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Can I convert the screens to English?

My e52 came with an English langue conversion installed via DVD cost was £160
 
Simple answer is no. The standard Elgrand In Car Entertainment hardware is designed for use in Japan only. The Sat Nav is for Japan only, the menu's are all in Japanese, and no, there is no way to convert them to English.

I believe the later S3 E51's and the E52's have a solution available, but I'm not too clued up on it.

You can either learn to live with Radio 2, no sat nav, and managing with the standard set up, or you can apply some of the work arounds/solutions to resolve this.

The simplest method, but only available to those with the AV pack (meaning you have Audio/Video inputs on the drivers side in the rear door card) is to get an external DVD player that you can set to output in NTSC (UK is PAL) format, and then whatever you play will come through the screens.

For those who don't have the AV pack, or want something a little more permanent, you will need to look into replacing the standard head unit.

There are guides in the "how To" section that will talk you through replacing both E50 and E51 hardware for UK spec (or local spec whatever country you're in) including wiring requirements, things you'll need, etc.
Wait, i found this site as xanavi was doing full english conversion with pulling out the dash and replacing the unit, is that still a legit way too convert too english?
 
Wait, i found this site as xanavi was doing full english conversion with pulling out the dash and replacing the unit, is that still a legit way too convert too english?
Any idea on cost and how easy it is to install?

Here’s there kit for an E51 s3
 
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Hi All
It depends what you are after. If you just want to be able to use the displays easily and see everything translated into English but are happy mirroring your smartphone to obtain sat-nav, movies and your own mp3s, then I recommend Betamorphis Ltd. Email address is betamorphis@orcon.net.nz
Website http://www.caraudioworkshop.co.nz/

Very quick to respond, very helpful throughout, very easy to burn the disk and install the update which not only worked perfectly, but also cured some other software glitches I was getting on the original Japanese software! I have copied the reply to my initial enquiry below to give anyone interested a better idea of what is involved.
Thanks for your enquiry!

The menu conversion is NZ$299 for your system, and is a downloadable upgrade you can do yourself (instructions provided). Nothing needs to be removed/added to the car. When the files are ready, we can email you a download link to burn your own disc. A little experience writing discs is helpful, but we supply some easy instructions for you also.

I will send an info pdf with more details about the conversion separately (sometimes gets flagged as spam).

We have instructions to send you to get the very specific information we need to make the files, if we send those to you we can confirm your system version before we start. Those 2 pictures and your vehicle Chassis Number are all we need.

We also have professionally made labels to go over the Japanese buttons on the dash for just $48 per set (including international shipping), for the following vehicles:
-Skyline all 2006 - 2014 models
-2010 on Fuga
-370z
-S3 E51 Elgrand 08/09
-E52 Elgrand 2010 on
-R35 GTR
-Murano 2008 - 2010

For our international customers, we only accept Paypal. Once we have all the details, we can send you a Paypal request. Please let us know if your Paypal address is different from the email address you have emailed to us already.

Let me know if you have any questions!
 
We are just about to order the xanavi kit for our series 2 , the Mrs has had enough of looking at Japanese screens and me using my phone as a music hub, this seems to be plug and play so will update as we progress
 
Interested to see in a series 2
 
Ah right, prob just keep my double din
 
A slight aside - but if you have Japanese text that you need to translate just to know what bits and pieces are and how to use them, you can use the image section of the Google Translate App. If you use your mobile camera to hover over some text (say on a remote control) it will translate the text and overlay it on the screen. You can then take screen shots and print out etc if it helps.
 
Hiya Connor,
we just bought series 3 from a dealer, and paid extra for ghe Xanavi Englisg conversion head unit replacement...it works great, full Englush working sat nav and all English commands etc, the problem is waiting nearly 5 weeks for the unit..(there's a spot of trouble near Estonia and trade been severely disrupted). But it did finally arrive. I believe Xanavi are the only guys to tackle this...look at their You Tube video...Series 3 Elgrand Head Unit English Conversion....
Cheers
If you don't mind, can you remember how much it cost to ship across please? My original quote has gone up a couple of hundred quid, I'm awaiting an answer, probably most of it will be tax, cheers Jim.
 
We've replaced our radio to a screen which connects via Bluetooth to our phones. Looking to delve into sorting the main head unit at some point along with the dvd player
 
I’ve spent hours this morning reading these threads. Got to admit I’m a tad confused. I’m waiting for E51 series 2. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks
 
I’ve spent hours this morning reading these threads. Got to admit I’m a tad confused. I’m waiting for E51 series 2. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks
I’ve been researching this over the last week or so too! I’ve found a few options. You can update the firmware so you get the stock screens in English (but no extra functionality), there is a company in NZ who can create an updated firmware for your van and send it over for you to update. It is expensive though ~£150. There is another company (Xanavi) who will send you a whole replacement front head unit (from an e52) with install instructions, that’s ~£800 and the installation looks pretty daunting! I know they offer this for e51 s3s. Not sure if they do for e51 s2s.

But lots of people choose to install a 2nd screen (double din radio) in the front using a replacement facia and don’t really use the stock screen. This isn’t an option for the s3s though for some reason.
 
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Th
I’ve been researching this over the last week or so too! I’ve found a few options. You can update the firmware so you get the stock screens in English (but no extra functionality), there is a company in NZ who can create an updated firmware for your van and send it over for you to update. It is expensive though ~£150. There is another company (Xanavi) who will send you a whole replacement front head unit (from an e52) with install instructions, that’s ~£800 and the installation looks pretty daunting! I know they offer this for e51 s3s. Not sure if they do for e51 s2s.

But lots of people choose to install a 2nd screen (double din radio) in the front using a replacement facia and don’t really use the stock screen. This isn’t an option for the s3s though for some reason.
Oops. It’s a e51 series 3. Does that change the options? Thank you for your help
 
Any idea if they will make one for the E51 S2?
Very unlikely, the S3 electronics was reused for European and US market vehicles so there is foreign language firmware to compare to. The S2 electronics was only ever fitted to the JDM Elgrand so only Japanese firmware exists.
 
Very unlikely, the S3 electronics was reused for European and US market vehicles so there is foreign language firmware to compare to. The S2 electronics was only ever fitted to the JDM Elgrand so only Japanese firmware exists.
So it sounds like there could be a huge market for it if someone can figure it out :joy:
 
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