awbooth

I have a 2013 ML350. I was reaching out to see if anyone has added apple car play to their vehicles. I watched some youtube videos on "wired" and "wireless" options but I wanted to hear from someone who really understands the system.
It looks like from what I see if you go with the wireless option you need to manually change your "AUDIO" option on the command control option to "AUX" everytime you want to connect your iphone to the car which is awful technology.
The "wired" option looks as though there is a usb adapter you need to plug your iphone into so the command star trek control recognizes the phone...
Can anyone educate me on whether or not it's worth adding this uchip box technology to "tap" into Mercedes Benz's computer/audio technology?
My research shows these devices range from $300-$400 which includes wire harnesses, unichip box etc.
Thank you very much for any information you guys can provide.
Anthony

dacather

I have a 2012 ML350 BT and bought the version from Car Solutions. Installation was pretty straight forward and the unit fit below the climate control unit. I haven’t had the time yet, but all of the cords can be hidden into the center arm rest for a seamless installation.

It has a few quirks- command needs to be in AUX input for sound (the box has a 1/8“ plug that gets plugged into the command AUX input), for CarPlay you need to turn Bluetooth on your phone “off” before connecting usb otherwise there’s no sound, for Android Auto I need to keep my phone in the open compartment on the center arm rest or I loose GPS signal (happens even if I put it in the cup holder), for Android Auto I haven’t found a way to “pan” while using google maps, google assistant never seems to get whatever I want it to do right (that may be more an Android Auto in general issue though). There’s probably some other quirks too that I’m not thinking of; I have Android and my wife has an iPhone, so I haven’t used CarPlay nearly as much.

I think right now Car Solutions has it for $250 and I wouldn’t hesitate at all to buy it again, even with the quirks. If you have specific questions, let me know.

dvakata

another option I have seen is to install AppleTv box and use mirroring option for apps

awbooth

What is apple tv box?

awbooth

I saw the same info on having to change settings every time you want to link your phone to the car. I was hoping to find a system where I plug in my phone to a usb to not only charge it but ink it to "command" to enjoy google maps which blows away the pain in the neck gps from mercedes...

MBUser901

Hello all - I’m new member here but looking for some help. I purchased one of the Mercedes Benz NTG4.5 / NTG4.7 2012-2015 Wireless Carplay Airplay Decoder for my ML350 bluetec (2012 model) to be able to use CarPlay on the car. It is quite similar to the Roadtop systems (mine was this https://www.ebay.com/itm/385238516660) and I followed the instructions from one of the Youtube videos on installation. Connecting the main harness wires (including moving the fiber optic audio cable into the new unit’s main harness) and threading the unit into the HVAC area was relatively easy but I cannot figure out why audio is not outputting once the unit is connected.

I’ve tried:

1. reseating the main harness in the MB unit to make sure its a correct seal and re-inserting the fiber optic cable multiple times
2. Make sure the audio source is set to AUX
3. Gone into the engineering mode menu to enable MOST ON & EXTERNAL AMP in 7.5 and AUDIO AUX ON in 7.7…then let the car sit locked for over an hour
4. Make sure no mute buttons are on
5. Deleted all prior bluetooth devices in the mercedes OEM interface
6. Unplugged anything from the arm center box

I’m confused because no audio is working at all with the new Carplay Unit installed, but when I go back to the OEM headunit then audio works again. The instructions that came with my unit made no mention of changing anything in the engineering mode menu FWIW. Could it be a faulty unit or more likely just a setting in my 2012 MB that I haven’t set right with the audio (I also see mentions of OBD AUX activation, is this potentially the issue?).

C280 Sport

Not telling you what to do but I would advise against all of the aftermarket knock off stuff. It works at first and then fails. Best thing to do is keep it OEM. I had a unit like this on my CLK and couldn’t take the quirks anymore.

MBUser901

I would really like to have carplay in my 10+ year old vehicle though. If it stops working in future I don't mind reverting back to OEM but I would like to get it working right now before I return the device.

I returned the entire car to OEM to trouble shoot if the AUX input in my arm center console (through the MMI port) even works and I cannot get that to work even with OEM. Does anyone know what could be causing just the simple AUX port to not work at OEM? I have one of those MMI to 30pin ipod + aux connector adapters plugged in.

puterdoctor

From what was said in the previous post, you MUST turn off Bluetooth in order to get audio to come through.