e55phil

My daily driver is a 2015 S550. I Had to change my brakes for the first time at my 90,000 service. My service advisor was impressed that my brakes lasted 90,000 miles.
Mercedes of Manhattan lent me a 2020 S560 and I used Apple CarPlay and loved it.

Living in Manhattan I walk to work and only use the car to drive on the weekends to visit my 102 year old mother and I just haven't gotten around to buying a new car because I haven't felt like I needed one. Now I want to wait until the 223 has been out for a year. Still I'd love to have CarPlay.

I read on this forum about the Joyeauto Apple car play module. I communicated with the company and a fellow named Barron (barron AT joyeauto.com) helped my buy and answer all my questions. He could not of been more professional.

Apparently you can switch back and forth between Comand and CarPlay. The only drawback is it doesn't use the Mercedes microphone and you have to install a different microphone and I can imagine it's as good but time will tell.gave me great customer service and answered all of my questions.

The company also sold me a toolkit and I'm going to try to install the system myself.

I don't think I can get together to do a video but I'll try anyway I'll give everyone a report about when I received the module, how difficult it is for me to install it and how it works.

Wish me luck

DABRONX

The big pedal stops the car just in case you needed to know. Only kidding, thats crazy I only got 30k and that was all highway. Im curious do you use distant control?

e55phil

I drive on the interstate and use cruse most of the time. The cruse slows the car if the car in front slows but I mostly pass when the car in front is slower. I go 70 and average 26 MPG

fatherhood

How did the install work for you? I'm considering buying a 2015 W222 and this is one of the first upgrades I'll be looking into. Unfortunately, I have an Android phone and I think it only does screen mirroring. Not sure if that's worth $400.

e55phil

I really have to write my report on this.

Here's my preliminary report. I haven't had a chance to upload the videos but it took about two hours to take apart the center console, pull out the ashtray and the radio and connect everything.

At first it didn't work because I didn't properly set the dip switch settings.

There is a wireless option I'm not sure how to turn on and off but it does the job.

There are little quirks that you have to get used to but this device is a net plus and I'm glad I have it.

I have found that I need to get in the car and start the car and after the car is running and the navigation screen has gone through its cycle I then connect the phone via a USB cable. I haven't had luck plugging it in before the car starts.

My car has two USB ports in the center console that correspond to the two media ports that you see in the Comand menu. In order for the system to work completely you have to have pressed the media port in the Comand menu and make sure that the media port you select corresponds to the USB port in the center console. I use media port two and therefore I use USB port two.

If you press and hold down the back arrow on the center console, long press, then you'll see Apple play on the screen.

You can listen to the radio or satellite radio and also use Google maps or other apps but you can not answer the phone if you're listening to the radio or satellite radio using the Mercedes option. So if the phone rings and you want to answer using the app you have to press and hold the back arrow to go back to the Mercedes window, then press the media button and then press and hold the back arrow.

If it sounds a little bit complicated it is but once you get the hang of it it works.

The best thing about it is if you're all set up to use the app,( if you pressed the "Media Button" and you're not listening to the radio or using the Mercedes navigation, .... If you are completely connected using the Joyeauto app then you can short press the telephone button in the center console and in the case of Apple Siri comes up. You can send the text, hear a incoming text ir ask Siri to call somebody.

The main reason I bought this is so I can send and receive texts without taking my eyes off the road and make calls without taking my eyes off the road.

I'm glad I bought it it's well worth the money even if it's a little tricky to connect. I recommend you go for it if you buy the 2015.

Nash1

Hi Phil - That you for the detailed feedback. Definitely helpful. Now that you had the joyeauto module for sometime, What do you think about it? Where did you install the Microphone? Can people hear you clear when you are on a phone call or do you suggest getting a high-quality noise cancelling microphone? Does your vehicle have rear entertainment? and lastely, Can you email the videos to me if it's not much work? My kit is on the way, and I appreciate the help.

e55phil

I installed the mike at the top of the a pillar. The microphone seems to be fine when I first installed it I asked people if they could hear me okay and they could. I don't have any backseat entertainment.

Here is a link to a you tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3rt...ature=youtu.be

He put his Mike in the ashtray. I don't smoke but that didn't seem like a good idea to me that's why I mounted the microphone where the a pillar meets the roof.

