Parrot Asteroid Smart Installation in a 2014 Grand Touring

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danieljw

Member
:
2014 CX-5
I thought I'd post a followup to an earlier thread where I was requesting help in completing a headunit installation. Before I say anything else, my most sincere thanks once again to all those who helped me sort out my various complications—mentalcase, RedBaron, TreyP, to name a just a few of you. THANK YOU. My biggest issue, with the Axxess ASWC-1 SWC interface, was solved by me eventually finding the deeply buried setting to actually enable the remote controls. Go figure. It's not mentioned in any documentation and I've never had to deal with that in an aftermarket unit. But after this, all buttons are working wonderfully.

I went with a Parrot Asteroid Smart, despite wish-washy reviews about its reliability. After watching a ton of YouTube videos, I was attracted to the snappy interface, various bells & whistles (in-built GPS, tons of connectivity, expandability) and native Android experience. A common complaint is its slow startup, but I honestly don't think it's much longer, if at all, than the Mazda headunit, especially if you're waiting around for bluetooth to connect. Also, I have to say that the Bose system sounds more than adequately good with a proper EQ and a few audio effects settings.

Anyway, here's some photos.

It sports a very simple music interface, with just album art and track info. This is a USB source. I have a 1 TB hard drive connected at the moment, about 200 GB music on it. Kind of a lengthy initial scan but the library is super quick to navigate.

IUoNcKX.jpg


Next, the backup camera. With about $15 worth of parts and RedBaron's instructions (elsewhere on this forum), it's pretty simple to adapt the OEM camera. I have it wired to an accessory wire, allowing me to power it on whenever I please using the rear camera app on the Smart.

9Q27g1M.jpg


Perhaps my favorite feature of this device is the opportunity for customization. By sideloading a few apps, it's possible to obtain root and install Google Play Services, allowing the installation of any Android app. Now, this is Android 2.3.7, so not everything works great, and there's not tons of storage space to load it up with apps, but I'm happy with what I have tried out so far: torque, MX player, YouTube.

oGIgBdW.jpg


And maybe the coolest app of them all is having native Google Maps at my fingertips in the car. It requires mobile data, so I created a Tasker profile to enable and disable the wifi tethering when my phone connects to the Smart's bluetooth.

5xycc5b.jpg


Thanks for looking! Happy to answer any questions.
 
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Looks good, thanks for sharing the pics. When I was seriously considering changing the headunit, the Parrot was in my top three choices. Still thinking about it, maybe in the future.
 
Wow. Very nice setup you have going there. Will you miss the functionality of changing door re-lock time, walk away lock, etc or were you able to add that on the unit's functions?
 
moonwok said:
Wow. Very nice setup you have going there. Will you miss the functionality of changing door re-lock time, walk away lock, etc or were you able to add that on the unit's functions?
Click to expand...

No, it is unfortunately not possible to add those car locking/lighting/wiper settings at this time, but I don't miss them. I adjusted those settings to my preference when I bought the car six months ago and haven't changed them since. Each setting stays after the Mazda headunit is removed, you just lose the ability to change it on the fly. I plan to keep the original headunit in the event that I ever need to change them. It would only take about 15 minutes to connect the Mazda headunit, change the settings, and then reconnect the Asteroid. Not a big deal.

My biggest requirement was to keep the factory backup camera, which like I mentioned above is pretty easy.
 
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moonwok said:
Very good! When do we get to see the infamous special danieljw DIY full installation instructions
Click to expand...

Infamous? Hopefully that's not the descriptor you're looking for!

What would you like to know? Everything I did is already posted on this forum.
 
tobeychris said:
Do you have a breakdown of costs for all the parts?
Click to expand...

