artem123

My 2017 X5 had wireless carplay which worked like a champ without a single hiccup.

chuckNX

Good for you.

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1591959

artem123

LOL) The point i was making this tech has been available for a long time. 5 years in modern days tech is a century.
One thing I learned browsing bimmerpost is that people there whine about everything. Literally.
I shared my experience, i truly did not have a single issue with carplay in X5 and neither with the 2020 540 my wife drives.
Have a nice day))

toyotaman7

I had a Pioneer aftermarket Deck with integrated wireless Android auto and CarPlay. The system used both wired and wireless.

The wireless worked without any issues. I had it for at least 2 year and it was really good.

TLSLLC

Hi all, I bought my 2018 RX450H F-Sport in June 2021 and loved the car except for the lack of Apple CarPlay / Android auto. I almost bought a new 2021 RX for the updated infotainment but they didn’t have an F-Sport in stock and wouldn’t negotiate off of MSRP which made me say forget it. Bought the 2018 with 15k miles on it for $48k (new was over $63k) and found Nifty City after some limited searching. Bought the module for around $700.00 shipped and installed it myself. The install was fairly straightforward but time consuming since I didn’t want to damage anything. These cars come apart easily. So the Nifty City unit is both wired and wireless and works great in either configuration. The sound output with the ML system is excellent except I think I lost some volume output overall which doesn’t bother me and can be adjusted by entering the main system settings and turning up the gain output. The charging isn’t as fast as a factory system but does the job. You definitely don’t lose charge while the phone is plugged in but it only increases slightly while in use which is my only real complaint. I kept my phone paired with the cars BT since the sound quality of phone calls is better. So I DO NOT pair my phone with the Nifty City BT module. Anyways, the system has been installed for about 4 weeks and hasn’t on me and seems to be very solid and dependable but only time will tell.
I have NOT tried the android auto since I don’t own an android device.
I have found that it’s best to fully let the sound system boot up before plugging the phone in or trying to connect it. I’ve had it not recognize the phone if I plug it in before starting the car or while the system is booting up. This has also happened to me on factory CarPlay systems in a GMC, Honda, my 2016 corvette, and a loaner NX from the dealer.
I have also not fooled with the unit’s capabilities of watching YouTube videos, playing separate media files, or screen mirroring.



Main CarPlay screen when using the wireless feature. I took this photo with the phone while it was connected via BT / WiFi

Waze navigation maps. Works and looks great. No complaints. It’s not sluggish or jittery like I was afraid of.

Menu screen on CarPlay. Again, very snappy, quick, and responsive. Also very easy to navigate with the console mounted mouse.

MrMunson

Thank you for this, I am still in the market for an aftermarket carplay module for my 4RX. Could you tell me more about the Nifty City?

My biggest issue is the track-pad in Carplay mode. Based on your 3rd picture, it looks like it's a free-roam cursor where you would have to drag the mouse to each app freely. Is this true? I'd prefer if the track-pad would toggle between each app if I move the cursor left or right.

a video of the ZZ2 to get a better understanding of what I'm referring to.

Thanks!
M

gromaudio

The cursor should act exactly the same as in your factory set up, as the units emulate the factory function of the stereo.


With VLine CarPlay you can also use SIRI, and it can be activated with NEXT TRACK press-hold on your steering wheel

MrMunson

In the youtube video, you'll notice the cursor between apps is not roaming freely for the ZZ2 in comparison to the VL2

Any chance Grom will have this feature available for the 4RX?

gromaudio

If you have non Navi set up that has **** then yes you will control via rotating the **** instead of joystick. If you have joystick there will be mouse on screen. Also Up/Down buttons in most cases will act as **** rotation if you have them.

MrMunson

Take another look at the video, both are joysticks. I was just curious if Grom was going to offer this feature for the 4RX.

M

gromaudio

Yes you can use up/down buttons to go between icons but this is very tedious and takes much longer to navigate.

jeronberna

Is there any way to get the GROM VL2 to have the same cursor or similar to the Lsailt and other brands CarPlay/android? The windows cursor is so ugly for such a nice car. I just purchased a grom, it gets delivered tomorrow because my lsailt box keeps tripping out with my phone , switching between Bt to android and BT to localhost and cosmo can’t fix it.

the cursor on Grom looks like it came from windows 95…

lsailt actually matches the lexus OS.



@gromaudio ?

gromaudio

VLine supports more than 100 car makes so it is very difficult to match all different cursors and OEM styles.

jeronberna

@gromaudio is the only way to switch between vline and Lexus OS to cycle through the media?

is there any steering wheel shortcut or holding down any type of button to switch between the two quickly? Or will I have to keep pressing media to switch between the two and lose audio everytime I want to go to the Lexus UI??

nothing in the user manual.

sz8

of Pros and Cons:

Pros:
1. It has only one small box. So easier to install.
2. It supports both wireless and wired carplay.
3. It connects quite quickly (about 10 sec after car starts excluding Lexus screen startup)
4. WIFI signal seems to be good. I can walk 40-50 ft away and the carplay does not drop.
5. Reverse camera (video) works the same way.
6. It dims display same way as Lexus UI.
7. Sound quality (music or map guide) is good (no difference than original UI).
8. Looks it keeps last mode (carplay or Lexus UI) when starting the car.
9. From the screen manual, it supports airplay as well. I never tried.

Cons:
1. It take away AUX input. Meaning even in Lexus UI, the AUX input will not work. (I don't care since I don't use AUX)
2. Parking assist sensors only give you sound alert without indication of locations if shift is in "D". Reverse mode "R" works same as original UI.
3. Bluetooth of original UI has some random interruptions (0.5 sec) from time to time. I suspect this is related to iphone connecting to two bluetooth devices.
Since I don't need original bluetooth anymore, I just removed the device on my phone.


By the way, my car has only rotary **** with some buttons for media control. So, the carplay device may have less issues than other models.

Thanks,