2017/2018 radio swap in 2016 ultimate?

[Red350Drop]

Thanks to @Suburbazine and @Mr. Incredible on Page 2. Used the dealer coding menu to uncheck Parking Assist 0 and Parking Assist 1 which changed Parking assist value to Rear Camera only.

2018 head unit fully working in my 2015 Ultimate.

Dealer mode" (engineering mode lite) can be accessed by:
Go to the home screen.Click "Settings", Scroll to the bottom and click "System Info", Tap and hold on the circle in the center of the menus (the one with the arrows on it).
This is a very scaled down subset of the full engineering mode, but I haven't yet found a way in the UI to access that.
Each of the available functions is protected by a PIN code. Here are pin codes (including some for functions that aren't visible):
software: 1358
hardware: 4763
dynamics: 0716
update: 4590
logsetting: 4259
autotest: 4260
password: 0428
variant: 6172
diagnosis: 5173
mapcaremode: 3649

 

[tslany]

Is the full eng mode same to access in FL headunit? Because in my old 2016 one, I can access it using the setup+menu+next combo, with the new 2018 one I cannot, even if I am doing the same thing, I can only access the dealer mode by holding the icon in settings.

 

[Red350Drop]

Sorry I only used the “lite” mode.

 

[tslany]

Thats a question for anyone

Anyway while Im waiting for the amp to arrive, I did the extension of Jukebox partition, and I discovered that the unit from US model has different antenna than my EU car, I guess thanks to that sirius thing, so I will probably need to replace the top board with original one. I will see if this will affect anything in terms of functionality.

 

[Red350Drop]

Thats a question for anyone

Anyway while Im waiting for the amp to arrive, I did the extension of Jukebox partition, and I discovered that the unit from US model has different antenna than my EU car, I guess thanks to that sirius thing, so I will probably need to replace the top board with original one. I will see if this will affect anything in terms of functionality.

Let’s tag @Suburbazine - he seems very knowledgeable and may be able to help you.

 

[tslany]

So at last the amplifier arrived as well.

Did the swap using the schematics here, I also kept the old front facing part, to keep the look of the old unit, and I also keep the old top board with FM/AM/DAB module, because the US antenna is different (and I really dont need some Sirius something in Europe). No problem with these so far, I only had to reconfigure the features in the diagnostic variant, and then I used the EU update on the SD. I also bought the wireless CP/AA adapter, now its perfect!

However, I am facing two issues.

First, I feel like the bass part of the sound is bit louder than it was before. Not sure if thats feature or a bug in my place, maybe old amp have defective subwoofer part, maybe its configured differently, I dunno. Anybody else have this experience as well? All sound settings reset to default. Also, maybe because of this I feel like some speaker is out of the phase, but I will focus on this by measurements and I will go through the schematics again, probably to cross check with another wiring (I got the 2016 one, need to look up some 2018 amp pinouts)

Second, my sound is dropping from time to time. I have discovered that its happening only in cold car, and more with loudy sonds. However the problem is gone when the car (amp, radio?) is hot, so I guess some soldering issue, however Im not sure if its radio or amplifier part. I will need to take a look at it later, probably when I will study the wiring, also maybe something will be in the logs, I need to enable more debug.

And I still cannot access the full eng mode on the new unit, no matter how hard I try. Is there any other way how to enter it? Not that I need it, its just grinding me off that it should work and its not working.

 

[Red350Drop]

Yes the bass was more noticeable for me with the install. I always thought the 2015 was a little anemic on bass so this was a welcome change for me.

I also have been dealing with popping and losing sound… it would cut out at times driving. Wife drives the car but finally caught it when I was in the car. I found out I would still have Nav voice from Waze through CarPlay when audio was cut out which made me think it was the SPDIF wires which carry the audio signal to the amp. Those are 3 of the 5 new wires you have to run from the radio to the amp.

I removed my radio and changed the crimp heat shrink connectors on the SPDIF +, - and ground to soldered connections (as well as Nav voice + and -). It seems to have fixed it. If I had to do it again I would have used some higher quality larger gauge shielded wire for those. I just used some jacketed 22 gauge 6 wire cluster off amazon.

I have also had some issues with CarPlay dropping off that have been rectified by moving to a wireless CarPlay adapter (CarLinkIt). Unknown why- I changed the USB controller which helped but it would seem to get hot, disconnect CarPlay and then not reconnect. I also put a reset button to interrupt power to the Radio so I can reboot it while driving if there are any connection problems.

 

[tslany]

I think mine will be some inside soldering issue. More probably radio than amplifier, as I got two random restarts already when going in reverse. I will take a look at logs lately, if there is something interesting. I hope it will be just cold joint and not cracked main board, that would probably mean a new radio needed. Its definitely not wiring, because wires cannot get that hot so they will be working only after car being heated. I have everything soldered and used avionics-grade cables to avoid problems

Also I noticed one thing while using AA, sometimes the display is in delay compared to the phone, so I click on somethign and it take 1s or 2s to complete. When I go from the AA screen somewhere else and return back, delay is gone, but there is no connection to whatever behavior, its just random. Happens to Carplay as well.