steinec

So I've had the new (to me) '14 CS for a month. Love it ! Have read about every thread on adding carplay and think I have the capability to do the module addition. Have already got on hand a new SSD to clone a copy and swap the spinner out, figure it makes sense to do the CarPlay addition at the same time.

From what I can tell there are 3 suppliers regularly mentioned for the carplay board/kit-Joyeauto, Isudar and Mr12Volt. Lowest cost appears to be Isudar; some additional features and sponsorship on this forum with Mr12Volt; Looking for compare/contrast input, esp around reliability.

Boomer80

I have had the Joyeauto installed for almost 4 years and it has been fault free. Now I did have some issues with installing it, but that was on me and not the unit itself. If I were to do it today I would probably go with the Mr12 volt as it seems to be a simpler install. Just my 2c.

will_atl

Thanks for starting this, I was scared to do so, as you’ll likely pointed to other active threads.

From my reading Mr12volt has the best sound quality, iSudar is second (and is an internal board) and JoyeAuto is the OG, but lowest quality of the bunch. There is also NMAuto, which I believe is some version of/similar to JoyeAuto.

Mr12volt adds and utilizes the TV media input, this means that if you want to display the CarPlay screen, and listen to audio, you must use an app on your phone for audio.

In my other cars, with OEM CarPlay integration, my use case of CarPlay is to listen to FM/SiriusXM and have CarPlay on the screen. I don’t believe that Mr12volt allows this, but the other two do. However, I would appreciate it if someone with either iSudar or JoyeAuto could confirm this for me. I like to jump into my car and go, I don’t want to fiddle with an app to get the radio to play.

Andrew Acree

I had the NMAuto unit in my 991.1 TTS and constantly chased RPM-dependent whine. It was annoying. I’ve ordered the mr12volt unit for my 2012 Cayenne turbo.

Should be mint from what I’ve read.

ShdwFx

Went down this same path earlier this year and after reading numerous reviews and videos, went with Mr 12Volt from Roman and couldn't be happier (Roman will provide extra standoffs if you have the XM board). Part of my reason was sound quality as my 2011 S came with the Burmester option. While I also had Sirius XM, it worked fine but better to use the app thru CarPlay. I've now heard that the upgraded Mr 12Volt utilizes the built-in mic now whereas I had to splice a few wires to do that so it's gotten even better. Only downside is I can't listen to AM/FM via PCM while in CarPlay mode but it's easy to switch back and forth. Anyways good luck with your install.

Roman ACS

In Almost all vehicles all carpay and AA are streamed from the phone. None hold the software on the car radio. like many others, carplay and AA lets you have a sat radio app to listen to music.

NN.

I have JoyeAuto unit also for 4 years now. No issues so far: quick cold start (around 10 sec), almost no interruptions (I can remember 4-5 cases during 4 years), no battery drain regardless whether the car is locked or not.

For better sound I am still thinking to switch to Mr12Volt though. But the parking sensors and parking lines images for aftermarket camera (addition of an aftermarket camera is an easy upgrade as that CarPlay units have video inputs for them by default and I believe is a must due to poor video from the factory cameras) in Mr12Volt are very different from the original ones. In Mr12Volt unit the images are kind of "universal" for any car brand, JoyeAuto made them specific for Cayenne (parking sensors image even moves from left to right of the screen depending on steering wheel position).


This is JoyeAuto rear camera view.





Compare to Mr12Volt rear camera view.





That could be easily corrected by soft update but I doubt if Mr12Volt is going to do it.

vwbrd

I was excited to see this thread because I’ve been debating this for years, but I feel I’m still no closer to picking.

NN.

I believe in case you don't plan to install an aftermarket rear camera the choice of Mr12Volt unit is more preferable because of sound digital quality.

On the other hand if somebody like myself wants noticeably better video from the rear camera which can be realized quite easily with any of that CarPlay add-ons, then not OEM parking lines and parking sensors image of Mr12Volt (for aftermarket cameras) make the choice to be not that obvious.

Roman ACS

Really not sure why people say the rear image on mr12volt is incorrect... This is mine, and my system was installed well over a year ago with no updates.

NN.

Do you have factory camera or aftermarket one connected to Mr12Volt video input?

will_atl

You are correct, CarPlay is streamed from the phone, but with OEM integrations, you can use the radio that is native to the car while streaming CarPlay to the screen. I usually listen to local radio through the OEM radio, and have Maps on the screen from CarPlay. In other words, I don’t use CarPlay, or my phone, to listen to the radio.

Roman ACS

Factory cam in my 2015 cayenne.

NN.

This is why it is not obvious for you "why people say the rear image on mr12volt is incorrect..."

In case of the factory camera the trajectory lines, blue rectangle and park assist image are done by PCM, so it doesn't matter what brand CarPlay add-on you have.

In case of an aftermarket camera connected to CarPlay box video input the trajectory lines, blue rectangle (if any) and park assist image are done by CarPlay box.

JoyeAuto does for aftermarket cameras trajectory lines, blue rectangle and park assist image very similar to the ones done by PCM (please refer to my first photo above).

Mr12Volt does for aftermarket cameras no blue rectangle, trajectory lines and park assist image are very different from the original ones done by PCM (please refer to my second photo above). There is no blue rectangle, trajectory lines are more like in BMW and park assist car image is very general and more a saloon car that a SUV.

In Porsche cars with factory TV tuner, like the one I have, TV tuner has to be deleted from the system to use Mr12Volt. But the factory rear view camera communicates to PCM in these cars via TV tuner. So in my case the use of Mr12Volt unit means also the use of aftermarket camera connected directly to video input of the box. Plus the aftermarket camera produces better picture even on low resolution PCM screen. But Mr12Volt unit rear image is "incorrect" if an aftermarket camera is used. This is the problem which holds me back from the shift from JoyeAuto to Mr12Volt.

steinec

Just reporting back on what I ended up with.....
First, I ordered this Carplay kit for PCM 3.1 on Alibaba, a different forum recommended it. Actual cost was only $173 plus sales tax: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...yAdapt=glo2usa
12 day delivery, showed up on the 12th day. Can't say much about the packaging, but it was all there and intact.

I also ordered an SSD (Solid State Drive) and Hard drive cloner
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QBN5J9B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PX2HHD6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Figured might as well take care of the potential disk drive failure issue while the thing is out to do the Carplay surgery. Once I got the unit out, I did the drive first. Piece of cake, the original Toshiba scratcher is now a backup/duplicate.

Carplay was a tad more challenging. Struggled with the ribbon cables, esp arranging them to keep them from getting pinched/smashed. Def found a slender T7 torx with extension handy. The instructions in the youtube video were good with one exception. On the good side the guy urged hooking it all up and testing prior to re-installing in the dash. Good thing. I had no sound and the unit kept shutting off on low voltage. Back to the bench, opened it back up, reseated all the ribbon cables, tried again. This time it stayed on but still no sound. Was a tad angry for awhile figuring I got taken for going cheap on the kit-stepped away twice, kept looking at all the wires and connectors and found two fiber optic connectors that had to be moved from the old main harness to the new one. Nothing about this in the video and pure dumb luck that I found the cables and moved them. In the end, it works great, only negative so far is it takes 30-45 seconds to initialize and wirelessly connect to the Apple phone. Hopefully it will last !