[oVeRdOsE.]

yeah I figured out by purchasing one.

Pros :
- wireless connectivity
- cheap
- fast
- easy to use, great integration with the OEM knob control
- does what you can expect from android auto / carplay
- make the car more modern.
- volume and track skip steering buttons works

Cons :
- eat the phone battery (phone is hot !) ; 18%/h on a S23 Ultra (big battery)
- very limited ! not much app compatible with android auto and the hacks are very weak
- for a N54/N55 forget about monitoring your engine with something like jb4/mhd
- no GPS sound when on the FM radio since you're out of the AUX
- MMI box module got priority , means on every car ignition ON , the MMI popout even if you shut down the car with the OEM CIC display. Very annoying when you're multiple driver and few are occasional so no phone linked.


IMO a good full android screen is better, this is what I have on my audi and I only automatically share the phone hotspot, and I have full android experience , full apps and full mod/hack availability. Does not kill the battery.

I really might change it next spring.

[excrucio]

Any latest experience with aliexpress chinese android upgrades for cic?

[Pap-]

Originally Posted by gaze2

I have the road top that is a screen replacement, not a box that overrides the OEM screen.
It has wireless android auto, so I guess wireless carplay as well. Its the 1920x720 screen one, its overall pretty good for the price, has some glare issues, and to me the audio sounds good (connected to aux).
The only issue is when I cant really connect to the idrive module with ISTA+ now.

With the touch screen CarPlay, I understand its wireless to connect with your phone but does the audio also run through bluetooth or does it still use aux.

[ctuna]

Last I checked every Carplay or Android system except Mr12volt uses the Aux to connect there device into the OEM system .
The first page of the thread discusses this . There are many more like it.

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by ctuna

Last I checked every Carplay or Android system except Mr12volt uses the Aux to connect there device into the OEM system .
The first page of the thread discusses this . There are many more like it.

- aux (most of the unit)
- most (mr12volt)
- bluetooth with the compatible combox (most cheap unit can use this)

[moz335d]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

- aux (most of the unit)
- most (mr12volt)
- bluetooth with the compatible combox (most cheap unit can use this)

This is correct, but actually any unit can still stream audio via Combox.

The Android HU can ultimately act as just a fancy Carplay remote, all audio streaming is phone -> combox -> DSP

Mr12volt was the most "one and done" solution though, and the audio quality was great, but you pay for it. I've bought 3 generic android headunits and setup this way and I'm still under the cost of a Mr12volt lol.

Wish I still had it, I could have done a comparison between combox and Mr12volt.

There is only one annoyance with the combox override setup, you have to change the BT source from "localhost (android HU) / carplay" to your Combox when you start the car, I now do this out of habit when I put my phone down in the forward cradle while letting my car idle up for a few seconds. But it would be nice to set "default" or block it from switching to the carplay once it boots up.

Also, coding AUX to go via quadlock instead of AUX port in console makes a big difference.

[POBEP]

I got mr12volt for my E90 - was not sure about investment at first.

After running it for 5 minutes I bought 2 more - for E91 & E70.

Audio is CD quality, final result directly depends on the sound system itself, in my case
* 2011 E90 (base) - ok-ish
* 2009 E91 (hifi) - great
* 2013 E70 (hifi) - awesome

Notably, on E70 (only) mr12volt auto-coded (full magic):
* added CD changer VO option
* removed voice command VO option

There is no touch control, but Siri does the (nav) commands just fine

Last week I added trunk backup camera for E90 - seamless integration

[e92kd20jp]

Hi all, E92 320i 2010 (CIC) + AUTOABC MMI: CarPlay connects, audio plays, and iDrive/steering controls work, but long-press MENU shows a red “No Signal” screen (no MMI video). Tried many DIP settings and swapped LVDS IN/OUT on the MMI—no change. No HDMI output on this unit. Any known CIC DIP/resolution or factory reset/recovery steps that fix “No Signal” when audio/control works?

