Aftermarket Carplay options for 2010 E-Class (S212) with NTG4

[Londonscottish]

Very true. I'm not a fan of having all the car functions controlled by screens. But to their credit Apple have created something fairly safe with Carplay, with only limited apps/features available while you're driving and a fairly intuitive UI. I have no experience with Android Auto, but I assume it has the same ethos.

I presume it's pretty much identical in that you get a phone-like interface on the dash screen.

The only thing it's a bit poor at is the phone function; it's a bit rubbish for Android but I'm told it's good for Apple.

That doesn't bother me as I'm quite happy to drive along lost in my own thoughts. And calls can always wait.

 

[ChrisPDuck]

With the IA system, you drive everything via the Comand nudge wheel; it's a breeze. It allows you to toggle between a one app display, a two app display or the home menu page.

So you can have, for example, Google Maps taking 2/3 or the screen and, say Spotify taking up the rest. That way you can control your music whilst still following the navigation.

Want to switch to Audible? Podcasts? TalkSport? Easy; to clicks and you're back in the home screen.

Yes, it's just the same with the system I fitted to my W221.

It's just occurred to me that there's another feature lacking in my cheapo unit, and perhaps you can say whether the IA box improves on this. If I'm in Spotify, I have to use the on-screen buttons to skip forwards or backwards in the queue - the steering wheel buttons don't do that. The steering wheel volume buttons obviously work as intended because they're working on the amp output still, but skipping tracks can only be done via the on-screen buttons. Is this any different in the IA unit? Obviously I'm now going to try out voice commands for this feature the next time I'm in the car!

In my eyes, the Comand it came with is the only bit of tech that really dates the 212. Everything else on that car is just as good as anything much newer. Android Auto (it also does the Apple thing) sorts that problem really well.

This is exactly how I felt with the W221. In-car tech does seem to age quickly, and Carplay brings it bang up to date.

 

[Londonscottish]

Yes, it's just the same with the system I fitted to my W221.

It's just occurred to me that there's another feature lacking in my cheapo unit, and perhaps you can say whether the IA box improves on this. If I'm in Spotify, I have to use the on-screen buttons to skip forwards or backwards in the queue - the steering wheel buttons don't do that. The steering wheel volume buttons obviously work as intended because they're working on the amp output still, but skipping tracks can only be done via the on-screen buttons. Is this any different in the IA unit? Obviously I'm now going to try out voice commands for this feature the next time I'm in the car!


This is exactly how I felt with the W221. In-car tech does seem to age quickly, and Carplay brings it bang up to date.

Just tried it - no you can't skip using the buttons on the wheel.

Volume yes

 

[ChrisPDuck]

Thanks for checking.

I just tried voice control for skipping tracks - not because I doubted it would work, but because doing it deliberately while the car is on the drive might help to train my brain!

So I pressed the voice control button on the steering wheel and said 'skip track', and Bob's your uncle - none of this 'Hey Siri' nonsense! The voice button launches Siri. 'Previous track', 'Play', 'Pause', 'Use Spotify to play my Car Playlist' etc all work. So my hands stay on the steering wheel and my eyes on the road - much safer

 

[ChrisPDuck]

I've had a reply from one of the AliExpress sellers that I asked about whether the Carplay audio continues when switching to the COMAND screens, and it's quite promising. After a bit of toing and froing, he's saying that audio does NOT continue if switching via the return key, but it DOES continue if switching via the hang-up key.

On the MEKEDE unit in my W221, I use the TEL/NAVI key (long press) to switch between COMAND and Carplay, and the return key to switch between the various Carplay screens. Both keys are on the centre console. So of course I had to rush out to see if the hang-up key (on the steering wheel) did what I wanted, but alas no - it seems to function exactly as the TEL/NAVI key. Still, I didn't know that key worked at all, so that's a plus.

So I double checked with the AliExpress seller:
Me: "Can you confirm that your unit definitely allows me to use the hang-up key to access the car's original functions without losing the Carplay sound?"
Seller: "Yes it is our techs told us and confirmed"

Seems clear enough, and I'm fairly sure that we were on the same page, despite the language differences, so I'll likely risk buying the EKIY unit from here: EKIY Wireless CarPlay For Mercedes Benz NTG4.0 GLK W207 E Coupe W212 E Class W204 C Class SLS With Mirror Android Auto Functions - AliExpress

@Londonscottish - out of interest, what keys do you use on the IA unit? Incidentally, I'm assuming the car I'm buying has NTG4, just from its date and a photo of the dash which shows a PCMCIA slot. You said you thought yours is NTG2.5 - are they easy to distinguish? Am I right that NTG2.5 replaced the PCMCIA slot with an SD slot?

 

[Londonscottish]

I've had a reply from one of the AliExpress sellers that I asked about whether the Carplay audio continues when switching to the COMAND screens, and it's quite promising. After a bit of toing and froing, he's saying that audio does NOT continue if switching via the return key, but it DOES continue if switching via the hang-up key.

