Does anyone have any feedback with this program, GROM? Pros and Cons, Installing, ect. Any info would be appreciated.

GROM created an alternative to OEM navigation with VLine system that fully integrates to the factory stereo.

 

Looks interesting but I had no idea about them until I researched a bit. I'd like to see how it turns out if you get one. I'm not looking to change my headunit or anything.

 

There is a lot of information on the is-f form. Some of the reviews are negative in regards to the v1 but the v2 seems pretty good. 600 is a little pricey but i oredered one anyways a few days ago, i should have it on friday. There are videos out there from Grom that show how it works in the gs.

Also there is a coupon that will give you $30 off but it expires soon.

 

I want this so bad. The reason I say this is because the BeatSonic I have ($360 I think when I bought it), although good, is a pain in the butt to control since I still have to hold my phone to move around the screen. The GROM makes the integration almost worth the asking price...

@gromaudio - Can you hook us ClubLexus members with a discount code? Or can you tell if you will have a Black Friday sale?

 

Grom's thanksgiving $30 discount code is THANKS18 but I think it expires on 11/23.

I'm using BeatSonic as well and it works great but I mainly watch music video's on Tidal. Its truly a pain to switch from artist to artist while driving. However the deal breaker for me is that fact that i can't "Smart View" or mirror NFL Sunday ticket or NFL Game Pass. If Grom works as well is i think I'm selling my BeatSonic.

 

Wait so there are restrictions on what apps it can open? This is supposed to be a phone replacement. Essentially it is an Android tablet that uses the factory nav screen. If your phone can play NFL Game Pass, then GROM should be able to as well. Where is the disconnect?

 

There are no restrictions on apps with Grom you can install anything you can on a phone. The NFL doesn't allow mirroring so I only revive audio with BeatSonic. I shouldn't have the same problem with Grom since it is basically a tablet that uses my navigation as the screen.

 

Oh my bad, I thought you said the GROM will give you issues. Yes, you're right. The NFL app will stop you from using smart view/casting.

 

The Grom VL2 arrived yesterday, I went to install it, removed the radio and glove box just to find out the video connect wasn't the correct size or so i thought. I put everything back together last night since this is my daily driver and called Grom earlier today. They informed me the blue video line is connected to the back of the navigation screen. Luckily Eddie420 has a great post related to removing the entire dash which showed me how to remove the screen. That post is also how i learned how to remove the glove box which is easier than you would think. It seems like the entire car is held together by a bunch of clips with a few bolts here and there.

Therefore the installation truly isn't that hard to do, all you need is a screwdriver, 10MM socket wrench, a beer and i highly suggest you invest in a basic trim removal kit. In any event I got everything installed tonight but I'm not impressed so far. Granted its a great idea, moves pretty quick, utilizes the factory mic on a 2014 and the integration is excellent. However the software is a little buggy. I immediately updated the firmware and i wish i didn't. Prior to updating the page up/down buttons between the map and menu button scrolled the screen like you would expect. After updating the firmware my page up/down stopped working and with most electronics after you update the firmware you cant go back to the old version. Its also an old version of android but i know an update is coming which may fix some of the instability issues with apps. However right now it's a hit or miss in regards to how well an app works. Tidal doesn't work at all, it installs fine but your locked into the settings screen. Plex worked at first and then froze. I tried a few other apps with mixed results, some worked fine then stopped and i had to uninstall and reinstall the app for it to work again.

Another thing to keep in mind is the system appears to override the factory navigation. I haven't played with it for very long because I'm irritated at the instability of some apps at this point but the map button now defaults to grom. Granted that's not a terrible thing assuming google maps or waze is stable. Besides the apps that seem to randomly crash you can't hide the task bar. There is a setting for it but its disabled so maybe that will be a feature in the future.

So the jury is still out, the only place you can install this is in the glove box which will require some modification. I'm not willing to do that until I figure out whats going on with my apps. I have an hour drive tomorrow which will give me the chance to see if things get better. i took a few pictures of the install and will post the install process in a few days assuming i decide to keep this bad boy.

