Alternative unit for Lotus a Evora

[Dr_Rick]

So, I have a 2009 Lotus Evora, with an OEM Alpine IVA-W505R. That's double din, which I'd like to retain the scale of, no single dins. Rear camera and mic need to be reused, as will be the speakers as they'll do the job.

Frankly it's rubbish. The sat nav is a pop out Blackbird unit which is 8-bit quality. There is no DAB, and the Bluetooth won't connect to my current phone (I can't see it, and it can't search for my phone. More confusingly, there are two Bluetooth connection options; the Blackbird sat nav module, and the main head unit. Neither connect to my phone.

Prior to this car I was using a DAB based radio, with satnav on my phone via Waze. Never use CDs, but did use the HDD for music storage, and Bluetooth streaming. That was a Mark Levinson system in a Lexus ISF.

I've never had to replace a factory system before, so I'm a little lost. Based on the above, any suggestions? Don't want to go too crazy on price.

[Dr_Rick]

s2kjock said:

I am in a similar position with the OEM Evora Alpine unit, although am unsure if it is worth replacing as I don't do that much mileage in it. Mine connects fine to my Android phone via Bluetooth though - was trying it out for the first time at the weekend. have you tried the "remove fuse reset" on the head unit? I periodically need to do this when I get the grey screen of doom, so might be worth trying to rattle the Bluetooth into life - from memory, in the menu settings there is a Bluetooth on/off setting, but presumably you have checked that?

The head unit did refuse to download my phonebook from the phone at the weekend (something I did accidentally a few years ago not appreciating it would stick all my work contacts onto the head unit which I then had to delete).

My rear view camera has pretty much packed up, so that is more of a concern and if I replace it I don't know whether a new one is compatible with other head units should I upgrade later.

Interesting, I'll try the fuse-pulling idea and see if anything changes.

I had a quick look at the Parrot Asteroid Smart and I think it does what I want. Old version of Android or not. I just can't see the benefits of paying twice as much for a Pioneer unit.

Bigger issue at the moment is the microswitch in the drivers door having packed up so I need to replace the latch first. Then I'll deal with the 'want' items after the 'need' items.