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Porsche Cayenne Upgrade PCM: GPS iPhone Bluetooth

by | Sep 27, 2014 | Porsche Cayenne, Project Cars

I drive my Cayenne S as the makers intended, which frequently means doing fairly high speeds while approaching roundabouts, junctions and the rest. You sit high in the Cayenne, but the PCM radio screen position is low in the dash, under the dash vents. So checking the sat nav display on the head unit could be dangerous in the wrong situation.

It’s not a huge issue if you retain PCM, as the display in the centre of the clocks gives arrow indications of directions ahead, and Cayenne models later than my 955 have a beautiful multi-colour sat nav screen to play with. However, PCM does not readily integrate iPod/iPhone music support, or postcode navigation, or Bluetooth for phones, or DAB radio. I wanted all of these, so I upgraded/updated the PCM 2 supplied with my Cayenne as standard and fitted the Kenwood DNX4210DAB instead.

Porsche Cayenne upgrade PCM GPS iPhone Bluetooth

With iPhone control, superb Garmin navigation, DAB+, 3 2v RCA preouts and an interface for the multifunction steering wheel controls, the 4210DAB has proved almost perfect to use. But by switching to an aftermarket unit, I’ve lost my dash direction display, and frequently find myself looking down by the gear lever to check my GPS speed, position and route ahead. I don’t like this on unfamiliar roads, and definitely would not be a fan on foreign motorway journeys, a few of which are already pencilled for next year.

Porsche Cayenne iphone bluetooth gps PCM (1)

So I’ve sold the Kenwood 4210 and replaced it with a Kenwood DDX4025DAB: has all the same features as the 4210 including DVD player and so on but without the navigation. The screen is not quite as nice, but the sound is great. I am looking at ways to integrate my separate Garmin 2595LM navigation unit into the dashtop or add one of the latest head-up displays for smartphone GPS navigation into the Cayenne.

Porsche Cayenne iphone bluetooth gps PCM (2)

I’ve recently picked up an iPhone 6 Plus 128GB, so it could be that this with the Garmin iPhone app and a head-up link is the way forward for my in-car navigation. Would be interested to hear from anyone using head-up displays in their car. It looks to me like the 955 Cayenne dash will not allow head-up directly in front of the driver due to the screen angle and depth of the dash binnacle, but I am going to see what I can get my hands on to try out. It’s pretty easy to get used Cayenne dashboard parts on eBay to cut up for trial fit.

2 Comments

  1. john

    I own a 911/ 997 Gen 2 Turbo S

    Occasionally the home screen showing the Porsche emblem downloads in the PCM for a few moments when I start the car. I think this looks exceptional as a home screen and would like to be able to access it, perhaps by configuring the info button which I rarely use or other alternative suggestion, even as the default screen. I have been told by all dealers and the Porsche company, both UK and Germany that this is not possible.

    How come the image cannot be programmed to appear if required ??

    Reply
    • John Glynn

      Hi John, congrats on a very cool car. This sort of inflexibility is what made me drop PCM from my Cayenne. I’ve set the Porsche logo as a start up screen on my Kenwood DAB head unit: super easy to do. Porsche don’t like people playing with their PCMs!

      Reply

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