Mekede Android Head Unit

poisonblue

Paid Member
I got one of the oft-queried Android head units for my Clio 197.

I had a simple 10 quid bluetooth module previously, and a QuadLock mount for my phone on the dash.
I wasn't really happy with the QuadLock mount, it was too flexible.
Perhaps epoxying it down would have improved things, but I'd kinda lost my interest for it.

The one I got was a Mekede M6, link here on AliExpress:


I went for this off the strength of a great review by Saab Unleashed on YouTube here:


He does a lot of Android Head Unit reviews, this one made his top 5 list for last year, and thus I took the leap.

I ordered the highest power one they had (7862 processor with 8GB of RAM), and got the upgraded 2K screen.
I've used a lot of underpowered Android devices in the past and didn't want to take risks.

I also ordered a TPMS setup (not yet installed, but I've had one puncture and one broken alloy in my year of owning the car, so this was a big reason for me).

Saab Unleashed covered a lot in his video, so I'm just going to concentrate on Clio specific.

INSTALLATION

Not many screws were included to hold together the housing, thank fully I had some spares.
I did weigh the full kit as I'm sure someone wants to know:

20240220_180557.jpg

Now that I know what cables are in the car (I didn't when I weighed it) I think I can remove a good few of those, all the aux connectors etc.

Installation was a wee bit of a protracted pain, because despite being listed for a Clio 3, the cables are not long enough.

Problem being the radio location is now changing, so I had to extend the ISO speaker and power (2m lead), extend the mini-ISO for steering column controls, and extend the aerial (I've not done this one yet)
Personally I think they should have said this on the listing so I could have had the cables ordered, and when I queried them you can imagine the AliEpxress translated message system was about as useful as a chocolate teapot.

Pop the top display module out, pop out the centre vents, (no need to pull the climate control bezel, I didn't know at the time) and then you can just run the wires down the right (if you have child labor at your disposal could be a good time to use them, pretty tight)
20240316_151415.jpg
It does fit well and looks like a factory option, while the screen looks very large in the photos it's no impediment while driving

20240316_154045.jpg

FUNCTIONALITY

The touch display is fast and responsive, just as you would hope it would be.
It comes with 3 USB ports (one will be used by the TPMS), can connect to WIFI (so I did a phone tether), also has a sim card adapter, and a GPS antenna.
Downloading the map from Google means it's stored on the device and the map works great then while driving around.
It supports wireless Android-Auto excellently, I've not actually tried the wired Android Auto just yet.
There are default apps for music and video, I'm not sure if there's a way of changing them, or the widgets on the desktop, it wasn't the priority in the beginning.
A big thing for me is this unit is actually full blown Android 11, so I can run apps natively on the unit itself.
I have Toque OBD on it for example, so can use it for gauges if you wished, scan codes and reset etc.
Also installed Plex on it for shits and giggles, it worked superly.
The car is my daily so listening to podcasts, music and keeping an eye on traffic was the big reason I was looking for Android Auto, but if there was a simcard in this it would also work independently of the phone very well, which I do like.



STEERING WHEEL CONTROLS

This was a bit of a pain. I know in other cars they use a voltage divider or a resistance ladder for the steering wheel controls, but it seems that Renault has some oddball system. The unit was advertised as talking to this system so I did not want to run out and buy a Connects2 unless necessary.
A lot of screwing around and we figured out that the original Renault display must be connected for the steering wheel controls to work (easy when you know but not when you don't).
Thankfully had a spare display, so just cracked it all open and hid it under the new head unit in the dash.

20240402_135519.jpg
So I have my Clio Volume, track forward/back, source and phone shortcut.
It does not "learn" controls as I saw on SaabUnleashed's video, they are defined, but they all operate as you'd like.

Only got those steering controls working this week, which were annoying me a lot more than they should I must concede, as it was a bit of a pain to get some of the connectors and cables which really made things drag on.

If anyone has any queries holler, I wasn't sure what to put up, but I might try make a wee video next week if there's anything people are interested to see?
 
OVERVIEW OF ANDROID AUTO
Please note that YouTube muted the audio for copyright, so while it sounds odd it's fine


TORQUE ANDROID WITH BLUETOOTH OBD2 ADAPTER


PLEX PLAYBACK


 
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Please can you explain a bit more about how you got the SWC to work?

I'm trying to install one on my Clio TomTom and the 24pin connector from the CAN bus decoder I presume goes to the 24pin connector harness which goes to the Clio screen. If I make that connection how is the Clio screen kept connected? Did you have to cut a new connector to go to both Clio screen and CAN decoder? Cheers
 
From memory, if you look at the PCB in the second post, there are two connectors.
That PCB is attached to the display in the stock Clio LCD cluster/centre.
My car has two connectors that feed up to the top that plug in to the factory LCD setup.

The large connector I connected direct to the Mekede, and the second smaller one I connected to the Renault display PCB.
There must be some kind of authenication or handshaking on the display PCB, and the SWC controls only work when it is connected.

Then under steering controls I set it to XP - Renault Clio.
You have to go to the Factory Menu to set, I believe the access code is 3368 from memory.

Because you have a TomTom setup, you don't have that same LCD as I, so the easiest fix might be to buy one from eBay for 10 quid or similar, gut it and tape it up in the same way I did.
 
Good idea putting a dummy screen in there. I wasn't aware you're screen was different, so unfortunately I don't think that will work with the TomTom version. There is only one 24-pin going to the back of the TomTom. It doesn't have the centre 4-pin which your image shows. There is also a Johnson Controls (28113971-7) in that dash area with the same 24-pin...it looks like a ECU or UCH which I'm not sure about, but doesn't seem like it would be wise to remove that one.

I did actually find a link to the pin out for the TomTom (not that you'll be interested, but for anyone that stumbles across this post):
https://fccid.io/ANATEL/01841-11-06...ncia/A63634F7-6072-4BA6-9F5B-C0E559BA07E1/PDF
I'm sure it would be possible to wire it up to a decoder somehow, but above my expertise level unfortunately so might try adding a SWC box off AliExpress.
 
It took me a while to figure that out, and it was kind of a desperate try after a lot of reading.
An issue you'll have is the Renault SWC is very French unfortunately.

Most cars use a voltage divider or a resistance ladder to run the controls across 2 or 3 wires, and the Mekede should be able to read those easily (that's what the stray wires on the back of the unit would be for, and that's how SaabUnleashed would have hooked his up)

However, Renault have some odd pseudo network setup like an weird CAN-bus, so I'm not sure how you'd convert it, you could buy one of the Connects2 adaptors people use on the forum, or pull the SWC stalk and solder each switch on to a generic SWC from AliExpress would be another option I guess.

I did find some ardinuino projects when searching on the net but being honest I think the re-solder option would be quicker and more reliable