[JDM4U]

Helllo everyone,

Been a while since I've made a post, but haven't really been doing much with the car until reacently. Decided to get an aftermarket head unit for my 2013 Si.

I had previously installed a 14-15 Si head unit that I managed to purchase locally, but I still wanted to have the functionality of Android Auto on my radio. I started doing some research for what would be the head unit I chose. So a few things I took into consideration. Originally, I wanted something that would fit in the opening of the 14-15 radio. The viewable screen is 7in but that's not including the touch buttons on the left. Overall, the dimension is close to 9" diagonally. Now as mentioned, I have a 2013, so when I upgrade to a 14-15 radio, I went all the way and added the HDMI/USB port on the lower console as well. That being said, since I made that addition, I wanted a head unit that has an HDMI port, so I started looking at the Floating displays that were available and narrowed it down to 3 options:

1. Pioneer DMH-WC6600NEX
2. Sony XAV-AX8100
3. Alpine ILX-F409

So originally my first choice was the Pioneer, but after doing some research and seeing reviews, I decided against that pretty quickly. Lots of complaints and video showing how laggy the response is from the software, and even seeing/using it on display at Best Buy proved that. I though maybe it was because it's a display model and people just mess around with it as much as possible, but reviews proved otherwise. So that was removed from the list.

The Sony was a strong contender. Reviews were really positive on this head unit and there weren't many, if any, complaints on it from my research. The difference between this one and the other 2 is that it has a resistive display compared to capacitive and I wasn't a fan of the HDMI port location. Instead of being at the back of the body, it was located under the volume buttons on the screen itself, and it was a mini HDMI port. So the wire would be visible and most likely in the way, but for the price it was something I was willing to work with. Unfortunately, it has been unavailable for a few months and no sign of it coming in stock anytime soon, so nothing I could do about that and moved on the my final option on the list.

Enter the Alpine ILX-F409. So only reason this was last on my list is because I couldn't find much info on this particular model, and the reviews that I did find were minimal and not very in depth. I couldn't even find the official dimensions of the screen, but I did find info on the previous model, the ILX-F309, which is basically the same item minus some technical differences. This radio was in stock and ended up ordering it through Crutchfield along with iDatalink Maestro RR and the rHO2 harness to connect to the car. Now the installation process.

Ever since I installed the 14-15 radio, the C connector is different between the 2013 and 14/15 models, luckily the 14/15 radio I bought had the connectors attached so I had to splice the wires into the new connector. There were 2 wires that didn't have an equivalent on the 14/15 connector, so I followed what I saw in the wiring diagrams. In the end, the bluetooth buttons stopped working after this swap and haven't figured out a way to make them work, but everything else works fine. So here's a list of the items I used for the installation.

1. Alpine ILX-F409
2. iDatalink Maestro RR
3. iDatalink Maestro rHO2 wiring harness
4. iDatalink Maestro USB2 adapter (to maintain OEM USB port)
5. Axxess AX-HON-HD1 (HDMI retention cable)
6. Scosche HA1718B Double Din Kit (For use with 2013 Navigation Bezel)
7. Metra 40-HD11 antenna adapter
8. Axxess AX-TRIG1 Universal Bypass Module
9. 2013 OEM Si radio bezel for NAV radio (part 77250-TR7-C11ZA )
10. Misc wire connectors from Crutchfield/Local auto store

When it comes to the Maestro, I did the flash for the 14-15 radio, since I had swapped the C connector. With the flash, everything works except for the bluetooth buttons on the bottom portion of the steering wheel. I'm not sure if it's because of the splicing I did of the connector or what. As I metioned, the 13 radio C connector had 2 extra wires that the 14/15 connector did not show, but following the wiring diagrams I found online, I connected them to the port they should belong to on the connector but don't think it made a difference. I'm sure it's something to do with the splicing because when I flashed the Maestro module, it did give me the option to customize the mapping on the bluetooth buttons. The circular controls for vloume/track do work fine. The wiring can seem like a lot and can be intimidation, but if you follow the instructions on both the headunit and maestro install diagram, you shouldn't have an issue. I also added a bypass module for the video playback. I did splice into the video wires for the reverse camera on the iMID display so it can be mirrored on the head unit, but the picture is weird. It gets cut and shows the top portion on the bottom and bottom portion on the top, the video still looks good on the iMID though, so not sure what that could be. The RCA cable I spliced to is from Amazon and had a red wire sticking out, not sure if I had to connect that red wire to something else, I followed some instructions I found on the forum for that and mentioned the red wire didn't have to be connected to anything.