Bought most of the main parts from Sonic Electronix:

Asteroid Smart + dash kit Metra 95-7522B + vehicle harness Metra 70-7903 + antenna adapter Metra 40-HD10: $519
Axxess ASWC-1: $50
Axxess ASWC-1 adapter for Parrot radio, AX-SWC-PARROT: $5

For the adapter to integrate the camera:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned): $7
One of these to build the connector that plugs into factory camera: $2 each; I recommend a contact mating length of at least 6 mm
Some of these to connect wire to above connector pins: 50 cents each; you can just solder of course, but these were simple to use

General hardware and parts:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) Pricey but worth it IMHO.
If the vehicle is Bose-equipped, you'll need a RCA cable or two to connect the receiver pre-amp outs to the Metra harness, as shown here. You also need an RCA plug for the aftermarket receiver's camera input, most likely.
Electrical tape
Zip ties
 
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lhendricks92 said:
I'd like to avoid soldering, too, but those are called "solder sleeves?" Are they misnamed? How do they work?
Click to expand...

There is a ring of solder wedged into the tapered end of the heatshrink. The ring is large enough to accommodate both the header pin and the wire you're going to connect. Then, you just use a heatgun to melt both the heatshrink and solder all at once. Boom, connection made.

Which ever method you choose, I highly recommend either recruiting a second person help hold things or to buy a cheap solder station to hold things for you.
 
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what are the advantages of making the adapter for the oem backup camera vs. just buying a decent (and cheap) aftermarket back up camera and just replacing the OEM camera?
 
marcusx123 said:
what are the advantages of making the adapter for the oem backup camera vs. just buying a decent (and cheap) aftermarket back up camera and just replacing the OEM camera?
Click to expand...

A few reasons:

1) The camera in the CX-5 is actually pretty high quality. An equivalent would be a $200-300 aftermarket CCD camera. You already paid for it when you bought the car, so why pay for another one? EDIT: just looked and the factory camera lists for $378.

2) Running the wires for a new camera is a nontrivial task. See here.

3) Choices in aftermarket cameras are sort of limited. You'd have to do some research into the dimensions and clearance of the opening where the factory camera is located in the hatch. From what I remember, it is an irregularly shaped opening and you'd have to modify or fabricate an adapter to enable fitting of an aftermarket camera. EDIT: found an old photo I took of the opening. It isn't a fun situation to deal with. Alternatively, the easier solution would be a license plate mounted camera but, in my opinion, these are sub-optimal. Again, don't forget that you have to then feed the wires for the camera up to the front of the car AND tap into the taillight to power it.

In short: adapting the factory camera is by far the more economical and less time consuming solution. This recent thread contains an even more in-depth procedure for accomplishing the task.
 
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I'm taking my car to an installer for my new head unit. Is integrating the OEM camera a pretty basic thing that my installer should know how to do?


danieljw said:
A few reasons:

1) The camera in the CX-5 is actually pretty high quality. An equivalent would be a $200-300 aftermarket CCD camera. You already paid for it when you bought the car, so why pay for another one? EDIT: just looked and the factory camera lists for $378.

2) Running the wires for a new camera is a nontrivial task. See here.

3) Choices in aftermarket cameras are sort of limited. You'd have to do some research into the dimensions and clearance of the opening where the factory camera is located in the hatch. From what I remember, it is an irregularly shaped opening and you'd have to modify or fabricate an adapter to enable fitting of an aftermarket camera. EDIT: found an old photo I took of the opening. It isn't a fun situation to deal with. Alternatively, the easier solution would be a license plate mounted camera but, in my opinion, these are sub-optimal. Again, don't forget that you have to then feed the wires for the camera up to the front of the car AND tap into the taillight to power it.

In short: adapting the factory camera is by far the more economical and less time consuming solution. This recent thread contains an even more in-depth procedure for accomplishing the task.
Click to expand...
 
Not necessarily - I've seen other reports of installers getting stumped by the OEM camera. Show them jclpremier's thread.
 
lhendricks92 said:
Not necessarily - I've seen other reports of installers getting stumped by the OEM camera. Show them jclpremier's thread.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Showing them jclpremier's thread is your best shot, but it's no guarantee that the installer is knowledgeable enough to do it well. For instance, the installer I spoke with was even baffled by how I spliced RCAs onto the harness to use the pre-amp outputs. I thought this would be pretty accessible to someone who passed MECP...
 
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