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This is AMAZING news. I can't drive a car without Carplay anymore (and just finished retrofitting my 958 CTT for under $400!) but this has always been the one shortcoming. This is huge!
There is a massive thread on 6speed I'm on which has all the links, the details, and the options. But here's the TLDR. If you want Carplay, you have 3 choices:
1) Rip out the PCM entirely, pay suncoast porche $800 for a kit that will allow any aftermarket stereo to plug into the porsche / burmester fiber optic system. Then you can guy out and buy the latest alpine carplay unit. Pros: the carplay experience will be slightly better AND - huge - you would have wireless carplay. Con: You lose PCM, which includes parking sensors.. you can probably get a rear view cam to work by may lose dynamic steering lines. And to be honest nobody really knows what else you lose when you rip out the PCM.
2) Buy a retrofit kit for the PCM, which means taking out your PCM, opening it up, and installing a new circuit board inside. Then by pressing one of the buttons on the PCM, it will bring up a carplay screen. Pro: You retain everything PCM can do, except in some cases you lose Sirius XM because in some of the kits there isn't room for both circuit boards. Con: Wired carplay (your iphone has to be plugged in for it to work), it's a little bit hacky.. probably works 90% of "real" carplay, above, and obviously the risk and ordeal of performing a home operation on your PCM. During my first attempt, I reinstalled the whole thing, turned on the car, and... nothing. black screen. Stress level was.. a lot. Imagine what Porsche would love to charge you for a "brand new, outdated PCM."
For option 2, there are at least two options:
A) Buy the kit straight from China. Pro: It cost me $360 delivered. Con: NO INSTRUCTIONS... very stressful. But if I can do it, I don't see why you can't, too. No room for Sirius XM, limited support . (This is what I did)
B) There is a company in the UK that for all practical purposes buys the same kits (or nearly identical) but.... PRO: They create immaculate instructions, they also have a way where you can retain your Sirux XM, have thoughtful support, and - for a fee - will even let you mail them your PCM, and they'll do the messy circuit board installation for you. Con: double/triple/quadruple the cost (base kit, base kit + installation, base kit + installation + roundtrip shipping).
Anyway read the thread on 6speed and I'm happy to help if you guys have any questions. Now that it all works, I'm 8000x happier with my 958CTT... if you've ever had carplay before it's impossible (at least for me) to not have it. Another bonus: since you're using a wired connection instead of bluetooth, the audio quality is night and day. I have the burmester setup and it's sooooo much better.
Here is a quick photo of the most insane part of the installation. It was stressful, but it probably looks harder than it actually was. Oh, the whole thing probably took me about 5-6 hours. If I had to do it again, I imagine I could do it in 2!
Installing the carplay board in my PCM. Note: that's a torx driver not a soldering iron. NO soldering or cutting of any wires is required!
Thanks for the info. Will do some more digging and searching. Not unhappy with the pcm now. Never used CarPlay so not missing it I guess!
Carplay is great. I installed a retrofit in a BMW three years ago and I've had in a couple rental cars since. If there were a super cheap and easy retrofit for 958 I'd do it. For now, give me a good phone mount and I'll use my phone for nav and music.
Curious if there is an Android equivalent retrofit using Andriod Auto platform?
While i have no relation, involvement or affiliation here is my recommendation
I have dealt with Nick during my Apple car play retrofit and install, to be honest he is the best , the support i have received a well as the speedy email reply are second to none.
Great news indeed. Looking forward to the ios 12.x release now that I have CarPlay in my new Macan GTS. The ability to use Waze (and others) via Carplay will make it significantly more useful.
06-04-2018, 09:40 PM
