Initial Thoughts On the Carpuride W903 Dashboard Console 2015 Lexus LX570 (3 Viewers)

[ras0ne]

I recently installed the Carpuride W903 in my 2015 LX570.

Here's a video of me kind of demo'ing it.

Cool concept, but it seems pretty buggy to me. The interface is all good, it's just really inconsistent and unreliable. Def not set and forget.

Going to try and use it wired in with the AUX instead of BT to see if the experience improves.

 

[tbisaacs]

FWIW if this doesn't work out for you, my grom VLine has been flawless, especially when using wired. It looks great even on my 2008-era screen

 

[W4632018]

FWIW if this doesn't work out for you, my grom VLine has been flawless, especially when using wired. It looks great even on my 2008-era screen

View attachment 3552814

did you instal it yourself? If not, how much did it cost?

 

[tbisaacs]

did you instal it yourself? If not, how much did it cost?

Installed myself. Takes about an hour. Grom has a full YouTube tutorial.

 

[ras0ne]

FWIW if this doesn't work out for you, my grom VLine has been flawless, especially when using wired. It looks great even on my 2008-era screen

View attachment 3552814

I've been eyeing it.

I saw they have a V2 now. The price is a little steep.

Do you have the original or V2?

 

[tbisaacs]

I've been eyeing it.

I saw they have a V2 now. The price is a little steep.

Do you have the original or V2?

I have the VL2

 

[ras0ne]

I have the VL2

Nice

So how does it actually work?

You install it and it takes over the head unit when you power on the vehicle OR when you power on the vehicle do you need to hit a sequence of buttons to get it to swap over?

I'm assuming if you hit the Climate button you get to the climate settings, but the get back to Car Play, you'd have to hold menu for 3 sec or something.

I also see it has it's own GPS antenna, which is weird, I'd think it would just use the iPhones.

 

[tbisaacs]

Nice

So how does it actually work?

You install it and it takes over the head unit when you power on the vehicle OR when you power on the vehicle do you need to hit a sequence of buttons to get it to swap over?

I'm assuming if you hit the Climate button you get to the climate settings, but the get back to Car Play, you'd have to hold menu for 3 sec or something.

It just shows up as a source—so if I hit audio it goes through XM, Radio, CD (which gets replaced by Grom). All other buttons work like factory. On the grom itself there is a button that takes you back to factory UI — so for example if you wanted to adjust sound settings for the Grom this is how you do it. When it carplay there is a button that goes back to Grom—so from there you'd go back to Grom, back to factory UI.

 

[W4632018]

It just shows up as a source—so if I hit audio it goes through XM, Radio, CD (which gets replaced by Grom). All other buttons work like factory. On the grom itself there is a button that takes you back to factory UI — so for example if you wanted to adjust sound settings for the Grom this is how you do it. When it carplay there is a button that goes back to Grom—so from there you'd go back to Grom, back to factory UI

Is it seamless, and does it feel/function as good as an OEM?

 

[tbisaacs]

Is it seamless, and does it feel/function as good as an OEM?

It feels as OEM as retrofitting 2008 tech with 2024 tech could be. I use CarPlay wired because the sound quality is much better and the delay to connect over Bluetooth can sometimes take too long.

 

[LXinOBX]

Very curious to hear your experience going from BT audio to Aux In

I would also suggest that if the carpride isn't your thing to try the RoadTop (no affiliation). I had the 8.8 and now the 8.9 - pretty darn stable (several threads on here about same). Works as advertised and very good support as well.

 

[kiedistv]

Carpuride sent me a unit to review.

You can't use the steering wheel controls to change songs when listening to music through the unit. Renders it completely useless for me personally. Apple can change output of audio but Android can't so not really a work around.

I also found the screen to be really dim even at its brightest setting. People kept defending them on Facebook groups etc. I guess spending, to be honest, quite a bit of money on the unit makes you think it's better than it actually is. That's just my thoughts, anyway.

 

[ras0ne]

It just shows up as a source—so if I hit audio it goes through XM, Radio, CD (which gets replaced by Grom). All other buttons work like factory. On the grom itself there is a button that takes you back to factory UI — so for example if you wanted to adjust sound settings for the Grom this is how you do it. When it carplay there is a button that goes back to Grom—so from there you'd go back to Grom, back to factory UI.

Interesting, does this disable the use of the CD player?

I'm figuring the Grom unit could possible make the BT handoff better with firmware, unless it's piggy backing off the factory unit's BT.

 

[ras0ne]

Posted the AUX video

 

[tbisaacs]

Interesting, does this disable the use of the CD player?

I'm figuring the Grom unit could possible make the BT handoff better with firmware, unless it's piggy backing off the factory unit's BT.

Nope. The head unit has an extra input for a cd changer.

 

[ras0ne]

Nope. The head unit has an extra input for a cd changer.

Ah...so it adds a tab for the Grom, it doesn't remove the CD one.

 

[tbisaacs]

Ah...so it adds a tab for the Grom, it doesn't remove the CD one.

Yep!

 

[OHCRUISER]

I installed the W903 in my 08 LC. I already had the Grom Bluetooth adapter installed. I am surprised how well it works. Steering wheel controls, auto connect etc. For $175, I am happy. I would like to have a VL2, but I have a feeling I would be disappointed in screen quality and integration with the old hardware.

 

[lx200inAR]

Ah...so it adds a tab for the Grom, it doesn't remove the CD one.

The GROM works slightly differently depending on which model year LX you have. The only thing that really changes is which factory audio input the GROM interfaces with to get sound out to the system. On the early 08-09 models it appears to use a factory CD changer input that was never utilized by Lexus. On the 10-11 models the Vline2 uses the USB input for audio. It seems to simulate being a MP3 player or something similar to that. It looks like the 2013-15 models use the AUX port. If you read the specs pages from each of the Vline2s, sometimes you can gleam which input it is using.

2008-2009 (LEX5-VL2) Doesn't have a note except saying that none of the current functions will be affected.

Integration with your existing system: All important factory features remain functional with the installation of our VLine VL2 system. You can easily switch back and forth between the backup camera, FM radio, VLine and your CarPlay or Android Auto interface.

2010-2011 (LEX6-VL2)

Important: VLine LEX6VL2 model is only compatible with the vehicles that have factory USB port that supports iPod/iPhone playback. USB port will be disabled with the installation of VLine VL2.

2013-2015 (LEX78TVL2)

Important: -Factory AUX port will be lost as VLINE occupies it;

 

[finboy]

Anyone with the grom confirmed the dvd player still works?