On the positive note, I previously had beat-sonic installed and didn't think the lack of HD was a big deal since its a relatively small screen. However there is a noticeable difference in image quality going from beat-sonic to Grom. Unfortunately the inability to hide the task bar keeps videos from using the majority of the screen.

 

Glad my post was helpful! Great writeup I believe V3 is releasing soon but I hope those problems resolve for you. Sucks that the software is buggy in V2... figured they would have fixed it by now and for that price...yeesh!

 

I had a chance to get used to the VL2 and I must say I'm sold at this point. I worked out the app issues which were mainly user error and the only thing that doesn't work is Tidal due to the old version of android. An update should come around December updating the unit to the most recent version of Android. Tidal is now integrated into Plex and works great thru my Plex app. So now I can listen to all the music is on my media server and anything on Tidal thru the same interface.

The Good:
The system is extremely fast, no lag when opening or using apps, the car's mouse works perfect and a recent update fixed the page up/down button issue i had before. Steering wheel controls work like they should, you can switch to the next video or song in any app by using the up/down buttons on the left. Volume controls work as well but the interface doesn't show you the volume level. Grom also has good customer service, they answer quick and provide helpful solutions if you endure problems. i don't know about other years but in a 2014 it uses the cars mic which is great when adding directions to Waze or searching for a video in YouTube. There is a lot of grumbling online about Android Auto and Apple Carplay not working when it did on the VL1 and i don't know why. Your apps are limited with both carplay solutions so i don't know why anyone would want to limit there options. The VL1 was under powered but the VL2 isn't, it can do anything your phone can do and maybe more powerful than your phone. The startup is about the same as a phone maybe a little quicker so it doesn't take long to access the system. It also keeps running for 15 minutes after you turn off your car, so if you stop for gas or do something in under 15 minutes there is no boot up time. Music and videos automatically pause if you exit the VL2 interface but they start were you left off when you go back. Waze/Google Maps continue to run in the back ground and provide audio directions if you open another app like Pandora or YouTube. if you hold the menu button for a couple of seconds you go back to the factory interface and navigation. The screen on the right works as normal and you can move the mouse from the VL2 portion of the screen to the options on the right side. Text message alerts and phone calls work as normal.

The Bad:
It comes with a dated and ugly interface which technically works but has a limitations. Your limited to 18 apps, granted there is a convoluted way to access any app you have installed but its not like a phone where you can hit one button and all your apps are displayed. One of the default apps is Spotify but you need a premium membership for it to work. I deleted the default app and downloaded Spotify from the app store which works fine without a premium membership.

Stock Interface: (Apps shown are my apps not the default system apps.)


The VL2 is basically a tablet and since you can install any app you can also install a launcher. There are a few options out there if you search "Car Launcher", i tried a couple and decided to keep Car Launcher from lab studio. It looks great and you can click one button to see all your apps or display as many as you want at the bottom of the screen. There are 3 different layouts in the free version, for $2.99 you can upgrade to pro and make your own layout. You can change the default DashLinQ launcher to anything you want so when you access Vline it starts and stays in whatever you have set as the default launcher.

Car Launcher:




I got used to the black bars which aren't on most video's, they were less noticeable when mirroring my phone with beat-sonic however the improved image quality makes up for the bars. In the settings there is a disabled option to hide the navigation button, hopefully Grom will enable it in the future.



