General Look what I found, new touchscreen navigation HU for bravo

[BlackWind]

I was wondering about the bluetooth functions of the headunit... do you think that it syncs your phonebook and displays who is calling you without having to manually enter the contacts. I don't have B&M so this function is one of the main reasons to be interested in buying this unit.

So if anyone has any suggestions... they would be more than welcome

 

[aac]

I did buy one and received it today... I 'll try to install it within few days and share the results here, I hope...

and... it is not working I've tried everthing but it did not respond anything... I'will try to open it up and check it if any cable detached or something similar...

 

[STILO NEWBIE]

and... it is not working I've tried everthing but it did not respond anything... I'will try to open it up and check it if any cable detached or something similar...

In what way? not responding at all? check ur power, fuses etc...

 

[ascott92]

and... it is not working I've tried everthing but it did not respond anything... I'will try to open it up and check it if any cable detached or something similar...

Will they accept it back? If so, you may be better getting another one. Any warranty may be void if you open it up.

 

[aac]

In what way? not responding at all? check ur power, fuses etc...

no problem with power or fuses.. I will se if there is an an internal one...

Will they accept it back? If so, you may be better getting another one. Any warranty may be void if you open it up.

they can accept it back.. but shipping to China from Turkey is not cheap.. and also I will have to pay tax again when I receive a new one... so, I'll try to fix it at the weekend.. if I won't, maybe I can buy an other one and keep this one as a spare or sell it via ebay.. or directly to trash can...

 

[Tad-bravo]

It's very unlikely that they would send you one that's not working at all. Even in china they quality test every unit before packing it.

 

[aac]

there is no visible damage ... I think something inside has detached during the trip ( I hope )

 

[STILO NEWBIE]

no disrespect, but isn't a guy here said they have fitted that units on many Bravos in China? why don't you take some pic. of how you wired your unit? as Tad pointed out, it is very unusual for something just don't work, it got to be something to do with the connection, is it you need to turn the power cable round or soemthing? I remember I had that problem on my stilo. :bang:

 

[Tad-bravo]

there is no visible damage ... I think something inside has detached during the trip ( I hope )

Can you tell me where you bought it from and what brand it is?

It seams there are more than one manufacturer for this model but only one of them is reliable.

 

[moby1112]

Hi Guys,

For those who are thinking about byuing one this may help.

I purchased one of these via Aliexpress directly from the manufacturer from China (DaTang International Trade Co. Ltd). The person who was in contact with me was Lee Tang and he provided really good customer service-I truly recomend use them if you want to buy a head unit for your Bravo.


The unit (model: FAH498) cost about £364 + £72 VAT, which is a pretty good deal especially there is no delivery charge and they give you unlocking keys, a rear view camera and micro SD card with iGo8 (Navigon) maps for chosen continent (i.e Europe, USA, Africa, Asia etc).
After some tweaking with installation of the unit (fitting all the cables in the existing hole in dashboard) I have to say that I am quite pleased with the results, although the sound quality on the original Fiats unit was a bit better in my opinion.
Anyway guys enjoy the pictures and if you have got any questions please ask.
Take care.
P.S. sorry for my English -still working on it

 

[vildpingvin]

Looks really nice - how did you install the GPS antenna ?

Did you have any problems with the installation or is it just plug-in and go ?

 

[Tad-bravo]

Moby, does your car have blue&me and is it still working?

 

[moby1112]

Looks really nice - how did you install the GPS antenna ?

Did you have any problems with the installation or is it just plug-in and go ?

Thanks,
The connetction of the GPS antenna (or aerial) is very simple, there is a threated connector (gold) on the back of the unit which you need to screewed the cable (about 1-1,5m long) with a rectangular (magnetised) box at the other end. The most difficoult work to was to decide where to locate the box. You can stick it to some metal parts of the car or stick it somewhere else (sticker provided). I did located the box outside the cabin behind the fromt passanger door to make sure of signal quality. see pictures.
hope that helps
regards

 

[moby1112]

Moby, does your car have blue&me and is it still working?

I have got 2007 Fiat Bravo Dynamic 1.9 mjet 150bhp diesel , it comes with Blue&Me option.

In therms of whether it is working or not, well , I would say YES, but...

After connection of the new unit I turned on the bluetooth option and paired it with my iPhone (the same handset was paired with blue&me and I kept that connection still on, so have had both bluetooth connection saved and ready to go).
Generally I can say that both blue&me and HU bluetooth are working, but this is a bit more complicated.
After finishing installation and do some tests the results are as follows:

• when HU (head unit) is on (or of) and someone will call you then the HU bluetooth is taking over and you can reply by by either pressing the button on the screen or by using steering wheel "ok" button.
• when you want to make a call you have two options:
  • via HU (when on), see picture
  • via blue&me (when HU off)

My conclusions are that both systems are complemeting each other, but HU bluetooth is the master one and blue&me is a slave system.
NOTE: although all steering wheel buttons are working as ususal the voice command via blue&me does not working anymore, so there is not possible to make a phonecall to for instance Peter saing "call Peter". This particular function looks to be lost. Not sure how this will work when you want for instance keep blue&me conection on your phone only and not connect HU via bletooth. Don't know how this option will work.

