Hybrid Retrofit of Apple Carplay in 2009-2015 cars

Ok so further to my post above, I have installed one of the black box wireless unit in my 2011 A5 non MMI with concert radio and it mostly works well but I have 2 issues. So I am hoping someone can help with these please:

1: As above, the original mic will not be picked up by Android Auto so I can't control the unit via voice. The original mic works fine for phone calls though AA if dialed from the AA interface but I suspect this is because the phone routes the call to the car bluetooth). If I plug the supplied mic in then GA works but the phone quality is poor. I have tried Switch 8 up
and down.

2: The unit does not detect when the car is put in reverse so the rear camera screen does not show and 12v is not output on the yellow wire to turn the camera on. If I use “reverse line detect” and put +12v into the unit via the purple wire, the unit switches to camera view however this means that I will have to try and use the reverse light bulb feed to trigger the unit and turn the camera on but then I have the whole “canbus won't work with engine running” issue so not really an option either.

Does anyone have any suggestions on either of these please?

Many thanks Pete

Just to update anyone having the same issues, I have found work arounds for both of them.

1) I got round this but using the kit supplied mic as well as the original car mic, the car one handling calls and the kit one doing Google Assistant. I fitted the 2nd mic in the roof light unit in the same place as the original, just on the other side of the light. To get it to work I needed to set the unit dip switch 8 to be "no Bluetooth" (this gets the GA working from the 2nd aftermarket mic) but then in the carplay unit software setting I had to set the opposite, i.e to use car bluetooth, and that seems to tell AA there is no Bluetooth available to the phone but the phone itself sees the car Bluetooth so it works via that.

2) For the camera, I tapped into the reserve light feed. It didn't work connecting the camera directly to the reverse wire due to the CANBUS issue but using one of these £5 units 12v DC Power Relay CANBUS Car Rear View Backup Camera For VW Audi Skoda Vauxhall | eBay sorted that. I also used that feed to trigger the carplay unit via the purple wire.

All in all it is working well (wireless Android Auto) now and for the £140 it cost me I am very happy.

Hi

So I ordered one of the black box units and I’ve quickly fitted/ tested it and it all seems to work. CarPlay all works fine.

Just have this mic wire which needs to go somewhere but cannot figure out where, will it have to be wired up to the mic in the roof?




Also does this bar have to go anywhere specific in the car? I’m not sure what it’s for.




Thanks

Just to add, whilst fitting I have taken apart where my original mic is thinking it may plug in there but nothing looks like it will fit. In the new wiring look there were two loose wires which connect together but that means I’m still left with the extra wire with no where for it to plug. Even with those two cables plugged together Siri still doesn’t work.

Pic of the mic wire


And the now spare wire I haven’t been able to connect

Hi, I am using Android Auto rather than Carplay but I suspect it probably works the same. I am using calls though the original car bluetooth, that way it performs the same even when I am using the original radio and not the new unit. Does that still work for you? What didn't work for me was the voice assistant though the original mic and to get that work I needed to fit the supplied mic and lead you have in that picture. I fitted it into the roof light unit in the same location as the OEM one but on the passenger side of the light as there is an empty space there).I then ran that long wire down the A pillar and to the main wiring. I see you plugged the 2 mic looking wires together, that didn't work for me so I disconnected those and plugged the wire from the new mic in there if that makes sense. The last thing I needed to do was try the various options with the "bluetooth" dip switch and a setting in the carplay box software settings. What ended up working for me was setting the unit dip switch 8 to be "no Bluetooth" (this gets the GA working from the 2nd aftermarket mic) but then in the carplay unit software setting I had to set the opposite, i.e to use car bluetooth, and that seems to tell AA there is no Bluetooth available to the phone but the phone itself sees the car Bluetooth so it works via that. It is easy enough to try the 4 different combinations of these 2 settings and find what works best for you . So in my case all calls are handled though the original car bluetooth and mic and then the voice assistance stuff works though the 2nd new mic (in your picture)

Re the "bar" in your first pic, that is the Wifi aerial so can go anywhere really. I just cable tied it to the box itself.

Dip switch 8 on the box and the attached setting in the software, accessed from the "settings" menu on the carplay box before going into AA or Car play.