Scoche GM5201AB, AVIC5000, Carplay report/notes and an center console AUX question

[Moto7451]

Hey guys,

For the sake of googlers looking for info I might be answering I'll put my question at the end after the break (----).

I just got my Scosche unit and Pioneer head unit installed. I had a bit of fun installing everything as the radio bay is very tight.

Some install notes:

First, screw the Scosche installation manual. It is terrible for anything other than a wiring guide. When taking apart your car, use the Metra instructions until you get to the point where your heading and Scosche specific hardware needs to be installed. Neither manual mentioned removing (by twisting counter clockwise and pulling out) the blue LED from the automatic transmission shifter labels or the need to disconnect two other cables on the passenger side. I followed advice posted on this forum to wait 10 minutes rather than 5 minutes when going through the initialization process for the head HVAC controls.

For the uninitiated, the Scosche kit has a rather large wiring harness that connects to the OEM Radio connector, a large square connector (about two erasers stacked), and the HVAC connector, a smaller rectangular connector about the size of 3/4 of an eraser. The harness routes those lines into various connectors such as an OnStar interface, two connectors for the front fascia, a remote wire, and bare wires for your radio harness.

I ended up taking the Radio connector and crammed it into an opening on the left side of the compartment. I routed the HVAC connector along with the Scosche fascia connectors back down the channel that the stock HVAC cable comes out. This made the startup procedure (and future updates easier) as I can pull about two feet of cable out of the opening. I'm not an OnStar or XM User so I took the connectors for those antennas/connectors and shoved them out an opening on the right side of the compartment. I twist tied the connectors to prevent them from rattling.

For the replacement microphone and the GPS antenna I routed the cables out the left and right openings, respectively, and hid the mic cable by routing it through the plastic paneling under and to the right of the steering wheel. I taped it to the top of the steering column (as I did on my Malibu). The Pioneer GPS antenna's handy magnetic backing mounted to a metal part above the glove box and yielded 12 GPS and 3 GLONAS (assuming I'm reading the labels right) satellites so I'm not too worried about the upside down, slightly insulated mounting job.

I routed one USB out each opening and down the side trim of the center console. I placed USB 1 (the extension) on the right and USB 2 (a MicroUSB cable with a MicroUSB to Lightning adapter) on the left. This ended up being less than ideal, as USB 1 is the only port that supports CarPlay. I left it as the passenger port so I could use it for updates and not have to worry about multiple USB cables on my side of the car. I have to open everything up again to correct another problem, so I'll likely reverse them and perform firmware updates via SD card.

CarPlay is nice, but the Spotify client is kinda lacking. I usually just search for an artist and pick an album to play. The CarPlay client doesn't support this which is kinda sad. Hopefully Apple comes up with a Beats app with the same level of completeness as the excellent Music app (I'm not much of an internet radio guy).

The Pioneer head unit's sound blows away the outgoing MyLink. I have JBL P660 front speakers, stock rear speakers, and a 10" Rockford Fosgate R2 Ultra subwoofer in the trunk. The rear speakers and sub run off of a Blaupunkt EMA 455 600W Amp. I bias the speakers forward at +6 and the fronts are now being driven with adequate power (a dedicated amp would obviously do the trick there).

I haven't looked into it much but it seems that the steering wheel controls are more or less useless at this point which is too bad. I've read conflicting reports about the Scosche kit/AVIC5000 steering wheel control support but the sticker on my Scosche suggests firmware from September and I have set Pioneer as the head unit so it seems like the Steering wheel controls aren't in the cards with this setup. I'll likely look into the Metra or PAC steering wheel interface.

I'm using a wireless video transmitter for the rear view camera but I ran out of daylight before I could get to the camera portion. I'll write a follow up once I get that going. i'm pretty excited about this.

I made one really annoying mistake when purchasing my setup. I bought the "usual" GM antenna adapter rather than the BMW/VW adapter. D'oh! I purchased it tonight and will have to pull everything apart again as I really enjoy HD radio and some of the local HD2 stations.

Lastly, I've attached a photo of my setup (while getting the 1.0.8 update installed). I find that the kit looks really good in the car, especially compared to models with nothing but black trim.

----------------

So my question:

I noticed that the center console USB was just an extension cable and that the receptacle is just a fancy locking Micro USB cable. I know that the connection there goes through a media computer which then connects to the head unit. When I go back into the unit I'll likely route one of my USB cables into it via an adapter. The AUX in uses a custom connector. Does that connector route to one of the cables inside the audio bay or does it also run through the media computer?

-Max

[benji276289]

Beware...the Scosche unit might affect the TPMS. I went through this a couple of weeks ago. The left rear sensor went blank. I decided to go back to the stock Mylink unit and the problem was gone. There are other threads dealing with this and other problems associated with this module.

[Kirsh]

I don't understand - steering whell controls works?

[benji276289]

Originally Posted by Kirsh

I don't understand - steering whell controls works?

Requires a special cable to have the steering wheel controls work but still works only sluggish at best.

