Hi everyone,

I don't know if this has been made before and I figured I would ask around before doing anything on my own.

I recently purchased a brand new Ford Fiesta MK8. My plan was to get the cheapest model available with what they had in stock as I didn't want to go for a loan. I traded my 20+ years old car and for 8500 € was able to get a brand new Ford Fiesta MK8. That's the good part. The bad part is I'm missing a few options that i'm going to try and implement myself, mainly : door autolock, rear camera / sensor, auto headlight, trafic sign recognition.

Also, my car didnt even come with an head unit ! Hence I was thinking about two ways I could go for :

1 -> Install OpenAuto on my Raspberry Pi and hook it to an amp / 7" touch screen.

2 -> go on ebay and buy all the OEM parts to retrofit a Fiesta MK8 head unit.

Considering the second option, is it even possible ? If so would anyone know what parts I have to buy exactly ?

I'm seing a lot of offers that bundles head units with the screen and an "APIM Module" (ie : example). What is the APIM Module for ? Where does it go in the dash ?

Thank you in advance to those who'll take the time to answer my questions 🙂

Up ?

Can you post a picture of what you have got? I find it hard to believe they'd make a car in 2020 without any headunit/radio of any sort...

From what I recall, quite a few people have enquired about this but I don't think i've seen a complete or successful attempt - not to say it isn't possible but I think at the moment, you are one of the few leading the way with the retrofit of the head unit. 

The door auto lock can be enabled with Forscan -  check this video out: 

Rear camera/sensors - depends on what you want. Plenty of aftermarket kits available so all down to personal preference. If you want to integrate with the retrofitted screen from a higher-spec mk8, again, I think you'd be leading the way with it. I've seen a post or two in here but pretty sure all that have attempted, gave in as there just isnt enough information.

Auto headlights and traffic sign monitoring -  you will be looking for new sensors, re-programming via Forscan and for the headlights, looking at a new headlight switch too. The part numbers for the sensors have been discussed in the forum before so i'd do a few searches and you should find that lurking around. 

Out of curiosity, where are you based? 8500 euro is around £7,500 which is very very cheap for a brand new mk8. In the UK, i think the base price now starts at £15,000-£16,000 but even then with a in-stock car and heavy negotiation, I doubt you'd get it below £14,000. 

@alexp999 Attached is a picture of what I have. It's weird indeed. Especially when considering I have other "less useful" options like lane assist or automatic lights 🤔. I've removed the single DIN facade and there is all the cables to plug a regular car radio. There's also 2 speakers in the front of the car.

@DG97 Thanks for the info. I'm based in France. The price before negociating and trading in my old car was 11 500. Part of why the price is low is because the goverment gives money to the dealerships when trading in 15+ years old cars.

As for retrofiting the head unit, do you know what would be the obstacles if I buy the parts on Ebay ? Am I gonna have to write the VIN into the unit / module ?

Also, what is the APIM module for ? I understand this module is not necessary to have the head unit work as it is only installed in "Vignales", am I correct ?

The APIM is installed in every Mk8 that has a screen in the centre. It’s what runs the Sync interface. There is a separate head unit which drives the speakers though. 
 

If you have a DIN slot. I think the simplest option is just to fit an aftermarket stereo. That’s what it seems to be intended for. Otherwise you need APIM, the audio module, the screen, new facia, looms, gateway module, GPS potentially. I really don’t think it’s worth it if you were trying to save so much on the car in the first place. Probably cheaper to get a car with it. 
 

You have some of the other features like Lane assist as they are mandated by EU law. 

It looks like a Police spec vehicle.
They generally have the stereo removed in order to make way for comms kit and suchlike.
Strange to see that layout on a standard car.

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

Thanks for the feedback, you convinced me to not do it ahah. I'm probably going to go for a Raspberry Pi solution as soon as confinment ends, i'll update this post when it's done.

On 4/9/2020 at 11:56 PM, alexp999 said:

The APIM is installed in every Mk8 that has a screen in the centre. It’s what runs the Sync interface. There is a separate head unit which drives the speakers though. 
 

If you have a DIN slot. I think the simplest option is just to fit an aftermarket stereo. That’s what it seems to be intended for. Otherwise you need APIM, the audio module, the screen, new facia, looms, gateway module, GPS potentially. I really don’t think it’s worth it if you were trying to save so much on the car in the first place. Probably cheaper to get a car with it. 
 

You have some of the other features like Lane assist as they are mandated by EU law. 

The APIM is not installed in every mk8, there's a sync 2.5 system with a screen that doesn't have it, as well as this one. The APIM is behind the dashboard, the head unit that drives the speakers are behind the screen. If you could take off the unit and send me a picture of what's behind I can check to see if I have wiring diagrams and if you can retrofit Sync3, it would probably cost ~£1000 to do so after trial and error of parts, labour etc. Theres a black plastic piece on top you take off, and then some bolts. 

2 minutes ago, BustedCeramics said:

The APIM is not installed in every mk8, there's a sync 2.5 system with a screen that doesn't have it, as well as this one. The APIM is behind the dashboard, the head unit that drives the speakers are behind the screen. If you could take off the unit and send me a picture of what's behind I can check to see if I have wiring diagrams and if you can retrofit Sync3, it would probably cost ~£1000 to do so after trial and error of parts, labour etc. Theres a black plastic piece on top you take off, and then some bolts. 

So what does Sync 2.5 run on?

Just now, alexp999 said:

So what does Sync 2.5 run on?

The head unit behind the screen. I can send pictures of the old Sync2.5 units I have, it has GPS connection etc on it too instead of it being on the APIM. There's a lack of documentation about this version of Sync, everyone at Ford was adamant all Fiestas had Sync3 with APIM, and then that you couldn't upgrade it to Sync3

1 minute ago, BustedCeramics said:

The head unit behind the screen. I can send pictures of the old Sync2.5 units I have, it has GPS connection etc on it too instead of it being on the APIM. There's a lack of documentation about this version of Sync, everyone at Ford was adamant all Fiestas had Sync3 with APIM, and then that you couldn't upgrade it to Sync3

So basically the APIM and front audio module are a single module, rather than two separate ones for Sync 2.5. There is still a form of APIM, it needs something to run the software on.

3 minutes ago, alexp999 said:

So basically the APIM and front audio module are a single module, rather than two separate ones for Sync 2.5. There is still a form of APIM, it needs something to run the software on.

That's 100% right. They call the unit the 'Audio Unit', if you have sync2.5 there's only one connector 'C2619A', if you have sync3 you'll also have 'C2619B' attached to it. When you have sync3, 'C619B' acts as a control module. It makes no sense having this system when Sync3 is a no cost option, if I knew before I bought the car I would've looked for one with Sync3.