Avin Avant 4 Headunit users?

[Jimmy_L]

I just recently picked up a M3 and want to upgrade my head unit. Currently i have OEM navigation unit. I've seen that Avin Avant 4 is the closest to stock look which is what i want. I was wondering if anyone ran into difficulties in installing these units or anyone might now any professional shops that can install this in SoCal. SGV/OC area.

[m3urthy]

I just recently picked up a M3 and want to upgrade my head unit. Currently i have OEM navigation unit. I've seen that Avin Avant 4 is the closest to stock look which is what i want. I was wondering if anyone ran into difficulties in installing these units or anyone might now any professional shops that can install this in SoCal. SGV/OC area.

I've had mine since October with no issues whatsoever. If you have factory nav its a bit more tedious but not too bad. Good luck!

Any competent shop in SGV or OC should be able to tackle this.

[Titaniu//M]

I have one, recently swapped over from an Xtrons for a more stock look. I like it a lot for the most part. A lot less static noise than the Xtrons. The UI is a little buggy but it is the same with all these chinese units.

Install can be pretty involved if your car has factory Nav. I ended up needing to take most of my back seat apart and driver seat out to run cables from the trunk. It is much easier on a car with the Business CD/Radio.

You need to buy an Xtrons radio extension cable and farka adapter to get the radio to work in a car with factory nav, the AVIN dosen't include this.

Also the dynavin HVAC bracket is a nice addition if you buy the wired Android Auto/Carplay dongle.

[Jimmy_L]

I was thinking is the IBUS app worth it? Also is the Bluetooth auto CarPlay smooth? I’d like to keep the look as stock as possible so I didn’t want to get the wired dongle

[EthanolTurbo]

It's super easy to install if you have a Business CD unit. It's 100% worth it, all the modern tech makes driving WAY better without being intrusive.

I got a fully loaded one, definitely recommend iBus, Carplay, Upgraded DSP, tire pressure sensors. 👍

[180SXTCY]

To answer your question, the install is pretty straight forward. My 2005 m3 had the factory satnav and hk speakers etc so I had to run an extension harness to the boot (trunk)

To do this I basically took out the passenger seat (our cars are rhd here in oz), rear seats, rear lhs trim panel and boot lining and then removed the factory cd stacker, bluetooth module, DVD drive etc.

From there its all pretty much plug and play.

With my particular install I opted to order the extension cables to use the factory aerial and factory gps sensor as both of these connections are in the boot.

After testing the gps with the extension lead I couldn't get a lock onto gps signal, so I tried the one included with the unit and it worked fine. (My oem gps was working flawlessly with the factory setup) I eventually just gave up on the extension and used the one supplied by avin which locks on instantly and seems to be reliable so far.

I ordered the avin avant 4 px6 with the following addons:

Ibus adapter
Elm327 bluetooth adapter
igo maps on sd card
gps extension cable
Aerial extension cable
phone microphone

Ibus adapter : very easy to install, just plug one end into the supplied wiring harness labelled ibus and the other end into one of the 3 available usbs. The app comes preinstalled just make sure avin forward your vin to them so you can unlock it and access all of its features. They forgot to forward my vin but an email and a day later it was sorted.

I won't touch on what the ibus app does Im sure you already know.

elm327 obd2 bluetooth adapter : for some reason my avin unit cant even detect it in bluetooth. Its been about a week with avin support emailing back and forward with no luck yet.

Igo maps: works brilliantly.

phone mic: I installed this in the factory location up in the head liner and ran the cable down the drivers side a pillar to the unit. From testing im told the person on the other end of the call can hear me clearly.

Sound quality is just as good if not better than oem.

the unit looks good, seems nice and responsive and smooth. There's a plethora of settings to go thru and tweak to set it up how you like.

Edit: just want to add avin support is hit and miss, they have a support page you can login to but the info there is limited still. The unit doesnt come with install instructions either.

[Circa Surviven]

I purchased the android 10 px6 version a couple of weeks ago. I knew going in that it wouldn't be perfect, but I really like how it looks screen wise (stock looking buttons as well). I didn't have an OEM navigation originally, so it was easier to install myself. I thought about making a thread with pictures of my install and a review that explained some of the menu features I had to dig up from watching youtube videos. The screen is too bright at night so I found someone mention installing a screen dimmer app, and fixed it with that. During the day the glare is real but my windows aren't tinted so YMMV.

The first day I installed it, it sounded a lot better than the previous owners aftermarket unit. However, coming out of the grocery store the first day the unit didn't turn on with the car. Hasn't happened since, but I've had a couple speakers start buzzing and vibrating. Maybe they were already on the way out, but I've also had delays with android auto when playing music, so I know the unit is sketchy. When I email Avin they take awhile to respond, and respond during a different timezone with sentences that don't really make sense. I like how the unit looks, but I can see it going bad one day and ill probably go with that bluebus adapter on a stock business radio and call it a day. Just my 2cents! p.s. if you run a radar detector that isn't hardwired, the dynavin HVAC relocation bracket cigarette lighter is angled down so it's impossible to use for anything other than a really small usb charger.


