Bovee and Carplay

[yeti]

What's state of play with fitting Apple Carplay to 2010/2011 cars now? I remember way-back-when it was a about £2k and at that price I am not interested. Just wondering if the service has come down? AI just gives random thoughts and old info.

My car (which I don't have in my possession yet hence asking) has Bluetooth and Premium audio; from that age/spec, would we know whether the connector is installed and am I looking at 30 pin or USB or a headphone type jack?

I happen to have a Bovee 1000 connector but no lead. In my RS4 it plugged directly into a fitted module, I assume I need a lead for this application so it's whether I buy one before collecting the car so it's ready to go..?

[yeti]

And it controlled with a little I-Drive style joystick..? Where does that get mounted where it's not either in the way or inaccessible..?

I'd be grateful if anyone could post a picture of theirs please.

[Minglar]

My AM MD emailed me last month offering to install Apple CarPlay using the existing OEM controls, so no after market joystick/controller etc. They didn’t quote the price though. James Hawkes-Reed at Aston Installations is worth contacting too. I’m not certain but I think they may be able to offer it using the OEM controls too nowadays. Aston Installations fitted mine three years ago but OEM control wasn’t an option then. The rotary controller/keypad was fitted inside a new fabricated ashtray, so out of sight. It works well for me and I’m still very happy with it. HTH a bit. BRM.

[Go60 Jay]

Yep, I believe Aston installations (great people) now offer OEM controls. Also, Aston Martin supply a plug and play kit for roughly £850, if you’re happy to fit it yourself. It’s not a difficult job. I would stress though, that it will need to latest software update or you may get connection issues.

John

[Dungman]

I’m more than happy with just the Bovee, and phone on a magnetic air vent mount. Not a fan of the Sat nav screen raised.

[TheBigHunt]

Bovee and horizontal 75$ carplay screen on my side in my V8V 2011. Super happy about the setup and not too bulky / invasive.

[V8VS]

Hi Yeti, great choice of cars there!!

Not a direct answer to your question, but I think that s covered by Minglar and Go60 Jay s posts.

There is another thread running currently titled ‘My IDCore Adventures’ with some useful information. That s the device Go60 Jay mentions is available via the dealers directly. It appears you can either hard wire it through the car using Bluetooth and AUX leads, or just plug it in the boot and use wireless if you ve got Bluetooth streaming already.

I m looking at the same solutions as you are, but am currently running a similar set up to Dungman.

Like you I had a Bovee / Tune2air device I ve taken out of the RS4 and simply connected to the existing iPod cable in the armrest cubby.

In the RS4 it was connected to the MMI port in the glovebox here:



In the AM this is the cable to check for (not sure if standard equipment or an option at the time (probably an option), but the cable seems to be integrated into the cubby. Or at least I ve not tried to yank it out for fear of breaking it.



So if you wanted to do something similar as an interim solution, you just need to check you ve got the cable in the armrest cubby.

Edited by V8VS on Thursday 23 April 20:30

[yeti]

Excellent responses everyone, thanks. Looks like phone mount and Bovee will work for now.

Where are we sticking the phone mounts? Suction to a flat surface (I have a piano black fascia so that would work) or an adhesive mounted solution?

[fizzwheel]

re phone mount

I just bought a cheapy one from Amazon that has a lip on it that inserts into the CD slot in the dashboard, its good enough and stable, but the downside is that it does obscure the view of the dash buttons when Im using it. ( which to be fair isnt that often )

[V8VS]

yeti said:

Excellent responses everyone, thanks. Looks like phone mount and Bovee will work for now.

Where are we sticking the phone mounts? Suction to a flat surface (I have a piano black fascia so that would work) or an adhesive mounted solution?

I have this for now. EBay special. Has to be said you have to request it to be made for RHD, not the reuse you d receive a LHD version I also had to dremel the slot a little to fit an iPhone 16 Pro in a case.

Edited by V8VS on Friday 24th April 12:24

[V8VS]

[Go60 Jay]

The previous owner had this. I think it’s called a quad lock.

John

[Minglar]

If anyone is interested this is a picture of the Aston Installations control pad in the new fabricated ashtray, which is a little deeper so the pad can fit inside and be hidden. Their original fitting placement of the pad was on top, in view, just ahead on the centre armrest. Obviously if they can now utilise the centre stack OEM controls then this is somewhat irrelevant, but I think their control pad feels more solid to use than the fragile AM OEM joystick. The light wasn’t great this morning when I took the picture, but you get the idea. Obviously if you want to use it you have to flip up the ashtray lid, but I don’t find that a real issue. The switch you can see between the 12V socket and the control pad is the toggle which switches everything between OEM and Apple CarPlay / Android Auto. The audio feeds through the AUX setting in the main display. I know some people moan about the quality of that but I’ve never found it to be unpleasant at all. Also worth noting that it’s advisable to delete the AM OEM phone pairing as it can get confused when receiving/making calls. I only connect to the Aston Installations unit now and it works perfectly. HTH a bit for anyone considering this sort of upgrade. They really are great people to deal with and their depth of knowledge on the electrical and infotainment systems of these cars is second to none. I am still a happy client, and have no agenda to promoting their business. BRM.

[Dungman]

Am I likely to be sacrificing audio quality with the bovee setup, and if so is there a better way to integrate the phone? I have a 2009 vantage with B&O Beosound audio

[xstaticx]

I’d be interested to know if the Bovee/Invery for the Audi MMI system actually works with our vehicles. I was under the impression that only the JLR firmware version would work?

[yeti]

Well that was easy! The extremely nice people at McGurk gave me a cable to fit my Bovee and I can confirm it all works like a charm.

I’ve got a basic stick on phone holder for Waze so sod playing over a grand for CarPlay!

[V8VS]

Pleased it worked out Yeti. What do you think of the car? Is today collection day and thus your first proper drive in the car? We’d probably all like to hear your thoughts if you’re planning on starting a thread, etc.

Separate note… Your username looked familiar. Were you on RS246 or SRS back in the day?

[yeti]

V8VS said:

Were you on RS246 or SRS back in the day?

I was on RS246 for a while yes! Had a lovely sprint blue cabrio but it got to a place where it needed about 8k worth of work to get it back to perfect (suspension and brakes) and that was well over half the value of the car. The specialist who serviced it bought it from me and did it up.

[yeti]

V8VS said:

Pleased it worked out Yeti. What do you think of the car?

Pleasingly different from the DB9 I had.

[V8VS]

yeti said:

V8VS said:

Were you on RS246 or SRS back in the day?

I was on RS246 for a while yes! Had a lovely sprint blue cabrio but it got to a place where it needed about 8k worth of work to get it back to perfect (suspension and brakes) and that was well over half the value of the car. The specialist who serviced it bought it from me and did it up.

I thought I recognised you! Small world. I have a few B5 RS4, B6 S4 (from Clive if you know him, he was very active over the years), several B7’s Avant and Saloon. Still have one of the saloons. I always quite liked the 2 door layout of the cab. Pleased yours went to continue living via the specialist.