Personally I prefer conection via HU as you can see all contacts from your phone phonebook and calls history as well, although it doesn show full contact names (see pictures). I don't mind loosing voice dialing (blue&me) as frankly it wasn't perfect.
The las thing is the b&m USB connection. I think it would be the same story as with the bluetooth. There is a separate USB connector on the back of the unit (see the picture on my previous post reg. GPS) and additional USB cable provided so you can locate USB plug whenever you want(there is also a separate iPhone/Pod cable as well). I didn't do that coz I wanted to keep the in interior as neat as posible without any hanging cables and plugs.

The funny thing is that because of that the HU USB option (from main menu) is not avaialbe and it says there is no signal from USB plug, but when you plug a USB flash memory with some music into the b&m original USB plug the music will start to play and you can mamge it via steering wheel buttons.

It looks that the HU and b&m are independend from eachother once again.

I know that this is as clear as mud but hope that helps somehow.

regards

 

[Tad-bravo]

I see, so basically B&M is useless with this HU.

I know how this unit's phone connection works because my brother has the same one in his BMW, it's really bad, no voice dialing, contact list showing only numbers (depends on your phone's brand) and voice quality not as good as the B&M since it's using its own mic.

Thanks for the information.

 

[vildpingvin]

Thanks,
The connetction of the GPS antenna (or aerial) is very simple, there is a threated connector (gold) on the back of the unit which you need to screewed the cable (about 1-1,5m long) with a rectangular (magnetised) box at the other end. The most difficoult work to was to decide where to locate the box. You can stick it to some metal parts of the car or stick it somewhere else (sticker provided). I did located the box outside the cabin behind the fromt passanger door to make sure of signal quality. see pictures.
hope that helps
regards

Very nice - are you getting a good gps signal with the antenna mounted in the door ?

A couple of extra questions...

Is the steering wheel controls working properly ?

Can you share a couple of photos showing the rear-view camera and how it's installed ?

How does the receiver switch to rear-view - is that done by the CANBUS box or did you need to connect it to the gearlever ?

 

[ovarb]

Very nice - are you getting a good gps signal with the antenna mounted in the door ?

A couple of extra questions...

Is the steering wheel controls working properly ?

Can you share a couple of photos showing the rear-view camera and how it's installed ?

How does the receiver switch to rear-view - is that done by the CANBUS box or did you need to connect it to the gearlever ?

First of all the GPS aerial is in a very poor position and it's a difficult job to dismantle the door. It's easier to put the GPS rceiver in the middle of the dash board just in front of the light sensor and simply slide the wire back until it reach the glove compartment.
Regarding to reverse camera we must connect it to the reverse lights and get a wire to the H.U.and when we put the reverse it automatically switches the screen to the camera.
To use the steering controls we must make some changes. I left a pdf in this thread already.
I've got one of these installed but unfortunatly the GPS isn't working because an IC (SKG17A1 SkyLab) is damaged and I can't find it any where.

 

[moby1112]

I have got 2007 Fiat Bravo Dynamic 1.9 mjet 150bhp diesel , it comes with Blue&Me option.

• when HU (head unit) is on (or of) and someone will call you then the HU bluetooth is taking over and you can reply by by either pressing the button on the screen or by using steering wheel "ok" button.
• when you want to make a call you have two options:
  • via HU (when on), see picture
  • via blue&me (when HU off)

Guys a quick update on my previous post. I have double tested different options with bluetooth connections.
It looks like that the HU completely taking over B&M, although there are still messages displayed on the screen below the rev and speed "clocks".
When I turned the HU bluetooth off and left the B&M only then there ware still typical messages on the dashboard small screen (but still no voice commands) when I allowed to make a phonecall to other handset I couldnt hear a thing but I was listen by other person.
I know this sounds a bit complicated but in fact is not -I will be using HU only.
regards

 

[moby1112]

I see, so basically B&M is useless with this HU.

I know how this unit's phone connection works because my brother has the same one in his BMW, it's really bad, no voice dialing, contact list showing only numbers (depends on your phone's brand) and voice quality not as good as the B&M since it's using its own mic.

Thanks for the information.

• Yes I agree there is no voice dialing
• in my case there are phone numbers and names (kind of)

the voice quality of phonecalls is actually much better from HU to compare with B&M (independent opinion of my girlfriend
I think this is very subiective and it depends on personal preferences. In my opinion B&M wasn't that good at all and the voice recognition couldn't recognise some contact names etc.
Anyway I am not missing B&M at all, so I am fine with HU as it is, but understand if someone else can feel the other way.

take care guys.

 

[moby1112]

First of all the GPS aerial is in a very poor position and it's a difficult job to dismantle the door. It's easier to put the GPS rceiver in the middle of the dash board just in front of the light sensor and simply slide the wire back until it reach the glove compartment.
Regarding to reverse camera we must connect it to the reverse lights and get a wire to the H.U.and when we put the reverse it automatically switches the screen to the camera.
To use the steering controls we must make some changes. I left a pdf in this thread already.
I've got one of these installed but unfortunatly the GPS isn't working because an IC (SKG17A1 SkyLab) is damaged and I can't find it any where.

Who said the door has to be dismantle, that would be so pointless and unnesesary job

I just slided the antenna behind the doors hinges and that's it, 10 sec. job!
The reason why I put this antenna externally was to make sure the signal will be as best quality as possible. I think after a few days I will move it somwehere inside but still in invisible place as personally I dont like to have unnesesary things hanging out on my cars dashboard.

regards.