BMW 3-Series (E90 E92) Forum - View Single Post - AVIN 8.8inch

Captain Buumer · 10-28-2019, 02:34 PM

Hi

Been reading this thread for quite some time not really sure to buy it or not. The sound quality really concerned me as it's the heart of any headunit.

Decided to pull the plug anyway as the CCC is really nothing more than radio with a almost fancy ultra low resolution screen.

Opted for this one:
Aliexpress link

Chose 4G model with 4GB ram and 64GB storage (9.0-4G-64G-CCC-Cam).
This one has Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with Hexagon™ 546 DSP which to me seemed quite big improvement over the previous generation models.

It came from Spain so inside EU don't need to pay additional toll fees which was bonus.

They did provide instructions on how to install: Instructions here

At first glance everything seemed to work like a bliss when trying out fitment.

However for my E90 model atleast the supplied main cable was too short and screen would not go all the way back where the upper two screw holes would align. If you press it really hard it does align up but looks like it was yanked up from bottom align plastic extensions and didn't look good. Also i was worried it might bend the back connector over time due to natural vibrating environment in car.

So i cut the cable in half and extended it by about ~15cm:

Lots of soldering and took around 3 hours from beginning to finish making sure the solder is decent quality and connected joins are spread out. Also measured with multimeter making sure any shorts didn't come.

Here is the final result where red part is roughly the length i added:

It had 2 coaxial cables too. There i extended the main signal wires. Then added shrinking tube around it creating isolating layer and just wrapped stripped copper around it connecting both grounds. Not perfect but didn't produce any noise.

Routing the cable was quite a HASSLE that gave me huge headache in the end.

Had to guide the white connector of the main harness into the tiny hole to the left (behind DVD/CD module) where it ends up on top of pedals.

From there i had to position myself so that head is where pedals are and feet are to the roof (while all the blood is flowing to my head) to actually see where i am pushing the white connector.

In this position i used one hand to guide the white connector upwards inside the dashboard. It does 90 degree bend at one point and exits where the original connectors all join together behind the screen.

From there had to use another hand to catch the white connector (from the upper screen hole)
It was not easy to give 90 degrees bend while using feet to try lift myself up to give that little boost so other hand fingers can touch white connector from the center dashboard inside tiny hole and guide it out.

This was very difficult and nowhere mentioned! Really difficult for E90 model but doable. Not sure about the E92 or if there is better way to route cables. However the cabling this way is very neat and i liked it.

For GPS i used splitter cable. This one from aliexpress Yet again had to solder to use supplied L bend connector that will go into the new screen. I didn't connect GPS into the original DVD/CD module as it just wouldn't fit and in the end turns out it isn't even necessary. Original GPS is really fast and good, forget the supplied black box.

In the process of putting everything back the center console long piece, where door locks button and DTC button connectors attach were quite troublesome to get back in. Take extreme caution not to scratch AC module plastic trim (i did little but thankfully noticed before further damage was done).

Finally 3 days have passed, everything is assembled, very stock looking and time to play with the module itself.

First impressions:

The screen is really gorgeous, plays movies very well.
Red theme fits with the car (in the image experimented with different interface types).
It automatically connected with car audio and don't need to use AUX plug at all.
Easy to use with iDrive controller. Some android apps also support steering wheel buttons. For example when listening to youtube you can switch to next song.
Waze as default navigation.
It's really fast switching from menus. Booting from cold is ~12 seconds.
Sound quality is actually really good, much better when comparing to CCC FM radio and AUX from phone.
For giggles did try phone 3.0mm -> USB 2.0 based DAC which gave amazing sound. I believe this overrides Snapdragon DAC:

Never heard these (Base) speakers play this kind of quality.
When i used just phone -> AUX (without DAC amplifier and using Business unit processor) sound was really bad. I can't believe i have listened to this muddy mess for so long. Felt like bit rate dropped in half.
Same song in android internal memory was quite close to USB DAC quality.
However when used the same setup (USB DAC-> 3.0mm car aux input) the sound was very quiet. Created some sort of loop? Don't know what i was expecting as they both are inputs.
Safe to totally ignore business unit 3.0mm input.
Can switch from CCC / Android side with steering wheel buttons.
Play Store endless apps in a car.

What i didn't like:

Bluetooth calling quality is bad with the internal microphone, lots of noise. Possibly OEM or any other external microphone makes it usable.
Bluetooth and Wifi at the same time are not stable. One or the other drops out occasionally since they use same frequency.
MicroSD card reading is not stable. Sometimes it interrupts reading and only solution is to copy contents into internal memory or use USB stick (with second usb connector) which i don't know yet if can be used to read external memory. If it works then can plug some cheap 128GB SSD and put whole library there.

What i have not tried out:

Backup camera that was also in the box.
There are 2 USB cables. One cable i routed into the storage but apparently it only seems to accept USB OTG devices expecting phone connection. Wondering if other USB can accept regular USB sticks.
I did try out Android WIFI which was awesome but the connection was not stable over Wifi when i tried it. Possibly better with cable.
Wifi / Bluetooth not stable when both used (solved if using 4G sim card?).
Test the sound quality with Spotify

Also image of the PCB which has decent quality solders. Class 1 at most - consumer level.

In the end it's huge improvement over stock CCC and i really enjoy using it. Integrates with car well and if anyone still wonders if it's worth then definitely it is.
I even burried the idea to upgrade speakers as the improvement was so immense.

