Mr12Volt P2000 - Carplay/Android Auto w/M.O.S.T *New Model Update*

[drwankel]

Originally Posted by Thrawn

I decided I would hook my unit up during my lunch break. the install went pretty easy, except my Idrive controller knob doesn't work. I had to unhook the unit until I can get this figured out.

You need to push the connector from the harness HARD into the idrive controller to get it to seat correctly. It will make a loud click once it seats. Way harder than you'd think you should. I had the same issue.

[Thrawn]

I was pretty sure it was connected, but I will walk out to the car and double check and post a replay in a few mins. thanks!

and that was it thanks for the help!

Now I have to finish putting the car back together. I left some of it a part, but put enough back together so I could drive it. I am mounting it in my glove box where the factory cd/dvd changer would be. I still have to run the harness up behind the glove box. right now I have to have the glove box open to have it connected. I was just trying to make sure it was going to work before running that wire.

[drwankel]

Originally Posted by Tastyguac

I just ran some sounds tones through both my P2000 lights box using wireless carplay, and then the same tones through combox bluetooth. Both using an iphone 13 pro. Hifi audio. I used 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30hz tone files. I do not get anything coming from the speakers with the 5, 10, and 15hz tones through either source. 20hz and up sound identical (to my ears) from either source.

Not trying to stir up anything, just reporting my results. My aux port doesn't work due to a coding issue I've never bothered to fix, so I can't comment using that as a source. The combox uses MOST as well, maybe the issue lies with audio going through MOST vs the aux port?

Can you do the same test with audio over USB in the armrest or with the files burned to a CD?

I'm wondering if the mr12volt box is possibly negatively affecting other devices on the MOST loop, since the mr12volt box would be the last thing on the most loop before CIC, and the combox audio would have to pass through it. USB and CD wouldn't be touching MOST as far as I know.

All of my testing was done over USB on the CIC side. Haven't tested combox bluetooth.

[Thrawn]

I will try to do the same test using the same tones. I can try it over aux and usb. Should be able to do it tonight.

[nibty]

Originally Posted by drwankel

BASS ISSUE UPDATE

Well, I have news on the bass issue, and it is not good. Update from Mr12volt is as follows:

"No the bass can only be improved with new hardware that will be in the next generation P2000 which will be released in 6 - 12 months"

I'd also take this as confirmation that absolutely everyone is affected by the bass issue.

I asked them if there would be any sort of a discount upgrade for current owners, and they said most likely yes, but not confirmed.

For anybody who was on the fence about purchasing this, I would recommend that you hold off on purchasing until this next gen unit launches.

I knew it. Maybe I can still get a refund.

[Sedicivalvole]

Mr12 Volt was happy for me to cancel my order.

I’ve decided to proceed, base issues or not. I’ll be asking for a discount when the replacement is released.

However after thinking it through I’m in two minds now.

[Thrawn]

Here is a quick update. I have not had a chance to run the test tones yet, but here are a few observations I have.

the sound in this unit is far superior than my last carplay box. I do think there is less Bass then when connected to the factory Bluetooth, though I have not confirmed yet.

I am underwhelmed with the settings and option this unit has. my last box had way more customization, though to be honest probably 60% I didn't use so even though it had a lot more options there are not a lot more I used so I guess it doesn't matter much. One thing though the other unit had was an EQ. I wish this one did, though the last one was so horrible it might as well not had it. A side note, I rarely boost a signal with an EQ, but I do cut some if needed. not saying it is needed here, just would like to have the option.

I have not gotten my Mic hooked up yet so I can not comment on phone calls yet.

One thing that will be a deal breaker for me is when I got in the car this morning it automatically started playing something from my music player on my Iphone. to me this is a huge no. I never have or ever will want my phone to start playing music on it's own when I get in the car. Even if I was listening to something 5 mins earlier, or even when I am walking to the car. If I want it to play, I will hit play. And I for sure do not want it to pick what it is going to play. Which is what it did this morning. played something from the Iphone music app (which I almost never use) and a song (which I almost never listen too). Anyway time will tell if it continues to do this. if it does I will not keep it.

other thing. in factor mode, what are the advanced setting options? on my other I had to have a code to access this. I am guessing it is the same. does anyone know the code?

