I’m trying to get help with this from Joyeauto. I’ll update you if they are about to resolve this issue for me.

Hi, I'm a lurker here, but I just want to throw in a huge 'THANK YOU!' to the OP and everyone else that's contributed here. I used the info to do my own installation into my 2015 E350, and I couldn't be happier.

Here's some breadcrumbs from my install that might be useful to anyone else thinking about it:

1. The thing I had the most trouble with was the far passenger-side vent assembly. I don't know if someone had been in there before, but it Would. Not. Budge. I eventually had to break the trim away from it(!) in order to reach the metal clips at the top and bottom of the vent housing that were holding it in. They were dug into the plastic and not at all operating the way they were meant to. (I was able to get everything back together with a minimum of fuss and a couple dabs of Gorilla Glue - but I'd be reluctant to ever open that trim piece up again).

2. For the cable and adapter block behind the HU, I found it easier to push down towards the center where the space behind the heating/cooling panel formed a kind of natural 'hole'. It wasn't easy, but took about four runs at it, each time pushing down from above a bit more and trying to gently guide everything into place before gently pushing - and yes, lightly shaking - the HU.

3. I wired up the included mic, but I found that using it for calls was non-optimal. The person on the other end of the line would hear an echo of their own voice about 2-3sec. delay. I contacted Joyeauto about this, and surprisingly they suggested just using the MB native bluetooth for the phone function. That works fine, more or less, but I'm going to keep the mic wired up for a while since I'm not sure if it's still useful for things like talking to Siri and entering addresses into Waze. I still mount my phone to the dash with a ProClip, so it might be okay to ignore the Joyeauto mic? Not sure. [ Suggestions on a good way to mount the mic head around or above the rearview mirror would be cool if anyone has a good idea. ]

4. I have some of the same concerns that others do regarding the power-on state when the car is off. I have noticed that the display will stay 'on' sometimes and I have to cycle the key to get it to turn off. I am a bit concerned about battery drain happening over longer term but so far haven't had a drained battery from overnight.

Otherwise the installation went smoothly, and it's made me so much happier with an already great car!

Cheers, and thanks again to OP and everyone else!

I’ve done some research and it appears that after you remove the key from the ignition and lock your car doors, the HU and joyauto unit powers off after a while. I’ve had my unit installed for over a week now, and haven’t had any battery issues. I’m going to test that hypothesis by locking my car and leaving the window half way down, so that I can push the HU power button after about 45 minutes to see if either unit still has power.

Has anyone installed the software update yet?

I installed the update today. I haven’t gotten screen mirroring to work yet. I’m sure I’m doing something wrong. On the other hand, apps now stay on the screen when you switch apps on your phone or use your phone.

No.

I’m in Europe for work and wont be home for a few days. I’m not sure if I want it or not as I have absolutely no desire for AirPlay and screen mirroring. (No, I’m not gonna watch movies while driving 75 MPH the interstate.)

But if there are also integrated updates to the base OS and CarPlay I’m interested.

FWIW, I watched the software update instructions video and noticed that they have one lock the car for five minutes.

Perhaps a clue for how long the unit remains powered before it shuts down?

So how are you all getting this software update information? The website for joyeauto.com has a password field for anything related to support. The password that's on the schematic insert with my product doesn't work.

The password is shown at the bottom of the video.

I had unusual event happen last night. I could not get my iphone to link up with the Joyeauto interface. It appeared both the wifi and BT were connected, but CarPlay would not work. Tried restarting the car and the phone. I eventually had to disconnect the power to the interface and restart it to get it to work. I'm not sure what happened.

If it happens again, disconnect both the BT and WiFi, the connect only the BT. Carplay should connect over WiFi from there.

Also, you can try rebooting the unit from the settings “smartphone” menu.

The only problem I have now is that sometimes, the control dial won’t rotate to more than two icons on occasion. To fix that, I just cycle to MB command, then back to the CarPlay. I think the issue might be a switch timing issue. I have asked Joyeauto to look into a fix for this.

Interesting. I installed the update and the app icons on the HU still disappear when I do something on the iphone.

I believe you need to update to iOS 13.1.

BTW. I got mirroring to work. Check out their Facebook page for the howto video. If you are going to be parked for an extended amount of time, it’s good for watching YouTube.

I just updated my phone to iOS13. No issues other than initially thinking Waze was Apple Maps...dough! I also haven't applied any Joyeauto FW updates since installation back in May, 2019.


