Honda Element: CarPlay upgrade: manton.org

@manton This is sick. What a game changer! Love seeing folks update cars like this. Cars cost way too much to not be upgradeable.

@manton What a nice little car hack! It looks like it’s been there all along.

@jmanes Thanks! Yeah, it makes me wonder about new cars where the dash seems impossible to upgrade. But I guess it’s less important since it’s all a big screen anyway on modern cars.

@sod I’m really happy with how it looks. Feels right at home.

@manton I did something similar for my 2005 Acura RSX Type-S a few years ago. If I had known you were doing this, I would have recommended Crutchfield because they’re great with making sure you have all the right things to make sure the head unit works with your car. Unless that’s what you did…

@jmuscara I did reference the Crutchfield site a little, but I didn’t end up ordering from them… Probably should have.

@manton well that’s cool! Never knew such a thing was possible!

@manton This was incredibly satisfying to read. Good job!

@manton Had you considered those CarPlay add-on kits that come with their own screen that you simply plug into the power socket of your car?

@pratik No, didn’t look at those. I wanted something that was as integrated as possible.

@manton Very nice job! It looks like it’s originally made that way.

@manton I had looked into that. Initial estimates were $2K just for the labor.

@manton great job! Get some “heat shrink butt connectors” to replace that tape and you’ll look like a pro. If you don’t have a heat gun, a lighter will work if you are careful. A good place for your mic is above the steering wheel in the headliner, right next to the windshield. You can usually run the mic wire behind your dash to the a-pillar and under the headliner.