[Kirsh]

Originally Posted by benji276289

Requires a special cable to have the steering wheel controls work but still works only sluggish at best.

i wrote to Erik from scosche. Asked him about software problem with new pioneer unit and SWC....

[Moto7451]

Originally Posted by Kirsh

I don't understand - steering whell controls works?

Not on my car with the Scoche unit. I'll email their support and see what happens. I probably will need to buy another SWC adapter to use in its place.

[Moto7451]

And it seems I might have the Radio turn off bug. It won't turn off even after I get out of the car and lock it. Lame. I'm thinking I'll just bypass the Scosche kit's accessory wire. Anyone know which wire on the stock harness is the accessory wire? I checked the wiring guide but it seems that is for the wires coming directly in/out of the BCM.

[Rizzo]

I agree that you should keep an eye out for other weird electrical issues. Here is a thread I did a while back:

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=246752

I had the worse luck working with Scoche tech support. They acknowledged that my issues were a result of the kit, but then stopped responding to support tickets/emails. For me, it was a very expensive lesson learned.

[Kirsh]

Ok, i think we have a fix for a new pioneer devices and SWC... give me 3 days

[drakedgar]

Originally Posted by Kirsh

Ok, i think we have a fix for a new pioneer devices and SWC... give me 3 days

[Kirsh]

Manual from Erik:

We believe we may have found the fix for the steering wheel control issue. If you are comfortable or capable of performing the fix yourself, perform the steps below:



Make sure the two sets of wires pictured above in the 2nd image are no longer touching each other.

[NOVAK]

Originally Posted by Moto7451

Hey guys,

For the sake of googlers looking for info I might be answering I'll put my question at the end after the break (----).

I just got my Scosche unit and Pioneer head unit installed. I had a bit of fun installing everything as the radio bay is very tight.

Some install notes:

First, screw the Scosche installation manual. It is terrible for anything other than a wiring guide. When taking apart your car, use the Metra instructions until you get to the point where your heading and Scosche specific hardware needs to be installed. Neither manual mentioned removing (by twisting counter clockwise and pulling out) the blue LED from the automatic transmission shifter labels or the need to disconnect two other cables on the passenger side. I followed advice posted on this forum to wait 10 minutes rather than 5 minutes when going through the initialization process for the head HVAC controls.

For the uninitiated, the Scosche kit has a rather large wiring harness that connects to the OEM Radio connector, a large square connector (about two erasers stacked), and the HVAC connector, a smaller rectangular connector about the size of 3/4 of an eraser. The harness routes those lines into various connectors such as an OnStar interface, two connectors for the front fascia, a remote wire, and bare wires for your radio harness.

I ended up taking the Radio connector and crammed it into an opening on the left side of the compartment. I routed the HVAC connector along with the Scosche fascia connectors back down the channel that the stock HVAC cable comes out. This made the startup procedure (and future updates easier) as I can pull about two feet of cable out of the opening. I'm not an OnStar or XM User so I took the connectors for those antennas/connectors and shoved them out an opening on the right side of the compartment. I twist tied the connectors to prevent them from rattling.

For the replacement microphone and the GPS antenna I routed the cables out the left and right openings, respectively, and hid the mic cable by routing it through the plastic paneling under and to the right of the steering wheel. I taped it to the top of the steering column (as I did on my Malibu). The Pioneer GPS antenna's handy magnetic backing mounted to a metal part above the glove box and yielded 12 GPS and 3 GLONAS (assuming I'm reading the labels right) satellites so I'm not too worried about the upside down, slightly insulated mounting job.

I routed one USB out each opening and down the side trim of the center console. I placed USB 1 (the extension) on the right and USB 2 (a MicroUSB cable with a MicroUSB to Lightning adapter) on the left. This ended up being less than ideal, as USB 1 is the only port that supports CarPlay. I left it as the passenger port so I could use it for updates and not have to worry about multiple USB cables on my side of the car. I have to open everything up again to correct another problem, so I'll likely reverse them and perform firmware updates via SD card.

CarPlay is nice, but the Spotify client is kinda lacking. I usually just search for an artist and pick an album to play. The CarPlay client doesn't support this which is kinda sad. Hopefully Apple comes up with a Beats app with the same level of completeness as the excellent Music app (I'm not much of an internet radio guy).

The Pioneer head unit's sound blows away the outgoing MyLink. I have JBL P660 front speakers, stock rear speakers, and a 10" Rockford Fosgate R2 Ultra subwoofer in the trunk. The rear speakers and sub run off of a Blaupunkt EMA 455 600W Amp. I bias the speakers forward at +6 and the fronts are now being driven with adequate power (a dedicated amp would obviously do the trick there).

I haven't looked into it much but it seems that the steering wheel controls are more or less useless at this point which is too bad. I've read conflicting reports about the Scosche kit/AVIC5000 steering wheel control support but the sticker on my Scosche suggests firmware from September and I have set Pioneer as the head unit so it seems like the Steering wheel controls aren't in the cards with this setup. I'll likely look into the Metra or PAC steering wheel interface.