Its not a hard install but you are going to have to remove the navigation screen, radio and glove box (if your installing it in your glove box). I looked everywhere and tired to slide it in a few places to no avail. Another thing i don't like is that it uses connections in the back and front so its impossible to hide all of your wires. The back has your HDMI from the navigation screen and connections from the back of the headunit. The front shown below has a connection for the GPS antenna and optional RCA connects for an aftermarket camera. You also have your connections for a USB stick and MicroSD card so there is no way to install it without seeing some wires. I kept the install as clean as possible and cut a hole in the top of my glove box vs the back for two reasons. When i sell the car i can put tape on the outside of the glove box and you will never know a hole is there. Also there is a small amount of room on the top of the glove box where the wires sit along side of the cars existing wires that goto the glove box. You can't run the lines on the back side of the glove box because it will interfere with the cabin air filter. The glove box tray has to come out, i thought i could install it on the bottom portion however it won't fit with all of the connections. You can mount it on the top of the tray but then you will have no place to put our massive harry potter novel factory manual. I was going to go the top tray route and hold it in place with velcro for for easy removal when changing the cabin air filter. As you can see I decided to take the cleaner and harder route of mounting it to the top of the glove box.





Now lets talk about the things that may scare some people away, everyone may not have the same problems and Grom is working on or has a solution.

After installing this my car display a check engine light a couple of days later. Techstream shows the errors are related to navigation and my AC even though the factory navigation system works fine. My AC works as well be every now and then when i start my car the AC is off but it was on when i shut the car off. Something isn't playing nice between the factory system and VL2 even thought everything truly works. Grom stated they have a fix but wanted me to clear the warning and see if it came back. i cleared the warning and today the dang check engine light came on again. When you put the car in reverse the backup camera should come on even if your in the VL2 interface. A lot of people complained about this with the VL1 but it was supposed to be fixed with the VL2. I have to exit the VL2 interface (hold the menu button for 2 seconds) in order to see the backup camera. Not a big deal since its easy to exit the interface but for $600 everything should work right out the box!! Grom is aware and they are working on it, they thought the update that came out yesterday would fix the problem but it didn't. last but not least everything works great in the VL2 interface but when I'm in the factory display the screen started randomly flashing. It didn't do that before and there is no rhyme or reason behind it, I disconnected and reconnected all my connects to no avail. The update may have fixed that issue but the jury is still out because once you get a VL2 you won't utilize the factory navigation. Every time I've used the factory interface after the update the screen hasn't flashed. At the end of the day Grom's customer service is great and I feel confident the few issues left will be fixed.

Bottom line, is it worth it even with the issues? Yes it is, after using this for a few days I could never go back. For $600 it should work flawless right out the box but it is what it is, the VL2 hasn't been out long so I'm sure as more updates come out it will play nicer with Lexus. The Lexus interface is outdated and lacks several features, adding a VL2 is like going from a flip phone to a Note 9. One of the few Lexus features i liked was the integration of Pandora and Lexus took that away!! New cars have Android Auto and Apple Car play, and this is 10 times better considering it has no limitations.

If i didn't find another launcher for the interface I may have returned the unit. But when you change the launcher there is a night and day difference in appearance and ease of use.

Sorry for the long post but i wanted to answer the questions i couldn't find on other sites.

 

Great write up. The problems you listed are deal breakers for me. Glad I did not buy it. I will stick with the BeatSonic for now and just continue mirroring my phone. Thanks again.

 

Yeah the check engine light is ticking me off, I should have a fix for on Monday. I'll continue to update this thread as issues get resolved, the only reason why I'm keeping the unit is because I feel confident Grom will fix them. I basically paid $600 to be a beta tester.

Below is my setup.

 

Even a better review than before, thanks for that! Don't get me wrong, the GROM VL2 looks super enticing to me and having this with the factory controls is exactly what I want. With the Beatsonic, I was using a bluetooth handheld mouse to move stuff rather than the factory mouse. But unfortunately, the problems with the VL2 below, still makes me want to hold off until they release VL3 with Android Oreo. Keep us posted!

1) Check Engine Light is on. Codes for navigation and my AC malfunction.
2) AC settings randomly do not save.
3) Backup camera randomly does not turn on when in reverse.
4) Factory display screen randomly flashes.

 

Thanks for beta testing this and the awesome write up.

Questions:
1) Is the Grom running on the data connection of your mobile phone? If so, is it connected by a physical cable like in OEM android auto / carplay systems?
2) How are you scrolling up and down? Are you pulling the directional pad up/down or pressing the zoom in/out arrows just above the pad?