it can be done, I actually thought about doing that, but I didn't feel the need for anything bigger plus it looks so original without cutting anything. I am really happy with the end result.

 

So in your installation, you're not using the 3.5mm audio out from the tablet?

Also, I see you have your own wires coming out of the buttons below the tablet. Did you extend the tablet's buttons to Nav buttons?

 

I didnt use the 3.5mm audio but I did connect a wire amd ran it to my armrest (thats also where my usb connection is) just so that if I ever did want to use it I wont have to pull everything apart again.
And as for the wires coming out of the tablet... yes I did run the wires to the nav buttons so that I can still turn it on amd off and shut the screen off if ever needed and also have volume control. (I used the map/guide button as the power button amd the zoom +/- as the volume up and down)

 

Well done.

You mentioned something about the tablet charging while playing music.
Does it also charge when you're on a different source? In other words, when the car is on, is the tablet charging?

 

As long as the stereo is on (doesn't matter what source) the tablet will be charging

 

Cool setup! I also like the choice of the nexus 7! great tablet. great fit too because of the size. I always wanted to do this but definitely feel i'd screw something up. Maybe one day when I have more experience.

Also was it really -17 degrees out when you took those pics??? crazy..

 

i did some research on tablets to see the best one for this type of setup and the nexus 7 is the one I chose...


and yea it was really -17 degrees Celsius outside... I had a little heater in the back seat on that was plugged into an extension cord. it was really warm in the car.


if you can used a screw driver and a soldering iron, you can do this yourself, its really easy.

 

I'd love to do something like this one day.
My only concerns are
- losing my back up camera
- When using Sirus/XM can anything be seen on the tablet?

 

Any problems with the touchscreen when its super cold out? My acer's touchscreen doesnt work until it heats up

 

^^^ my nexus 7 works fine



effin sick OP !!! the solution where you can switch from Pandora/CD changer is just awesome !!!

 

Well done, Madness.

 

OP: you did this in 4 hours!?!?! Very impressive! Are there any gaps between the Nexus and the plastic bezel? This is a great way to keep the Acura TL feeling like a more recently made car - great navigation quality, bluetooth and Pandora integration, videos, etc.

Thanks to everyone who's completed this and will help answer questions for the rest of us out!

 

Hey how did you mount the tablet?

 

You dont really need to mount it... this may be hard to believe but the first gen nexus 7 fits perfectly in that spot. I added some thin sponge strips that we use at work to get rid of dash rattle noises... it worked really well. Obviously not everyone has access to things like that so what I would suggest is cutting a sponge into thin strips and 2 side tape or glue it around the edge of the tablet before u put it in place... I liked the sponge idea because it also acts as a shock absorber for the tablet.

 

Quick question, when you did this, does the cd player still work or no?

 

Everything works as normal...when you install the grom adapter... if you hit the cd button again... it changes to cd-c (cd changer) and then it plays the music on the tablet automatically

 

awesome man. Thanks! also, idk if you would know this. I have an 04 non nav base. Im planning on doing this swap n i dont want to move the non nav screen down. i would like to run a factory navi hvac/clock screen at the top, do u know how much of a pain it would be to run it. also, is there any soldering involved when it came to the install?

 

If you want to change the top screen I think you will have to buy the different wire that goes from the back of the radio up to that screen. I soldered all the connections just to be sure they wouldn't come apart. This will all be easy when you have everything taken apart. There is lots of room to work.

 

I'm planning to start this project, and found the following website and youtube videos to be very helpful:

- 1st of 4 videos, but the 3rd is about a problem with the Subaru Legacy and isn't as applicable for the Acura TL since the Nexus 7 is a perfect fit.
- 2nd video (clears up why you only need to wire the power button, not the volume buttons)
- 4th video (probably less helpful - more about the software)
http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/tablet-pc-carputeri-149420.html[/url] - this is the full story from the guy that made the videos

Good luck! I'll post my thoughts when I execute this project...

 

I was about to say, you dont need to wire the volume buttons...


I am using an app called Tasker. I have a total of 4 profiles and 2 toggle features.
1st toggle feature toggles between 2 profiles which are Driving and Stop driving. Driving turns on all the radios and sets volume to max. The stop driving, does the exact opposite and locks the screen up.

the 2nd toggle feature toggles between brightness. So I have a day mode and night mode. Day mode turns the brightness to med-high and the night mode, tones it down to low-ish. This way the brightness is not overwhelming when driving at night.


my tablet it rooted but running OEM rom and I use an app called FastBoot to reboot the tablet.

the minute I turn the car on, the power from the charger turns the screen on, I log in, hit the start driving button, all radios are on, it connects to the wifi from my phone (tether), connects to Bluetooth (OBD2 dongle)....

I play pandora using a aux cable connected to a processor via the factory amp/speakers...

I have the USB cable/charger exposed and another reason for that is if I want to connect the tablet to the laptop, I can always unplug it from the usb charger and into the laptop using an extension

I will post some pix of my setup, hopefully, ya'll will like it....its easy and not as tough since relocating some of the switches/chargers can be very tough

 

hey how did you get the volume buttons to work? i rather just wire it up with the power button

 

^^^ I have a shortcut on screen which takes me to volume control

 

or you can use an app like this:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d....cb.volumePlus

or this for volume and brightness control....datnammit, all the time I spend writing the logic for tasker

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...s.sliderwidget

 

looks awesome man

 

Awesome job OP

 

OP. Is this still operating well for you? Did you root your tablet and use tasker or is it literally just plugged into the grom audio and done? I was planning on doing the install as well using audio grom. Is the adapter your only power source or do you have a usb hub with otg y cable? Also could you maybe give me some details on how you wired the buttons? I'm really interested in this mod and any more insight would be greatly appreciated

 

i know this thread is a bit old but i had a question about this setup using the grom audio adapter vs a USB DAC... can anyone with some experience with both products be able to chime in about the audio quality?
the grom adapter route sounds much more simplistic than doing the usb dac

 

also i read on the grom audio website it says it will charge your device: 1A @ 5V... that seems a bit low considering i think the standard charger is at 1.5A @ 5V... even if it is charging while your running the screen wouldnt the low amperage still cause it to slowly drain the battery?