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Hey guys, especially @myw I've been procrastinating on getting one of these units for a year but am about to purchase a 2008 997 Turbo and want the best and easiest to install unit. I can no longer find the Owtosin unit at Aliexpress.
Has the branding changed? Can you help me find the right unit. I see Heregoes ones and other strange brands which I am reluctant to buy.
Hi TomiK - the original owTowsin is this one. All the other brands and units running my faceplate are also owned by owTowsin - but from what I have been told run cheaper components. These are the quallComm / rockShip units.
There is a description / diagram in the above link comparing the higher vs lower end line. Im not sure if the lower end line supports a front camera and also have read that it may not support oem MF steering wheel controls. On my car I have the adas-dash cam unit, tpms unit, front + rear cameras + steering wheel MF controls.
The lower end (I believe 7862) units outsells the higher end line as it is cheaper in cost - i know many have been happy with them as they mostly want carplay/AA, a volume **** + perhaps a rear camera.
Hi TomiK - the original owTowsin is this one. All the other brands and units running my faceplate are also owned by owTowsin - but from what I have been told run cheaper components. …
Is the colour match better on the owTowsin units?
Otherwise I‘m thinking about repainting the faceplate and the klimate control with the silver colour that the rest of the interieur has (air vents etc.). Still have to find out the right colour though.
Is the colour match better on the owTowsin units?
Otherwise I‘m thinking about repainting the faceplate and the klimate control with the silver colour that the rest of the interieur has (air vents etc.). Still have to find out the right colour though.
afaik - all are the same grey color
if you want a perfect match - all of it will need to be painted.
even the pccm+ isnt a perfect patch - but its VERY close.
That did it! Don't know how I'd missed it. Thanks.
Was able to personalize the keys and have one send me to Carplay, which is what I was after.
I was also able to massively reduce the CarPlay volume, but somehow the factory settings for radio volume seem to have no bearing on the actual radio volume. Weird.
Small complement to this - I couldn't get wired CarPlay to work, and would get a "Link failed - try another USB port" error message. Since the wireless CarPlay connection is a little spotty if you haven't used the car for several days, this was annoying.
I'd only connected the USB harness with 2 ports, and left the other one with 3 ports in the box. Well it turns out wired CarPlay only works using the 3-ports USB harness that has the smaller connector on the HU side. Maybe this'll help someone.
I'd only connected the USB harness with 2 ports, and left the other one with 3 ports in the box. Well it turns out wired CarPlay only works using the 3-ports USB harness that has the smaller connector on the HU side. Maybe this'll help someone.
Wireless CarPlay (and Android Auto) requires a connection to the OEM USB port (usually found in the glove box or centre console). Neither will work when connected to the 'spare' USB ports on Android head units. It is important to ensure that at least one of your new HU USB wires is connected to the OEM USB cable in the car, as you discovered.
Been away for a while as I sorted out some Exhaust issues. Now as I gear up for summer, I'm wondering. Has anyone figured out how to successfully get a US SIM Card working on the Qualcomm LTE Units?
From my hours of research so far:
The unit appears to be locked to China Unicom (may or may not be true)
Of the band enabled for cellular, only one is available in the US and it's not a common one
The chip itself is capable of US LTE connections
Some combination of the above is hardware locked, but there doesn't seem to be a clear path to solving it. I did look into spoofing the IMEI though dubious, also seems like it might not fix it
Ostowin is nowhere to be found and won't stand behind the product. Once they told me to use Wireless Carplay, but that's not the reason why I ordered an LTE unit.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread, you made it possible for me to take on this project myself! Here's my little review and lessons learned, hopefully this can benefit someone else.
Car/Background
987.1 S with basic sound system and CDR-24. No CD Changer, no Bose.
Use Case:
Was looking for basic Apple CarPlay functionality, mainly Google Maps and Spotify music streaming.
Unit purchased:
4GB RAM + 64GB storage unit from Heregoes on AliExpress. Honestly 2GB + 32GB would probably have been enough for CarPlay, but I figured why not have at least some level of future proofing. Link to Heregoes Head Unit (Select SKU)
Installation Process/Lessons Learned:
- Removing the old head unit was a pain, until I realized you were supposed to turn the black "pins" by roughly 90 degrees to press down the 4 sliding tabs and lock them into place. Then the old unit just slides out. I wish I knew that before! Next one will be easy!