10-28-2019, 02:34 PM	#497
Captain Buumer Second Lieutenant 126 Rep 246 Posts Drives: 325D Join Date: Jun 2018 Location: Europe iTrader: (0)	Hi Been reading this thread for quite some time not really sure to buy it or not. The sound quality really concerned me as it's the heart of any headunit. Decided to pull the plug anyway as the CCC is really nothing more than radio with a almost fancy ultra low resolution screen. Opted for this one: Aliexpress link Chose 4G model with 4GB ram and 64GB storage (9.0-4G-64G-CCC-Cam). This one has Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor with Hexagon™ 546 DSP which to me seemed quite big improvement over the previous generation models. It came from Spain so inside EU don't need to pay additional toll fees which was bonus. They did provide instructions on how to install: Instructions here At first glance everything seemed to work like a bliss when trying out fitment. However for my E90 model atleast the supplied main cable was too short and screen would not go all the way back where the upper two screw holes would align. If you press it really hard it does align up but looks like it was yanked up from bottom align plastic extensions and didn't look good. Also i was worried it might bend the back connector over time due to natural vibrating environment in car. So i cut the cable in half and extended it by about ~15cm: Lots of soldering and took around 3 hours from beginning to finish making sure the solder is decent quality and connected joins are spread out. Also measured with multimeter making sure any shorts didn't come. Here is the final result where red part is roughly the length i added: It had 2 coaxial cables too. There i extended the main signal wires. Then added shrinking tube around it creating isolating layer and just wrapped stripped copper around it connecting both grounds. Not perfect but didn't produce any noise. Routing the cable was quite a HASSLE that gave me huge headache in the end. Had to guide the white connector of the main harness into the tiny hole to the left (behind DVD/CD module) where it ends up on top of pedals. From there i had to position myself so that head is where pedals are and feet are to the roof (while all the blood is flowing to my head) to actually see where i am pushing the white connector. In this position i used one hand to guide the white connector upwards inside the dashboard. It does 90 degree bend at one point and exits where the original connectors all join together behind the screen. From there had to use another hand to catch the white connector (from the upper screen hole) It was not easy to give 90 degrees bend while using feet to try lift myself up to give that little boost so other hand fingers can touch white connector from the center dashboard inside tiny hole and guide it out. This was very difficult and nowhere mentioned! Really difficult for E90 model but doable. Not sure about the E92 or if there is better way to route cables. However the cabling this way is very neat and i liked it. For GPS i used splitter cable. This one from aliexpress Yet again had to solder to use supplied L bend connector that will go into the new screen. I didn't connect GPS into the original DVD/CD module as it just wouldn't fit and in the end turns out it isn't even necessary. Original GPS is really fast and good, forget the supplied black box. In the process of putting everything back the center console long piece, where door locks button and DTC button connectors attach were quite troublesome to get back in. Take extreme caution not to scratch AC module plastic trim (i did little but thankfully noticed before further damage was done). Finally 3 days have passed, everything is assembled, very stock looking and time to play with the module itself. First impressions: The screen is really gorgeous, plays movies very well. Red theme fits with the car (in the image experimented with different interface types). It automatically connected with car audio and don't need to use AUX plug at all. Easy to use with iDrive controller. Some android apps also support steering wheel buttons. For example when listening to youtube you can switch to next song. Waze as default navigation. It's really fast switching from menus. Booting from cold is ~12 seconds. Sound quality is actually really good, much better when comparing to CCC FM radio and AUX from phone. For giggles did try phone 3.0mm -> USB 2.0 based DAC which gave amazing sound. I believe this overrides Snapdragon DAC: Never heard these (Base) speakers play this kind of quality. When i used just phone -> AUX (without DAC amplifier and using Business unit processor) sound was really bad. I can't believe i have listened to this muddy mess for so long. Felt like bit rate dropped in half. Same song in android internal memory was quite close to USB DAC quality. However when used the same setup (USB DAC-> 3.0mm car aux input) the sound was very quiet. Created some sort of loop? Don't know what i was expecting as they both are inputs. Safe to totally ignore business unit 3.0mm input. Can switch from CCC / Android side with steering wheel buttons. Play Store endless apps in a car. What i didn't like: Bluetooth calling quality is bad with the internal microphone, lots of noise. Possibly OEM or any other external microphone makes it usable. Bluetooth and Wifi at the same time are not stable. One or the other drops out occasionally since they use same frequency. MicroSD card reading is not stable. Sometimes it interrupts reading and only solution is to copy contents into internal memory or use USB stick (with second usb connector) which i don't know yet if can be used to read external memory. If it works then can plug some cheap 128GB SSD and put whole library there. What i have not tried out: Backup camera that was also in the box. There are 2 USB cables. One cable i routed into the storage but apparently it only seems to accept USB OTG devices expecting phone connection. Wondering if other USB can accept regular USB sticks. I did try out Android WIFI which was awesome but the connection was not stable over Wifi when i tried it. Possibly better with cable. Wifi / Bluetooth not stable when both used (solved if using 4G sim card?). Test the sound quality with Spotify Also image of the PCB which has decent quality solders. Class 1 at most - consumer level. In the end it's huge improvement over stock CCC and i really enjoy using it. Integrates with car well and if anyone still wonders if it's worth then definitely it is. I even burried the idea to upgrade speakers as the improvement was so immense. Last edited by Captain Buumer; 10-28-2019 at 04:04 PM..
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