comotiger

Hi folks,
I recently installed an iPhone mirroring kit and front camera in my 2014 LS460L. Overall, I am very pleased with the performance of the system. In three posts, I will provide a detailed description of my requirements and choice of components (Part 1), the installation process (Part 2), and finally their performance (Part 3). I hope some of you find this information interesting and useful.

Part 1: REQUIREMENTS

1) Play DVDs when car is in motion (Nav bypass kit). Rather than watching movies while driving, my wife (and I ) watches photo slideshows of birthdays, vacations, holiday dinners etc, especially the last 15 years from the time when we became parents. I find it easier to keep 1000s of pictures on DVDs rather than on my smartphone, although that is also another option to view slideshows. We regularly take 5 hour trips (one-way) to Iowa on very lightly traveled freeways, and I am confident (hopeful) this “habit” will not become distracting or a safety concern.

2) Display Google Maps on Nav Screen (iPhone mirroring kit). I seldom use Lexus factory navigation because it is not updated to the Midwest ($$ for every update), it cannot show updated traffic conditions etc. without a subscription, and it’s cumbersome to use. I use Google Maps a lot, but have struggled to follow directions on the phone while driving. Displaying Google maps on the Nav screen would be wonderful. Other benefits include being able to watch youtube video playlists and photo albums on the Nav screen. Since Apple Carplay will not be available even in the LS500, Lexus owners are stuck with using the Enform app suite, the GROM VLine or VAIS interfaces, or the Beatsonic kit to get smartphone functions “mirrored” on the Nav screen. I have discussed the pros and cons of these products from my perspective in another thread.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...n-2014-ls.html

After much analysis, I decided to install the Beatsonic IF-04EP mirroring kit, which includes the NDS6223EP Nav bypass controller.



3) Display Front camera image on Nav screen. For ease of parking in unfamiliar parking spots, I wanted a front camera that would function very much like the reverse camera. I expect to have an easier time hugging one line in an unfamiliar parking spot, and also to avoid scraping the air dam on the curb stops (although nowadays I just raise the car to high setting to avoid this problem). After some research and discussion with my installer, I chose the Vission MV Camera 15, purchased from www.qualitymobilevideo.com.



4) Switch between Front camera and iPhone on Nav screen. To accomplish this, a switch was included in the video input to the Nav screen that allows for switching between these two sources. Eric Kwon and Sam Cho at Beatsonic were very helpful in identifying a solution for me. I bought the Beatsonic BR01 switch, and a Ulincos latching pushbutton switch(Amazon) was installed on the dash to control the BR01 switch.



An important reason for me in choosing the Beatsonic kit was that all of the components would be installed inside the dash, unlike GROM and VAIS units, which are relatively bulky and would have to be installed inside or underneath the glove box. The following pics show the wiring schematic and a mockup of the connections with the components.

Schematic:



Mock up:


5) Stable and durable iPhone mount and holder. After some research, I bought a Proclip console mount (Cat #834848) and adjustable holder (Cat # 514666). They are well made, attach to the center console and are very stable.

In the next post (Part 2), I will describe the installation.

comotiger

The mirroring kit and camera were installed by a professional car audio shop. I worked closely with the owner Mark to scout locations for the front camera and the pushbutton switch on the dash. The shop fabricated a bracket to install the camera. However, the camera position underneath the front license plate was too low, so the following week Mark relocated the camera to a more typical position just below the Lexus emblem. The images are much improved, but the camera head needs to be adjusted some more for a better viewing angle of the parking spot.

Mark said unlike most vehicles, there was very little space behind the LS460 dash, and it took a fair bit of time and effort to “squeeze in” and fasten all the cables and boxes into the limited space. They also had to install the pushbutton switch, and fashion the bracket for installing the camera. He initially estimated 2 hours for the install, but needed 5! The Beatsonic kit provides a lot of double sided adhesive tape to mount the various components to flat surfaces behind the dash to prevent rattles etc. Everything is nice and quiet thus far.

Disconnecting the battery


Routing the front camera wires


Removing the DVD unit




Attaching the Nav Bypass controller harness


Installing the Pushbutton switch in the cupholder compartment




Lightning extension cables (from Amazon). Rather than directly plugging in the Lightning end of the 6 foot extension cable into the iPhone as shown in the mockup, I daisy chained a shorter 3 foot extension cable to the 6 foot cable. The iPhone was plugged into the 3 foot cable. All excess cable was stowed behind the passenger side panel of the center console. I used daisy chaining to allow me to easily swap out the shorter cable if the Lightning terminator wears out from repeated use. If I plugged my phone directly into the 6 foot extension cable, the dashboard would have to be opened once again to install a new Lighting extension cable. One problem with the Beatsonic kit is that the iPhone will not charge properly unless the phone’s display is adjusted to the lowest brightness setting. I was afraid daisy chaining would further impact its ability to charge the phone. I am happy to note that the iPhone charges well in my setup.

6 foot Lightning extension cable emerging from behind and underneath the dash


Daisy chain of 6 foot and 3 foot Lightning cables


Proclip mount


Phone mount does not interfere with cupholder storage or the Map and Menu buttons




Initially the camera was attached to a bracket below the front license plate. Since the camera was very low to the ground, the views were too low to be useful.




The shop relocated the camera to a spot just underneath the Lexus emblem. Since there is a vertical support rib at the midpoint of the grille, the camera was offset slightly to the left, just below the DRCC transmitter/sensor. While the current height is perfect, the camera still needs some tweaking since the downward angle is a bit off.




OK, that's all for the installation. In the next post (Part 3), I will describe performance.

comotiger

All features of Mirroring kit are functioning as expected.