- As everyone has stated, there are no instructions/manuals whatsoever for the Heregoes head unit, but by following this thread I managed to make it work. I found it slightly odd that there was nothing to connect to the third main connection from the head unit itself, despite having ordered the version without BOSE/CD-Changer et.c. Still, managed to find my way through the audio connections on the first attempt.
- USB connections - NOTE! - There are two USB cables included. One with a 4-pin connector and one with what appears like a larger 6-pin connector. I wrongly assumed the 6-pin would be the one to use for USB-connectivity and Power-Delivery/Charging at the same time. WRONG! When connecting my iPhone to this source, absolutely nothing happened. Had to re-do the install with the other 4-pinned cable, now it all works.
- I did not install the 4G/Wi-FI/GPS antennas as I will rely on my iPhone for data and GPS. This appears to be working well.
- In terms of fitment, the standard mount seemed nice and snug at first, but after some spirited drives it didn't stay in place. The top of the unit was actually wobbling with the standard mounting rails. A kind neighbor helped me 3D print these rails that someone else shared earlier. I mounted these to the head unit using 8 M2.5x10mm screws (the suggested lengths were not available at my local department store, but this works well). I also pulled the sliding tabs outwards, now it fits like a glove. Link to 3D-printable installation rails
Headunit Review (See use case above)
- For the actual unit and the price I paid, I'm honestly super impressed. Best 300 bucks I've ever spent on a car! I didn't expect much from the basic Android interface, but Bluetooth audio worked brilliantly and the interface is not too shabby.
- In terms of looks, I'd say it looks 90 % OEM. Color match is close enough and the fact that you can go to settings and change the RGB colors of the buttons to match the interior lights make it blend in really well. Then again, I didn't expect to receive a Porsche PCCM+ based on the price I paid. I usually tend to keep my cars stock, but this really works for me.
- Wireless CarPlay on this unit appears to be a big mess. Sometimes it would connect, sometimes not. I think the trick is to not allow the device to make any Bluetooth Connections (other than CarPlay) with the headunit. If it does connect to Bluetooth audio for example, you basically have to "Forget the device" on the phone and then re-do the whole pairing process. Since the device is already using Bluetooth to connect to CarPlay, this is easier said than done. Despite being left in CarLink 2.0 (CarPlay mode) the unit would break the connection when restarting the car. Super annoying, especially on shorter runs. If anyone has any advice on Wireless CarPlay specifically (not Android Auto), I'm all ears!
- Since we will be relying on this unit for a Eurotrip this summer, I installed a wired USB connection instead. Over the wired connection, CarPlay now works brilliantly! The 3D navigation in Google Maps is honestly amazing and Spotify works great too. The fact that this "just works" while also keeping the phone charged means I will give up on Wireless CarPlay and simply stick to USB for now. I managed to route the wire quite neatly to the passenger footwell without drilling any holes.
- Biggest surprise - The audio quality is much improved over the standard CDR-24 head unit. I didn't even care to turn on the old head unit, that's how bad it was, now music is actually enjoyable!
TL;DR:
- Great upgrade for any 987/997 owner. Just make sure to spend some extra time with the installation process (fitment especially - see links above) and don't expect Wireless CarPlay to work flawlessly.
I have the Heregoes 7862 unit with 8GB/128GB. Installed and working. I just tried to install the backup camera and upon testing, I'm not getting a signal to the headunit. I tapped into the reverse light and check to make sure the backup camera is getting power (it is) but I'm not seeing any video feed on the headunit. I tried another RCA cable to rule out a damaged cable but no luck with that. Is there a setting in the heregoes unit that I need to turn on to get the backup camera working? I went thru it all but can't find any settings that I need to turn on.
Anyone with a snapdragon head unit wants to consider upgrading to Android 13 at their own RISK I decided to perform this and had success documented it here.
05-07-2024, 09:06 AM