Overall it was a fun project. I am very happy with the headunit and how it looks. The response of the capacitive screen is amazing. resolution is 480p but looks great especially with video playback. I love that I finally have Android Auto available. I'm working on uploading a video on youtube so I'll post a link to that once I get it uploaded.

Time for pictures!

The car receiving the upgrade

The 14/15 radio

The upgrades through the years.

The harnesses

Dash teardown

Figured I'd start upgrading the front speakers. Currently have Kicker Coaxials, replacing with Kicker Components. Will be getting an amp eventually.

All wiring connected

Night it was finally installed

Daytime shot

Finally having Android Auto on my radio, priceless.

If you're on IG you can follow my page: @that_blue_fb6

I'll try to answer any questions you may have but everything I learned about installing this, I found in this forum. Thanks for reading!

 

[kev604]

Nicely done looks really good so jealous.👍

 

[BWill9886]

Nice write-up. I enjoyed you going into some of the details of your somewhat unique setup.

I can't do these new "stick-on-screen" setups, but I understand why people want them.

Good luck with the rest of your setup.

 

[DONFB6]

Looks super clean and kinda looks oem tbh but i have to ask this lol where you get the headlights from, been going crazy looking for a set

 

[JDM4U]

Looks super clean and kinda looks oem tbh but i have to ask this lol where you get the headlights from, been going crazy looking for a set

I actually bought them a couple of years ago off of someone on offer up. They had a 9th gen but it got totaled before he was able to put them on. It was a really lucky find. They do pop up on eBay from time to time though, but usually they're from the Asian Market, so they're made for RHD cars. From my understanding, a projector swap from retrofit source should fix that and give you a LHD pattern which is another project I need to do lol.

 

[Beeshabo]

Excellent job man! Looks OEM.

 

[jn2k108]

My god that screen is ginormous lol


Sent from my iPhone 13 Pro while on the toilet.

 

[JDM4U]

My god that screen is ginormous lol


Sent from my iPhone 13 Pro while on the toilet.

Funny thing is there's an 11" version also lol. That would be overkill for this car imo

 

[joeybalboa]

Helllo everyone,
Been a while since I've made a post, but haven't really been doing much with the car until reacently. Decided to get an aftermarket head unit for my 2013 Si.
192.168.100.1 192.168.1.1

I had previously installed a 14-15 Si head unit that I managed to purchase locally, but I still wanted to have the functionality of Android Auto on my radio. I started doing some research for what would be the head unit I chose. So a few things I took into consideration. Originally, I wanted something that would fit in the opening of the 14-15 radio. The viewable screen is 7in but that's not including the touch buttons on the left. Overall, the dimension is close to 9" diagonally. Now as mentioned, I have a 2013, so when I upgrade to a 14-15 radio, I went all the way and added the HDMI/USB port on the lower console as well. That being said, since I made that addition, I wanted a head unit that has an HDMI port, so I started looking at the Floating displays that were available and narrowed it down to 3 options:

1. Pioneer DMH-WC6600NEX
2. Sony XAV-AX8100
3. Alpine ILX-F409

So originally my first choice was the Pioneer, but after doing some research and seeing reviews, I decided against that pretty quickly. Lots of complaints and video showing how laggy the response is from the software, and even seeing/using it on display at Best Buy proved that. I though maybe it was because it's a display model and people just mess around with it as much as possible, but reviews proved otherwise. So that was removed from the list.

The Sony was a strong contender. Reviews were really positive on this head unit and there weren't many, if any, complaints on it from my research. The difference between this one and the other 2 is that it has a resistive display compared to capacitive and I wasn't a fan of the HDMI port location. Instead of being at the back of the body, it was located under the volume buttons on the screen itself, and it was a mini HDMI port. So the wire would be visible and most likely in the way, but for the price it was something I was willing to work with. Unfortunately, it has been unavailable for a few months and no sign of it coming in stock anytime soon, so nothing I could do about that and moved on the my final option on the list.

Enter the Alpine ILX-F409. So only reason this was last on my list is because I couldn't find much info on this particular model, and the reviews that I did find were minimal and not very in depth. I couldn't even find the official dimensions of the screen, but I did find info on the previous model, the ILX-F309, which is basically the same item minus some technical differences. This radio was in stock and ended up ordering it through Crutchfield along with iDatalink Maestro RR and the rHO2 harness to connect to the car. Now the installation process.

