DIY: Installing a tablet in a Hyundai Genesis Coupe

I've always wanted Navigation built-in in my car but up until now I've had to settle with standalone GPS units or phones attached to the wind shield. They would work, but then the suction cup attached to the wind shield would get loose and the GPS would fall off while driving and I'd have to take the suction cup and GPS off my wind shield every time I exited the car in case thieves wanted to break in and steal it.

While the 2.0T version of the Genesis Coupe doesn't have built-in Nav, there was a mount for a 7 inch GPS or tablet designed to fit on the dash and make it look stock.

The mount kit (called a Navigation Bezel) relocates the standard display in the car and makes room for a 7 inch display. Most people put in either a 7 inch GPS unit or a 7 tablet. I chose to install a 7 inch Android Tablet (Acer Iconia A100) as it provided more customizability and functionality over a standalone GPS unit. In addition to it having GPS, I could connect to the internet for weather, view texts, surf on the internet, watch videos, play games, and do many more things (all while not driving of course!).

What you need:

- Genesis Coupe Bezel and Trip Relocation Kit (such as from http://www.poweraxel.net/index.php/bestsellers/2010-2012-hyundai-genesis-b-bezel-and-trip-relocation-kit-1.html There is an A type bezel and a B type. Both are installed slightly differently, I went with a B type)

- 7 inch Tablet or GPS (if using a tablet, one running Android 3.0 or higher is recommended as you will need the onscreen buttons)

- Car charger for the tablet or GPS

- AUX cable

- Ground loop isolator (to eliminate noise that results from plugging in the car charger and AUX)

- Various philips and flathead screwdrivers

- Small saws or cutters

Whats included with the Type B Bezel and Relocation Kit plus a car charger and AUX cable

Ground Loop Isolator

What to do:

First you should set up your tablet or GPS. For a tablet, some recommended apps are Tasker (allows you to set scenarios such as playing music if the tablet is charging), an offline GPS app (unless you tether from your phone or use a tablet with built-in 3g), and Torque (can connect to a bluetooth OBD 2 reader to display car information). After setting up your tablet, you have to attach it to the metal plate included with the Bezel kit so that it can be attached to the actual bezel later.

Line up the metal plate with the screen then bend the tabs around the tablet. Secure it with tape to make sure it doesn't shift in your car. Now you can attach the charging and AUX cable (plugged into the ground loop isolator) to the tablet. For the Iconia A100, there is very little space in the bezel for the plugs. What I did was using a sharp knife, cut away some of the plastic of the cable plugs so that they would insert into the tablet at a 90 degree angle and take up less space.

Plug them in and you can screw the metal plate with the tablet into the bezel.

Tablet installed in the bezel and the tight fit of the charging and AUX/ground loop isolator cable. Now you are ready to install it in the car. First you have to remove the shift knob. The shift knob just screws in so all you ahve to do is twist it counter clockwise. Next, remove the shift lock cover and press down while shifting into drive so you have space to remove the main panel later. 

You'll then have to remove the shifter panel by prying at it with a pry tool or a flathead screwdriver wrapped in tape to prevent scratches. The panel is attached to the car with a few clips that pop off. If your car has seat warmers then you will have to remove the cables that attach to the seat warmer buttons.

Next you will have to pry off the main dash panel in the same way you pried off the shift panel. Remove all of the cables attached to it. For the 12V plug from the main panel, you can either remove the whole plug by prying at the tabs that attach the plug to the plastic, or you can cut off the two wires and attach another plug. I ended up doing the latter as I didn't want to ruin the plastic in case I need to return the car to stock. You'll use this 12V socket to charge the GPS/tablet,

Now you will have to remove the top panel with the original display screen. Take the front panel off first, then the top one.

You can now remove the display by unscrewing it and removing the cable attached to it.

Now you can install the display to is alternate location (below the HVAC controls on the main dash panel). Unscrew the 12V power source compartment that was originally there first. The place the screen bezel into the cavity of the main dash panel. Screw the metal plate to the display and then screw that into the main dash panel. You can now test to see if it fits. 

While I have not heard of other people encountering my problem, when I did it, the display would not fit. I had to cut off part of the metal bracket for it to fit back in.

When it fits, you can remove the panel again. From the top opening, you will have to route the wire that plugged into the display all the way to the bottom where the shifter is. The cables are held in place by plastic ties that you will have to remove for the cable to reach the bottom. You can either cut off the ties or try to fit a screwdriver into the tab so that the ties are loosened. The stereo controls will be blocking the cables as well, so unscrew and remove that to route the cables.

Now you will have to cut parts of your dash to allow the new bezel to fit. All of the dash that is cut away is hidden by the panels so no one will notice unless they take the car apart. The kit should have a picture of where you need to cut, but the main areas are the two bottoms tabs and some of the rubber surrounding the bezel.

Before

One of the tabs cut

After

Now, you can feed your AUX cable and charger cable into the hole. Reattach the stereo controls. From the original top panel that you removed, take the white plastic attached to the clips and place them on the clips to the new bezel and place it in the hole.

 There may be a bit of space between the bezel and your dash. If that happens, you will have to cut away more of the plastic for it to fit properly. Plug the charger into the 12V socket and you can now reinstall the main panel and the cables attached to it. You now need to route the AUX cable all the way to the armrest compartment to plug it in. There is a panel under the handbrake that you can pry off that will give you more visibility.

From the armrest compartment, remove the bottom lining and that will expose a hole that the cable will go through. 

You'll now have to route the AUX cable to the armrest. What I did was use a very thick piece of stiff soldering wire (or you can use a coat hanger or fish tape). I then used the wire to navigate from the shifter area to the hole in the arm rest.

I then untaped the AUX cable, plugged it in, then pulled the soldering wire from the way it came. You can now place the lining and the handbrake panel back. The last thing you will have to do is to make a deflector for the plastic that moves with the shifter in an automatic car. Without the relocated screen, the plastic would just move into that area when in park, but the relocated screen blocks it. What you need to do is to cut a small strip of plastic and tape it to the shifter and make sure that the plastic goes beneath the relocated screen to redirect the plastic. 

When that is done, you can pop the shifter panel back on, screw the shift knob back on and you are done.

Thanks to the gencoupe.com forums for the basic idea of how to do this!