I'm picking up a new to me 2013 EX37 Journey today. It doesn't have NAV, so, it doesn't have bluetooth streaming. I've been looking for a solution that would allow me to stream Google Music and Waze to my car, without losing anything else (cameras, HVAC, steering audio controls, etc.).
I've been watching youtube videos and reading topics here on Nicoclub for the past weeks, but cannot figure out sure ways to stream via bluetooth with my Android phone, in a "as seamless as possible" way.

Here are the solutions that I found out so far:
-Replacement of the head unit AND the screen for Navigation ones, since the NAV pack includes bluetooth streaming. (is it even possible?). Probably very costly.
-Installation of GROM AUDIO Vline2 to get my non touch screen to become touch and emulate some sort of an Android interface with Waze and Google Music. Also pretty costly here in Canada (950$ without install).
-Buying a used iPhone 4S, 5 or 6 and listen to it via the AUX iPhone port of the EX. Will Google Music work as well via this proprietary cable? Will I see song titles on my screen? How about Waze over a tethered connection? If it all works, it's probably one of the easiest and cheapest way to do it. I can get my hand on a used iPhone 6 for 50$ right now.
-Using Coolstream CarPro (or Bovee 1000). About 150$ here + extra $$$ for additional dongles needed to supply power to the Bluetooth device. I believe that this way, I keep the steering controls, but I lose songs displaying on my screen.
-Getting an AUX input installed at a local shop that will stream music with 2 modulators over an FM signal. About 175$. I will lose steering controls with this solution.

Other solutions that I have considered:
-ATOTO A6 Pro, which is a 7" Android screen, but if I read correctly, I will lose the bird eye view cam and I also cannot figure out how my HVAC controls will work, or if they will work at all. About 350$
-Phoenix (Tesla like) 12" screen. I've seen videos of it installed in G35, G37 and Q50 but not in EX. Not sure if it's worth it and if it would work.

Any recommandations or comments? Most of the found topics are a couple of months, sometimes years old. If you did go one of these ways, please share your long time experience, it would help me a lot in making my decision.
Thanks to all in advance.

I have installed the GROM VLine on my 2016 QX50 Non nav and let me tell you, it is the best money that I have invested in my car. The only bottleneck of the interference is our OEM crappy screen quality that mitigates the units full potential and that has nothing to do with GROM.

Beside that, the experience has been phenomenal. To be honest, it is better than Android Auto because this is a full on tablet experience. You can install any app you want like Youtube, Chrome, Gmail, Waze, Calende, and etc. Now that I have had the unit for more than 6 months, I sometimes wonder how I lived without one.

In regards of installation, at first, they sent me a wrong unit but once that was rectified (really good customer service), the installation was not so bad as it was mostly plug and play. The only very DIFFICULT PART was installing the overlay touch screen. That was insanely complicated as the our screen's original frame is too tight for it to be installed so when I installed it, the unit kept restarting due to that but once I contacted the GROM tech support, they advised me that I have to make sure the touch screen overlay is not be too tight.

FYI, I have tried a few different products like Wireless USB Bluetooth, Bluetooth Transmitter, ect. They all had crappy quality and delays but not the VLine. Plus, with Vline, you will not lose any of the OEM screen's functionality.

If you have some money to invest in your car, I highly recommend the Vline and I promise that you will not be disappointed.

Thank you very much Pocolo for the very detailed answer. I am very tempted to go with Grom, but at a thousand dollar (Canadian), it's quite an expensive solution.

So far, I've also tried bluetooth adapters and they do not work well at all. One kept disconnecting, the other one which was put closer keeps skipping. Very annoying.

I'm gonna have to think about this very hard. Thanks again for the information!

Of course. Glad I could help.

I am also Canadian as well so what I did to save me a bit of money was that I pre-ordered it. At the time, I was able to save about $125 USD.

As far as i know, They go on sale often so If you are not in a rush then you can find a good deal.

Also If you are, by any chance, in Vancouver, I will more than happy to show you my set up in person.

Best of luck.

Unfortunately, I'm in the eastern part of Canada, so unless I plan on testing my EX for a couple of thousands of kilometers, I don't think I'll get the chance to see it in person, but thanks for the offer anyways.

I also wanted to ask if you had ever consider switching your LCD to the Touch one? My guess is that to support the touch functionalities, I would probably need to switch the head unit as well and replace it with a "NAV + single DVD" one. Since you mentioned that installing the overlay screen was a pain, I was wondering if going the OEM NAV + GROM with NAV route wouldn't be a better (more costlier) idea.

One more thing, as for the good deals, they are currently offering a 50$ rebate, but it's going to end soon (if not already ended). I don't know how much lower I can expect it to go during black friday / boxing day.

Thanks again.

It is very hard, if not impossible, to change the non nav to nav as they have completely different harness.Hence why no one is doing.

Unless you are an expert in wiring and has lots of cash and time, which I still think it is not worth it as it is not much of an upgrade. Thus, the nav screen has a better resolution. That is why I think the Vline from Grom is the best option as it is plug and play. I did ask the Grom tech if it is possible to putthe nav screen on my unit and their respond was simply no. All we can hope for is that they come up with a solution for that. In the mean time, I am very very happy with VLine.

Hope that helps you

Finaly, I did find a suitable solution. It isn't the perfect one, but it's in my opinion the best cheap option. I got rid of all the bluetooth gadget that didn't work half of the time and decided to not get an FM transmitter installed either.

Here's what I did: I got my hand on an old and used iPhone 6.
Any iphone after 4S would probably work as well, but 6 had a great price tag (50$ CAN from a friend) and did all I wanted it to do.
I installed Google Music and Waze on it.
I share my Android connection to it via tethering.
Once its plugged into the car, it gets recognized instantly and I can send both music and Waze sounds to the car speakers.
I can use the steering buttons as well for the music.
As previously mentioned by other members, you only need to make sure that you have downloaded at least 1 song so the car can recognize the iPhone as an MP3 player and allow its radio to play songs on it.

Pocolo, I will keep in mind the best solution that is GROM Vline, but in the meantime, the iPhone will probably do the job. Thanks again for the great info and hopefully, this post will help others as well in making a decision.