Thanks for the note. As you probably saw in my Sunday post I have been looking hard at all the options. The Tesla unit is very enticing but very confusing. I spent a good number of years in IT and systems from the original PC to server technology. Not trying to be hard on the Chinese stuff but their programming and advertising seems to suffer from, shall we say, puffery?
A lot of their stuff is solid, a lot of other, not so much. And their culture is one where one never says no to a question. Let's just call it 'optimistic.'
The $64K question for me is the TPMS - how did you handle that (or not)?
I really don't want to lose any functionality and from what I can gather the Nav-TV is solid for all the sub systems. Is there anything missing at all in your Ben-Hur?
I think it is engineered in the UK. I have looked and it is less expensive in the UK but they will not ship it to the USA. I guess there is some kind of marketing agreement.
I have almost set up a UK forwarding service. It really is that much cheaper. Plus drugs are easier to get there but have to go to the UK.
I have it down now to two choices: the Ben-Hur and the X-Carlink. I still do like the Tesla unit(s) which have more variations than a kaleidoscope That makes for a LOT of uncertainty.
Right now I am awaiting an answer from Mozart Electronics to see if they have done their own software and, more likely, they are just another sales channel from China.
Again, thanks for the info

 

I had no trouble buying mine from the UK, that's weird you can't do it. I saved $500 or more on VAT.

I don't think the TPMS is even related to the infotainment, is it? Mine's been turned off since before I bought the car.

The Ben Hur does everything the original infotainment does, but it needs a radio. But all the controls work, there's nothing left out. The Tesla screens? I dunno. I wish I had one to dork around with.

I bought my Ben Hur and my Focal speakers all from Europe (maybe go outside England?) for huge savings over the prices here at the installer's and retailers.

If you're really struggling, buy the cheap Tesla thing and see if you like it. If you don't, then Ben Hur down the road. That's what I would have done if the Tesla-style radio was available, it's so cheap that it's worth doing. the Ben Hur is $2,500 plus $1,100 or whatever for the radio. Maybe cut those prices by buying direct, but still more expensive than the Chinese thing.

 

Thanks for the reply. The TPMS reports both through the info panel on the driver display and through the infotainment head under the vehicle options. You can have it sense and set the current pressures. Once set you can see the pressures on the infotainment screen. Not very sophisticated as new technology as it does not seem to report each individual wheel. When the pressure drops it show 'flat tire' in the center display on the driver info. My wife's Caddie is much smarter. But still you would get some warning.
Every time I see TPMS on the Tesla unit it seems to show that you buy a separate set of TPMS sensors and not the native Bentley. It also implies you need an optional android/usb module to see these sensors.
Not sure there is a standard for TPMS sensors but I believe the Bentley are at 433MHZ.
Who knows what the data looks like that they encode. Again no standard I can find.
The Bentley shows the TPMS system as a sub-system on the CANBus.

 

You know more about it than me. I bough the car with the system shut off already, I don't use TPMS.

I would doubt that the Tesla thing requires a different TPMS, that would indicate the Tesla unit has a receiver? Sounds weird. I know the Bentley receiver that feeds the CANBus is in one of the wheel wells.

But maybe you're correct. Just seems like an odd add-on that would require a radio receiver and computer programming instead of reading the bus from the already installed reader.

I wouldn't mind having a good TPMS system, my wife's new Cadillac has a great readout on the actual pressures, I can add air and use the car's display to make sure the psi is correct.

I just put good tires on the GT so I don't have any leaks, but I guess I could always run over a nail.

What's too bad is the guys on here that installed their Tesla radios all disappeared as soon as they installed it and asked a couple questions.

 

I'm still here with my Tesla screen, but to be honest I just haven't really had the chance to really get into it yet.

I also am no huge fan of TPMS, so I am not missing that feature that much. Perhaps I will think differently if I stumble upon a flat I did not notice coming..

I have not had any problems with the car raising and lowering. The jack mode still works the same as before.

To me, the Tesla screen makes my 15-year old car look new. The old dash is one of the reasons I felt it looked its age. The resolution of the original screen and those ugly buttons below. The Breitling clock and the design of the vents are awesome. But as always, that is just a personal preference.

 

Hey wanted to update everyone. so finally got my suspension all sorted and decided to try out the Tesla screen again. Re-installed and still can't control the ride height, I have gone back to the Ben Hur setup which is far uglier but at least everything is working. I use the ride height adjustment too much.

 

The ride height works on my Tesla screen. I have to switch it from 'Normal' to 'Advanced' are the settings for regular and high...

