Easy Multimedia Upgrade
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
Easy Multimedia Upgrade
Hi all, wanted to share a quick and easy upgrade I did to my car over the quarantine which has really improved my driving experience.
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,511
Likes: 424
From: Florida
AMG C63s
Hi all, wanted to share a quick and easy upgrade I did to my car over the quarantine which has really improved my driving experience.
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
Wireless Charger
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
Wireless Charger
I assume you had the carplay as option in your car already or did you use an aftermarket carplay box?
Out Of Control!!
Joined: Nov 2018
Posts: 11,468
Likes: 5,356
From: San Francisco Bay Area
2019 C63CS
Hi all, wanted to share a quick and easy upgrade I did to my car over the quarantine which has really improved my driving experience.
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
Wireless Charger
I always stayed away from carplay over the past few years because I never liked how Apple made it so whatever is on the phone screen is essentially mirrored to the multimedia interface. But carplay has dramatically improved recently and I love how I can now have a split screen on my car showing both my directions as well as my music, all while I have my texts open on my phone.
So I used carplay for a few months and it was all great but I never found a good place to keep my phone while it was connected. If I left it in the cupholder it would eventually rattle, and I'd also have the cable getting in the way. If I left it on the passenger seat the cable would get caught on the passenger seatbelt. Being able to charge my phone while driving, however, is important to me.
I ended up buying a wireless carplay adapter and wireless charger (links below), and it has completely changed my driving experience. I just get in the car and go, I can leave my phone in my pocket or quickly place it on the wireless charger, which works great and may have even fixed my cupholder rattle. It takes about 10 seconds for the carplay connection to complete, but by the time I finish backing out of my driveway, its pretty much running.
Installation for all of this is less than 5 minutes. And both products are surprisingly reliable. Once every 10 drives the carplay adapter will fail, but all I need to do is quickly disconnect and reconnect the dongle in the conter console and it works perfectly again. It sets me back maybe 15 seconds. Well worth all the other benefits in my opinion.
Carplay Adapter
Wireless Charger
Last edited by superswiss; Jun 1, 2020 at 03:29 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
I have factory carplay, but there is a version of the adapter for aftermarket head units aswell.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
Looks like he has a 2019, so CarPlay is factory standard.
I've got the OEM wireless charger from the factory, so I'm covered on that front. I have looked into these wireless CarPlay adapters, but besides not connecting reliably every time, they also seem laggy. How responsive is it compared to the wired connection? Laggy response drives me nuts. My use of CarPlay is pretty much limited to when I deliberately wanna use Google Maps or Waze, so I only connect it when needed and the phones go where the built-in charger is or I remove the cup holders and place the phone in the resulting compartment. No rattling. I don't really want CarPlay to connect every time I get into the car. I supposed I could just pull the adapter when I'm not using it, but then it's not much more convenient than plugging in the phone, and its kinda pricey when only using occasionally.
I've got the OEM wireless charger from the factory, so I'm covered on that front. I have looked into these wireless CarPlay adapters, but besides not connecting reliably every time, they also seem laggy. How responsive is it compared to the wired connection? Laggy response drives me nuts. My use of CarPlay is pretty much limited to when I deliberately wanna use Google Maps or Waze, so I only connect it when needed and the phones go where the built-in charger is or I remove the cup holders and place the phone in the resulting compartment. No rattling. I don't really want CarPlay to connect every time I get into the car. I supposed I could just pull the adapter when I'm not using it, but then it's not much more convenient than plugging in the phone, and its kinda pricey when only using occasionally.
I also want to add, the adapter I linked seems to be the popular choice, and it receives software updates from the manufacturer (I've updated it twice) so it seems like it'll continue to get better or at the very least continue to work for a good amount of time.
Last edited by Encore818; Jun 1, 2020 at 03:43 PM.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
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Super Member
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 883
Likes: 72
From: Vancouver
2018 e63s edition 1
That charger is cool. Does the phone stay in place when ripping around? It looks like there is nothing to hold it in place other than the rubber looking strips it lays on? Also, do you have a link for where you found it at the cheaper price?
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2019
Posts: 1,511
Likes: 424
From: Florida
AMG C63s
As any wireless charger it just lays in there but the pocket is deep, angled and the rubber helps too to stay in place. Never had an issue. The one attached switches off by default when turning car off, i.e. next time you start the car you need to press the button to turn it on. I assume its a safety feature. My only complaint, its not a fast charger. But I use it everyday if for nothing else to have a good spot where to put the phone. Often my phone does not need charge and I dont bother for short trips to turn it on. Also, I have a iPhone X and still can close the door with the phone in place. I assume a much larger phone may not allow that though.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
Those rubber strips actually do a great job of holding the phone in place. I have an iphone 11 pro and the back of the phone is notoriously slippery. I was using my phone with no case for a while and it never moved an inch, even on a couple canyon runs I did recently.
There are many. I did order this one and works fine https://www.amazon.com/CarQiWireless.../dp/B081SX75V1
As any wireless charger it just lays in there but the pocket is deep, angled and the rubber helps too to stay in place. Never had an issue. The one attached switches off by default when turning car off, i.e. next time you start the car you need to press the button to turn it on. I assume its a safety feature. My only complaint, its not a fast charger. But I use it everyday if for nothing else to have a good spot where to put the phone. Often my phone does not need charge and I dont bother for short trips to turn it on. Also, I have a iPhone X and still can close the door with the phone in place. I assume a much larger phone may not allow that though.
As any wireless charger it just lays in there but the pocket is deep, angled and the rubber helps too to stay in place. Never had an issue. The one attached switches off by default when turning car off, i.e. next time you start the car you need to press the button to turn it on. I assume its a safety feature. My only complaint, its not a fast charger. But I use it everyday if for nothing else to have a good spot where to put the phone. Often my phone does not need charge and I dont bother for short trips to turn it on. Also, I have a iPhone X and still can close the door with the phone in place. I assume a much larger phone may not allow that though.
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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,218
Likes: 315
From: Pearland, Tx
2020 AMG GTC Coupe & 2018 Macan Turbo
I sent a message through their website (https://carplay2air.com/products/cpl...r-link-feature) asking if by any chance there was any issues with compatibility with a new 2020 C63 (S coupe in my case). I received a reply stating that AT THIS TIME their product is not compatible with the 2020 model. Now, if any of you have a FL 2020 and are using this, I'd like to know about it. Thanks.
BTW, they said they were working on it...
BTW, they said they were working on it...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2019
Posts: 272
Likes: 72
From: Los Angeles, CA
2019 C63S Coupe, 2020 G550
I sent a message through their website (https://carplay2air.com/products/cpl...r-link-feature) asking if by any chance there was any issues with compatibility with a new 2020 C63 (S coupe in my case). I received a reply stating that AT THIS TIME their product is not compatible with the 2020 model. Now, if any of you have a FL 2020 and are using this, I'd like to know about it. Thanks.
BTW, they said they were working on it...
BTW, they said they were working on it...
I have a feeling the person who replied just referred to their published compatibility list which states it works with Mercedes-Benz 2016-2019.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 1,218
Likes: 315
From: Pearland, Tx
2020 AMG GTC Coupe & 2018 Macan Turbo
You are entitled to your opinion. Based on what I was told by the company selling these that they don’t recommend buying them for a FL2020, I’ll believe them over a guess.
