Ok, this sort of thing has been discussed quite a few times, but there doesn't seem to be a full answer.

I would love to replace my head unit with something like a Pioneer one but places like InCartech make it look stupidly expensive. They list kits for either base or highline head units but not midline.

The difference between the premium/highline and base head units is the fibre connectivity and the use of an external amp. I can't find any definitive information as to what the midline one uses.

My car is a 2011 with Apline speakers but no Dolby Pro-Logic stuff or rear pillar speakers. It does have a sub though.

If it uses fibre and has a separate amp, then I'll give it a miss as you need to bypass the amp and the sub may not work.

But if it doesn't need that then I'd be happy.

Can anyone advise?

Thanks. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Midline & Premium both use MOST & separate modules whereas base line is just head unit.
The factory systems with MOST are top quality and better than most after market systems unless you are going to spend mega
bucks.
You'd be better off upgrading current system. MY15
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Surround Camera System
InControl Apps soon to be replaced with CarPlay (WIP)
Meridian Premium Surround Sound
Digital Audio Broadcast
Timed Climate
Cruise ECO Data
Follow Me Home Reverse
Extra Features Menu
Picture In Motion
4x4i screen (WIP)
Digital Broadcast TV
Meridian Rear Media with WIFI
Factory Powered Tailgate
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Reverse Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Electrochromatic Wing Mirrors (WIP)

Thanks for that. I really just want Bluetooth streaming for music with steering wheel control.

I have a perfectly workable solution at the moment but my wife just replaced her car and her new one has a proper integrated system and it really does make all the difference.

Although it isn't a big enough difference to justify the cost of upgrading the FL2 system. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

If you don't have bluetooth module its easy to retrofit same with steering wheel controls.
Music streaming....wasn't there a "connectivity accessory" for ipod/iphone? May not be "bluetooth" but will give you functionality from the steering wheel. MY15
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Surround Camera System
InControl Apps soon to be replaced with CarPlay (WIP)
Meridian Premium Surround Sound
Digital Audio Broadcast
Timed Climate
Cruise ECO Data
Follow Me Home Reverse
Extra Features Menu
Picture In Motion
4x4i screen (WIP)
Digital Broadcast TV
Meridian Rear Media with WIFI
Factory Powered Tailgate
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Reverse Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Electrochromatic Wing Mirrors (WIP)

My car has Bluetooth, but the midline head unit only does phone calls through Bluetooth, not media streaming.

I also don't use an iOS device, so connectors are no use. I'm not aware of any aftermarket Bluetooth media streaming devices that can take advantage of the steering wheel controls other than a new head unit. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

The "connectivity accessory" if not available for andriod and iOS from LR, there would be plenty of adaptor plugs for this.....
I don't have the Alpine system but I know there is at least 2 solutions from LR for this very purpose as we've looked into this before. MY15
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Surround Camera System
InControl Apps soon to be replaced with CarPlay (WIP)
Meridian Premium Surround Sound
Digital Audio Broadcast
Timed Climate
Cruise ECO Data
Follow Me Home Reverse
Extra Features Menu
Picture In Motion
4x4i screen (WIP)
Digital Broadcast TV
Meridian Rear Media with WIFI
Factory Powered Tailgate
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Reverse Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Electrochromatic Wing Mirrors (WIP)

I'd love to know what those options are. At present I have a little device that plugs into the aux in and allows skipping of tracks, but it's still not as neat or integrated. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

VPLFE0002

You can do a search on here for "Audio Connectivity System" or you can "google" it for more information.
Can be tucked away in the glove box or you could have it so that it connects in the centre console, the module can be hidden somewhere else.
This will give you full functionality with steering wheel controls but not a bluetooth solution i'm afraid. But even with the current Meridian System you get far more information/functionality by connecting via USB. MY15
Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
Surround Camera System
InControl Apps soon to be replaced with CarPlay (WIP)
Meridian Premium Surround Sound
Digital Audio Broadcast
Timed Climate
Cruise ECO Data
Follow Me Home Reverse
Extra Features Menu
Picture In Motion
4x4i screen (WIP)
Digital Broadcast TV
Meridian Rear Media with WIFI
Factory Powered Tailgate
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM)
Reverse Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA)
Electrochromatic Wing Mirrors (WIP)

Thanks. Needs to be Bluetooth though as I play all music via Spotify. USB is no use.

As I say, if it could be done with a head unit replacement then I'd go for it but not a head unit and few £100 of extra bits.

Thanks all the same. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

In this thread http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic29135.html they mention something that allows music on USB sticks to be played. If you open it you see they also have a bluetooth module/addon for streaming. They say you can use the steering wheel controls when playing from USB, not sure if this is also the case when streaming via bluetooth.

That thread above is one where I posted about a Bluetooth receiver that plugs into the aux socket via a 3.5mm adaptor that comes included. It has micro usb - usb charger lead which I just plugged into an adaptor in the power socket next to the aux.

Your phone still connects to the head unit via Bluetooth for hands free calling

At the same time you connect your phone to the Bluetooth aux adaptor to play streaming music.

Worked very well IMO and was £5 very well spent.

That is an interesting bit of kit, but really very pricey. Will look into it more as it does look as if it would do the trick.

Would be nice if there was on for sale second hand ☺️ Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

And something like this? http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Anker-SoundSync-Dr...Ciid%253A1

I have something pretty much identical to this in the car just now. Works fine, but just isn't as integrated, if you know what I mean. I'm just being fussy, I'm aware of that, but it is good to know the options.

The other option of course is to do what many have done and put a tablet in the cubby, but then my question would be is there a way to get tablet audio into the back of the head unit? Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Can't a tablet use the same bluetooth device? Or connect it to AUX in? But I do not see what a tablet makes it more integrated than a phone.

I think my car has the same head unit as yours. I also wished it had build in audio streaming but I didn't want to remove the head unit and risk loosing the amp, sub-woofer, buttons on the steering wheel, parking sensors and audio from build-in satnav.

So I bought myself a proper holder (ProClip) for my phone and use a program (llama) on my phone to switch on the screen and start an app as soon as the phone is inserted in the holder (charging and connected to the car). My screen stays on as long it is inserted in the holder, when I remove it I use the same program to stop the app and turn off the screen. For bluetooth streaming I use a similar device as RogB has. I know, it is not integrated but it's good enough for me.