[HazAnwar]

I hate R-Link and think it's the most useless crap ever especially after the 1 year of live services is up, so I was looking into changing the head unit assuming it'd be a simple process via a single DIN or a double DIN fixture. To my surprise, the head unit appears to be custom made and not easily replaceable, the buttons on the face-plate are a separate piece, they're not even attached to the head unit!

I've attached a couple of pictures of how I took it apart etc but I'm still annoyed as to how Renault have made it near impossible to do anything to this car. I took it to a professional who told me that he'd have to break it apart and make space for a double DIN head unit to go in and it would cost £2,500 to do so. All I wanted to do was put an Android Auto compatible head unit in, because Renault won't give us an official update so we have to buy a whole new ZOE just to get a tiny software feature. It really puts me off buying a Renault ever again. :X3:

Anyway I was just wondering if anyone else had any luck or could provide any information i.e. what the mini USBs ports are used for (J9, J8 and J7), I was assuming one would be the reverse camera and the other steering controls or the AUX/USB/SD Card port... Would it be possible to get a R-Link 2 unit (with Android Auto and DAB) from a 2017 ZOE and put it in to a 2015 ZOE and have everything work?

 

[proddick]

To my surprise, the head unit appears to be custom made and not easily replaceable,

Isn't that the case for almost all modern European cars? I can't imagine you could replace the head unit in a recent Ford Fiesta either.

 

[Sandy]

Raspberry pi 3, a car-pi adaptop (for voltage regulation and the remove steering column controls), a 7" touch screen and some breakout board mounted microswitches to line up with the original dash buttons and the world is your oyster. A GPS dongle and a 3g one won't cost much either.

There is even car specific XBMC interface to load up (although your probably looking at a 30+ seconds boot time).

 

[Four Star]

Isn't that the case for almost all modern European cars? I can't imagine you could replace the head unit in a recent Ford Fiesta either.

No it's not! You'd be surprised, but most modern head units can be replaced. Companies like Connects2 and others will be able to supply the relevant parts to allow this. Even things like steering wheel controls and binnocal displays can be kept too.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

[proddick]

No it's not! You'd be surprised, but most modern head units can be replaced. Companies like Connects2 and others will be able to supply the relevant parts to allow this. Even things like steering wheel controls and binnocal displays can be kept too.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

I guess enough of a market to develop for mainstream models. Perhaps someone has developed something for Clio that might work?

 

[HazAnwar]

Raspberry pi 3, a car-pi adaptop (for voltage regulation and the remove steering column controls), a 7" touch screen and some breakout board mounted microswitches to line up with the original dash buttons and the world is your oyster. A GPS dongle and a 3g one won't cost much either.

There is even car specific XBMC interface to load up (although your probably looking at a 30+ seconds boot time).

I'm confident in the programming and what not for the Raspberry Pi aspect and I'm sure we could make a lot of cool stuff happen with that, what I'm not so confident with is the wiring, voltages and getting the exact screen etc installed. If you make a step-by-step guide or something I'll give it a try and see what we can come up with!

I guess enough of a market to develop for mainstream models. Perhaps someone has developed something for Clio that might work?

I've tried having a look around on the internet but haven't had any luck finding anything. Apparently the R-Link in the majority of Clios are a single DIN head unit, it's just the ZOE that is difficult and different... But if you find anything promising please let me know, I'm really not happy with this R-Link crap!

 

[proddick]

I'm confident in the programming and what not for the Raspberry Pi aspect and I'm sure we could make a lot of cool stuff happen with that, what I'm not so confident with is the wiring, voltages and getting the exact screen etc installed. If you make a step-by-step guide or something I'll give it a try and see what we can come up with!



I've tried having a look around on the internet but haven't had any luck finding anything. Apparently the R-Link in the majority of Clios are a single DIN head unit, it's just the ZOE that is difficult and different... But if you find anything promising please let me know, I'm really not happy with this R-Link crap!

I don't have a Zoe but my memory of a friend's screen in middle is very similar to this photo of Clio. Is that not true?

