2012 merc amg

I know starting in 2016 the E class went to apple car play but the S class not until 2018. So missed it by a year. I do really like apple car play in my 2019 E class wagon. Is it possible its there in my 2017 S550 but perhaps maybe just locked out and if so any way to unlock it. Anyone have any experience with this? I put an iPad in the car but am gonna take it out, not the same. I know there are conversion kits but these seem to require taking apart the center console and dash to get behind the head unit. It sure would be nice if there is just a OBD 2 adaptor or a SD card that can be inserted that changes the code. I know they have these for the VIM, but I really don't care for Video in motion as I think that could be distracting. At least the Apple Car play seems fairly safe. I dunno maybe I'm gonna end up having to take it someone to have the conversion done. I really would like to have Apple car play, but it was not worth the extra 25 grand it woulda cost me for a 2018 model. My car was 60K and a decent 2018 woulda been at least 85K or more. Got a great deal on the 2017 with only 16K miles on it which is unusually low for a three year old car. Maybe some of the reasons there are deals out there on the 2017 and below is because of no Apple Car Play, a lot of people want this option these days.

Wolfman

Some low-end MB models had the CarPlay lock but not the S-Class. There is no hidden CarPlay and you can't upgrade via OEM parts unless you want to pull half the electronics out. You can only have an aftermarket kit unfortunately...

Speednet

There are a number of threads here that describe how to add Carplay with a third-party add-on module. If it's an important feature for you, then it might be worth "risking" a third-party option like that.

LAWYER2

I'm in the same boat, for some reason I thought CarPlay could be 'unlocked' somehow. Oh well, streaming bluetooh audio isn't bad, I only use Pandora, but it would've been a Godsend to be able to use Waze navigation onscreen.

2012 merc amg

it’s a little scary. They all seem to be shipped directly from China. Can’t seem to find anything amazon sells. I guess I’ll see about getting my built in nav updated as it’s never been done even if I have to pay for it. Looks like I missed the free three year update cutoff by just a few months.

2012 merc amg

would be nice. Seems really strange mb did not have this on the S class till 2018. But I knew the car didn’t have it when I bought it last week. It was just too good a deal to pass up on. Very rare a mint condition 3 year old car with only 16k miles on it plus I like the larger 4.7 engine better than the 2018 up 4.0.

LAWYER2

So who's willing to try it first?? lol

mrmotoguzzi00

talk to your service rep on the map updates, they come out with $99. specials occasionally at my local dealer......

2012 merc amg

Ya. I night stop in there today and see what he says and maybe get on a list to wait for the 99 dollar special. I hear it takes about 3 hours to download so I’d be at the dealer a while.

On those Chinese car play mods. It’s a little scary to me. Plus the ones I’ve seen are shipped from China and take at least a month to get. I can’t find anything on amazon. I guess for now I’ll just forget about CarPlay. Strange in the header on that vehicle it says up to 2016. It should be 2017. 2017 was the same as 2016 as far as I know.

mrmotoguzzi00

There was 1 person here who tried but they didn't disconnect the battery and fried some stuff. so can't blame that on the Chinese hardware....