Hi guys, 

 

I saw a while back about an iPad dash install, I am an apple engineer for my day job so thought this would be quite fitting for me to show off to clients as well as making the most of what I know and can do. 

 

I took a slightly different approach than others: I wasn't worried about charging the iPad on the move (18hour use battery), I wanted it to be removable, I wanted to be able to answer calls and view texts at the touch of a button from my iphone and I wanted to beat the current Apple Air play stereos for functionality and price! 

 

So that gave me a £500 budget for everything! 

 

This is my breakdown of parts and costs!:

 

Bluetooth Standard Car Stereo : I already had mine - but to buy one (Halfrauds ~£60)

 

3-d Printed Mount Plate : 3dprintsuk - https://www.3dprint-uk.co.uk/ - using the file from my Google Drive; https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-oYKvr8M-S7bmhvNkZndXdnUTJyU1hmcWxNZXdwWmFndFpR/view?usp=sharing = £60

 

iPad case - Ebay - £5.00 inc delivery

 

Super Duper Glue - laying around home - £5.00

 

Black satin paint - £8.00 (Halfrauds) 

 

EE In Car Wifi - £9.99 + Optional 30 Day rolling contract for 1GB 4G Data plan. 

 

iPad Mini - £199-239 - 16GB Space Grey. 

 

Having done the final testing last night I have everything working... will show videos / Photos tomorrow once all fitted!! 

 

I have got from it, Music (stored and streaming), Sat Nav - Offline £22.99 for life, Phone transfers, message forwarding, Full 7 in touch screen, as well as use of a full iPads features (if stationary of course of on demand videos, stored videos, games, apps.... etc)

 

as well as Use of the radio and cd drives needed.

 

Full Guide to follow for anyone that is interested  

 

 

 

 

I know, I know..... but you could have kept your powder dry whilst completing the presentation.

Pics on the way... Don't worry will be worth it.

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still no pics?? come on dude     :peek:

I think he's just put his laptop on the dash and pretending he knows what he's doing....

Jcb05 when you say you are an apple engineer, what does that consist of?

I think tablet installs are great but if I'm honest I haven't seen one yet that I'd think, yeah I'd happily pay money for that. With that said though I'd never knock anyone's attempt as I don't have the ambition to have a go myself!

sent from my Galaxy Note 4

Can't wait to see this.

What do we want.... Pictures

When do we want them..... Etc

Going in tonight. I work for an apple service provider finding solutions for Apple products. iMac, MacBooks, iPads and iPhones. I do repairs and try to find ways around apple products. As soon as I have pics I will have it uploaded !!!

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As Promised... Photos and guide if you want to give it a go.. 

 

Few things to point out -

 

My Stereo is basic, Bluetooth with handsfree calling - No Additional subs or anything yet. 

The 3D Printed plate needs some fine adjustments to fit as I wanted.. a little sanding just to smooth it all off and make it look a little nicer. I will be covering it in a vinyl at some point soon so that it looks more like the dashboard. 

 

The iPad mini that I bought (16GB Wifi Only) doesnt give an accurate GPS Signal when being used as a Sat Nav. I will be swapping mine for a 4G Model tomorrow as they have a built in GPS Module and see if that works without a mobile data chip, otherwise I'll get a cheap one and just pop it in for sat nav accuracy. 

 

Here Goes: 

 

First thing I did was pull out the old stereo : 

 

 

Then extended all the cables from behind the stereo down to the back of the glovebox.. theres a small opening on the left side of the centre console thats enough to get all the cables through fairly easily. Once they are through leave them there 

 

   ISO Harness Extensions - £20

   Aerial Extension - £5

 

next take off all the side panels that go around your stereo.. they just pop off! so it looks like this. 

 

 

I have popped off the blower cover too.. this needs to be trimmed a little later. 

 

Next I took out the glove box : 

 

5 T15 screws and the side plate hold it all in

 

 

I am putting my stereo in the lower half of the glovebox, under the fake floor out of site but easier enough to get to if I fancy the radio or a CD (old school) 

 

drill a hole in the lower portion big enough to get through the ISO plugs, Aerial, Microphone lead and if you have extra sounds, your phonos and stuff too. 