Ever since I installed the 14-15 radio, the C connector is different between the 2013 and 14/15 models, luckily the 14/15 radio I bought had the connectors attached so I had to splice the wires into the new connector. There were 2 wires that didn't have an equivalent on the 14/15 connector, so I followed what I saw in the wiring diagrams. In the end, the bluetooth buttons stopped working after this swap and haven't figured out a way to make them work, but everything else works fine. So here's a list of the items I used for the installation.

1. Alpine ILX-F409
2. iDatalink Maestro RR
3. iDatalink Maestro rHO2 wiring harness
4. iDatalink Maestro USB2 adapter (to maintain OEM USB port)
5. Axxess AX-HON-HD1 (HDMI retention cable)
6. Scosche HA1718B Double Din Kit (For use with 2013 Navigation Bezel)
7. Metra 40-HD11 antenna adapter
8. Axxess AX-TRIG1 Universal Bypass Module
9. 2013 OEM Si radio bezel for NAV radio (part 77250-TR7-C11ZA )
10. Misc wire connectors from Crutchfield/Local auto store

When it comes to the Maestro, I did the flash for the 14-15 radio, since I had swapped the C connector. With the flash, everything works except for the bluetooth buttons on the bottom portion of the steering wheel. I'm not sure if it's because of the splicing I did of the connector or what. As I metioned, the 13 radio C connector had 2 extra wires that the 14/15 connector did not show, but following the wiring diagrams I found online, I connected them to the port they should belong to on the connector but don't think it made a difference. I'm sure it's something to do with the splicing because when I flashed the Maestro module, it did give me the option to customize the mapping on the bluetooth buttons. The circular controls for vloume/track do work fine. The wiring can seem like a lot and can be intimidation, but if you follow the instructions on both the headunit and maestro install diagram, you shouldn't have an issue. I also added a bypass module for the video playback. I did splice into the video wires for the reverse camera on the iMID display so it can be mirrored on the head unit, but the picture is weird. It gets cut and shows the top portion on the bottom and bottom portion on the top, the video still looks good on the iMID though, so not sure what that could be. The RCA cable I spliced to is from Amazon and had a red wire sticking out, not sure if I had to connect that red wire to something else, I followed some instructions I found on the forum
for that and mentioned the red wire didn't have to be connected to anything.

Overall it was a fun project. I am very happy with the headunit and how it looks. The response of the capacitive screen is amazing. resolution is 480p but looks great especially with video playback. I love that I finally have Android Auto available. I'm working on uploading a video on youtube so I'll post a link to that once I get it uploaded.

Time for pictures!

The car receiving the upgrade
View attachment 494975

The 14/15 radio
View attachment 494976

The upgrades through the years.
View attachment 494977

The harnesses
View attachment 494978

Dash teardown
View attachment 494979

Figured I'd start upgrading the front speakers. Currently have Kicker Coaxials, replacing with Kicker Components. Will be getting an amp eventually.
View attachment 494980

All wiring connected
View attachment 494981

Night it was finally installed View attachment 494982

Daytime shot
View attachment 494983

Finally having Android Auto on my radio, priceless.
View attachment 494984

If you're on IG you can follow my page: @that_blue_fb6

I'll try to answer any questions you may have but everything I learned about installing this, I found in this forum. Thanks for reading!

Nicely done !! good job

 

[JDM4U]

Finally got a video uploaded on YouTube if anyone would like to see a mini review.

Alpine iLX-F409 in 9th gen Si

 

[JDM4U]

Hey everyone,

Well recently was finally lucky enough to get my hands on the Motorola MA1 Wireless Android auto Adapter/dongle. Works like a charm and have created a video for more info. Wanted to share in case those of you with aftermarket headunits without wireless android auto are interested in an alternative. All the videos I have found online about the dongle were reviews of it on factory radios and didn't find any that used it on an aftermarket radio.

Motorola MA1 video

 

[CivicMinded2014]

How well do the 14/15 radio and Maestro integrate with the iMID? Does it still show e.g. "FM" like it used to? With the Maestro, does it display any messages that it couldn't with the stock radio (e.g. CarPlay or Android Auto)?

 

[Lojkar]

What was the difficulty of the install of the 14-15 unit?

 

[JDM4U]

What was the difficulty of the install of the 14-15 unit?

Not difficult at all, it was basically plug and play. There was only one connector that the 13 harness didn't have, but wasn't really necessary since everything else worked. I think it was for bluetooth/handsfree because I did lose the handsfree connection. From what i've read it's because on the 12-13 the bluetooth module is separate from the head unit, located under the glove box. Do I miss it? Not really, since you can use the buttons on the headunit itself.