2011 Lancer ES Stock CD to MMCS upgrade
 

Hello Everyone. First time posting even though I have been reading this forum as a guest for years.

I have a 2011 Lancer ES with the factory CD Player/stereo system, non NAVI. I just found a used MMCS unit that I am thinking of purchasing as an upgrade to the original system.

Only thing remaining is the handsfree module, the domelight microphone, and possibly a little reprogramming. Thinking of unlocking the anemic factory drive and cloning it to something with a bit more capacity, cuz MP3s are life.

8750A238 MMCS (N-05 Head Unit) $260
8750A225 Lancer CAN Interface Module $68
8701A168 MMCS mounting bracket $22.88 (Edit add)
8755A055 Wiring conversion Harness $24.53 (Edit add)
8785A049 Bluetooth/Handsfree module $220 (Edit add. May salvage from trashed vehicle at local yard)
8751A011 GPS Antenna $110
OR
QBFU747 Bingfu Active GPS Antenna with GT5 Grey Connector. $11.97 (Edit add)
(Tested it yesterday. This product works fine with the MMCS unit for 1/10th the price of the dealership. Also has higher gain than the stock model.)
8002A376XA OEM 2DIN (Wide) Bezel for MMCS $50 (Edit add)
NOTE: Aftermarket sucks. Incompatible with MMCS, which is approx 2cm wider at the head than standard Double DIN radios.

Most of the installation process is fairly straight forward. I am just trying to see if there are any common pitfalls others have encountered that I may have missed.
Any advice is appreciated. Once I have all the parts in hand I will update this with install details.

Hey. I just wanted to say thanks for all the info you provided.

I have a 2010 lancer es with the sound and sun package so most of the hand free stuff was pre wired. I was able to find a mmcs n-01 for $40 along with the oem din and all the wire harness except for the gps antenna. I read that the Bingfu Active GPS Antenna worked for you so I'm hoping i can use that on mine too instead of having to pay $100+ for just the antenna.

how did your install go? were you able to unlock the factory drive?
This may be too late but I also read on another post that certain wire harness are not compatible with the n-04 and n-05 because of the fuse technology. But I could be wrong since I don't have either of those

The GPS Antenna was a great buy. Rather than spend over $100 for the "official" antenna, which came with a fancy mounting bracket, I bought a strip of sticky backed velcro to attach the antenna to the underside of my dash behind the MMCS unit. The wiring harness thing is tricky in more ways than one. First off, mitsubishi has multiple part numbers for identical wiring harnesses. My best pessimistic guess is so they can charge new prices for old tech.

I am not sure if the N-01 is compatible with the 2010 Lancer, although I do seem to recall that the dividing line between the N-04 and the N-05 models was 2010 / 2011.

My car has the magic FUSE buttons, but until I get the bluetooth module installed I don't know if they will be functional with the harness I purchased. The wiring schematics match up to the harness that comes with the install kit, but I also suspect that the N-05 unit I purchased was either hacked or a refurbed european model with an N-05 faceplate. For one thing, RDS doesn't work, but traffic message system (which uses the same antenna and data protocols) does.

The drive unlocking is a tough one.

I have a linux desktop computer with an IDE channel to interface with the drive (WARNING DO NOT BOTHER BUYING A USB TO 44 PIN IDE ADAPTER. IT WONT WORK), but I haven't gotten the stones to pull the factory drive and try to crack it using the instructions elsewhere in these forums.

I was able to take a spare 60GB IDE 2.5" hard drive and load it with a "universal" (Note: It isn't "universal" unless your universe happens to be the Russian Federation) operating system image, which worked in the MMCS. Unfortunately, I forgot to disable drive locking in the drive firmware, and as soon as I put it in the MMCS it locked it. And the looooong password for unlocking has not worked, so I am guessing it is partially calculated based on the HDD model or serial number.

Eventually I will get this worked out. Either that or I will go find one of the electronics engineers at my college and ask them to see if they can come up with a way to wipe the dang thing and load it with Android.

Sorry if this message rambles. I meant to reply yesterday, but it is Finals week and my brains are leaking out my ears.

New news, updates, and problems
 

All righty then.

I finally bit the bullet and picked up an OEM MITSUBISHI LANCER 11-13 USB HANDS FREE KIT MZ314354 to install the microphone and hands free module. The module advertised was 8785a025 and the one that came in the kit was 8785a049. Hopefully that doesn't cause issues.

I installed the kit following the instructions easy peasy, but the MMCS unit is not recognizing the kit is installed. The CAN unit recognizes the WCM (Wireless Connection Module) is connected.

I'm almost tempted to reinstall the original non navi radio to see if the issue might be the wiring harness that ibtegrates the MMCS to the BCM.

I also need to go back through these forums and dig for advice.

Edit Update:
Hooked up the original single CD head unit and it recognized the HFM. Updated the firmware from 11.0 to 19.0 using instructions and fw files kindly provided by our russian friends.

This hcanged the HW identification to 8785A084, which really makes me hope I didn't bork my system by flashing. HW 11 Version 19.

So the USB on it works. Jamming to mp3s while I write this. The buttons recognize when I put in the version diagnostic (v19 in a pleasant female voice).

The issue seems to be the MMCS unit (8750A238 NR-261UM-07LAN4) not recognizing it is installed. At all. And the CAN connected equipment diagnostic does not show the HFM. This makes me think it is a hardware issue.

One thing that I am curious about: my wiring harness to link the MMCS to the car is 8755A020 and I recall seeing something about the FUSE Navi models having an extra wire in the harness. I need to investigate further.

I found an 8755A055 harness from an OEM parts seller for $26, but that was what I ordered LAST time, and they sent me 8755A020 instead.

Edit:
Enabling the HFM in the ETACS solved the problem of the CAN module not seeing the Bluetooth/USB, but that was not all. It turns out that my suspicion about the harness was correct. There is a White wire running from the bluetooth module that goes to the radio/nav. On the factory radio or 6 disc player, that wire is connected and the system recognizes the module. With harness 8755A055, that wire actually goes all the way to the NAV unit. With harness 8755A020, that wire is missing. The total explanation gets a bit above my head, but from I understand, it has something to do with the HFM using a different bus to connect to the NAV unit than it uses to connect to the radio. In the radio, it uses the CAN bus. In the NAV, it uses something called "IEbus". The wire that does not make the connection through the harness is listed on the wiring diagrams as "HFM L+".

Sadly, I looked at my current harness hoping I could modify it or just swap pins and wires around to complete the connection, but I lack the knowledge and tools to modify these connectors. I am gonna have to bite the bullet and purchase the "$26 harness" with EIGHTEEN DANG DOLLARS of shipping. Crooks. I almost wonder if I should just buy the connectors and pins from an electronics suppliers and see if I can make my own harness.