Novero Bluetooth install ('08 LGT factory stereo) walk-through

Goal of the project: Install a bluetooth controller that works with the factory stereo that will allow me to control both my phone (for phone calls and/or media) and my 7" Galaxy tablet (for media), without breaking the bank.

 

After searching for a bluetooth controller that had the ability to pair with two devices simultaneously (multipoint), I landed on the Novero TheTrustyOne which seemed to fit the bill. It has a relatively small controller and a way to interface via the stereo harness or aux-in. I am not by any means a pro at this. In fact I just got my Legacy last month so I didn't really have any idea what to expect or even how to remove the stock head unit, but below is a summary of the install via the stero harness. Hope this helps someone else.

 

Removing the stereo: First step is to remove the chrome trim ring around the AT shifter. Use a bone tool or something similar so as not to scratch up your trim. I found it was very easy to remove by placing the bone tool on the outside of the ring and just prying upward. There are four tabs holding it in, two on each side. Next is to pull the gray center bezel that surrounds the shifter and goes up to the coin holder, cigarette lighter. There are two tabs holding this in towards the rear and although I've seen some people pry it from the back, I found I could use the bone tool as a lever to disengage the tabs. I placed the tool in between the shifter surround and the bezel (where the chrome ring used to be) and just push downward to pop up one side, then the other. Then the bezel just pulls out. Disconnect the wiring harness on the cig lighter.

Next is to remove the two side trims that go up from the center console to both sides of the stereo (faux wood in my car). This is very simple. Just remove the two screws at the base and the trim just pulls straight up and out.

Next is to remove the stereo. The are three screws on each side that are exposed after removing the side trim. The first picture shows the location of the screws. There is one screw that is recessed back that can not be seen in the first picture but a closeup is shown in the second. A magnetic screw driver is helpful here.

 

The head unit should easily begin to pull out at this point. It should not require any force or hard pulling. Also, the shifter will need to be taken out of park so that you can fully remove the stereo. (This is why the stereo is on at this point - because the key is in the ignition to shift it out of park. You should really disconnect the battery when doing all of this, but I took the risk. After I took the pic, I powered off the stereo at the ignition rather than disconnecting the battery. For me that worked fine. Like I said, I'm not a pro!)

 

Once the stereo is pulled forward, there is a white connecter on the upper right for the hazard switch that needs to be removed. There is a retaining clip on the bottom of the white connector that you just push in while you pull that harness out.

 

The stereo can be pulled a little further out now. The main wiring harness is taped together with blue tape (not pictured). If you break the tape the HU will come out far enough for you to work on it. I placed a rag under the HU so that it wouldn't scratch up the shift knob or any of the interior trim while it was partially removed.

At this point, I took less pictures, sorry. But it's fairly straightforward from here. These two photos show the Novero unit and the wiring adapter that I bought separately to install this

 

The Novero unit I got for $110 with free shipping on ebay. There are basically four items that you get. The "brain", the controller (in my hand) and wire, the main wiring harness for the brain, and the external mic with wiring which also plugs in to the brain.

 

The wiring adapter is part number BT-8901 which I got on Crutchfield for $30. It says it is for a Parrot BT, but it works great with the Novero. I don't believe that this adapter works with cars that have a factory subwoofer.

 

You will remove the main wiring harness from the back of the radio (large white clip), snap in the BT-901 adapter to the back of the head unit and the other end to the car's wiring harness. Then just plug in the Novero's main wiring harness to the other connections on the wiring adapter. That's it. I used some velcro to attach the brain of the Novero unit to the underside of the head unit (not pictured).

The last steps are just figuring out how you want to mount the controller and the mic and then tucking all the wires back in and replacing the radio and trim. I mounted the mic on the top of the steering column and ran the wire through the plastic cover on the steering column and behind the dash to the brain mounted under the stereo. I mounted the controller to center console next to the e-brake lever and ran the wire under the center console bezel.

 

(Weathertech floor liners FTW)

My first impressions are that this thing works great. It met my goals. I can connect both my blackberry and tablet simultaneously. If I get a phone call or want to place a phone call, the radio mutes (no matter what mode you are in - CD, stereo, whatever) and the bluetooth takes over. Volume is controlled on the bluetooth controller. I'm told that my voice comes through clearly. It is easy to mute and to use the voice dialing capability of the phone. I can easily switch between the devices and stream audio from my tablet. It has some functions to play/pause and skip forward and reverse from the controller and again you control volume of the device on the bluetooth controller, not the radio. The audio from the tablet comes through fine. I'm not an audiophile, so bluetooth quality for music may not be for the most discerning of you, but it's more than good for me. It seems better than analog FM stereo and with an app like Rocket Player on the tablet, I can tweak the sound output from the tablet as desired.

 

All in all, I'm very happy and didn't have to dish out a ton of dough.

Awesome Dan. Thanks for the walk-through. Looking forward to your assessment write-up on the unit.

Dang this looks like a prefect option, great job on the write up.

Thanks.

