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I recently installed the 12.3" Android Carplay in my 2013 G Wagon. The manufacturer is DMP but there seem to be many retailers of this unit. I'm only using it for Carplay so I did not connect the Android extras (Small Speaker, 4G Antennae, Microphone, GPS). It took a few hours to install but it was not a big job. What a game changer and the system works very well.
Thanks for sharing. This is on my list of things to do. Couple of questions -
* Can you revert to stock mercedes NTG and can you please post a couple of pictures of that?
* Once you get in, start the truck and immediately throw it in reverse, how quickly does the stock reverse camera feed come up on the android screen?
* Is this a good installation guide video? Any differences from what they show here in your experience?
I don't have pics but you can revert to the NTG screen at the touch of a button. The rearview camera comes up as soon as you put the car in reverse.
The video you linked to is one of the best ones out there.
They missed two things for my installation. 1) After you remove the vent and the radio, there is an overall surround that needs to be removed to take out the AC controls that are part of the center console. This is required if you have to run AUX cable to the glovebox. And 2) Not documented in the video but the brackets that hold the stereo in place require a specific placement to reinstall the stereo. Its covered pretty well in this video at 9:30.
Finally getting around to this project! @skymast has been very helpful sharing installation tips. I have the same 12.3 DMP unit incoming and plan to install next week. Will update this thread.
Finally getting around to this project! @skymast has been very helpful sharing installation tips. I have the same 12.3 DMP unit incoming and plan to install next week. Will update this thread.
mind sharing the tips?
I was against this in my 2014 because I didn’t want to lose the factory interface or any functionality (Bluetooth call quality etc) but if we can retain those and not have Bluetooth connection errors like the DMP unit I had for my 2011; then I am in.
OP- any flaws or glitches with the unit thus far? Does it reliably connect to your phone?
Last edited by PeriodCorrect; Oct 9, 2024 at 02:11 PM.
You retain all of the factory functionality but I never see it because I boot straight to carplay but you can get there with the touch of a button. My sound and call quality are very good. Bluetooth connectivity is seamless.
In terms of glitches, there really haven't been that many. I don't recall what they were at this point but they were solved with fine-tuning the configuration of the unit. The installation and support videos on the DMP units are really good. It did take me a few days to get it just the way I wanted.
if I were doing this again, I would probably get the 10.25 screen. The 12" screen is massive.
You retain all of the factory functionality but I never see it because I boot straight to carplay but you can get there with the touch of a button. My sound and call quality are very good. Bluetooth connectivity is seamless.
In terms of glitches, there really haven't been that many. I don't recall what they were at this point but they were solved with fine-tuning the configuration of the unit. The installation and support videos on the DMP units are really good. It did take me a few days to get it just the way I wanted.
if I were doing this again, I would probably get the 10.25 screen. The 12" screen is massive.
That’s helpful, thank you. I’m going to order one now. Do you retain the factory phone call microphone? Can others hear you as well when making phone calls as before?
I use the OEM mic. I have not had any issues with people hearing me but this has been an issue for others, I think. There are multiple ways to adjust the mic from what I recall.
OK I installed this today. @skymast covered all of the tips accurately (such as leaving out speaker, mic and gps antenna and also the important step about how the stereo goes back in). Couple of extra observations from my experience:
I dropped a T25 bit deep into the abyss behind the stereo never to be found again. I sincerely hope it doesn't rattle around in there and make my life miserable. Be careful when you remove all the screws and do not use extensions or wobble joints and drop things like I did.
When you relocate the fiber optic cable from car's harness into the provided screen's intermediary harness, it can go in and click two ways. Only one of the ways is right. I found out when testing and getting no sound.
I had to go into settings on the android unit and change camera source to car's camera. There was another setting for changing display to high res, which I did. Other than these two, I did not have to change any settings on the android unit.
Routing the aux cable into center console took all of the time. Major pain in the ***. The issue for me boiled down to the USB cable provided with the screen (for using wired carplay/android auto and updating firmware of the unit via cable I believe) being about 4 inches too short to reach the center console. I tried multiple ways of routing the cable from the screen through the transmission tunnel into center console, but it was always too tight. After spending 3 hours and drilling perhaps 2 unnecessary holes in the interior panels (beneath the console and behind the stereo etc.), I gave up and left the USB in the transmission tunnel. I have to go back some day and add USB male to female extensions for both and tuck them into center console storage, but for wireless android auto/carplay it does not matter for now.
Aside from the frustrating install because I am not a car stereo guy, initial impressions are good. Screen is nice and big (OEM screen now looks comically small and dated) and modernizes the interior quite a bit. Touchscreen seems snappy. Getting to NTG is easy and all the OEM functionality seems to have been preserved.
I will test it in the days to come with both my phone and wife's phone (both pixels, but I want to see how it treats a 'preferred' phone and how well it auto connects etc.) and report back. More to come....
Last edited by xxaarraa; Oct 21, 2024 at 05:13 PM.
Good deal. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do. Regarding the multiple phone situation, we have it set to the 'Last connected device' If both phones are in the car or not the last phone, the device will prompt you to select a phone. There are some good settings you can pick as well. Most are covered in youtube videos.
Last edited by skymast; Oct 21, 2024 at 05:30 PM.
Reason: Clarification.
OK I have a couple hundred miles of seat time with the new head unit and have some impressions to share:
I found a good boot up sequence that works for me - I have it booting into the base operating system of the head unit (as opposed to booting into OS then automatically booting into android auto). It is fast and OEM reverse camera becomes available quickly. Once I set off on the drive, I hit a button to manually initiate android auto if needed.
