Swapping the Nissan Leaf Head Unit

[gregory.opera]

I have a 2018 Nissan Leaf (Japanese import) that has had most of the digital / electronic stuff converted to English - pretty much the only things that haven't been converted are some buttons on the head unit (which I don't really care about), the navigation (which is still completely in Japanese, with Japanese maps) and the audio feedback, which is exclusively in Japanese... My car also has all the "smart" stuff enabled, such as automatic parking and Pro Pilot automatic steering / lane control / etc.

But when I use Apple CarPlay, it defaults to Japan for its location.

I have discovered that if I set a destination on my iPhone and then connect it to my car, after a bit of "fighting" with the head unit - jumping back and forth between Japan and Australia - it eventually settles on Australia, following the directions I previously set whilst disconnected from the car. If the navigation ends or I have not set a destination, the head unit will fight with my iPhone for several minutes, before finally choosing the location of the iPhone.

My question is twofold:
1. Is there a way I can configure the head unit to default to Australia for GPS coordinates?
2. If I was to purchase a 2018 English head unit from somewhere (e.g. eBay) and get my car audio guy to plug it in, would it work - whilst keeping all the "smart" stuff and Apple CarPlay?

That's all I really need; if I could get an English head unit that has local navigation / charging stations / etc, it'd be even better... But I don't really need this, as I have Apple CarPlay, which does this for me.

 

[Systemic]

2. If I was to purchase a 2018 English head unit from somewhere (e.g. eBay) and get my car audio guy to plug it in, would it work - whilst keeping all the "smart" stuff and Apple CarPlay?

JDM and EU/UK variants have different pinouts on the connectors. They're the same connectors, but the pinouts are different. You can DIY an adapter however, but I don't think anyone's done this.

I do use a JDM 2019, and when I use CarPlay with it, it defaults to my location on Apple/Google Maps. Not anywhere in Japan. Have you tried disconnecting the GPS cable? I've not done this and it works fine, however if you've issues, it's recommended you do that.

 

[gregory.opera]

Have you tried disconnecting the GPS cable? I've not done this and it works fine, however if you've issues, it's recommended you do that.

I'm almost certainly going to replace the head unit entirely early next year, as I work out of my car and need something pretty reliable... But I might try this over the Christmas break.

I assume it's just a case of pulling the head unit forwards and disconnecting the relevant cable on the back? Is it labeled or indicated which is the GPS cable?

 

[igloo77055]

It pretty obvious which is the GPS cable, there are two similar cables, round with a retaining clip. should be blueish in color.

This is a later model JDM Leaf, it has some extra connectors for live TV, not sure what everything is for as I can't find a pinout or service manual.
But you'll see the blue GPS Antenna connector

 

[gregory.opera]

This is a later model JDM Leaf, it has some extra connectors for live TV...
But you'll see the blue GPS Antenna connector

This'll be mine, because I have physical buttons labelled "TV"... Thanks.