Hi all,

I am looking to buy a 2008 G35X. One thing I want is able to listen to music through an USB flash drive and I found GROM-AND2-NIS02. I contact their support and they said the car needs to has a SAT or CAT button in order to work. I checked the car and don't see it. Is that means it won't work?

BTW, the car doesn't has NAVI.

Thanks in advance.

 

What trim level is your car? Base? Tech Package? Etc? I'm assuming you have XM radio, in which case I think this will work, however it will disable XM which to me isn't worth it. I already had one of these years ago and returned it. I wrote a thread about it I think.

 

I haven't buy one yet. How can I tell what trim is it? How I can tell it has XM radio?

 

I checked online, looks like all G35 standard equipment come with XM Satellite Radio. So I guess it should be good?

The only thing I should be aware of is the GROM doesn't work with Navi package.

 

By trim I really just meant, Tech Package, Base Model, etc. but what's important obviously is whether you have Navi or the Bose system. I don't think it works with the Navi because the XM receiver is built into the Navi head unit, whereas the lower models have the receiver in the trunk and the GROM uses the XM receiver port on the back of your head unit to plug into (thereby disabling XM).

Another option (if you decide want to keep XM) is to buy a parrot bluetooth system and install it. I bought one years ago and it has an iPhone/iPod connector, USB input and 3.5mm jack, plus the big upside being it adds bluetooth handsfree to your car.

 

all G35 sedans did not come with SAT. You'll know you have Sat if your radio shows Sat/Cat on one of the buttons OR if you go through the different sources. However, whether or not your radio actually HAS Satellite installed or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that your head unit has or does not have the proper connector on the back of the radio. It's a 12 pin connector. You should get a copy of the service manual and look at the radio connections or just pull the unit out to check.

That said, you have two other options using the Grom Unit:
1. Auxiliary input: If you have these in your center console, then you can use the AUX grom unit. You just won't get a video readout, and probably not any steering wheel controls, etc...

2. CD Changer emulation. Your system probably has a CD changer connection (or an actual trunk mounted CD changer) then you should be able to use the grom unit for your car. You will have to change firmware on the unit though (instructions provided by Grom are pretty easy) to get it to control the CDC. I'm in the process of trying this out now.

 

Hey dookie,

Any progress with the CD changer emulation? This might be the perfect solution to get some more music access in the car without the limits of the current system

 

Looks like I just got it working... about 30 minutes ago lol.

I haven't fully checked it out yet, but I appear to have gotten control and music playback via USB and Bluetooth. A few things I'm not sure if I'm doing right with the controls, but at least it's definitely possible to use this if you have bose + Navi... just takes a little work and a lot of wiring.

 

Thanks for keeping us up to date, is it working well so far?

Looking forward to your writeup (saw the update on the other thread), as this is something I definitely want to do

 

it's working ok. somethings do not appear to function as intended.

1. I can't use the radio to switch between bluetooth and USB. However, simply starting to play media on the phone stops the USB from playing, so it's a minor hurdle

2. track names/artist names don't show up using CD changer emulation, unlike sat emulation. not a big deal if you have a phone mount, but would have been nice if they could have emulated CDTEXT like you'd find on a cd.

3. have to make sure that your phone is only set to do bluetooth audio so that the car's phone features will still work. this is a personal preference. The Grom unit has a MIC, etc... and supposedly will allow the steering wheel controls to work to answer the phone. I'd rather just use the car's, so i've disabled the phone's bt phone audio connection for the GROM device. This allows the phone to connect to the car for calls and to Grom for audio.

 

I wonder if the track names issue is a firmware issue that they can resolve, have you touched base with Grom?

 

it's not supported by their firmware. They don't seem to have any plans to implement since most people use the SAT interface, which does show names.

 

Checking in on your satisfaction level on this, any chance for a DIY guide?

 

Sorry, haven't had a lot of time lately to get the DIY guide up.

So far, I've been pretty happy.

I only have a few issues:
1. I cannot seem to switch between USB and Bluetooth via the cars buttons as GROM normally works. However, I can basically select whatever app I want to stream with on the phone and it will stop the USB playback and start streaming. It's picky sometimes though.
2. the USB playback always seems to start at the very first track everytime I startup the car. I thought it was supposed to start at the last place I left off...
3. Cannot select random for the USB stick.
4. No text for USB or bluetooth playback on the in dash nav screen.

Those are my only real issues so far. Everything else works pretty dang well:
* I figured out how to get calls routed through the car and BT audio through the GROM.
* Steering wheel controls work on USB and BT
* phone calls and other notifications/sounds interrupt the audio playback properly.

 

I think number 2 might be a show stopper for me to do this mod, I can probably live with the other limitations. Did you ever check to see if there are other units out there than can do the same thing as GROM but perhaps with less limitations?