1) Playing DVDs: Selecting the DVD input brings up the screen and allows for DVD playback when the vehicle is moving.

Photo slideshow on DVD (Atlantis The Palm, Dubai )


2) Mirroring iPhone: When the kit is installed, a new “A/V” tab appears in the Media selection menu. This source must be selected to receive output from the iPhone or the front camera.


Selecting A/V input brings up the blue screen because iPhone is not connected.




When iPhone is connected, the home screen appears (my son’s phone )


- One “drawback” with mirroring is that the home screen will not rotate to landscape mode for iPhone 6S and lower. For 6 Plus and newer iPhones, the home screen autorotates, making better use of the display area. Apps like youtube and Google Maps will autorotate in iPhones 5 and 6 also.

- Another drawback with mirroring, unlike GROM or Enform (VAIS, I am not sure), is that all apps have to be manipulated on the iPhone screen, and the car’s mouse is useless. To get around this, many people have enabled a BT mouse to control a cursor on the iPhone screen.

There are Jailbreak apps available for rotating the screen as well as for controlling the iPhone with a BT mouse, but I am not keen on going this route (yet). If anyone here has done this without issues, please PM me. Thanks!

Running Google Maps. Since the iPhone (and front camera) signal is provided as an RCA video input to the Nav screen, the image does not have the crispness of an HDMI input. Nevertheless, the Google Maps images are of pretty good quality and detail.




Switching to front camera:
When the pushbutton is off, iPhone screen (and audio) is active.


When pushbutton is turned on (lit LED ring), the front camera video signal is routed to Nav screen. iPhone audio still active.


Front camera view (previous lower camera position)


Front camera view (current higher camera position). I will add a couple more pics later.


iPhone Charging. I have not tested the charging ability of this system extensively, but the results are promising so far. Google Maps is an energy hog, but the battery maintained its charge (reduced by less than 5%) during a 75 minute drive. I have not run two energy hogs simultaneously, for example, watching Youtube videos while Google Maps is running in the background, but I expect charging to be satisfactory. iPhone functions through vehicle Bluetooth are not affected.

Total Cost of Components and Installation
Beatsonic IF-04EP and BR01 (with nice discount) $368
Vission front camera (from Quality Mobile Video) $ 90
Proclip console mount and phone holder $ 77
All stuff below from Amazon $ 97
Lightning 6 ft and 3 ft extension cables ($30)
4 inch Lightning to USB connector ($6)
Apple Lightning Digital AV adaptor ($52)
Ulincos Latching pushbutton switch ($9)

Labor (5 hours) $400
Total Costs: $1032

Thanks for reading to the end. I hope some of you will find this information useful.

Gbp

Excellent and impressive documentation. Thanks!

comotiger

Thanks, Gbp. I had a lot of fun writing it. When I started this process, I had a lot of questions about why do this mod, and what to buy. Hopefully, I have answered these questions for many on CL who may be considering a similar mod. The front camera is a bit of a gimmick ( I do use it, but could probably manage without it 90% of the time). But the iPhone mirroring and Nav bypass will be used a lot!

Nospinzone

Nice write up.

Actually the front camera would be very useful if you could add recording capability.

comotiger

Thanks, Nospinzone. I am sure if someone were interested in recording the front camera, it can be done. It's just a matter of splitting the camera signal before the BR01 switch and connecting to a recorder. Of course, one would have to figure out a way to power the recorder and to download the recorded data, but these are problems that must have been solved already.

213374U

Long post, can't wait to read through it

EDIT: Man, lots of detail in there, excellent write-up! Looking forward to phone mirroring in my LS in the future.

comotiger

LOL, what can I say?? Either I provide you all the information in a long post rightaway or post the bare details and answer a bunch of questions later. I like telling stories. Hope you like it

213374U

I'm right there with you, I'd rather provide all pertinent information up front and answer the small questions later. I don't think that translates too well to business when I'm preparing reports for our Board of Directors, I'm sure they just see the detail and figure "he knows what he's doing"

comotiger

One thing I forgot to mention is that the IF-04EP mirroring kit is only compatible with 2013+ LS. Beatsonic has Nav Bypass that works with all 4LS cars, but not the mirroring kit. Hopefully, you have a 2013+ LS. You can check with Eric at Beatsonic whether they can suggest a mirroring solution for older vehicles.

Natelw

AC - so how do we get the discount? I'm looking to get the RCA adapter and DVD/NAV bypass so my twin screens will run from the head unit and through the speakers. I'm also interested in the iPhone mirroring. Also, I'm wondering if you stream off your iPhone (Netflix, Amazon, etc) if it will show to the back DVD units with the RCA adapater Beatsonic sells, hmmm.

213374U

2010, I'm waiting to see how long it takes for GROM to support the newer LS' before I dive into anything as their current kit only supports 07-09.

CRowe14

Excellent, well thought-out and composed thread my friend! The interface looks fantastic and usability appears to be well integrated and most importantly - to your liking!

Random comment:
The more I see your LS and its color combination (interior/exterior), the more the 13+ grows on me...
Hmmmm.....

comotiger

Just contact Eric or Sam. They can tell you whether your system will work. They will also provide your discount ��

The mirroring uses the AV input. If the rear DVD units are tapping off the DVD player output, then you cannot stream Netflix etc. Best thing is to describe what you want to do to Eric, and I am sure he can provide a solution!

EDIT: What I meant about Netflix streaming is you cannot stream to the rear DVDs using your method. Because there is iPhone mirroring thru the AV input, Netflix streaming will show up nicely on the Nav screen. I am sure you followed what I said. I just wanted to clarify for the others.