 

[yoh-there]

The display thing, also containing the nav is completely non standard, and I dare to guess it's the same for Clio.

The actual radio is a DIN sized unit hidden deep under the dash and is headless.

If anyone wants to Pi-y-fy the ZOE, I can help with a lot of CANbus documentation. But CanZE is enough real coding work for me to actually work on it

 

[Cavalier]

HazAnwar could you tell me how you got the surrounding chrome bezel off the display panel. The chrome has flaked off at the bottom left hand side of ours. Looks like perhaps a passengers knee or something has rubbed it and caused damage.

 

[HazAnwar]

HazAnwar could you tell me how you got the surrounding chrome bezel off the display panel. The chrome has flaked off at the bottom left hand side of ours. Looks like perhaps a passengers knee or something has rubbed it and caused damage.

The chrome bit doesn't come off, it's part of the front faceplate which you can see in my third picture. To take the front faceplate off you just have to pull it from the bottom and gently follow around sides to the top.

 

[Sandy]

I'd suggest it's only flaking off because the garage has already had the facia off and done a ham fisted job. Take it back they should replace it.

 

[Cavalier]

Thanks HazAnwar, I will try and get it off. I have been into the service department to try and get them to replace the front on warranty, they have taken photos of the damage and are going to approach the warranty company. Can you believe the parts department quoted me £480 for this plastic part.

 

[dpeilow]

I'm hoping the bit that needs to be replaced for Android Auto will just be available in the Renault parts catalogue in due course.

 

[cDy]

Would it be possible to get a R-Link 2 unit (with Android Auto and DAB) from a 2017 ZOE and put it in to a 2015 ZOE and have everything work?

We don't even know yet whether current 2017 ZOEs will work with Android Auto after a firmware update. See the thread R-Link. Renault call the version with Android Auto support R-link Evolution: The R-LINK Evolution multimedia system from Renault. This page says the 'new Zoe' (whatever that means) has it! Our 2017 Zoe (delivered in June from the factory) has the version of the R-Link software mentioned in the first thread, but no Android Auto support.

I guess nobody has had a Zoe delivered yet with Android Auto?

 

[Sandy]

I'm hoping the bit that needs to be replaced for Android Auto will just be available in the Renault parts catalogue in due course.

I have been told by the folk at R-link support that it will not be possible to retrofit Android Auto.

 

[HazAnwar]

I have been told by the folk at R-link support that it will not be possible to retrofit Android Auto.

I know they're supposed to be experts and what not but I'm not so sure about it. I mean theoretically speaking, if I was to get a hold of a R-Link Evolution head unit and put it in my ZOE, why would it not work? Only reason I could think of is that the connectors would be different but knowing Renault they would use the same to cut costs... I just don't take anything they say at face value, they don't want old ZOE owners to have it because they want us to buy new ones.

 

[yoh-there]

Because it displays things like EV performance which I assume is not being programmed in the Evolution. I am 100% sure the EVC doesn't send "images" to the head end, just the raw data which is then prettyfied by the R-Link unit.

If you want to start from scratch there is also integrating tomtom.

Of course it would be possible to let that all go.

Apart from maybe a shortage of processor and memory resources I agree there is absolutely no issue "in principle" to recode the old R-Link, but reprogramming that thing from scratch is IMHO a more than daunting task. Ditto doing the EV stuff in a non-EV evolution model.

 

[Sandy]

It won't work probably because Renault won't activate it for you, you'll have an expensive rlink shaped brick.

 

[HazAnwar]

It won't work probably because Renault won't activate it for you, you'll have an expensive rlink shaped brick.

Yeah, I mean technically speaking it is possible... However, Renault being a pain in the backside for no valid reason is a completely different story!

But that also being said, there is supposed to be a Renault ZOE with R-Link that has Android Auto coming out at some point so they must have the EV features built into that? Whether it's R-Link Evolution or some other form of it, that's what I'd like to know...

 

[SiW]

Can anyone confirm what each of the plugs does and is the main plug the standard Renault harness for power, speakers etc.

Cheers

Simon