If you PM me Give me a phone number I'll call you and walk you through the process

if you're anywhere near Barwick Pennsylvania then Matt at J and M can help you

Also I made another long post on this here:

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...-play-kit.html You might check it out

thanks

phil

Nash1

Thank you Phil! Unfortunately I'm in Michigan, but will take you up on the offer for help over the phone if I have any question when I get my unit and start installing it. I actually spoke to the service manager at the dealership (I've have been their customers for 20+ years) and he's willing to have one of his techs help (I'm sure he will charge me for this). However, I'm debating about getting his help or doing it myself... Thank you for the link to the video.

steinjr

This is an interesting solution. How is the video and sound quality? Iv'e seen modules like this that work, but the sound and video are lacking.

e55phil

I’m not an audio file but the sound to me is fine. Also the image quality is fine. For me this is about business as a business person it’s safer to make calls and send texts and see Google maps and all that in my opinion is the same quality as any other Apple CarPlay Product

Nash1

Hey Guys - Yes it works! Yes I recommend it!

So after I saw all the threads on Joyeauto Carplay, I contacted Joyeauto and Spoke to Barron. He provided me great customer service so I went on their site and ordered it directly from them. I received my unit yesterday (took less than a week) and installed it last evening. I NEVER did anything on any of my cars before, and was going to take it to the dealer to get it installed, but then I had a change of heart and decided to install it myself. Watched a lot of videos on it and read many comments from people who tried it, so I thought I'm ready for it. I want to thank @e55phil for his help with his posts and responding to my messages above about his experience.
The difference between what I saw in all videos and what I had to do is that my car has a rear entertainment system. That meat I had to take out much more stuff from the back (DVD player + few more connections), also an additional cable under the central console that needed to be disconnected to be able to lift up the console.
I think the biggest challenge I had was taking out the connections, where the lock on each one was not really clear to someone like me who never did it before.
Here are some comments that other may benefit from:
* After I connected the Joyeauto module and did all the connections in the front, I wanted to try it before I install the stuff in the back entertainment. The car was giving me a message key not found and the screen won't come up. This was no longer a problem after I connected everything in the back
* When it started afterwards, I got a full white screen. I contacted Barron and he asked me to look at the dip switches. Dip switch 8 needed to be on. Of course, this meant that I has to take everything out again to get to the unit.
Total time spent about 3.5 hours including breaks). I have NOT tried wireless yet. but for the wired mode everything works as expected from Carplay unit perspective. Two things I noticed though, there is some distortion in the last few pixels on the right of the screen. The camera resolution is not as good as it used to be before, but still okay.

Good luck to the rest of you who would like to try it!

e55phil

I wrote to Barron to offer instructions on the switch settings. I made another post about this and the install. If you are new buyer and going to buy I suggest you read that post also


https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...-play-kit.html

S_W222

Hey All, please make sure to use this promo code that i found to get a discount (it works for unlimited number of times, so everyone can use it):
Promo Code: merc222
Link: https://www.joyeauto.com/product/mer...lay-interface/

Nash1

Hey Guys - Is any of you who installed Joyeauto module having an issue with the navigation? 50% of the time it freezes on me of there is a day and won't tell me location until I'm passed it. Can you share your experience/advice please?

e55phil

I suggest it might be your phone connection. How many bars do you have?

Nash1

I tried in multiple locations with high connectivity and low ones. It's constant

I have two more cars with OEM carplay, and no issues what so ever

e55phil

I think someone might've asked me what I thought about the wireless option. I experimented with it today and here's what I found so far:

I started out by listening to satellite radio station using my comand built-in to the Mercedes. Then I long pressed the back button to take me to the car play. However when I long pressed I lost my radio station. That doesn't happen when I plug in.

e55phil

Are you using wireless or wired? I find that the wired works better.I would ask Brandon at Joyeauto. he will help you also

Nash1

I tried both options. Same results. I tried multiple phone and getting the same result. I only have Barron's whatsApp. Do you happen to have Brandon's? Did you have to do a firmware update?

e55phil

I always worked with him through email. I've never spoken to him.

phatisfy

Does anyone here have instruction on how to update the Joyeauto firmware? Like how to load the new firmware onto the unit? Thanks!