Just bought Integrated Automotive Apple Car Play unit - next to fit it!

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

Connoisseur

Active Member
SUPPORTER
Joined
Feb 24, 2021
Messages
428
Location
Yorkshire
Car
A205 C200 Cab; Porsche Macan; BMW i3s
So after much procrastination have just ordered the Integrated Automotive Apple Car Play/Android Auto unit for my pre-facelift A205 C200 with Comand. Not the cheapest on offer but comes recommended and with support from IA who are a UK based supplier.


Will fit the unit myself and post pics and words as a How To in case it helps others on here, plus a report on how well it works. Will be using it to provide CarPlay wireless, I went for this unit also because of full integration with screen and wheel/console controls. Once fitted there is nothing to see and connection is automatic.

I bought the OBD adaptor (which brings up the required Aux option on the Comand unit) from Ali Baba. Worked perfectly and cost only £25 ish compared to £75 from Integrated Automotive👀

Fingers now firmly crossed as they say. Hope to have it all done with the next 10 days…
 
Looking forward to the install report, good luck! 👍
 
Look forward to your review as this is something i am looking into very soon
 
Good luck and may your god go with you.
 
5E6AB097-A25A-4EF5-9797-18A9EE25B068.jpeg

So all installed and tucked away neatly. The Integrated Automotive unit works perfectly and is v high quality, so all good. Well yes, but I will say that the job is imho a major one, certainly in the 205. Tight usable space with challenging cable runs and a lot of tricky dismantling and reassembly meant for a few days work to complete and test.

Worth it? Oh yes, esp because it is a dream to switch between the original MB Comand interface and Car Play. The level of integration is just top class, see pic below of the MB reverse and 360 camera display which clicks in soo smoothly.

The ‘how to’ provided by IA is so good that I’m not going to try and better it. What I will do is post tomorrow hints and tips for others as there are tweaks and more detail I can share which should make the instal go more smoothly.

Until then here’s a few more pictures of the completed job; the IA box sits behind the passenger side console 3CFD2A53-F31C-40D7-A714-F4D6077C4677.jpeg23D63217-351B-44C5-89D6-687AF84DEAC7.jpegcarpet as on the 205 space behind the head unit is not sufficient without major surgery. I fitted the unit microphone into the centre roof console in the space used by the original Comand mic. The mic lead run is all behind existing trim so virtually invisible - except for one hard to spot 2cm section😉….

6D9ADCC2-D561-4B96-8092-202150A6BA9F.jpeg
 
Jesus. Fairplay to you. I looked at doing something similar to my SLK. After seeing pictures of all the dashboard removed I decided against it.... I assume you have a fair bit of experience doing these things?
 
Jesus. Fairplay to you. I looked at doing something similar to my SLK. After seeing pictures of all the dashboard removed I decided against it.... I assume you have a fair bit of experience doing these things?
Thanks, no recent experience but did cut my teeth some years back dismantling various Lexus/BMW and other dashboards. The fear of starting the job will never go away he heh…
 
Brave. I might try doing a similar upgrade to my new car. CarPlay is such and amazing feature. Shame about the upgrade unit costs….
 
Hi, great write up and good effort doing it yourself. I’m about to pull the trigger on aftermarket CarPlay, I was looking at this unit from Comand.



Does your unit feed back via AUX? This seems to be the one drawback, meaning I’ll need to stream the radio via my phone if I want to take calls while using CarPlay.
 
Hi, great write up and good effort doing it yourself. I’m about to pull the trigger on aftermarket CarPlay, I was looking at this unit from Comand.



Does your unit feed back via AUX? This seems to be the one drawback, meaning I’ll need to stream the radio via my phone if I want to take calls while using CarPlay.
This unit uses the cars existing microphones. The CarPlay system will handle calls aswell so you dont need to switch anything.
 
This unit uses the cars existing microphones. The CarPlay system will handle calls aswell so you dont need to switch anything.

I was told that with aftermarket CarPlay and Android Auto systems the audio is fed back in via the AUX. This means you must be listening to AUX to hear the CarPlay system (including phone calls), so you must listen to sources from your phone and not the car (i.e digital radio from phone and not DAB).

What you’re saying is that’s not the case for the Integrated Automotive system, you can listen to the cars DAB radio and use CarPlay to take a call in parallel?
 
I was told that with aftermarket CarPlay and Android Auto systems the audio is fed back in via the AUX. This means you must be listening to AUX to hear the CarPlay system (including phone calls), so you must listen to sources from your phone and not the car (i.e digital radio from phone and not DAB).

What you’re saying is that’s not the case for the Integrated Automotive system, you can listen to the cars DAB radio and use CarPlay to take a call in parallel?
No. Im saying the system uses the cars microphones so you dont need to run a separate mic. The sound is routed into the system via AUX. But there was a question about using CarPlay and taking calls. The CarPlay system will handle phone calls so you do not need to switch out of CarPlay mode to make or receive a phone call.
 
So a few points which may help.

Yes the sound is routed via the Comand Aux channel so with CarPlay working the phone, radio and all audio sources delivered via CarPlay. My radio apps give me all the stations I need.

However if I want to use radio and other media sources from the original Comand system, and the Mercedes sat nav, then I literally hit the star button on the console and the Comand main screens are available for selection. If I get in my car without my phone, or with bluetooth off then the original Comand screen loads automatically with all features available. My phone is only available via CarPlay, but then that is the reason I did all this work, to have CarPlay, so am v happy. If I want full access to Comand, inc phone for a time, then all that is required is to re-pair my phone with MB Bluetooth and it is done👍

To follow a few more pics of the instal, with hints:

1. I did not remove entirely the centre console, the 12v plug wouldn’t come off and carried the led ambient lighting tube. There was enough length on the cable to put it to one side
2. Take care with removing the connectors under the console. The two feeding the controller are identical so v imp to replace in the same sockets they came from!
3. I used large plastic cable ties to help run the cables through tight spots. Less chance of damage as not metal and easy to tie on string to pull cables through. They really are the Dogs….

pics in the next post…..
 
86370F29-203C-4DF4-906C-5FA2482E7F51.jpegs

FB971EA8-2F82-42A9-8DF9-4256E2D46246.jpeg

CCA61F9B-70D5-4FD2-A4AD-018745113F93.jpeg

CF28B862-A729-4399-BFC5-A0EFBDE3FA53.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ted
Silly question but does it include a screen ? Im stuck with a small in-dash screen on my prefacelift S212 rather than a HUD
 
Silly question but does it include a screen ? Im stuck with a small in-dash screen on my prefacelift S212 rather than a HUD
Nope, no screen included..
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom