Adding Crux Bluetooth Streaming to an 08' with Navigation

[JPatton]

I have an 08 Denali with factory navigation and an updated VCIM to add Bluetooth calling but I really want to be able to stream music, podcasts, audiobooks as well as directions when using Waze for traffic. I found a way to do it with the current setup but it involves modifying the signal out on my phone to mono so all music sounds like crap and volume adjustments effect the volume on incoming calls as well. This makes me hate it as a workaround.

So yesterday I found this from Crutchfield. It's a Crux Bluetooth interface model BTS-GM1X. It connects through the XM module in the glove compartment.




I ordered it yesterday afternoon and it was here at 9am today. Better than Amazon prime. I installed it in under 20 minutes. The installation process involved opening the glove compartment and pressing the release so that it drops down. Then unplugging the current XM plug from the bottom of the module :



That plug is then installed in the wiring harness and routes in the new box like this :



I then put the box in there and sealed it all back up. It's currently in there loose because I want to test it out before finalizing the location. I was expecting to have to remove the stereo so this was great to see that it's that easy.

When I turned the car on it was already on XM so the pairing screen came up immediately and recognized my phone as soon as I hit pair on the bluetooth settings. It was the fastest and easiest install of anything beyond a pair of fuzzy dice.

All of that was terrific and it started playing what I was last listening to immediately. It made me incredibly happy until I realized that it was only playing through the front speakers. Going back through some other posts on here and others it looks like that's the only way that it'll play and is somewhat disappointing for music.

I'm going to test it out over the weekend to check out a couple things :

1. How does it handle bluetooth calls going through the VCIM while music is going through this? My phone is a current Samsung running Android 7.0 and has two different coinciding bluetooth connections so it can pair as a phone to one and audio device to another. It works all the time at home when I have a Bose speaker paired at the same time as a phone headset. It switches back and forth for calls effortlessly.

2. How does it handle going from Bluetooth to XM? I have a subscription and plan to use both. It would be a tough decision as to which one to ditch, either the XM or Bluetooth if it doesn't work easily.

3. Is the front speaker only sound quality going to be a deal breaker? I listen to a full mix of music, podcasts and audiobooks so if it's crap this thing is going to have to go and I'm back to looking at factory lookalike head-units.

I'll Post again next week with what I find.

 

[JPatton]

A couple quick notes from driving around today.

1. The sound does go through all the front and back speakers. It sounds as clear or clearer than the standard XM signal and is terrific so far.
2. I've made multiple calls and when the dial button is pressed the phone immediately switches from sending the music signal through the bluetooth box to sending the phone signal through the VCIM. Then when the call ends it immediately switches back and the music picks back up.
3. The steering wheel controls can be used to cycle forward on tracks using the forward button but not the up and down buttons.
4. The voice control button on the steering wheel goes to the VCIM still and not the Bluetooth box.

So far, This is honestly the best modification I've made to this car. For anyone with an '07 or '08 I would highly recommend the VCIM upgrade and this box combination to stream calls and music through the stock headunit.

Still need to check the performance of :

1. Receiving incoming calls and the handoff between this unit and the VCIM
2. The switching between XM and bluetooth
3. Performance with repeated use and longevity

 

[iamdub]

Is the Bluetooth VCIM required or does the Crux have it's own BT transceiver and just splices inline? I have XM and an OnStar module but no OEM BT. According to the Crux's specs, it just says "Vehicle must have XT tuner".

 

[Hi-psi]

I'm interested to see further comments regarding the continued functionality.

I'm in much the same situation as you. I've already done a VCIM upgrade on my '08 to add Bluetooth calling. I was casually looking for a good solution for music streaming. I'm also a long time XM fan/subscriber. Some of the options I've looked at use the 2nd channel/input capability of the XM tuner. So, when you want Bluetooth audio, you switch to XM2, traditional XM, XM1. Is that how this one functions also?

 

[Hi-psi]

Found this on the Q & A section of the Crutchfield product page...

Will I still be able to listen to xm radio too, or does the Bluetooth replace that? [ Tyler Dec 27, 2017 ]

You will still be able to listen to XM radio. You switch between Bluetooth and XM using the seek button. [ David Mar 12, 2018 ]

Press on the seek button on your radio until it beeps and it will switch between XM and Bluetooth. [ Kris Jan 22, 2018 ]

Your vehicle's factory XM satellite radio tuner will be retained and continue to fully function properly with the Crux BTS-GM1X Interface installed. For more details or to discuss further, please contact an Advisor directly by phone (888.955.6000) or online chat. Thanks!

 

[JPatton]

Is the Bluetooth VCIM required or does the Crux have it's own BT transceiver and just splices inline? I have XM and an OnStar module but no OEM BT. According to the Crux's specs, it just says "Vehicle must have XT tuner".

No, The VCIM is only required for Bluetooth phone calls. The box that I installed is for all audio other than calls. Both of them work completely independently and neither is required for the other to work. I ended up with this setup instead of a single solution for both calls and audio because I drive a lot for work and needed to get calls taken care of immediately after purchasing the car so I went with the VCIM because so many people had done it before and it works well using all the stock microphones and speakers without any external modifications.

 

[JPatton]

I'm interested to see further comments regarding the continued functionality.

I'm in much the same situation as you. I've already done a VCIM upgrade on my '08 to add Bluetooth calling. I was casually looking for a good solution for music streaming. I'm also a long time XM fan/subscriber. Some of the options I've looked at use the 2nd channel/input capability of the XM tuner. So, when you want Bluetooth audio, you switch to XM2, traditional XM, XM1. Is that how this one functions also?

I have an XM subscription as well so I was also concerned about the functionality of using both and the description in your second post is correct. Over the weekend I tested it out quite a bit and to change between Bluetooth and XM you just hold down the back button on the bottom right corner of the head-unit. It's not very intuitive but the change back and forth is quick and has yet to have any issues. So far it seems really good.

As for the rest of the functionality on it over the weekend I did discover a few hiccups. Out of the 12 drives that I took over the weekend it failed to connect twice. Once I was coming out of the gym and had Bluetooth headphones connected. In my last car I would put the headphones in the case, they would disconnect and the car would immediately pickup the phone and begin playing right where it left off. This weekend I had to open the Bluetooth settings on the phone and pair it manually then it started playing as it should have. The other time it for some reason just did not pair. I can't explain why but I had to do the same opening the settings and hitting the Bluetooth button then it paired in a couple seconds without an issue.

One other strange occurrence was that multiple times I got in the car, turned it on and immediately there was a loud chime that I've never heard before. It seemed to indicate that the head-unit had paired to the phone because right after the chime the stereo started playing from the phone but I haven't been able to duplicate it on command and the tone is not one that is used for anything else. I'll keep working on figuring out what that is.

For the rest of the usage it switched back and forth between the new box and the VCIM with incoming and outgoing calls really easily and has yet to have a problem. It also has not caused any delays in how long it takes for the VCIM to connect which is already too long. The only thing that is really annoying me at this point is that it just displays the word 'BlueLogic' on the screen and not the name of the phone or the track information. I know that it's designed that way and probably asking too much to include for more than that based on the price but I still don't like it. Even if it can't do the track information I'd still rather see 'JPatton's Phone' or literally anything other than a brand name.

 

[iamdub]

No, The VCIM is only required for Bluetooth phone calls. The box that I installed is for all audio other than calls. Both of them work completely independently and neither is required for the other to work. I ended up with this setup instead of a single solution for both calls and audio because I drive a lot for work and needed to get calls taken care of immediately after purchasing the car so I went with the VCIM because so many people had done it before and it works well using all the stock microphones and speakers without any external modifications.

I gotcha. This is great news to me because I have no use for the BT phone calls, but I'd love to be able to stream audio. I misunderstood your second post. Thank you for sharing your experience with this gadget.

 

[petethepug]

This was the way to wirelessly jack into music from the phone. Thankfully good info has been posted that when the remote start is used, the Crux has to be rebooted to pair w/ the phone.

We have an 08 Denali XL w/ fact Navi and DVD with the remote start. BT was not available until early 09 and GM integrated it in the Onstar (VCIM) module. We’re not compatible with the Crux mostly because there’s no remote start work around yet. Bummer.

FYI ... As the 2nd owner of the vehicle and after almost 4 years of ownership Onstar still rolled out 90 days of the Full Monty service package to us as we never claimed it. I asked for the trial cell service and was gifted with 200 min and a cell # thru AT&T. I contacted XM and got 3 mo free trial also. I provided Onstar with a Med Spending Acct Visa that verifies legit but only allows Rx purchases. When the trial is done U won’t have to call and cancel, LOL

In 11 or 12 you can download Navi directions from your ph or PC to your Navi via the Onstar app. Starting approx 07 you can call Onstar to provide them with an address. They send turn by turn (computer) audio and written directions displayed through your gauge cluster.

This is a clever feature that’s more accurate than the in dash Navi. It will “recalculate” if you miss a turn. Those directions never show up as available in the your in dash nav system though. If you’re ever in a pinch and lost in BFE, call Onstar and purch the min req’d subsc’n for this feature. It’ll get you out of trouble or get you to an Appt on time.

