Nissan 370Z Forum - Brainiac tablet upgrade for navigation models

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I am writing up my modification from stock head unit to a tablet display for my 2009 370Z with navigation. For those looking for a tablet-style upgrade, this could be a good choice regardless of what trim level you have for your Z. But for those with the navigation trim, upgrading our stock head unit is very tricky. The A/C controls are interfaced through the stock unit, which means that you will lose control of your A/C system unless you find an aftermarket unit that controls 370Z A/C (which is obviously pretty rare) or you build one yourself. Fortunately, forum member Radensb has built just such a unit, which I used for this install. This was absolutely critical as this project would not have been possible without Radensb's work.

I was looking for a full tablet upgrade that looks clean and completely stock. Again, this is tricky since most units are going to fit perfectly around the existing trim or may not be a complete match in terms of color, gloss level or look & feel. After doing some research I decided to go with a trim and electronics package from a small Canadian company called Workshop 12 (there are a number of threads about their products here already). They manufacture the trim to mount a tablet to a 370Z and design the kit specifically for the car. The look is very clean. I have my summary of how this works first, the step by step for the upgrade next and finally my thoughts on the finished product at the end.

How it works:

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Their Brainiac kit contains the plastics necessary to replace the existing infotainment pieces as well as the mount for a tablet to clip in. I have documented the installation but it is very straightforward.

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Their MK electronics package provides an amp, a connection to the car speakers as well as power and USB connectors for the tablet and any other devices you want to power. It also provides a USB dongle that can be used to power a phone.

Obviously, you will need the tablet that the kit is built for. Currently (as of this write-up), they are supporting the Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1” tablet. Since the plastics are built to form around the tablet, you must use the Tab A (or, I suppose, another tablet with the exact dimensions as a Tab A if one exists). The Tab A works fine for me and is more than sufficient, given that stock car infotainment systems are often the flower of 1980’s technology. I don’t see any reason why Workshop couldn’t come out with frames for updated models in the future as well as the adjustment would be very minor.

If you have the base model of the car (without the built-in navigation), that’s really all you need to do: remove the relevant pieces of the dashboard, install the electronics kit in the empty space, screw the Brainiac kit in and slip the tablet into place. For those of us with a navigation model, it is a bit more complicated. Nothing on the market is going to allow you to control the A/C system if you remove the stock navi head unit. There is a person on the board who was able (and brave enough) to do some significant fuse modification to his car to enable this functionality but it is definitely not a straight-forward process. Fortunately, another enterprising individual (forum member radensb) built a PCB that can connect the A/C back to the car and restore A/C function. The caveat is that you will need to get the dials for the non-navi model, which you can find on Ebay. Since the physical controls will be removed when you take out the stock unit you need to replace them with the base model version of the A/C controls. Finally, you will need to build a couple of cables that will connect the A/C to the PCB and the board to the car harness.

Parts needed:
Workshop 12’s 370Z Brainiac kit
a description of the kit and functionality is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haTHSSoV0aY&t=3s

Workshop 12’s MK electronics kit (or whatever equivalent you choose to use)
a description of the electronics package is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU4lvgrOH60&t=141s

Samsung Galaxy Tab A 10.1” tablet (you must have this specific model)

370Z base model A/C controls (can be purchased off of Ebay)

PCB to control A/C system

Car harness for PCB (must be made)

A/C harness for PCB (must be made)

Before you begin, disconnect your car battery. Although you shouldn’t have to worry about bare wires if you are using the Brainiac MK electronics (it is plug and play) the car is going to likely throw up errors over the loss of power to the airbag system if you don’t.

First, you need to remove the center dashboard pieces. Workshop 12 has a thorough video on how to do this and it is actually quite straightforward. The clips used for the pieces are much better quality that the plastic snaps that are often used for trim pieces. They are pretty sturdy and I felt like I could repeatedly remove and reassemble them without fear of breakage. Their installation for the Brainiac trim is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FU4lvgrOH60&t=141s. I won’t detail the dashboard trim and head unit removal as I think their video does an accurate job of describing it.

Once everything is out, you will have quite a bit of room in the dash for new parts. Simply screw in the Brainiac mount using the existing screw holes and feed the power and headphone cables from the MK electronics to the place where they connect to the tablet. They recommend zip tying the cables in place and have holes for this purpose in their mount.