Also is there anyway to change the Mr12volt Icon on the carplay screen? my last one showed the BMW logo and I would prefer to change that on this one. Also on my other unit you can used the wheel like a joy stick to go from one row to the next, or the knob to turn to go left or right. this one you can't. you can only scroll through all the icons.


I found the pass code for advanced settings in an earlier post sorry I had to reread the thread. 688612

[Thrawn]

Has anyone tried updating the software? I just tried and It isn't detecting the USB. I am guessing it needs to be formatted differently, but don't see a mention of what that format is.

[drwankel]

Originally Posted by Thrawn

Has anyone tried updating the software? I just tried and It isn't detecting the USB. I am guessing it needs to be formatted differently, but don't see a mention of what that format is.

I've done it just to try but there's no point in updating the software. The software stack has never had an update.

The firmware on the other hand has had updates, but that isn't updated through USB.

[Thrawn]

I am actually mainly interested in seeing if I can update the Icon. I added my own png file named the same as their Icon and is the same size. I think it will work, but I have to update the software. I wonder if my flash drive is too large. it is a 32Gb, maybe it will only read smaller drives.

[tdott]

I noticed something today as I was testing carplay on an old iPhone for use in the car instead of my main phone.

So I had Spotify open when I turned the car off yesterday. When I got in Spotify started and the sound actually sounded good with better bass. Then into my drive, I clicked to open Waze and right away the sound cut and came back lower and lacking bass.

Perhaps when a navigation app is open there is not enough bandwidth and audio suffers even more?? Can someone test this also?

Now I would say while it sounded much better and did have some bass, it wasn't 100% the same as directly from the CIC but it would much less obvious and a clear difference when I opened Waze.

Try it out and confirm I am not crazy.

[mike5124]

I was able to turn up the bass on my hifi system to the max, and reduce the treble to about 60%. The sound is acceptable now, I tried recording it but video doesn't show the differences at all. Without this change, it sounded like my subs were dead. It does mess up the balance for other audio inputs like radio and CDs since these EQ settings are system-wide.

I don't notice a difference closing the navigation app. Then again, I don't really use Waze. I also have no way to control the box, I realized you can get into the box by selecting the CD changer and leaving it when you select AUX or CD via the programmable buttons.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by mike5124

I don't notice a difference closing the navigation app.

Closing the app doesn't do it because it is still running in the background. Try selecting a music app when you turn off the car, then next time you get in listen to audio before opening Waze and that is when I heard a switch.

[drwankel]

Originally Posted by tdott

I noticed something today as I was testing carplay on an old iPhone for use in the car instead of my main phone.

So I had Spotify open when I turned the car off yesterday. When I got in Spotify started and the sound actually sounded good with better bass. Then into my drive, I clicked to open Waze and right away the sound cut and came back lower and lacking bass.

Perhaps when a navigation app is open there is not enough bandwidth and audio suffers even more?? Can someone test this also?

Now I would say while it sounded much better and did have some bass, it wasn't 100% the same as directly from the CIC but it would much less obvious and a clear difference when I opened Waze.

Try it out and confirm I am not crazy.

I've noticed that waze can mess up the audio stream, but much more significantly than you describe. What I've pinpointed is happening, is its trying to listen to the microphone or something and lowering all the audio. I could get it to snap out of it by selecting the microphone icon in waze, it will try to listen, and then give up, and the audio goes back to normal.

However, none of this had any affect on the bass issue. I normally use google maps as waze just seems to be buggy a lot of times, but no difference if I have a map app come up at startup or just a music app.

I'll try to do some additional testing just to be sure.

[Thrawn]

Ok it was an issue with the size of the flash drive. I barrowed a smaller one (2GB) and it worked fine. here is my new Icon.

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by tdott

I noticed something today as I was testing carplay on an old iPhone for use in the car instead of my main phone.

So I had Spotify open when I turned the car off yesterday. When I got in Spotify started and the sound actually sounded good with better bass. Then into my drive, I clicked to open Waze and right away the sound cut and came back lower and lacking bass.

Perhaps when a navigation app is open there is not enough bandwidth and audio suffers even more?? Can someone test this also?

Now I would say while it sounded much better and did have some bass, it wasn't 100% the same as directly from the CIC but it would much less obvious and a clear difference when I opened Waze.

Try it out and confirm I am not crazy.

