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The Porsche 911 is the epitome of timeless; I'd say it's one of very few cars that's truly remained the same since it's inception decades ago. With each iteration brings subtle changes, and unfortunately the 997 fell prey to mid 2000's technology - the very first "screen" in a 911. The aging, dated PCM is an eyesore in what otherwise is a beautiful and truly timeless interior.
I had a challenge - I wanted to update the PCM but do so in a way similar to how Singer approaches their cars - maintaing an OEM factory look, at modern standards. The traditional options are the alpine/pioneer/kenwood units, which are a good choice but I couldn't get around the fact that even with the bezel they looked clearly aftermarket. The Dynavin is a great option to keep an OEM look but they are hard to find and very expensive.
So I started digging and came across this Russian company called, "Smarty Trend". They offered similar to the dynavin - a plug and play unit with no need for a bezel, adapters, etc. After research, there was little to no information on them, except for the fact that they use a generic chinese android unit, rebrand it, and charge a lot more. This same unit can be found on Aliexpress a lot cheaper. At first this turned me off as I've heard horror stories of Aliexpress products. However after research on the unit itself, which is called a PX30, I found raving reviews. The plug and play unit is $240, and complete with MOST adapter is just $325 shipped. I had to give it a try.
Buying was very easy. I set up an Aliexpress account and linked my PayPal for added security. I placed the order on 7/20. The unit shipped on 7/22, and arrived on 7/24. Very quick shipping. The lack of full points for this category comes from the language barrier with the seller when asking questions. My questions were answered promptly but not entirely understood correctly.
Install Process 7/10
Install was easy in comparison to most PCM updates, but still required a few hours work and some basic knowledge of car electronics. The unit came as promised with plug and play cables, and fits right in the original PCM spot without any modifications. Everything transfers over and plugs into the new unit, and for those with Bose you just have to wire the MOST adapter power, ground, and acc wires. My main issue was the lack of instructions. For a unit tailor made for our cars specifically, you'd thing there would be tailor made instructions. I suppose as far as cost cutting measures, there could be worse.
Now on to the head unit itself -
it's a quad core running android 9.0. It has a built in DSP, wifi, bluetooth, steering wheel controls, Canbus, GPS, and options for front and rear camera. My initial impressions far exceeded my expectations. The unit looks great and performs very well.
Fit and finish 7/10
Overall pleased with the unit. From the front, the black metal finish looks great and fits snug in the dash of my 997. The OEM PCM has clips to hold it in place, while the Android unit does not. So I did have to improvise in order to lock it in to place. The rear of the unit shows some misaligned screws and has unlabeled connection points. The screen resolution is very high in comparison to the old Becker unit, but not that high by modern standards. The unit does only come in black finish, so I had to get creative with aerosol paint to attempt a match at the climate box below. Main points off in this category go to the fact that while everything works perfectly now, only time will tell how it really holds up.
Sound quality - 9/10
The sound quality truly surprised me. I was not expecting it to be such an upgrade from the Becker unit. The DSP allows you to really tune it to your liking and makes the whole system sound like an upgrade. The subwoofers kick harder, the tweeters are crisp and clean. I was thoroughly impressed.
Features - 10/10
This is by far the most customizable and feature rich unit you can have in a car, hands down. It allows you to do virtually everything you can do on a computer/smartphone. You have access to google chrome, waze, spotify, apple music, amazon, youtube, netflix, torque pro, or just about any app you can download right from the play store. You can even download custom launchers like Nova launcher and truly make it yours. I linked it with my phone so once I enter the car the hotspot automatically turns on and enables wifi anywhere from the unit. You have bluetooth calls and music as well as a microphone and GPS antenna that came with. You can also opt for a DAB radio tuner, CarPlay extension, and Backup camera if you choose.
Software - 6/10
The stock launcher it comes with is simple and easy to use but visually not to my liking. I downloaded a custom launcher called "CarWebGuru" from the Play store which enables some very cool features made specifically for cars. The main difficulty navigating this head unit will be for those familiar with iPhone. If you already have an android phone, you'll feel right at home using this unit.
Overall 8/10
For the price and simplicity of the upgrade, and the amount of features you get, I could not be happier.
Update 7/31 -
I didn't like any of the stock launchers on the Play Store, so in an attempt to emulate a similar look to modern day Porsche's, I am building my own. Here's my progress so far. The calendar screen changes to show music controls, weather, or calendar. The bottom icons you can swipe for different pages to display different widgets + icons. The map updates in real time to show location.
Torque pro widgets on the next page to monitor as i drive in real time. For night driving, a simple black screen with a clock on next page
Anything like this for iPhone -15 for 997.2 4 GTS ?
Whats everyone running for RGB settings? Started messing with it to match the factory color but figured I'd ask here in case someone already got it dialed in.
Whats everyone running for RGB settings? Started messing with it to match the factory color but figured I'd ask here in case someone already got it dialed in.
Played with it today. Ended at Red = 20, Green = 11, Blue = 0. That seemed pretty close for my dimness settings. Hope that helps
Any way to change what the buttons on the radio do for 7862 based units? I think they make no sense.
I would also like to change the launcher and add something more Porsche-y, is there a way to do that?
Launcher - try CarWebGuru or Agama. Both can be customised to include a Porsche logo. Penguin Launcher looks very much like the latest Porsche OEM launcher on newer cars, but I find it to be 'unfinished' and clunky to use. I use CWG, just as many prefer Agama. There are plenty to look out for on the Play Store.
Question for the rear camera gurus: my car is a manual 997.1 so theoretically, I shouldn't get any trigger signal like the automatic .1 does. However, I have rear parking sensors installed (that annoying beep when you get close to any type of object). It is only activated when I'm in reverse, so there must be some way the car knows what I'm doing. Is there any way to verify this? Can I enable something in the menu on the HU that should trigger the rear view camera (even if I don't have one) to verify if I get the CANBUS signal?
That’s why I specified that I have the rear sensor. Somehow it must know that’s in reverse to start beeping…
Forget the proximity sensors. Manual cars don't take the reverse camera trigger from the canbus. You will need to take camera power from a source which goes hot when reverse gear is selected.
That’s why I specified that I have the rear sensor. Somehow it must know that’s in reverse to start beeping…
i bet it gets the signal directly from the 12v reverse light. You can check by looking for the wiring diagrams for the rear sensor equipped cars - they have to be online somewhere as the cars have been on the road for 20 years.
i bet it gets the signal directly from the 12v reverse light. You can check by looking for the wiring diagrams for the rear sensor equipped cars - they have to be online somewhere as the cars have been on the road for 20 years.
Hello - quoting your latest message as I have a question on OwTosin units. I just received my base 2/32G for a 996. I was pleasantly surprised that the harness provided was P&P, however, the screen does not dim when I turn on the headlights, and the sound scale isn't quite right (at 2/30 it's already too loud). Have I missed something?
Also, I heard talk of hidden menus to customize LEDs color, customize the home screen, etc. Where can I find it? The stock setting menus is a little limited
and another question for the camera gurus: I installed the rear camera and am seeing horizontal lines wave when it comes on, on the screen. In the past I've used ground loop isolation devices to remedy that, but have to admit I do not understand why it occurs. I thought maybe I need to supply a better ground to the camera- currently it's getting ground from the drivers tail light. Any suggestions appreciated.
04-01-2024, 10:40 AM
997.2 4 GTS head unit Upgrade
