Sounds great...and that's a great looking CRV.
A couple of things. The wireless feature is only on the Alpine iLX-107.
Although the iLX-207 adds quite a few features, Android compatibility, HD radio, XM radio compatibility, support of playing songs stored on a USB drive, and the ability to change the button colors, it still requires a cable connection to a phone.
For the steering wheel controls, the iDataLink Maestro Rr has worked well for me. It's a bit of a pain to set up, but it does add quite a few nice functions. Although I don't use the XM radio, the Maestro provides a connection to the car's built in XM. I also like the ability to check tire pressure and monitor each individual tire.
The Maestro also supports using the stock AUX port in the center console, except for a quirk with the iLX-107 prevents it. The iLX-107 only has one AUX port, and when the Maestro unit is installed Alpine disables the AUX port. It's there when the radio boots up, and can actually be used if one is quick to make the connection, but otherwise it's not available. Maybe a firmware update will correct the situation.
For the steering wheel controls, one can program the buttons for a single tap and also a second function for a long hold. My wife normally drives the 2008. She isn't into gadgets so I wanted to keep things simple. Siri, and volume controls would be her primary uses so I remapped Mode, both short and long push, to be Siri (voice). Sounds like your CRV had a Navi unit, so it probably has a dedicated Voice button already.
Another thing the Maestro provides is a simple connection for the radio to the car's e-brake and reverse sensing wires. I had Crutchfield do the harness wiring. The brake and reverse wires were already connected in the harness...no need to track them down in the car.
However, although the e-brake wire was already connected, I found the radio to be kind of flakey when I wanted to enter the settings. There seemed to be some combination of the ignition had to be on, not just in acc, and the e-brake pedal had to be engaged multiple times. I found a number of references to it being a known bug with the radio. I had very good luck with the "MicroBypass for Alpine" switch, to bypass the need for an e-brake connection, with the install in my 2005 CRV, so I added one in my 2008.
When I bought my EX-L, I didn't opt for the Navi unit so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I am impressed with the Alpine HCE-C1100 camera. Color and clarity appear great and it's low light performance is excellent. I mounted it using Alpine's license plate mount, the KTX-C10LP. It blocks the stock license plate light, but the Alpine unit has its own lights.
Speaking of the license plate light, that's where I went in with the wiring for the camera and new plate lights. I drilled a hole in the old light lens. There is an indented area in the trunk lid under the license plate where the wiring could go. It would have provided a cleaner appearance, but I was reluctant to drill a hole through the bodywork.
Although the iLX-107's USB port can't be used for playing music from a thumb drive, you'll still need access for firmware updates and also if you want to install a custom boot screen.
I considered putting the USB port in a number of places. One possibility was in the little nook at the bottom of the main console. Another was in the inclosed space in the center console. Probably the simplest and easiest location was the main glove box...straight shot and lots of open spaces just to drop a cable in.
In the end, I mounted mine in the CRV's little secondary glovebox. I put it flush in the back of the access door. To do that was a bunch of work. It would have been much easier to just notch a side of the door and run the cable in there.
Crutchfield recommended the trim kit, American International HON-K817. I had read good reviews of the Scosche HA 1559B kit so I tried it too. Although the Scosche was better constructed, I ended up using the American International mostly because of the trim's texture. It was a bit rougher and more matte than the Scosche. The Scosche was kinda shiny and looked a bit more "plasticy".
Actually both looked fine. The texture of the console pieces in the CRV don't exactly match. The AI trim more closely matched the texture of the A/C panel, the Scosche was a better match for the upper vent panel. I used the original metal mounting brackets, but the plastic brackets in the kits looked to be of more than sufficient strength to hold the lightweight iLX-107 in place.
I'd be interested to know how your installers handled the camera, mic and USB port installations.
Best of luck with the project.
AI trim on left, Scosche on right.
![IMG_2208.jpg]( "IMG_2208.jpg")
AI next to A/C panel
![IMG_2209.jpg]( "IMG_2209.jpg")
Scosche
![IMG_2211.jpg]( "IMG_2211.jpg")
AI trim installed.
![IMG_2242.jpg]( "IMG_2242.jpg")
Looks like only the Alpine ILX-107 model supports wireless CarPlay@ (Edited / corrected model number after reading @ColoArtist note below) . Having to plug in a cable in 2018 to use Apple CarPlay seems barbaric!