New Apple Maps multi-app layout

Apple Maps Full view

Quote:
Originally Posted by cadetdrivr
Instructions

• Comand knob not responsive in CarPlay (It will not "rotate" more than two icons in CarPlay): return to Comand, rotate the dial, then return to CarPlay. I have had this happen more than once--- I don't know if it's because I'm using the beta for iOS 13 but this always clears it up and it does not reoccur on the same trip.

———

This is getting quite annoying. I’ve mentioned this to joyeauto and there is no fix yet. I can prevent it by turning off Bluetooth before I unlock the car. The turning Bluetooth on after the MB head unit has a chance to fully power on.

The problem is that the Joyeauto hardware makes the switch before the head unit can fully power on leaving the command knob controls in a weird state.

So I can’t seem to get help from Joyeauto with the control knob icon selection issue. Trying to get them to respond is futile. Half the time they don’t understand what you are trying to tell them. It feels like they know what the issue is and are just ignoring.

Here is their response after asking for help a numbers of time.

”Hi, So sorry for delay. We are on Chinese National Day holiday from October 1-7. Please contact with us after October 8. Sorry for the inconvenient, have a good day!”

I was about to purchase another from them but not anymore.

Just to say - that really is the whole nation. I work with China in my day job and it’s true - they are all gone this week, mostly urban workers returning to the country to visit family. I’m not suggesting you shouldn’t be angry with support. Just saying you would, on this topic anyway, get the exact same response from any Chinese competitor, more than likely.

I’d keep after them ... they really will be back on the 8th!

I have a 2015 E class (W212 E250) in the US. The joyeauto web site says I need the NTG 5. I think it's the 4.5/4.7. Does anyone know how I would find this out definitely?

/

Follow the instructions in post #2 of this thread to enter the Engineering Menu in Comand.

On screen 3.1 you'll see the version. For example, on mine it's (a) FL Ver. : BLD-NTG47 6.25.

I’ll keep at them. I was using a rental with factory carplay (WiFi) and noticed that the head unit gave the option for manually starting carplay from a CarPlay menu icon.

This is just opinion based on observation. I think this intermittent issue we are having with WiFi CarPlay not allowing the selection of more than two carplay icons without switching to HU then back to carplay, can be resolved by disabling the auto switching in the Joyeauto device.

Wen you open your car or turn on HU, the switch should remain connected to the HU, until you manually long press the C button once. On power off, it should switch back to the HU. At least this would allow the HU to fully power on and load its internal systems (like the command knob controls) before switching to carplay.

Joyeauto would need to give us that ability as a menu selectable option. That’s if the internal switch isn’t just a dumb switch that works when ever it detects a video signal.

Your thoughts and alternate ideas/solutions are welcomed.
Maybe we can all put our brains together so that we have a couple of suggestions or recommendations for Joyeauto for product improvement.

Based on my observations I was thinking that you were on the totally right track.

Then I applied the latest Joyeauto and iOS updates and the problem stopped appearing. Totally. After several uneventful experiences I was just about ready to celebrate. Just about.

But yesterday I had it happen about 20 mins into the drive after it worked fine at engine start when I selected the streaming radio station and set up the NAV. That was a new one.

Back to square one....

It's easy enough to "fix" when it happens but it's a huge nuisance because one only discovers it when trying to do something.

I had a similar experience after updating to iOS 13, but quickly discovered it was just a statistical anomaly. You are correct about it being a nuisance. It feels like I have to initiate some sort of multi step process before I can get carplay to work.

I just want to hop into me car, press a button once with out thinking about it or looking at the screen and go. It’s a huge hassle to me having to long press twice and take my eyes off the road to make sure the transition takes place.

I I had SSH access to android OS, I would try to fix it myself.

It seems like since I have updated to ios13, it takes 2-3 minutes for the iphone to connect via bluetooth. Anyone else having this issue? This morning I got in the car and the iphone would not connect via bluetooth, but was connected via wifi. I eventually had to unplug the joyeauto interface to get it to connect. Very disappointing.

I have never had it take that long to connect. I’m running iOS 13.1.2. Try deleting the Bluetooth, WiFi and carplay references in your iPhone and Joyeauto settings, then set it up again.

The only two issues i’m experiencing are the icon selection issue I detailed earlier, and audio out of sync when watching YouTube videos etc.

Joyeauto’s support response when I pressed them for a solution on the button selection issue was, “we need time”.

I would ask everyone to message them so that they understand that this is not an isolated issue and needs to be a priority.

Everyone, please let them know on WhatsApp @ +86 189 4870 6765

In addition to inittab's comment, note that the phone only connects momentarily via bluetooth. Once the initial bluetooth connection is made when you start the car, everything switches to wifi and the bluetooth connection is dropped.