On the MEKEDE unit in my W221, I use the TEL/NAVI key (long press) to switch between COMAND and Carplay, and the return key to switch between the various Carplay screens. Both keys are on the centre console. So of course I had to rush out to see if the hang-up key (on the steering wheel) did what I wanted, but alas no - it seems to function exactly as the TEL/NAVI key. Still, I didn't know that key worked at all, so that's a plus.

So I double checked with the AliExpress seller:
Me: "Can you confirm that your unit definitely allows me to use the hang-up key to access the car's original functions without losing the Carplay sound?"
Seller: "Yes it is our techs told us and confirmed"

Seems clear enough, and I'm fairly sure that we were on the same page, despite the language differences, so I'll likely risk buying the EKIY unit from here: EKIY Wireless CarPlay For Mercedes Benz NTG4.0 GLK W207 E Coupe W212 E Class W204 C Class SLS With Mirror Android Auto Functions - AliExpress

@Londonscottish - out of interest, what keys do you use on the IA unit? Incidentally, I'm assuming the car I'm buying has NTG4, just from its date and a photo of the dash which shows a PCMCIA slot. You said you thought yours is NTG2.5 - are they easy to distinguish? Am I right that NTG2.5 replaced the PCMCIA slot with an SD slot?

I double checked and I was wrong - it's NTG4.

To switch screens I use "make a call" button on the steering wheel.

 

[ChrisPDuck]

I bought the unit I linked above: EKIY Wireless CarPlay For Mercedes Benz NTG4.0 GLK W207 E Coupe W212 E Class W204 C Class SLS With Mirror Android Auto Functions - AliExpress
I paid £145 including free delivery, although I see that it's now listed at £126. It arrived in exactly a week, and I've fitted it today. So far I'm very pleased.

Recall that I was looking for a unit that would keep the CarPlay sound playing when I switched to the COMAND screens, and I was advised that there were two ways of switching between the CarPlay screen and the COMAND screens on this unit: the return key would cut the sound, but the hang-up key would keep the sound playing.

Good news, bad news.

Bad news: that advice was wrong.
Good news: the sound keeps playing with either method!

As an added bonus the unit has some basic tone controls. Just a bass and treble slider, but they seem to reach further to the ends of the frequency range than the built-in COMAND tone controls - so the treble control reaches higher and the bass control reaches lower. I had already decided that the overall tonal balance of the H-K system in the E500 was more to my liking than the H-K system in the S600, so I didn't feel the need to do the same Audison upgrade, but this extra tone control in the Carplay unit improves it still further.

Overall I'm really pleased. I've yet to try it for any length of time, but will report back if anything changes. By the way, is there a way to make the COMAND system stay on for longer without the engine running? I feel like I've been turning the key off and back on again all morning while I've been setting this up!

 

[ChrisPDuck]

One issue that I've encountered: If I use the voice button on the steering wheel, it launches Siri and I can issue voice commands to Siri just as I can on the unit in my W221, but since my S212 also has Linguatronic, any voice command I issue is also passed to Linguatronic, where it is usually misinterpreted!

I'd prefer to just disable Linguatronic, because I can't see me using it at all now that I've got CarPlay. I've looked through the COMAND menus, as well as the Engineering Mode menus, and I can't see a way to disable Linguatronic. In the Linguatronic menu I can turn the help screen on/off, and I can handle customisations, but I can't see any option to turn it off completely. Does anyone know if this is possible on a 2010 W/S212?

 

[Ted]

Try pressing and holding the voice button for a couple of seconds to override the linguatronic and enable siri.
Or enable “hey siri”

 

[ChrisPDuck]

Try pressing and holding the voice button for a couple of seconds to override the linguatronic and enable siri.
Or enable “hey siri”

Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I can already say "Hey Siri", so I don't really need the voice button to work - it just would have been nice.

I tried the long press but couldn't get it to work - the Siri prompt timed out before Linguatronic.

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

As mentioned in another thread last week, I installed this Integrated Automotive IMI-1000 carplay kit.

Integrated Automotive carplay and android kit

Having used it continuously over a 3 day period for around 1000 miles of Google maps and Spotify, it has been a great experience both functionality and quality wise.

Although a couple of issues/faults I did find that bugged me were:
(a) When operating the climate controls the display didn't show at the bottom of the screen, meaning I wasn't sure what selection I had unless I dropped out of carplay, selected my choice of climate control, then back into carplay. This wasn't a show stopper, but would be so much easier/better if it showed at the bottom of the screen when paired with carplay.
(b) If my phone was connected with a charging cable when I first turn the ignition on, carplay would struggle to connect/pair. I would need to unplug the charging cable and then carplay would almost instantly pair via Bluetooth. I could then plug the charging cable in again and all would be good. Strange how the system prefers to connect via Bluetooth rather than a charging cable. Again, not a big deal, but I think I'll get intouch with their support team and ask if there this is something that can be done to rectify this.

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

I found a solution for (b)above with this Flush USB adapter and a 30cm charging cable. Now the phone sits on top of the cup holders and the tray closes.
The adapter is a really good, solid quality item and sits flush with the socket, allowing the little flap to close when the charging cable isn't plugged in.