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You will need to put in the PCB to interface with the A/C unit, the MK electronics and hook up the cabling. I zip tied the MK electronics to the upper frame crossmember, which worked well. I zip tied the PCB to the A/C box (you’ll see it in the video) and put it into the bottom of the space. Then all you need to do is connect the appropriate cables.

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At this point, I plugged the airbag cable and start power cable back into the waterfall dash trim piece but left everything hanging without screwing it back in. I then reconnected the car battery so I could do some testing on the system without having to reinstall all the trim first. The MK electronics has a master gain dial and it took a bit of trial and error to set it low enough not to get line noise through the tablet’s headphone jack but high enough to get good volume from the system. Plugging everything in but keeping the dash open allowed me to fiddle with the dials and try the volume until I found a good balance.

Once everything works as expected just put the trim back together and snap on the magnetic cover for the tablet. The cover allows you direct access to the tablet to pull it out as needed. It is a slick design as it looks stock, stays firmly in place but is easy to remove when needed.

There are a number of other items that can be added to the system as well. There is a product that allows you to connect the resistive steering wheel controls up to the tablet so that you can used them in the same way as they functioned with the stock head unit. You could also run a mic out from the tablet to the cabin for phone usage. Since Workshop 12 provides multiple USB outlets in their electronics package you could certainly have options.

Final thoughts:

After using the system for a bit I am very happy with the product. Before I can critique the finished product I think it is important to keep in mind what the product is designed to do. It gives you full access to a tablet in your car that looks stock and connects to your car speakers. If you want to run Android Auto on the tablet you can do that but you need to connect a mic. Samsung allows you to log into your Samsung account and use the tablet to route calls, which is convenient but that functionality does not work with all carriers.

Obviously, the functionality is fundamentally different than a unit dedicated to being a car infotainment center. You have the freedom of a tablet but there are complexities that come with having that freedom. For example, Workshop 12 has worked out pretty good power setting instructions for the tablet so that it turns on when you start the car and goes to sleep when you turn off the car. That works quite well. But in order to not have the screen annoyingly bright at night, it is recommended to set it to auto-dim 15 seconds after a screen touch. This saves battery usage (convenient as I find that the tablet is often balancing charge with usage pretty closely) and allows for a darker screen at night. But that also means that the screen is dimmed most of the time. You could certainly set it for full brightness all the time and get a bright screen when driving but you would probably want to change those settings for nighttime driving.

It’s a big screen, which looks amazing. But with any large touchscreen you are going to have issues with fingerprints. Again, I don’t see that as a flaw in the system but simply a natural effect of the product. I keep a microfiber cloth in my car and do a quick screen wipe regularly as fingerprints can be visible in reflected light.

The tablet wakes as soon as the car starts, which I find nice. In many stock units I find that it takes a while for the system to boot up when the car starts, which I find annoying. But that’s because car manufacturers put absurdly antiquated processors in their cars. I sync my tablet to my Google account so I have instant access to email, calendar, photos and everything else that is included in a Google account. I have access to Google maps without an Android Auto interface, which is great. My passenger can access everything on the tablet at any time (I could too but I try to stay responsible about distracted driving).

I am happy with the application that Workshop 12 provides for the tablet. It gives me quick access buttons that are configurable to whatever app I want, I can store or stream music with whatever apps I choose and control music directly from the main screen application. I got the LTE tablet, which I recommend. I have unlimited data for the tablet and so have updated traffic info, search capabilities, unlimited streaming music and so forth.

If I had to do it again, I would definitely do this upgrade. I won’t really comment on the cost for the setup as I think everyone has an individual opinion about their budget and perceived value. At the time I write this it is about $500 for the Workshop 12 trim and electronics (less if you only want the trim). I bought the tablet on Amazon for about $200 and you would need to get the PCB from the EZ_Navi-Delete site as well as make a couple of cables that the PCB needs to interface with the car. Could I get a less expensive head unit? Sure. Would it look as clean and offer the same options as a full tablet? No. But it just depends on what you want and what you are willing to spend and that is best left out of the discussion and up to the individual.

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