soldering is complete. picked up a 2500BT yesterday. passed on the 4500BT mainly because i read that the LCD tends to get washed out due to the angle/position where the HU is placed in the fit anyway...and basically the same as my 4500BT in my other car where it can display japanese characters, favorites folder, etc. etc. etc.

i thought real hard about the nav model (850BT), but decided to just use my smartphone for nav as i have been doing the last few years. it works well, i already have my contacts in my phone, plus the constant updates google nav gets with poi's new roads, real-time traffic, and weather (i use weatherbug app). the bluetooth on the 2500BT will be handy though since i wont have to charge my roadster2 every 5-6wks and will have better pandora signal.

and already tested the BT with the 4500BT on my other car. no issue with connectivity with my droid

 

took the '12 out for errands today and filled it up on the way home.

didnt get around to do the stereo install.... maybe next weekend if im lucky.

 

finally weather is warming up here... going to be moving the summer wheel sets from storage to my garage. going to swap both GE's wheels soon.

my 09's running the stock wheels with the new stock tires from my '12.
my 12's going to be running the RE760's in 17's.

 

woot, swapped the 09 GE to summers. pressured up, test drove, re-torqued, and dressed the sidewalls.

washed the winter set too. will be doing the same probably on friday for my 12 GE.

 

btw, anyone want the '12 stock sport wheels? i still have them. this would be wheels only, no tpms, no tires.

i can grab it too while at the storage unit. there's no curb marks but there was one minor mount mark the tire place put in somewhere on one of them.

 

no takers on the '12 sport wheels?

im heading out to storage again tonight to grab my summers for the '12.

 

I'd love to take them off your hands if I had the room here. :/

 

yah, i still have them if you ever make room.


my summers for my '12 are now sitting in my garage waiting to be installed tonight.

i checked the torque on my '09 summers yesterday to ensure the lugs were not backing out. no issue for now. will give it a quick QD and prima hydro tonight as well i swap out the wiper refills.

then need to vac the house..

 

woot, got the summers back on my '12, pressured up, sealed up using prima hydro, cleaned the winter set, and cleaned the lugs i took off the winter set as well.

im using rota boosts as my winters and i have to say, they held up VERY WELL to hardly any washing. no rust spots or crack/chip in paint. the black weights tirerack used held up very well too. no rusting. continental DWS handled like a champ in snow, and no cracking on the sidewalls either. very happy.

took the car out for a short test drive, re-torqued. then proceeded to other things i needed to do in the garage. maybe on sunday i might work on installing the headunit. im not sure yet, depends on the temp. i make save that project until end of may.

 

i installed the 2500BT in my '12 GE today. will post up picts later. install went smoothly and remote buttons work using ASWC. no issue finding the #16 (pink with silver markings) and #5 (white) wires per the instructions from axxess. the ASWC recognized the car and HU so no programming needed.

i used the factory nav bezel, bracket, and a metra trim for an older honda passport to fill the HU around the bezel. i still had a little of gap, so filled it using some hard black felt. everything looks factory.

also no issue with wiring up the dimmer wire either. HU dims when i turn on the lamp on the car. woot.

 

 

Very clean install! I wish my head unit's aftermarket bezel fit that cleanly.

Is your GE a factory Navi model? (I'd look back but my internet is slow)

 

thanks, hootie.

that's the factory bezel for the hondas with nav. i also bought the factory bracket that goes inside the dash along with the metra trim that fills the 10-12mm perimeter around HU and the bezel.

my GE did not come with the nav, but i did get steering wheel audio controls on my '12, so i hooked up a ASWC. this is the first time trying the ASWC for me.. been using PAC since long time ago.

 

so i tried out my new 2500BT while commuting to work this am. overall i like it a lot cause i have so much more audio control and i can use tag and folders to quickly find my mp3 file. this was a big issue for me using the stock HU cause my usb drive has a lot of music inside.

install wise, no issue with rattling or anything like that. i installed with zero scratches too cause i took my time and was careful.

1. as other fitfreakers have mentioned, the HU is up high in the dash so the screen tends to get washed out when there is bright sunlight. kind of hard to see when it's light outside and raining cause i need to turn on the headlamps, and the screen dims. i set the dim setting to be a tad brighter, but i think im going to run DLR again so that i wont have to turn on my headlights and keep the HU at full brightness while driving in sprinkle. in a storm obviously i will run headlights as i want my tail lamps to light up as well. more of a safety concern regarding that.

some other things i noticed...

i could not use google nav (off my droid) to sound the directions through the BT to car speakers while audio (FM, MP3, DVD, etc) is playing. this was kind of a bummer, but oh well. i will try it next time with the BT Streaming Audio turned on in the pioneer. i know pandora works via BT streaming, but it drains the battery on my phone if not plugged in.

im kinda lazy and dont feel like plugging in my phone each time.

2. i tried using steering controls while im in the pioneer's setup mode (like EQ setup, display setting ,etc) the ASWC freezes and no longer works until the car is restarted. which i thought was a pita since ive never had this issue using PAC. like my other car runs PAC with the 4500BT (basically the same gut as the 2500BT but with bigger screen), and it has no issue skipping tracks, volume control while im in setup mode in the 4500BT.

3. and the remote bypass module i bought from ebay worked great for viewing dvd. i forget who the seller was but he has a $12 and a $19 unit. both seem to work fine.


anyway, im happy with the install and will play with it some more for more reviews.

 

Dang Ken, all this time I thought you're just supposed to drive and listen to the engine rev when you get into a car. Or is it just me?

 

well yah, our engines do sound pretty good especially mated to a tanabe muffler.

 

oh yah, wanted to update that when i was doing the swap to summers, i inspected the swifts. absolutely no issue with rusting or chipped paint ...like wat i experienced in the past with tein and tanabe springs...

so far eibach prokit on my other car and these swifts on the GE have shown oem-like durability.

 

That would be the logical choice. I know with my Pioneer AVIC-X930BT it'll play background noises and sounds from any apps or games I'm playing while the Bluetooth stream is on.

Remote bypass module? Tell me more about this... I was going to rewire the DVD safety cable (Don't know what its called) that taps into the parking brake wire with a toggle switch I picked up but this sounds more interesting.

 

cool, yah, i will give that BT streaming a try tonight.

yah, i think it's just a relay with a delay timer built-in, but it hooks up to your remote wire, ground, and the e-brake wire.

check here. i have both the $19 and $12.98 one and they both work.

dvd bypass pioneer | eBay

 

hey i tried the BT streaming while using googleNav and it worked. i was able to get the audio directions
through the car speakers.

but then i cant use my other audio like mp3, dvd, fm radio in the background so it is limited.

i did pop back the fuse for the DRL yesterday. was raining again this am, so was good i could use that
and not have to turn on my headlamps. this way my HU will not dim.

im really liking where my '12 GE is right now with all the necessities onboard.