We have the outdated 08 Navi disc. The Onstar Navi got us to addresses that weren’t avail on the old Navi disc. It also meant we could safely enter the Navi destination via the Onstar rep while in motion to avoid the mandatory pull over and key in address feature.

https://isimple.com/catalog/professional-installed-kits/ISGM751

For $189 it seems like iSimple is the way to go for BT ph & music, steering wheel control, data displayed on screen and essentially voice control through google (poss Siri too). Gotta have an xm head unit though. It’s all concealed and Onstar is retained. Crap! still no unlock on navi!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JPatton]

This was the way to wirelessly jack into music from the phone. Thankfully good info has been posted that when the remote start is used, the Crux has to be rebooted to pair w/ the phone.

We have an 08 Denali XL w/ fact Navi and DVD with the remote start. BT was not available until early 09 and GM integrated it in the Onstar (VCIM) module. We’re not compatible with the Crux mostly because there’s no remote start work around yet. Bummer.

FYI ... As the 2nd owner of the vehicle and after almost 4 years of ownership Onstar still rolled out 90 days of the Full Monty service package to us as we never claimed it. I asked for the trial cell service and was gifted with 200 min and a cell # thru AT&T. I contacted XM and got 3 mo free trial also. I provided Onstar with a Med Spending Acct Visa that verifies legit but only allows Rx purchases. When the trial is done U won’t have to call and cancel, LOL

In 11 or 12 you can download Navi directions from your ph or PC to your Navi via the Onstar app. Starting approx 07 you can call Onstar to provide them with an address. They send turn by turn (computer) audio and written directions displayed through your gauge cluster.

This is a clever feature that’s more accurate than the in dash Navi. It will “recalculate” if you miss a turn. Those directions never show up as available in the your in dash nav system though. If you’re ever in a pinch and lost in BFE, call Onstar and purch the min req’d subsc’n for this feature. It’ll get you out of trouble or get you to an Appt on time.

We have the outdated 08 Navi disc. The Onstar Navi got us to addresses that weren’t avail on the old Navi disc. It also meant we could safely enter the Navi destination via the Onstar rep while in motion to avoid the mandatory pull over and key in address feature.

https://isimple.com/catalog/professional-installed-kits/ISGM751

For $189 it seems like iSimple is the way to go for BT ph & music, steering wheel control, data displayed on screen and essentially voice control through google (poss Siri too). Gotta have an xm head unit though. It’s all concealed and Onstar is retained. Crap! still no unlock on navi!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I saw the ISimple option when I was looking but I really didn't want an external microphone. I wanted to keep everything as stock looking as possible. This meant using two different devices, The 2009+ VCIM for bluetooth calling and something else for Bluetooth audio. I still think that for the money this Crux device was well worth it but there are issues going this route:

Against the VCIM :
1. It takes up to 3 minutes for the phone to connect after initially turning the car on. Which when I'm in a hurry ot call someone feels like forever.
2. The phone doesn't disconnect when the car is turned off. You need to walk far enough away or wait another 3 minutes for it to disconnect and turn off on it's own
3. When a call is answered or made the fans for the HVAC turn to low automatically to lower background noise which sucks when it's really hot out and you want AC

For the VCIM :
1. When a call is answered or made the fans for the HVAC turn to low automatically to lower background noise which is awesome because the sound quality is better and it doesn't sound like your calling someone from inside a windtunnel
2. Everything is stock and there are no running extra wires or mounted microphones
3. Phone numbers show up in the Driver Information Center
4. Steering wheel controls for answering and hanging up are retained

Against the Crux for Audio :
1. The power is run to it through the accessory devices so it turns on when either any door is opened or the remote start is used. Then if your phone isn't in the car to connect it gives up and won't connect at all after 1 minute. You need to go to XM for at least another minute and then go back to bluetooth to reset it.
2. The audio file information does not show up on the screen

For the Crux
1. Cheapest thing out there to connect for audio through the stock setup
2. Really clear audio with minimal need to adjust the volume when cycling through sources like the XM, radio or DVD.
3. Installation took less than 10 minutes and once I discovered the power source issue I've never had a problem with it not connecting that I couldn't account for.

With all of that said I'm happy with the setup as it is now and would probably do it the same again if I did it over again. I still wouldn't change out the headunit because I want to retain the stock look and rear seat entertainment center. Even for the navigation I bought an upgraded navigation disc off Ebay and it has all the current maps for the DC, Philadelphia and New York areas which covers most of where I go. That disc is probably a whole other topic that should be covered because it's one of the DVD-R copies and it's been terrific. The only issue I ever had was that twice I parked outside overnight in the winter and it was so cold that for some reason the headunit wouldn't read it as a nav disc. Every other time I've parked in the garage and it's been fine.