I'm using a wireless video transmitter for the rear view camera but I ran out of daylight before I could get to the camera portion. I'll write a follow up once I get that going. i'm pretty excited about this.

I made one really annoying mistake when purchasing my setup. I bought the "usual" GM antenna adapter rather than the BMW/VW adapter. D'oh! I purchased it tonight and will have to pull everything apart again as I really enjoy HD radio and some of the local HD2 stations.

Lastly, I've attached a photo of my setup (while getting the 1.0.8 update installed). I find that the kit looks really good in the car, especially compared to models with nothing but black trim.

----------------

So my question:

I noticed that the center console USB was just an extension cable and that the receptacle is just a fancy locking Micro USB cable. I know that the connection there goes through a media computer which then connects to the head unit. When I go back into the unit I'll likely route one of my USB cables into it via an adapter. The AUX in uses a custom connector. Does that connector route to one of the cables inside the audio bay or does it also run through the media computer?

-Max

You have to run a mini usb and aux cable from the head unit to the rear of the console. Unplug the usb cable that's connected to the usb port and plug in the mini usb cable from your head unit. New auxilary cable plug needs to be cut and soldered to the existing aux port in the rear console.

[Moto7451]

I've been a bit busy lately so I haven't had a chance to update my post. To their credit, Scoche's support was very responsive with an RMA form turned around within 24 hours. So far the Scoche has been flawless save for the Acc line from the kit staying on so I'm going to hold onto this one unless other problems show up.

I wired up a relay so I can cut the Acc line from the Scoche kit and run it through the Normally closed side of the relay (red wires). I'll then either run an Acc line or use the in console cigarette/12v accessory line to turn on the relay (orange and black lines)



I also got to work on adding a backup camera (finally).

I'm using an Esky EC170-06 camera and a Wireless transmitter to avoid having to run a cable from front to rear. My 2013 has a blanking plate between the license plate lights for the optional camera so I just mounted the camera to it.



I'm going to use a quick splice to provide power when the backing lights turn on. Looking around the forum and the wiring guide sticky it seems to be a light green wire so that shouldn't be too hard to find within the loom.

Assuming I have time tomorrow I'm going to try and add the relay and connect the antenna adapter so I can get HD Radio and traffic updates finally haha.

Originally Posted by Kirsh

Manual from Erik:

We believe we may have found the fix for the steering wheel control issue. If you are comfortable or capable of performing the fix yourself, perform the steps below:

...

Make sure the two sets of wires pictured above in the 2nd image are no longer touching each other.

I'm not sure I understand what this mod is going to do. Can you explain how the fix works before I attempt it?

Originally Posted by NOVAK

You have to run a mini usb and aux cable from the head unit to the rear of the console. Unplug the usb cable that's connected to the usb port and plug in the mini usb cable from your head unit. New auxilary cable plug needs to be cut and soldered to the existing aux port in the rear console.

Sounds good. I'm curious if a a USB Type A <-> Mini B Gender changer would work. I guess I'm curious if anything is between the USB port and the end of the cable within the confines of the headunit chamber. I'll have to write something up to test it I think (unless someone knows better already) .

[Moto7451]

Alrighty, so I finally got around to making this work (mostly).

I pulled the kit out and found that the teal power wire for the center console cigarette lighter/power plug was a much simpler way to get accessory power. I tapped it at the connector near the shifter. You can trace it back to the lighter plug to be sure it's the right one. It's a lot easier to get ACC that way than from the BCM.

After fixing that I went ahead and turned my attention to the backup camera. A few days before I went about redoing my install my reverse signal from the Scosche kit became stuck on (i.e. my head unit always thought I was in reverse). I tried the reset procedure and that didn't help. I tried the purple/white wire from the stock (unused) backup cam cable but it didn't seem to work either, likely due to the fact I lack factory nav. I tried to install a rocker switch but between the backup line and the head unit but then the reverse signal burned out in glorious fashion.

While fiddling with the head unit I noticed the touch screen on the AVIC-5000 worked dramatically better when I disconnected the SWC 3.5mm plug. Since they didn't work for me anyways I just left it off and I've had a lot easier time using the touch controls since.

When reinstalling I noticed their their lame excuse of pressure clips do not lock to the plastic tabs on the fascia and popped off and into my dash when removing it. This is simply inexcusably poor quality on their end. I extracted the one I could and installed the fascia. It's not horribly loose (thank goodness) stuff like this really rubs me the wrong way.

Scosche, Scosche, Scosche. I honestly lack words for this. It's really too bad that the Metra is so ugly. The next time I have an issue I'll likely just buy their kit. I've more or less written off Scosche for good.

Anyways, my final move will be to pick up an hide away LCD for my backup cam and install it somewhere that it won't stick out too much. I'm likely going to install the wireless receiver's circuit board inside of the plastic base so I have a rather clean install.