stereoinstaller1

I had no luck at all getting anything over 16GB to play nice.

Format in FAT32, there are plenty of formatting apps out there for free.

Text to speech? ANNOYING as it works so poorly.

The voltage fro the audio out is incredibly low (I say under .5mV, who knows?) so you may end up using a line voltage booster (look at the JL CL-RLC IMO)

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_clea ... rod_id=446

Why do I need more voltage when going from a Pioneer product to another Pioneer?

I still haven't done my bypass, but all it locks out are nav menus and vid...I would never use vid in my car anyway, never do in any of my other cars, all of which are unlocked. The unlock is no biggie to me, YMMV. I do have the ebrake wire grounded, BTW.

I use an external mic and an external antenna: nav is basically piss poor IMO. My phone (Samsung Instinct on Sprint) runs rings around it in 2.? Honestly enough, the thing is so poor as a device I keep it for cool factor only.

BT is 80%, can't change calls, can't voice dial, memory is crap, on and on. Only 60% of the people I call complain about the voice quality, but no one likes it. Assuming I am moving, that is.

Music is pathetic: SQ is adequate, but negotiating the menus on a 16GB SD card (on USB) is a miserable experience. I hope iPod is better, but I am not gonna buy one of those evil things that are trying to take over the universe.

Nav....navigation, the main reason I bought this thing. Just over useless, completely in the "miserable" range.

Why does it take 10 minutes to find the damn satellite? Why doesn't Pioneer sell an antenna, why do I have to buy something from someone else? WHO thought up these menus? Why is this SO slow? Constantly 2 turns behind, no matter how good the antenna shows reception to be.

Sometimes I wanna find the head of development and do something really really crappy to him/her...like shove a screwdriver through their eye or rub stinging nettles on their butthole...or worse yet: make them use this damn thing.

in traffic.

In Seattle.

Luke

I have basically what you are asking about.

I am using a pioneer DEH-P500 instead of your Alpine, but the functionality is the same.

Yo cannot access the VR stuff from outside the AVIC, forget that idea right now.

However, your Alpine has an AUX in and the AVIC has an audio output...yes, it works...however, the output voltage on the AVIC is incredibly low. Seems odd to me that pioneer would make a nav system that is not compatible with their deck, but whatever.

The Bluetooth is just about perfect, the USB/SD setup is OK, the external antenna is MMCX, so fairly available, the external mic is 2.5mm, again, easy to find.

All in all, a well spent $200.

GL!

Luke

My F500 is definately a mixed bag.

The 200 million voice commands per turn get on my nerves.

The crappy .5V output is annoying.

The BT forgetting that my phone is in the car is not too bad, generally a hard boot fixes it...but that hard boot is damn slow.

The music interface is basiclly useless IMO, but I am using a 16GB SD, and it seems to work really wel in general.

Overall, the $200 was worth it, but honestly enough, this is a beta piece, not a finished product IMO.

Luke

Paul, if your E90/92 has an AUX input, I would hardwire the F500 into the port.

Maybe plug the thing in to try it, live with it for a week and then complete the install after you are sure you like it!

Luke

I had this problem with my Audi A4, the stock mic sounded terrible and some guys on the audi board actually put together a circuit that could be wired inline with the stock mic so gain could be adjusted with aftermarket kits.

Would you be so kind as to link me to the page/post/forum? I am trying this with a BMW antenna, seems like a similar issue is happening.

thanks!

Luke

Here are a couple of other things:

The external GPS antenna uses a MMCX connector. Get one!

Te external mic uses a 2.5mm connector, the pioneer mic blows, but any will work with the correct plug. get one of those, too.

Like the other posts say, use =12V constant on the yellow wire, but use the cigarette lighter plug (into the car harness, NOT the side of the deck) wired to your ignition/accessory circuit.

The thing boots in less than 20 seconds in my car set up like this.

If you have the car in accessory so the unit turns on, then start the car, the damn thing will doa full re-boot, which takes like 2 minutes (and pisses me off) so I am gonna use a couple of diodes and a relay to make the unit stay on while the engine cranks.

Ialso used the diagrams from www.the12volt.com to make a "etained accessory power" circuit, so mine stays on after I shut the key off until I open the door.

now what I wanna know is how to get the stupid nav to quit telling me 40 times when I need to turn!

GL!

Luke

I have done a few Parrot kits with the dual mics. They work incredibly well, with amazing noise cancellation.

One of these days I am going to wire in the BMW mic I have sitting around.

Luke

I know this is an old post, but figured I would answer anyway.

Yes,the F500 has both external antenna and external microphone ports.

Both work wonderfully.

The antenna connector is MMCX. I highly recommend getting a straight connector,the right angle I got is a PITA. The Mic is 2.5mm, same as other Pioneer mics.

Mine now works wonderfully.

Luke

I am doing the newest SWI-JACk tomorrow in a '04 540i on a 700BT.

 

Sure hope it is the new revision...cause if it isn't, I am gonna find one and swap it out later.

 

Will post results soon.

 

Luke

FYI, the SWI-JACK is not the correct part for a 700BT.

We only have the old ones, as you would know.

Luke

I called Pioneer about this, they said it did...but an odd connector.

The tech told me where to get it, but I figured I would cobble something together.

My 500 should be here tuesday.

I am doing the newest SWI-JACk tomorrow in a '04 540i on a 700BT.

Sure hope it is the new revision...cause if it isn't, I am gonna find one and swap it out later.

Will post results soon.

Luke

I will be using the JL Audio CL-RLC to run my amplifiers directly from my F500, as I do not want radio of any sort in my car, nor a traditional "head unit".

The CL-RLC will provide enough output to run any amp cleanly, retails at $60 and is surface or custom mountable.

My only concern is the guidance voice blasting at 120+db!

Luke

I have installed many antennas, both sat radio and GPS inside of the dashboard, generally on the metal plate...no complaints yet!

Luke

Hi. My name is Luke Fisher. I am an installer at Car Toys with 28 years inside of dashboards. I am a BMW nut (E30s in specific, but love them all) and am awaiting my AVIC-F500BT from 6th ave electronics.

Looking forward to getting some hack/mods, and helping answer install questions. It seems there are quite a few pros on here already (duh, right?) but if I can help, let me know!

I am a big contributor on www.r3vlimited.com, if any of you care to get involved in the E30 scene.

Thanks!

Luke