Also, I have seen where people have issue with the radio reporting only Celsius. I can switch mine to F, but if the unit gets disconnected from the battery, it defaults back to C and has to be changed again through the Vehicle Settings. Most important thing to know, is that after you change the settings, you MUST reboot the system to get it to start reading F again.

 

Thanks for the info about C vs F, tmobileguy!

Has anyone tried the other app you can install, to change the display? I forgot where I read about it, but I still haven't seen any reviews and good/bad. I'll try to find it and give it a go.

 

yep. I have used it many times and just set it up.on the bentley. I currently have it running in my android units in my 911 Turbo, my F350, my G500, and my Wrangler... it's called CarLauncher pro...
I'll try and take some pics of the different designs I have done for each car but highly highly recommend it...

 

That would be awesome!! If you have the time, please write as much info as possible, with as many pictures as possible. (Pictures are always appreciated!)

So to a newbie with the beloved Tesla screen, do I just go into the Play Store and download CarLauncher Pro? And then once it's installed and I run it, it will start every time I start the vehicle? What would I have to do go back to the original screen, if I so wanted/needed to?

I'll definitely help you out with the reviews on here once I get it going.

 

Yep, go to the Play Store and download Car Launcher Pro ( I think it's like 6 bucks or something). Once installed, run it and it will go through some set up steps, one of which is that it will tell you that Car Launcher Pro is not set up as your default launcher and will ask you if you would like to set it up as the default launcher. It will then take you to the set up part in Android that will allow you to switch your launcher that came with the radio to car launcher pro. After that, it will launch everytime unless you change it back to the original (which can be done at any time), or if you uninstall it in which your default launcher will go back to being the launcher.

You can use the themes that Car Launcher Pro has, or you can do like I did which was select a theme and then erase everything on it and customize it to the way you want it to look. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT THROW THE 'SETTINGS' BUTTON IN THE TRASH or you will be stuck with no way to change anything and you will have to uninstall the program and re install it again to get it working again (ask me how I know after spending 3 hours setting up everything perfectly lol)....

 

This is the way my screen looks now. It's essentially my starting rough draft that I will tweak over time as I find more things I want on the screen and make some minor asthetic changes as well. Like for one, I want to find a better bentley logo and get it to look more professional...but this is my initial build as I just put the radio in 2 days ago and am sorting a few other things on the car that Johnny is helping me with...

 

This is how I set it up in my Jeep which has been like this for a few years now....

 

That looks good, thank you! But I agree with you regarding the Bentley logo. Perhaps one with a black background instead? 84 degrees, I'm jealous!

What are the advantages of using this app compared to the original? I realise you probably haven't played around with the original Bentley layout very much..

Would you mind showing a picture of the Settings screen where you are able to raise and lower the vehicle? Is it worded in better English than the original layout? Not a big deal to me, just curious.

Do your tire pressure sensors work with this app?

Do you also mind telling me if you've ever updated the app in your other vehicles, or at least know if they are still working on it with new updates if someone finds a bug or a new feature? There doesn't seem to be anyone working on the original Bentley "Tesla-screen" software/firmware as far as I know. I suppose I would just feel a little bit better if I knew someone was still trying to keep it as active and current as possible, but it seems they are still selling the same version I purchased a few years ago.

(Fun fact about the music playing in your picture, I went to one of Puddle Of Mudd's first concerts at my college in Arkansas back in the day when they had just started getting radio play with the song "Blurry". heh)

 

So the original Bentley layout is pretty standard with this style Tesla screen. I actually have virtually the exact same unit in my F150 with the original layout still so I am very familiar with it. It's pretty basic and that's what I would say the big advantage of the car launcher pro is...customizability...
You can pick whatever you want on your home screen and design it just how you like it. Like for instance, I use Amazon Music a lot so where it says 'Music', that actually launches Amazon Music. I also added the EQ that moves with the music, the timer underneath, the cover art above, and the bottom Amazon Music tab that you can forward, rewind, play/pause...all of those add on's are seperate widgits that I individually placed in their respective areas, to create the look I wanted...

The raise and lowering of the vehicle is done through vehicle setttings app (that's an app that came with the radio) and it can be launched just be clicking on the part of the screen that says 'vehicle settings'. Tire pressure sensors will work just like the factory system...All this program does, it create a customizable home page in which to launch apps from...that's it. It's just a nicer starting interface than the one that came with the radio (to me at least)
They have updates to the launcher from time to time...nothing big...
I wouldn't expect any updates for the radio. With these things, you get what you get...I'm perfectly fine with that because most things are customizable and I'm not really looking for anything else. It's still an absolute game changer compared to the stock radio...