 

 

put the glovebox back in and feed the cables through the hole.. I found the easiest way is to feed some cable first, then pull the slack back into the back of the stereo hole, keeps it all tidy. 

 

Wire up the stereo and you have a hidden unit  

 

next for trimming and fittting the frame and iPad: 

 

First of all stick the case to the plate using the strongest glue you can find! I used solvent activated Mitre joint glue that was left in the shed from the kitchen. 

 

 

test fit it and see how much you need to trim off from the top of the venting dials, I went to the very top edge of the dials themselves, This made the fit very tight and I have used no glue to hold it all in the dash itself (easily removable if I ever sell and easy to put all the old stuff back.) 

 

 

Pop this back into place and then put the plate back in to make sure it still fits ok  

 

Bit of sanding to smooth it all off 

 

 

I gave mine a quick lick of satin black paint for now and left it to dry while I tidied up the cabling and plugged in the wifi 

 

 Behind the ipad

 Wifi dongle

 Stereo in place

 fake floor down again.. that all that can be seen. 

 

put the iPad holder in the hole! 

 

 

add the iPad to the stereo Bluetooth for audio and Mic feed, then log into the Wifi dongle for the Handoof features to work (text forwarding from iphone to the iPad and Call forwarding from iphone to iPad) 

 

TAA DAA!! 

 

 

This was the best Sat Nav program I Found : Sygic maps - Offline 

 

 

routes turn by turn and downloads the full map of the UK to the device so no huge data bills if you want to use it for this too.. Currently £18.99 for the app with lifetime map updates and premium features! 

 

Sorry about the wait guys (hope it was worth it), happy to answer any questions and would consider helping others to do this if they are local or want some help. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lol

Looks a good attempt mate, see how you get on with it day to day

Lol

always worth a laugh... a work colleague told me i was nuts to even try, 

Looks a good attempt mate, see how you get on with it day to day

Cheers, 

 

The iPad is removable stll from the dash so I can still use it as work as I was before.. just gotta get used to volume.. wierd not having a dial. 

Watch the police don't try and arrest you for using a mobile device or somthing when driving if you get caught adjusting volume or somthing.

It's all good. I'll find a way for a remote to work at some point. Just not yet. To be fair when it's just me I don't tend worry about volume, just loud

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Not bad at all, I want to do the same with my iPad Mini.

 

See what the guys did on MCM, they put in a dial so they can adjust the sound too.

 

Yer, but that works because it is running audio through a cable. I wanted complete wireless so I can remove it. Great addition to my car and I'm loving it today.

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Very nice attempt - thanks for sharing!

Bit of an update - a Week in: 

 

Battery is doing really well, I get 3 Days out of it at the moment, when running, music, Nav and taking calls via the ipad in the car. 

 

Need to find a more secure way of mounting the Printed plate, as when I accelerate hard it has a tendency to fall out :/ 

 

otherwise.. really happy and people love it! 

Holding the plate in....: Magnets or velcro or fab up a clip or 4 to clip into the holes that the side trim pieces fit.

 

Volume control: There are various digital volume controls about, also supporting select and fwd/back etc. Though in your case, maybe a better option would be to see if there is a steering column control stalk for your head unit.

 

J.

Yer thats what I'm looking at for a volume controller via the head unit.. 

 

I sorted the holding of the plate, bit of aluminium c plate, velcro'd to the internal dash and screwed through the plate. Will cover it up with some vinyl to make it all look nice again soon.

 

 

But the car may be going up for sale over the next few months as my company are in talks about whether they will be giving us a company car allowance with a limit of 5 years old on cars. Don't think I can afford to run both :/ 

very nice i use an ipad mini 3 in mine mainly for when i need sat nav, but mine is just ona vent holder seems to do the trick though im not brave enough to attempt something like this so fair play to you sir

Car will be going up for sale towards end of october... just ordered new Fabia Monte Carlo as work demanded I get a new car, can't afford to run both... #GUTTED... If anyone is interested in the car let me know, we may be able to work out a price nearer the time.