Arnage phone / audio / sat. nav. upgrades.

[12 POT]

Has anyone on here had experience of upgrading their Arnage in car systems i.e. phone and sat. nav. which are effectively redundant technologies today? It occurs to me that there may be ways in which to upgrade the vehicle without creating a disturbance to the overall cabin layout.

[WelshBentleyBoy]

What I did with my Arnage T was to get good techie to fit an ipod connection in substitution for the CD changer. I then swapped the SatNav for an Alpine NVE 300p. This is a more up to date system where the maps can be updated over the internet, albeit with a bit of hassle. It still works on the original screen with a remote control, but there is a small ir receiver mounted on the dash.

A year after I had done this I bought a 1989 BMW635 CSI but with this I solved the problem by fitting a Clarion NZ 502
This is a 1 din unit but has built in Radio, CD, Bluetooth, Ipod Video Phone, Sat Nav, camera input + a few other things. It fits exactly where the old unit went and has a pop up screen. With the screen retracted it is relatively unobtrusive.

Let us know how you get on

[DVR]

Give these guys a call :

http://www.incarsystems.org/bentley8.html

[12 POT]

Thanks for the replies. I have a 2003 Arnage T and had been wondering about the practicalities of wiring up an I-pod / I-phone connection to the existing equipment and to do so by utilising the area located within the centre arm rest which currently houses the cradle for the original fitted Nokia phone. The sat/nav. is not likely to be used that often, however, it would be ideal to get the old unit replaced with a touch screen solution that was able to fit into the existing dash top arrangement.
I confess to being clueless when it comes to issues of this sort and will need to get sound advice before progressing. My overriding consideration is not to change the appearance of the cabin whilst at the same time attempting to incorporate up to date equipment.

[HdePelet]

On my Arnage T I have replaced the sat nav with a touch screen alpine version - fitter just trimmed the frame to fit- it works reasonably well- but maybe any good touch screen of similar size would do? I have added a parrot for phone calls- which cuts the music if calls are taken, and mounted the small control module to rhs of dashboard - fairly discreet. Fitter put the speaker for the parrot in the dashboard- so one can play music via bluetooth or use a cable- in glove box. It all means the original stereo is left in situ, things look unmodified. There is a small parrot speaker attached to the top of the mirror. It all works reasonably well- but not brilliant- music is limited to ability of the under dash speaker. Key thing is install a touch screen sat nav rather than using a remote.Phones have been left in situ. I think the cost of an iphone module for the original phone was very expensive from Bentley.

[12 POT]

Thanks HdePelet,
I will certainly look into your suggestion of replacing the existing Alpine sat nav. with a touch screen solution from Alpine if this makes the task more straightforward in terms of using existing connections etc. However, if it were just as easy to do so, I might opt to use a Garmin screen, as I use one of their small portable units in my DB7's without any difficulty. I will do so investigation re the Parrot suggestion.
Regards, 12 POT.

[WelshBentleyBoy]

Just remembered. RR&B Garages do a Satnav update of the original equipment. Have a look at their web site

[12 POT]

Thanks WelshBentleyBoy,
I have had a look at the RR&B site and it comments on the issue of replacing the original Alpine system with Garmin or Tom Tom touch screens which might be one way to deal with the matter. I am also looking into the possibility (via a local specialist) of replacing the sat. nav. with an updated Alpine screen that could possibly provide a variety of other benefits. I will report back on this if it looks to be a viable solution.