So my Japanese Domestic market 2015 CX5 is all in english aside from the small instrument cluster with the KM/L, Average Speed, Cruise Control etc. They've converted it to the Australian region firmware/software for the entertainment unit and I love there is no japanese on the buttons.

Has anyone done a language conversion on the cluster. From what I've seen it sounds like the languages are all there preinstalled and its a case of using some software and an ODB cable to change the 4 digit region/market code to change the language.

The software that does it in theory is free for a 2 month trial so I just need to find my ODB cable - I've got three of the damn things I have brought for different uses over the years for my daughters VW golf and others.

Just wondering if it is as easy as it sounds as there is a guy who can do it but A) he's in auckland so I have to take the cluster out and send it to him and B) its $200 which sounds a little steep - Yes he has to pay for a commercial license for the software etc but I would have thought there'd be a fair bit of call for it in the import market.

 

Check on the Ford truck forums and see if someone near you has Forscan. Seems to be a much bigger modding crowd there and much more information about what can be changed on Ford trucks with Forscan. For changing Forscan settings, the OBDLinkEX is what's recommended by the Forscan team and has worked flawlessly for me so far. Wireless/BT OBD connectors and Andriod/IOS are not recommended for changing settings with Forscan although they work fine for viewing settings.

 

In my 2020 i have 19 diff. language - can be changed in HMI just like that

 

Thanks @TB250 & @BWJ - Forscan was the App I'd been looking at and you can get full functionality free for two months. I just need to get the Right USB>Serial cable and I'll do it myself.
Everything I read on the Forscan forums made it sound easy but something else I read made it sound like this guy had to get the language data from another unit and transfer it onto the cluster. That's the guy who wants to charge $200 so I suspect he's just making it sound more complex to justify the expense.

I'll see if I can find the right cable on Banggood in an Australian warehouse as stuff from Ali in china is taking 5 - 6 weeks or more to get here.

 

Where have you got too regards this @mobiusnz ?

 

Nowhere at this point. I got a cable that should work with forscan in the right mode from Aliexpress but haven't even tried it. The few times I've had time to search for info I haven't found a lot. There was a company in Christchurch who were going to do it for me but they've tried twice and failed. They use an App on an android phone connected to a USB OBD cable but it wouldn't work for them, they were talking about software updates from someone in Auckland. It almost sounded like the software connected to a server in Auckland via a VPN and that did the changes.

I might have a little free time to do some searching and reading and a bit of an experiment over Xmas break. I didn't want to just power in as then the free trial expires on the software and I have to buy it for a single use.

Have you found anything?

 

Theres a russian guy in auckland that will do it, hes fairly blunt but thats very russian anyway. You'll have to remove your cluster and send it up there, they'll crack it and re program then send it back with English. I havent bothered to as we use it everyday but i will be putting android auto on the infotainment system when i have a spare 12 hours to remind my self how to use Mazda Tweaks and find the right patch.

 

Don't bother with Forscan it won't do Instrument Cluster language change.
I believe you're mistaken with Forscan license, unless something changed recently, when expired just request by mail a free license for another 2 months.

 

Hybrids.co.nz
You have to take your dash out and send it in, they are mad russian code crackers that have mangaed to find a way into the actual cluster to load an english version of cluster firmware?

 

Yeah - I had a chat to that guy - Dont think I'll bother for the cost and inconvenience. Most of the dash is in english its just the one right hand cluster that shows some error messages and consumption info - Its all stuff you can find elsewhere so not worth the expense.

At some point I'm going to order the Car Play kit too so when taking the dash apart to fit that I might look at access to the cluster but sounds like a P.I.T.A - I'm anti taking the dash apart as the last car I did it on (My daughters VW Golf) had issues where some clips broke and it was never the same again. This dash is so mint my wife is going to kill me if there is so much as a dent in the fascia

I've read some things that indicate it can be done for Forscan but then haven't actually found the info on how. It was all to do with some four digit codes specifying the region and I found the Asia Pacific region - What I read indicated all the region data was programmed in at the factory and it was just a case of changing the code. I think the complexity comes in updating checksums once the codes are changed or it throws a goat.