Freelander 1 Centre console swap

So now my car is kind of running again i wanted to swap out my head unit for one that can do bluetooth etc properly. Only going for a cheapy chinese jobby but was seriously considering double DIN so i can use the screen as a reverse cam as well. Now i was thinking i'd have to spend ages shaping up holes and panels to fit my existing centre console but after googling a tonne of images of the facelift centre console the screw holes look in about the same place and the side panels are the same shape. Has anybody swapped out to the facelift centre console in the old style hippo as that would save me a tonne of time/hassle and look a lot neater. I've got a spare switch on my instrument surround to stick my hazard button on and figured if i got the armrest centre section i can relocate the electric window buttons onto that so would only need to plug the aircon wires to the facelift switches and attach temperature dial cables... in theory.

I'm wanting to do exactly the same thing, but searching on here made me give up.
Apparently.... switches are on different places and use different protocols (can bus or obdii - can;t remember what was said now - sorry)
With the response the OP got when they asked the same question... I thought.... can't we use the plastics and original FL1 switches.
Yes... the Double DIN units from WISH.com are cheap and can provide built in GPS / Satnav function too.
Anyway.... if someone donated a black facelift console to me, I'm sure I would make it fit!
anyway - while typing... i found this....
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/freelander-centre-console.144052/

Switch protocol doesn't change across the model years on FL1 so not sure where that nugget of incorrect info came from!

Anything's possible given time patience and money

I'm wanting to do a similar swap, when I buy a suitable Freelander!. I'm not sure if the steering wheel controls are on the CAN like the E46 BMW or use a simple resistive ladder like the D3/ RRS. Some investigation is required.

Resistive ladder on the wheel controls and on the Becker Sat Nav are converted into a network message by an interface box

I wanted a computer in the car as I am a self employed web designer and travel all over the country meeting clients. As I couldnt fit a double din, I went for a single din with motorised touchscreen from xtrons. I got mine on aliexpress.com but you can find them on ebay too. Mine is perfect, I can run windows and the raspberry pi on it, as well as the existing steering wheel controls. Its just a plug and play unit (unless you want to run a computer from it buts thats a different post entirely...) so I would thoroughly recommend it. It also looks quite plain and uninteresting when closed and turned off so no little scumbag thief will look twice at it. You can run it with the screen open or closed and it has all the cables needed to add fancy amplifiers and speakers, rear cameras etc.

td4van said:

Switch protocol doesn't change across the model years on FL1 so not sure where that nugget of incorrect info came from!

Anything's possible given time patience and money

Click to expand...

Yeah thats what i thought, a switch is a switch. Might need rewiring but it'll either be push to open or push to close. I know swapping the entire dash wont work because the speedos are controlled differently but the centre section should be pretty simple.

I've had a little further looking into it, looks like in order to do this properly i'll have to swap the locations of a few things. My hazard button is going to relocate to the unused switch surrounding my instrument panel.

The ac buttons from the heaters will swap to the new locations and my heated rear window doesnt work so thats probably going to relocate inside the dash somewhere!

So the shopping list for this mod looks to be a facelift centre console, the mounting plate to suit it, facelift heater dials and an armrest handbrake cover to relocate the window buttons to easily enough.

No luck, after engine warmed, in a hill when I used 30% of engine load, it overheated (120ºC). I don´t know what to do now.