[oVeRdOsE.]

Originally Posted by moz335d

This is correct, but actually any unit can still stream audio via Combox.

The Android HU can ultimately act as just a fancy Carplay remote, all audio streaming is phone -> combox -> DSP

Mr12volt was the most "one and done" solution though, and the audio quality was great, but you pay for it. I've bought 3 generic android headunits and setup this way and I'm still under the cost of a Mr12volt lol.

Wish I still had it, I could have done a comparison between combox and Mr12volt.

There is only one annoyance with the combox override setup, you have to change the BT source from "localhost (android HU) / carplay" to your Combox when you start the car, I now do this out of habit when I put my phone down in the forward cradle while letting my car idle up for a few seconds. But it would be nice to set "default" or block it from switching to the carplay once it boots up.

Also, coding AUX to go via quadlock instead of AUX port in console makes a big difference.

the MMI box does not stream to the combox.

at least not mine.

the phone stream audio to the combox and the phone stream video to the MMI box.

[moz335d]

Originally Posted by oVeRdOsE.

the MMI box does not stream to the combox.

at least not mine.

the phone stream audio to the combox and the phone stream video to the MMI box.

Sorry reading my original post what I meant to say is that you can stream audio directly to the combox from your device.

I was looking into connecting the headunit / Mr12volt via BT or USB to the combox but that did not work, could not get the right BT protocol or USB MTP to work either.

the Mr12volt system that splices into the fibre optic network (MOST bus) emulates a CD changer so the audio goes Phone -> Mr12volt -> Amp/DSP/etc.

What I'm saying is that in any setup, if your car has a combox you can bypass everything else by setting your audio output device to the combox instead of the Android HU / Mr12volt or whatever else you are using.

[oVeRdOsE.]

yeah, so to summarize audio bluetooth options :

- phone BT-transmisison> Mr12volts BT-receiver > BMW MOST (cd changer input)

- Phone BT-transmission > MMI box/ full android unit BT-receiver > BMW AUX

- Phone BT-transmission > BMW Bn2000 Combox A2DP BT-receiver > (MMI or any other device work independently for video output)


and like you said I dont think this option is feasible :

- Phone BT-transmission > MMI box/ full android unit BT-receiver > BMW BN2000 Combox BT-reciver

I dont see the benefit on andriod auto/car play since the phone already manage all audio.

The only benefit would be on a full android device, so it can be a true stand alone device and dont drain your phone battery like crazy. Maybe Xtrons can do this option, and if they do, I might really change to xtrons ! android auto suck, too limited and drain the fck the phone battery.

Ive a full android xtrons in my audi, using the high quality car audio input, and it's awesome !

[richardtwo]

I installed the Roadtop version on my 2018 430i convertible. and after several problems I finally got everything working.
I am truly enjoying having a touchscreen.
I still have two issues though. First, the factory preset buttons do not function when the screen is in the Carplay mode, but do when in OEM mode.
Second is that I have to set the media to iPhone to hear texts, and to silence things when I want to orally input a destination.
Do others have these issues, and is there a fix for them.

[Bernas68]

Originally Posted by e92kd20jp

Hi all, E92 320i 2010 (CIC) + AUTOABC MMI: CarPlay connects, audio plays, and iDrive/steering controls work, but long-press MENU shows a red “No Signal” screen (no MMI video). Tried many DIP settings and swapped LVDS IN/OUT on the MMI—no change. No HDMI output on this unit. Any known CIC DIP/resolution or factory reset/recovery steps that fix “No Signal” when audio/control works?

Hi,
Did you get the manual inside the box or download it from the AutoABC shop page?
Did you connect the right LVDS cables in?
I have an MMI that is very similar to AutoABC and used the following settings: all pins up (off) and it all worked like a charm first time around.

If I'm not mistaken I do believe there is some kind of reset button/hole in the back or near the antenna (in the front) side of the box.

Best of luck!