Wireless android auto connection is stable on long drives (I had a Ford a few years ago where the wireless connection would frequently disconnect so that was a watch area for me)
I chose not to install the unit's dedicated GPS receiver so I find that if I put the phone inside the center console, it doesn't pickup the GPS signal. I am yet to work out a good place to place the phone out of sight and charging while also getting good GPS signal.
I am still tuning the mic gain setting - I did a test call while my wife was out driving it and thought her voice was a bit faint though background noise suppression was good. I am using the OEM mic.
Overall, I am very happy with the upgrade. Doesn't feel aftermarket and is as close to a factory upgrade as I could have imagined. They pre-install factory Mercedes logo on bootup and the dorky factory rotary knob and steering wheel controls are still fully functional.
Last edited by xxaarraa; Oct 28, 2024 at 11:07 AM.
OK, I now have over 3k miles of seat time with this head unit and have more thoughts to share for folks considering this -
Unit has been very reliable with bluetooth connecting (quite fast actually) and staying connected etc. I am yet to have a lost connection of any kind.
Given the head unit is basically its own android tablet, we have been able to successfully download music and videos directly onto it and play while on trips. I downloaded netflix and prime video and downloaded a bunch of shows within those apps and they all worked great.
The stock microphone is definitely not cutting it. Folks on the other end have complained about how faint our voice is. I gotta get back in there and install the external mic that they supplied with the unit. @skymast do you recall if the connection for the mic is at the screen end? I am hoping I can detach the screen only and not have to remove the entire center console again. Gotta figure out how to hide/tuck the mic wiring.
GPS antenna on phone works well, as long as phone is in the front of the truck. When I put my phone in the center console, it does not pick up any GPS signal. When I am wiring the microphone, I may also wire in the supplied external GPS antenna.
Other than 3 & 4 having to be redone, I am very happy with this setup. Bit of a no brainer really.
Last edited by xxaarraa; Nov 27, 2024 at 12:21 PM.
OK, I now have over 3k miles of seat time with this head unit and have more thoughts to share for folks considering this -
Unit has been very reliable with bluetooth connecting (quite fast actually) and staying connected etc. I am yet to have a lost connection of any kind.
Given the head unit is basically its own android tablet, we have been able to successfully download music and videos directly onto it and play while on trips. I downloaded netflix and prime video and downloaded a bunch of shows within those apps and they all worked great.
The stock microphone is definitely not cutting it. Folks on the other end have complained about how faint our voice is. I gotta get back in there and install the external mic that they supplied with the unit. @skymast do you recall if the connection for the mic is at the screen end? I am hoping I can detach the screen only and not have to remove the entire center console again. Gotta figure out how to hide/tuck the mic wiring.
GPS antenna on phone works well, as long as phone is in the front of the truck. When I put my phone in the center console, it does not pick up any GPS signal. When I am wiring the microphone, I may also wire in the supplied external GPS antenna.
Other than 3 & 4 having to be redone, I am very happy with this setup. Bit of a no brainer really.
Are you saying the stock mic from the car isn’t cutting it or the stock screen mic? I bought this unit and haven’t installed it bc I NEED carphone to function properly for my work calls. The stock g550 mic is plenty capable and people hear me just fine. I can’t risk losing that.
Can you use the stock OEM mic or no? If not, when do you plan on mounting the external? I hope it works but I’ve heard those never are very good due to the limited areas you can mount them and the fact that they pick up a ton of road / wind noise
Are you saying the stock mic from the car isn’t cutting it or the stock screen mic? I bought this unit and haven’t installed it bc I NEED carphone to function properly for my work calls. The stock g550 mic is plenty capable and people hear me just fine. I can’t risk losing that.
Can you use the stock OEM mic or no? If not, when do you plan on mounting the external? I hope it works but I’ve heard those never are very good due to the limited areas you can mount them and the fact that they pick up a ton of road / wind noise
I did not install the supplied mic. I am assuming it's now using the stock mic of the car or some sort of built in screen mic. Yes, it's not cutting it.
I'm going to mount the supplied mic near the same location as the stock mic (by the rear view mirror). I don't think stock mic on these cars is Omni, so as long as you mount the supplied mic in the same location in theory it should be the same quality as stock? I'll report back.
Last edited by xxaarraa; Nov 27, 2024 at 03:40 PM.
As mentioned, the stock mic is working well enough for me. I will be curious to hear how the external mic works for you.
In terms of downloading / watching Netflix, etc. can you share how you do that? Thank you.
Boot up the unit, connect it to your home wifi - swipe down from the top, then hit wifi icon and then connect to your network with the password. Once connected, go into apps icon on the main screen and it will take you to google playstore. Download netflix/prime/disney or whatever app of your choosing. Then launch the app and download shows. The harddrive is 128gigs so plenty of room for entire seasons as long as you delete after watching.
Keep in mind that when you connect to carplay (when moving), it will disconnect from your home wifi.
xxaarraa really appreciate your write up and detailed review. Wanted to follow up to check if you added the mic or found a way to optimize the OEM mic? I've read elsewhere people are high on the linux operating system due to mic handling improvements but not certain on the details. DMP system seems to have more users and therefore more troubleshooting resources.
Separately, are you able to stream apps like YouTube, YouTube TV/DirectTV etc? Presumably would need to mirror your phone to screen or turn phone hotspot on to utilize the apps. Have you tried either?
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