Waze has something that is going on with it and it's not related to this box. I notice if I open Waze from carplay the audio volume immediately drops as well (like a navigation prompt was about to play) but nothing ever happens. If you force quit Waze or open it on the phone it seems to then kick out of that mode and go back to normal.

I don't think it's a bandwidth thing, this could just be an issue with the latest iOS it didn't use to happen to me when I first got the box.

[netcsk]

Originally Posted by Thrawn

One thing that will be a deal breaker for me is when I got in the car this morning it automatically started playing something from my music player on my Iphone. to me this is a huge no. I never have or ever will want my phone to start playing music on it's own when I get in the car. Even if I was listening to something 5 mins earlier, or even when I am walking to the car. If I want it to play, I will hit play. And I for sure do not want it to pick what it is going to play. Which is what it did this morning. played something from the Iphone music app (which I almost never use) and a song (which I almost never listen too). Anyway time will tell if it continues to do this. if it does I will not keep it.

As an Android user, which has the option in Android Auto to either automatically start music or not in the phone settings, does Car Play not have a phone side setting?

[Thrawn]

Originally Posted by netcsk

As an Android user, which has the option in Android Auto to either automatically start music or not in the phone settings, does Car Play not have a phone side setting?

Nope and it is one of the dummest settings not to have. From hours of research though it appears to be a car / radio setting and CarPlay its self or the iPhone. It didn’t do this with my last CarPlay box, but does with the factory Bluetooth. Right now it is doing it about 50% of the time. Before I even made a short cut that automatically pauses audio when it connects to Bluetooth. This didn’t work as it will play anyway.


On to other issues then a bass update.

Phone sound quality is horrible with this device. Not sure how I sound, but what I hear is distorted, tinny, and breaks up. Nowhere as good as my other box or the factory Bluetooth. Not sure if this can be fixed. Also I see no way to adjust the call volume or Mic sensitivity like I had on my other CarPlay box.


Bass issue. I have tested several ways. Here is what I experienced. Source iphone 13 pro max running latest ios. Using tone generator through CarPlay. I can tell no real difference with bass through CarPlay, aux, factory Bluetooth. Mids and highs are better through CarPlay. Bass is the same or close to it. I say close, because both the aux and Bluetooth are a different volume then my CarPlay box. Aux and Bluetooth are really close, but a little quieter then the CarPlay. I know I can adjust the aux volume, but it is set at 50%. If I turn it up more, then the volume starts to be louder than the Bluetooth, but closer to CarPlay. However, when I turn the volume up on the radio to what sounds like the same volume, the bass is not any louder. This is hard to do for sure sine using these tones I obviously have more bass the louder I turn it up no matter what the source is. This leads me to my next test. Playing musing from iPhone with those same sources. CarPlay sounds the best. For me I thought it was lacking a little bass until I went through the sources and it is extremely close. It is a little hard to tell 100% as the rest of the sound quality is greater. The bass might be a little cleaner and tighter, maybe not as muddy which could give a slight since of loss in bass, but we are taking almost undetectable levels in my car. Now I am running 2000 rms to some subs. I may turn them off and try again. This might give me the results some here are getting, but right now the bass is loud and clear on my CarPlay.

[Thrawn]

Ok it is now started automatically playing the same song in my Apple Music library 10 times in a row after about a 30 second delay. The worst part is I can’t even stop it because it doesn’t show in the currently playing section or on my phone. I have to open the app on my phone then hit play so I can hit pause… this pisses me off like you wouldn’t believe. I will end up destroying something if it keeps doing it, or I leave it installed. Sux because the audio quality is amazing.

[spammysammich]

My tune2air also autoplays Apple Music when the car connects to the iPhone. I ended up downloading a song with a bunch of aaaaaa in the title that is nothing but silence for 10 minutes such a stupid feature that NOBODY wants.

[Sedicivalvole]

Originally Posted by Thrawn

Ok it was an issue with the size of the flash drive. I barrowed a smaller one (2GB) and it worked fine. here is my new Icon.

This is very cool. I thought you were talking about the boot screen initially. Can you share how you changed the icon and found that one? As I would like to get the stock genuine BMW icon in place if that’s possible?

[Sedicivalvole]

drwankel and all

Given the ongoing sound issue I am wondering whether to cancel or not.

Can you confirm if you can still use the factory Bluetooth for music and leave navigation on the screen? My thinking is that if the sound quality is something that annoys me I can still get the factory Bluetooth working as a fall back