Montero V93W MMCS Upgrade

[Insedious]

Good morning fellow Petrol heads,

After years of reading posts and looking at adverts, finally I found myself a problem worth the attention of a larger forum (I think). I've recently bought a used Montero V93W GLS here are some of features

1.Build Year 2011 export model

2.GLS With Rockford 6 CD changer with Aux In and USB ( no MMCS, no Bluetooth support)

3.No premium alarm with ultra sound sensors (just the immobilizer)

Having said that, here's the situation. For some time I've been contemplating if it made sense to upgrade the 6 CD changer to the OEM MMCS. The reasoning is as follows

1. The reverse camera is currently one of them Chinese media player cum rear view mirror thingy (which is hiding that nice anti dazzing rear view mirror which came with the jeep)

2. Handsfree mobile connectivity sucks ( Aux in works but the Rockford's DSP is messing with the noise cancelling feature of the phone)

I've ruled out using an aftermarket Dual Din set up mainly because the CD player is tightly coupled to the Rockford amplifier and personally I prefer the OEM version.

I've also done some research on scope of this engagement, it will require ( I'm sure I'm missing more stuff here) the addition of

1.The Hand free ECU

2. Handfree switches on the Steering wheel

3.Microphone installation which requires the premium alarm's ultrasonic sensor housing to be installed

4. The all mighty MMCS. (GPS Sensor is optional)

Considering how well the modules are integrated using the CAN-BUS, I'm sure it wont be a walk in the park but if done, I would like to do it without splicing too many wire in a nice OEM kinda way. 

So, what do you guys think about this endeavor. Does it make sense ? Has anyone an idea about where to acquire the parts and/or a good place to get this done?

[Insedious]

With android head unit market has made huge strides since I last posted the above question, was able to find a head unit which does the following.

1. No cutting of wires
2. The Rockford Amplifier should work
3. The Steering wheel audio controls must work
4. Bluetooth hands free usage
5. Android auto/Apple car play

The head unit itself was selected after much research on android head units in the market and how they connect to car. It also comes with a CANBUS adapter which connects directly to the two connectors of the stock CD changer. Since the car didn't have the handsfree switches on the steering, I also got it down, but please note that it also requires the replacement of the hands free harness inside the steering wheel. This means you have to remove the steering airbag and as always, the Mitsubishi workshop manual is your friend but in general I don't recommend playing around with the airbags. 

All in all everything works fine now. Here are some nice features

1. Wireless Car Play
2. Android 10 OS
3. Built in DSP/Pre Amp
4. Reverse Camera direct wiring.

The parts involved are as below.

The head unit - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4001227274176.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.7e234c4dYu6JyO
Handfree Switch set  - P# 8750A247
Handsfree Harness    - P# 4400A465

Hope this helps anyone who also wants to try the same. 

[trinity]

How’s the sound quality of the new unit? Does it do justice  to the Rockford sound system? 

I’m also in two minds to upgrade to an android one or not. My main concern is sound quality. 

Its great that you shared the part details of the steering controls as well. Did you order that from the alibaba as well? How much the harness and the part cost? 

I think that part is  the same for Lancer EX as well. 

[Hyaenidae]

38 minutes ago, trinity said:

How’s the sound quality of the new unit? Does it do justice  to the Rockford sound system? 

I’m also in two minds to upgrade to an android one or not. My main concern is sound quality. 

Its great that you shared the part details of the steering controls as well. Did you order that from the alibaba as well? How much the harness and the part cost? 

I think that part is  the same for Lancer EX as well. 

Check this sh!t out:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32946924448.html

Installation and unit in action:

Would be great if they have a RHD-compatible version

Edited October 1, 2020 by Hyaenidae

[K.o.N.o.S]

30 minutes ago, Hyaenidae said:

Check this sh!t out:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32946924448.html

Installation and unit in action:

Would be great if they have a RHD-compatible version

I was actually looking at 10.1" Unit. But now you have corrupted my mind,. ?. BTW are all the lancer EX models coming with Rockford fosgate sound system?

[Hyaenidae]

Just now, K.o.N.o.S said:

I was actually looking at 10.1" Unit. But now you have corrupted my mind,. ?. BTW are all the lancer EX models coming with Rockford fosgate sound system?

Nope unfortunately. Mine didn't ?

[Hyaenidae]

If you're going for a 10.1" with a built in facia make sure that its compatible with RHD lancers, ask the seller and make sure the curved bit is in the right direction

[K.o.N.o.S]

14 minutes ago, Hyaenidae said:

If you're going for a 10.1" with a built in facia make sure that its compatible with RHD lancers, ask the seller and make sure the curved bit is in the right direction

Yeap. Also the Can Bus adapter to be compatible with Rockford fosgate.

[kush]

4 hours ago, K.o.N.o.S said:

I was actually looking at 10.1" Unit. But now you have corrupted my mind,. ?. BTW are all the lancer EX models coming with Rockford fosgate sound system?

None of them came as far as i know. May be the Evo 10 and the 2.0L Galent Fortis

[Hyaenidae]

1 hour ago, kush said:

None of them came as far as i know. May be the Evo 10 and the 2.0L Galent Fortis

There are atleast 2 lancer CY2s (1500CC) that I know of which came with Rockfords, (full option with sunroof too) both are 2008s. 

[Insedious]

17 hours ago, trinity said:

How’s the sound quality of the new unit? Does it do justice  to the Rockford sound system? 

I’m also in two minds to upgrade to an android one or not. My main concern is sound quality. 

Its great that you shared the part details of the steering controls as well. Did you order that from the alibaba as well? How much the harness and the part cost? 

I think that part is  the same for Lancer EX as well. 

The sound quality is identical. I too was only interested in this because it seamlessly integrates to the Rockford Amp. The head unit also has a 15 band equalizer and the DSP is quite impressive, I tested it out with frequency generator app and measured the replicated  frequencies were spot on. I've also attached the screen shots of the same below.

About the steering wheel controls, I ordered through megazip,net. The parts costed $110, I opted for FedEx delivery as I was not sure of EMS these days. The total turn around time was exactly one week. The tax man wanted another LKR4,000 as his cut.

I decided to go with the steering wheel controls as according to the circuit diagram, all of the audio related controls were connected to one input line coming into the head unit, with a series resistors dropping the voltage based on the button. Just cross check if you have the same. 

On the same topic, as I didn't want to cut a hole in the steering wheel housing, I snuck the wires through the gap in the steering wheel cover. Photo attached as well. I dremeled and shaped the control unit so it could be fixed using some double sided tape. This was a success however I had to use heavy duty stuff 3M as that was the only tape which could take the torque generated by the pressing motion.

[tiv]

23 hours ago, trinity said:

How’s the sound quality of the new unit? Does it do justice  to the Rockford sound system? 

I’m also in two minds to upgrade to an android one or not. My main concern is sound quality. 

Its great that you shared the part details of the steering controls as well. Did you order that from the alibaba as well? How much the harness and the part cost? 

I think that part is  the same for Lancer EX as well. 

If you want sound quality get an amp into the sandwich, I ve swapped to android in almost everything I've own, never been happier