Mazda3 2006 Navigation Retrofit 2.0
Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2026 10:56 pm
3 years ago I built the first version of my navi retrofit for my Mazda based on a Raspberry Pi4, RPI Pico, CarPiHAT PRO and OpenAuto Pro. That system still works well in my car, but as software support stopped, I started looking for alternatives instead of putting more work in the development.
Here is a video of that system from 2023:
Mazda3 Stock Navi Retrofit - RPI4 + RPI Pico + OAP
I started developing a new system while the previous one is still in the car, so I bought a bunch of parts from various junkyards to have a separate dev system. First it was based on a Raspberry Pi 5 with a custom Android build, a short video of that test system:
Mazda3 Navi Retrofit V2 PoC - RPI5, Android 15, FullHD touchscreen
Later I moved the development to a Compute Module 5 with Hudiy, and the dev hardware stack at the moment looks like this:
- RPi Compute Module 5, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB storage
- Hailo 8 M.2 AI vision accelerator
- FullHD 7" navigation touch screen, replacing the old low res. non-touch LCD
- 1424 x 280 resolution 6.9" headunit screen, replacing the B/W low-res, text only screen.
- V-Link OBD adapter
- BTT U2C v2.1 USB-to-CAN Adapter
- Unihertz Jelly Star for Android Auto
- Mazda3 headunit
- Mazda3 navigation housing
- Sandberg HDMI Capture Link for real time image processing testing
The plan is to make a custom IO Board for the CM5, which will fit in the bottom of the stock Mazda headunit and will connect via the extension port, which is normally used by the tape deck, or MiniDisc player or MP3 player, depending on the trim level and model year.
Here is a video of that system from 2023:
Mazda3 Stock Navi Retrofit - RPI4 + RPI Pico + OAP
I started developing a new system while the previous one is still in the car, so I bought a bunch of parts from various junkyards to have a separate dev system. First it was based on a Raspberry Pi 5 with a custom Android build, a short video of that test system:
Mazda3 Navi Retrofit V2 PoC - RPI5, Android 15, FullHD touchscreen
Later I moved the development to a Compute Module 5 with Hudiy, and the dev hardware stack at the moment looks like this:
- RPi Compute Module 5, 16 GB RAM, 64 GB storage
- Hailo 8 M.2 AI vision accelerator
- FullHD 7" navigation touch screen, replacing the old low res. non-touch LCD
- 1424 x 280 resolution 6.9" headunit screen, replacing the B/W low-res, text only screen.
- V-Link OBD adapter
- BTT U2C v2.1 USB-to-CAN Adapter
- Unihertz Jelly Star for Android Auto
- Mazda3 headunit
- Mazda3 navigation housing
- Sandberg HDMI Capture Link for real time image processing testing
The plan is to make a custom IO Board for the CM5, which will fit in the bottom of the stock Mazda headunit and will connect via the extension port, which is normally used by the tape deck, or MiniDisc player or MP3 player, depending on the trim level and model year.