MrGatsby

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.

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/c550Clw

https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bXkCiAp6

Review -

Buying Process - 9/10

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

Brainz

Looks good. This is a popular mod for the 2004-2006 Cayennes too. I've had one for about 2 years. Works well. Check out "Car Launcher AGAMA" in the Play store - - it makes for a very modern, factory looking interface.

Carerra

Does it work with the Bose?

MrGatsby

It does. I have the Bose system in my car.

dynemd

Does this control the conversations on a cellphone also?

Tj40

If you want handsfree Bluetooth do you have to use the aftermarket mic they ship with it or can you wire in the existing handsfree mic in the car?

Thanks - looks like an interesting option..

TJ

PV997

Thanks so much to the OP for posting this and good work on the install. I'm going to pull the trigger on this at this as the price is just too good to pass up. Hope you don't mind a few questions.

Any issues getting the MOST interface to work or was it straightforward? Also did you lose your fader function as other have reported in the past with these aftermarket interfaces? Aside from losing the Sport Chrono interface to the head unit, have you noticed any other funny stuff or missing functions? The Sport Chrono is still accessible via the stalk so I don't mind loosing that. Hows the unit's responsiveness, does 2 GB RAM seem sufficient? Last off, are you using the $20 ELM OBD interface Aliexpress lists to link the engine performance to the unit?

Apologies for bombarding with questions but I'm really shocked things went so well for such a cheap price, particularly the optical interface to the Bose system. I'be been holding off on doing something like this for two years but now I'm running out of excuses not to. Great find and thanks for posting the pictures.

PV997

Went ahead and ordered it since I've got some vacation coming up and needed a good project. In addition to the optical interface I added the back-up camera ($7) and the ELM OBD bluetooth interface ($20).

One thing that MrGatsby mentioned was linking the Aliexpress purchase to a Paypal account. Not sure how he did this as it was never given as a payment option and I could not find any way to configure it. Some googling found a few stories that Aliexpress sellers don't want to take Paypal due to their ridiculously high 7% service fee.

I didn't want to give my credit card number to Aliexpress nor play email tag with China so I went another route. My credit card (Citibank) allows you to generate a virtual credit card. This is a unique credit card number (different from your normal account number) that expires after a month with a limit you can set (I used $400). The charge shows up on your usual statement and you can still dispute it if needed. Most big bank cards offer this as a free service and it worked great for me.

I'll post a follow up and review after I get it installed. It might not work perfectly but I figure I can live with that for 1/3 the cost of a name brand unit.

Presto

Thanks for the review. Looks like great value for money at that price point. Do They have anything for the 997.2?

thephenom

Anymore details on how you improvised to locking the new unit in place?

PV997

I'm getting ready to try this on my 06 C2S based on the OP's experience (not to mention that PCM 2.1 is ugly and pretty useless). Before doing so I wanted to understand what functions I'd lose from not having the PCM. None of these are deal breakers for me but I figured the list might be helpful. This applies to cars with the Bose system and Sport Chrono.


Fader function (Bose only) - This is probably the biggest impact. MOST adapters are two channel input devices so the new head unit's fader function will not work. Make sure you set the fader level where you want it with the PCM before removing it and the Bose amp will retain this level setting. Supposedly there is a 4 channel MOST unit available from a Russian company but they don't ship to the US and I couldn't find any other info. It also appears you can run the new head unit's subwoofer output directly to the Bose amp subwoofer (coax, not fiber) and retain control of it.

Edit (8/6): Optional - The Bose subwoofer contains its own amplifier. Bypassing the Bose amp and wiring the head unit's subwoofer output directly to the subwoofer input retains head unit subwoofer control. See the link for the Bose wiring diagram. Pins 10 (orange) and 22 (orange/brown) need to be depinned from the Bose connector and put into a new connector to mate with the HU subwoofer output. Leave the other wires alone as they are needed to power and wake-up the subwoofer amp. This is optional as the Bose amp will still sort out the low frequency info from the optical link and send it to the subwoofer.

Bose wiring diagram

Edit (8/6) Audiopilot (Bose only): Another interesting find as it looks like the Bose Audiopilot function can be retained (Audiopilot monitors the ambient cabin noise and makes volume and frequency response changes to compensate). The Bose wiring diagram shows the microphone is wired directly to the Bose amp (pins 26 and 27), not the PCM. If Audiopilot is turned on or off with the PCM prior to removal, the Bose amp should retain this like it does with the fader level. Note that if the subwoofer is wired to bypass the Bose amp as described above then Audiopilot won't change subwoofer level.

Edit (8/5) Volume function (Bose only): Definitely some unusual stuff with the volume and some of this is conjecture from what I've pieced together. The level of amplification appears to be controlled within the Bose amplifier via the PCM head unit's volume control. This level looks like it can't be changed once the PCM is removed. So prior to removing the PCM set the volume pretty high (maybe 75%) and the Bose will retain this after removal. This seems to set up some sort of scaling in the D/A conversion. This may be a bit of a balancing act as too low will limit the maximum sound level and too high may excessively amplify low-level noise such as alternator whine. Probably best to test it outside the dash with the engine running first in case the PCM needs to be temporarily reinstalled for adjustment.

Sport Chrono PCM control/display (sport chrono only) - Ability to control and read the sport chrono using the PCM will be lost. It can still be controlled through the stalk and lap times read on the tach display or the dash wart. The ability to read and store cumulative times will be lost as this was accessible through the PCM.

Individual memory functions (sport chrono only) - These are customizable functions that can be set on the PCM for the DRLs, door autolock, climate settings, the "home" light function, and the rear wiper. Ability to change these will be lost. These can be set with the PCM before removal and be retained, but it's not clear if they survive a battery disconnect. These are key unique so they should be set with each key prior to removing the PCM.

CD changer control (CD changer only) - ability to use/control the OEM CD changer will be lost

PCM radio info on the dash cluster - The second line tach display of the PCM radio/CD info will be lost (if this was configured). It can be set to display something else using the stalk. Edit (9/5): for the head unit discussed in this thread this function still works! The HU is apparently smart enough to output info on the Canbus and the tach display reads and displays it correctly.

PCM display "trip" info - The ability to read the cumulative engine time, average speed, mpg, etc. using the PCM display will be lost. The ability to set speed limits using the PCM will be lost. This info is still available using the stalk and the tach display and speed limits can be set with the stalk.

Phone or Navi control using the stalk (if equipped) - It's doubtful anyone actually used this but you could control/display the phone book and navi info on the tach display in addition to the PCM itself. This function will be lost.


That's all I've found. The fader and CD changer are the biggest concerns for me. I've never used the individual memory settings as the stock settings were fine. Pretty much every other useful feature is available through the stalk.

PV997

Perhaps the mods can whitelist me now as everything except my initial post has gone into moderation...

MrGatsby - Can you provide some info on how you are creating your own launcher in your 7/31 update? The photos look great and I'd like to do something similar.

Also, I put together a post listing every function (that I could find) that is lost when removing the PCM 2.1. It's in moderation, hopefully it shows up in this thread sooner or later.

galaxy collision

please let us know how it goes. i am looking to pull the trigger on this, but not based off of one persons post. thanks

Caustic

Awesome info.

andy93si

What is the boot/startup time of this unit from the key power on until music is playing?