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[Mike RT4]

It won't be applicable to anyone is the US, but for anyone else ordering the DAB option (plus all the other options) it has revealed a small problem with regard to the number of USB connections (3) available on the back of the headunit…

I went for the IBUS (uses a USB adaptor), Carplay (uses a USB adaptor) and DAB (which uses one USB for the dongle and another to power the active windscreen antenna).

So this leaves me one USB connection short. I know AVIN sell a 4 port USB hub, but I am surprised that the website did not alert me to needing this at the time of ordering LOL. I'm awaiting to see what they suggest as the best way to sort this .

[Obioban]

It won't be applicable to anyone is the US, but for anyone else ordering the DAB option (plus all the other options) it has revealed a small problem with regard to the number of USB connections (3) available on the back of the headunit…

I went for the IBUS (uses a USB adaptor), Carplay (uses a USB adaptor) and DAB (which uses one USB for the dongle and another to power the active windscreen antenna).

So this leaves me one USB connection short. I know AVIN sell a 4 port USB hub, but I am surprised that the website did not alert me to needing this at the time of ordering LOL. I'm awaiting to see what they suggest as the best way to sort this .

I have a powered USB hub in my glove box connected to the Avin, so I can just add/remove features willy nilly. E.g. when I go to the track, add the TPMS/tire temp receiver. When carplay went from wired to wireless, swap that dongle out. Etc.

[dilmorecg]

I just got mine about 2 months ago. Install for me was fairly easy since I had my interior and trunk completely apart for a refresh already. I have the factory nav setup, so had to run wires.

Definitely had a lot of extra wire length and found the best place to tuck it was in front of the rear shock tower behind the trunk carpet (I have a vert so not sure about coupe for this).

Sounds way better than stock with just a head unit change.

Options I got:
PX6
I opted for no IBUS since I was reading on e46fanatics that with our cars its not worth it. That is something I can add later if I feel like I need it.
No Chipset - I have factory speakers so I didnt think this was worth it. It has pretty good options for EQ without this upgrade. Also with a vert I felt with the top down having really good sound quality is kind of a waste because of extra road noise.
I did not get the GPS extension - I figured I was going to use Carplay for my navigation. And read reviews that the GPS antenna put in the dash does a good enough job.
I got the wireless Carplay. Which works pretty good. The only issue I have with it is you need to connect via Wifi. So you cant pull Wifi on your phone and connect to Carplay. That was weird to me...I would think it would just need blutooth.
Didnt get any optional things or the Maps.

Definitely happy with the unit overall. My factory Nav was pretty beat up and pixelated so I needed to update.

[dr_011]

I'd highly recommend the Avant4 (unless they're coming out with a 5 soon). As everyone has mentioned, install is easy enough to DIY but any shop can do it easily as well. The options available are fantastic, everything works well, and it's all in a stock look.

[Jimmy_L]

thanks everyone for their replies. a lot of good information here.
Has anyone got the White adapter (Does NOT support wireless CarPlay) over the Black adapter (Support wireless CarPlay). Still a little confused about how that set up would be. is the black adapter tucked in behind the unit? how about the white. is the white adapter exposed outside?

[Circa Surviven]

thanks everyone for their replies. a lot of good information here.
Has anyone got the White adapter (Does NOT support wireless CarPlay) over the Black adapter (Support wireless CarPlay). Still a little confused about how that set up would be. is the black adapter tucked in behind the unit? how about the white. is the white adapter exposed outside?

I got the white one. The black wireless dongle works with a wired USB and apple only wireless. Android phones do not support wireless at this time so that's why I saved money and went with the white. They aren't made by Avin they are just random unmarked dongles. You can plug the dongle into a USB connection that hangs down the back of the unit and either run it to your glove box or center console/cigarette lighter area. I think my white dongle might be suspect rather than the unit on carplay issues. Here's a picture of it glitching out the other day. I'm glad to see people have had better luck than me and others when it comes to glitches. There's a thread on e46fanatics about issues people have had.

[dilmorecg]

I got the black dongle. It lets you run wireless Carplay if you have an iPhone. It works pretty good. Starts right up into Carplay. Only downside is it requires both bluetooth and Wifi connection to the unit.

[Obioban]

I got the black dongle. It lets you run wireless Carplay if you have an iPhone. It works pretty good. Starts right up into Carplay. Only downside is it requires both bluetooth and Wifi connection to the unit.

All wireless CarPlay uses bluetooth and wifi-- bluetooth doesn't have enough bandwidth.