 

After a few weeks of living with it, it's a good unit. Reliably connects. It announces the name of the device that it connects to first (usually with some mis-pronunciation...I have since renamed my Galaxy as "Gaaliksee" so that it pronounces it correctly, LOL), then the second device connection is announced with just a beep. If I'm listening to audio from my tablet and I get a call it automatically switches over to the phone. I've not had any complaints from people on the other side of the phone call about poor audio quality. The voice dialing feature is hit and miss, but I think it's on my phone side and not the BT. It's a blackberry after all and pretty locked down by my IT dept - voice dialing won't work if the phone is password locked. A few seconds after turning off the car, it beeps again signaling shutdown. I think I'd rather have a kinder "beep" - it's pretty abrupt sounding. But that's a nit for an otherwise good unit.

Finally got my BT-8901, I ordered it separate from the Novero TrulyOne. Nice weather out tonight, mean I'll be knocking this install out. Pretty excited to finally have BlueTooth in a car that should have came with at least the option. I'll post pics of the finished product. Thinking about hiding the control module inside the ashtray area.

Did you use Mute 1, 2, or 3?

I think I used Mute, but it still announces calls and which device it's switched to. I'd have to read the manual again to know what it actually mutes, but it's fine for me.

If you, for example, have an Ipod connected via bluetooth, will it allow you to control the song menu and functions through the Ipod itself or do you have to navigate the song selection through the controller?

I don't have an ipod, but it should be either. The functions on mine (TrustyOne) will probably work slightly different than TheTrulyOne, but mine just has basic controls of skipping forward/back play, pause and of course volume. On my android tablet, if I press play on the BT controller, the music app will start and will start playing. I actually pretty much use my tablet for audio books on my long commute and I have to use the tablet controls for that.

How is the auto-reconnect behavior? Does it automatically reconnect to its last paired devices without having to go into the devices' settings and re-specify the connection? What phone was your "Gaaliksee"?

 

I like the sound of this deeply-integrated system, but I noticed that it's not really on Amazon anywhere except used. Where did you originally buy this kit? Is there a new version of this type of thing from Novero that I'm missing?

Hmm. Yeah, looks like they discontinued the product and are moving on to bigger and better things I guess. I got mine on Amazon (new). There is a similar one on eBay right now "TheTrulyOne" which is essentially the same thing but also comes with a display screen. I think Parrot makes similar products.

 

No issues with reconnect. I just turn on the car and it connects to my tablet and phone. It can connect two devices, so the first one is announced by the name of the device and the second one that connects is announced by just a beep. My tablet is the Galaxy 7 II. Phone is (*ack*) a blackberry. It seems to connect first to whatever it was connected to first the last time you were in the car.

 

It's almost been a year with this thing and it has been a great purchase. A few times it has acted up for me though. Twice I noticed it didn't power off when I turned off the car while I was on a phone call - it normally just powers down and the phone switches over to regular handset mode. Once I dialed a number and no one could hear me and I couldn't hear them. I had to manually power off and power on to fix. I don't know if that was a phone thing or with the bluetooth. But considering how much I use it, it's a really tiny percentage of issues.

Hmm. Yeah, looks like they discontinued the product and are moving on to bigger and better things I guess. I got mine on Amazon (new). There is a similar one on eBay right now "TheTrulyOne" which is essentially the same thing but also comes with a display screen. I think Parrot makes similar products.

 

No issues with reconnect. I just turn on the car and it connects to my tablet and phone. It can connect two devices, so the first one is announced by the name of the device and the second one that connects is announced by just a beep. My tablet is the Galaxy 7 II. Phone is (*ack*) a blackberry. It seems to connect first to whatever it was connected to first the last time you were in the car.

 

It's almost been a year with this thing and it has been a great purchase. A few times it has acted up for me though. Twice I noticed it didn't power off when I turned off the car while I was on a phone call - it normally just powers down and the phone switches over to regular handset mode. Once I dialed a number and no one could hear me and I couldn't hear them. I had to manually power off and power on to fix. I don't know if that was a phone thing or with the bluetooth. But considering how much I use it, it's a really tiny percentage of issues.

 

Swag, alright thanks. I need something that auto-reconnects, so I may buy TheTrulyOne if all else fails. I think I'm just gonna go all engineering up in this and make my own though. I'm actually going to try and integrate the factory steering wheel controls for volume, next/previous track, etc. so that I can control my Android phone's playback with the steering wheel. Bold undertaking, but I think this thing makes all my dreams possible:

 

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11777

 

If people seem interested in that idea, I might write something up about that after.

If you do it, I'd be interested. Not something I'd likely tackle myself unless you post a writeup with code, etc. The Novero unit does control pause, play, volume, and next track by the way. Not on the steering wheel though.

It's been a long time coming, but I finally successfully built the system I described above. It listens to the factory steering wheel media control buttons and can skip tracks, play/pause, answer/reject calls, and even activate a voice command on the connected Bluetooth device (i.e. Google Now, utter!, or others for Android). I might post about it and see if anybody wants to buy these now that I know how to get them running. Who's interested?

Note: only 2008+ Legacys have these steering wheel controls that I'm talking about. You can always do a steering wheel swap though!

You can swap and 05-07 (possibly only to 06) Wheel to an 05-07, but you can't swap and 08-09 into a 05-07 - shafts/splines are different.

 

Best work-around is to add the 08-09 steering-mounted controls to an 05-07 wheel.