The Car Computer Project!

For ages I'd thought about putting a computer into my car.  How handy it would be to have a PC at hand when ever I needed it in my car.  If at this point you're thinking "how pointless it that?" don't worry, you're not the first and certainly won't be the last.  If however you're thinking "hey that sounds pretty cool" then you'll probably find these blog entries interesting or maybe even handy!  Yes it does have a big pointless gadget factor but I also figured it could be very useful.

I did this project a couple of years ago in my trusty VW Passat (B5).  I used an old AMD micro atx system, powered by an M2-ATX power unit (the link will take you to the site I bought mine from).  I used a mini touchpad which I positioned on the side of the drivers seat, so that with your right hand you could operate the mouse.  For the keyboard, I used a mini keyboard from Keysonic.  I also had a DiNovo wireless keyboard and mouse set up for any passenger in the car to use.  The monitor was a Lilliput 7" touchscreen LCD.  If I'm honest I went with it as it was the cheapest option available.  This was mounted on the dash by rejigging a tomtom holder.  For internet access I had a T-Mobile Web & Walk PCMICIA card and used a Panorama antenna to boost its signal.  I also had a wireless card installed so that I could use the PC as an access point for other wireless devices.

The M2-ATX was set up to switch the PC on when the engine was started and to switch the PC off when the engine was turned off.

The PC was installed in the boot and fixed in behind the rear seats.  A VGA lead ran along the near side door sill, USB leads then ran from the PC, under the rear seats and along the centre consul.  Not the neatest set up, but at that point I was still at the testing stage.

Picking up the live, earth and switching live was simple in the Passat, all terminals were easily picked up from the drivers compartment.  If I still had the car I would have posted pictures of where these were obtained.

If I still had the car... unfortunately my trusty Passat suffered a dash fault (not related to my installation!) and a garage that effectively ruined what was left of it.  The Passat is dead, long live my new car.  A BMW 530d E39.  If I'm honest, its not as nicely put together as the Passat but that's another story.  Its still jolly nice though and I love it!

First Project Problems

The biggest problem was the monitor.  Most of the work was done at my parents who have a great driveway plus my dad who is a problem solving genius and my mum who makes tea!  Anyway, there, a monitor "permanently" mounted on the dash seemed like a perfectly good idea.  However, once the reality of parking my car on a street at night etc sunk in.. it didn't seem quite so bright.  This meant removing it each time.  Power lead, then VGA lead.. sounds simple enough bit its a lot of farting about when all you want to do is get out.

Second monitor related problem was the VGA lead I used.. non screened and position closely to the vehicles chassis meant I picked up lots of interference which affected the screen.

Third monitor problem, brightness.  Evenings and dull weather conditions were fine, however on a bright sunny day the monitor was useless.  Angling the monitor did assist however there's only so far you can angle the monitor downwards before it becomes useless.


After that I was restrained by software, budget and monitor technology.

Software wise, the only really good navigation software available in PC format was Autoroute from Microsoft.  The biggest problem with that was the interface, intended for use on a laptop all the buttons/icons etc were too small to be easily used on a 7" touchscreen.  The other issue was that it didn't automatically correct the route when you took a wrong turn.  I bought another piece of navigation software that was so useless it actually included the voice command "you are lost".. seriously..


Many years past and nothing more was done with my car PC idea until now....