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geforce wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:00 pm

I've just ordered one of these:

https://carsie.net/product/wireless-car ... MI+3G+Plus

Seems the most legit augmented OEM solution on the market. I will be able to report back next week, hopefully it will arrive by end of this week or on Monday.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

geforce wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 25, 2022 1:30 am

Interim update and a few initial observations:

I fitted it yesterday on a Sunday night in the dark with a head-torch and a normal torch - wouldn't recommend this, you obviously need decent light when doing something like this but it was the only available opportunity and I couldn't wait any longer...

Whatever you do, do not buy cheap MMI / stereo removal keys. It took me 45-60 mins to remove them from the MMI unit once I'd removed it from the dash which as you can imagine was excruciating. After watching multiple YouTube videos and reading various forums it became apparent as to why the keys were a nightmare. You could opt for the cheap keys but you'd need to round off the square edge of the keys where the pin inside the MMI unit mates with the key before inserting otherwise you have to attack the MMI PIN release buttons/mechanism on each side of the unit. Can tell you how if you're caught but it's not worth it. Use Erwin / Etka to obtain part numbers or reach out to somebody for the OEM keys, much easier.

The Installation instructions are at best, minimal. It does not come with an installation manual or an operating manual. The online installation tutorial video and installation web page provide a high level idea of what's required but are not up to my expected standard for a box that costs £400+ and is actually pretty advanced in terms of granularity of available settings. The wire diagram / signal flow diagram show you what needs to be connected and where but best practices in terms of cable routing and positioning of the box etc aren't provided nor are any meaningful information on the various available settings, at a basic level the installation page / video show you what you need to do but I would expect more from a product at this price point that has advanced features as this does. As a comparison, I had a Dension box for an old A3 and the instructions and product support were far more mature and exemplary.

This is by no means a cheap Chinese box though, the assembly of the unit and wiring harness is on point with cable lengths and positioning of terminals absolutely well designed and manufactured. It is a well manufactured, assembled and presented kit.

I had to re-route cables and find a position for the unit, there is adequate space below the MMI unit and cable routing is easy once you untangle the existing car loom to provide proper routing of the cable loom between the various termination points. I can go into more detail if anyone is interested, it's common sense though in a lot of ways.

Initial connection to my Android Pixel 5 was pretty seamless to enable Android Auto wirelessly but again the instructions are non-existent and as I'm pretty technical, I found it fairly intuitive *after* quite a bit of trial and error of the various options and understanding how Android Auto performs it's handshake etc but still would be made a lot easier with a decent operating manual.

It now seems to work pretty seamlessly but I've only spent an hour or two actually living with it since I haven't driven much. I do have a few questions on the applicability of Bluetooth, WiFi and the various connection methods and profiles between the box, the car and my phone. I also have some questions on audio routing, audio gain structure / signal flow and how these interact with my existing Bluetooth and B&O system - I reckon I've worked out most of the options and can provide quite a few tips and tricks on how to get the best out of the box and ensure it's integration is as OEM-esque as it should be but again, if the menu options were defined in a manual then it would be much easier for the general market. Couple of gripes with how it's setup out of the box with things like an audio EQ profile being set that isn't flat and therefore needs to be returned to flat to ensure my B&O DSP has an initial full input signal to then manipulate as per standard Audi B&O DSP offering - but I work in the tech / audio visual industry so know how this stuff works. I do feel that the audio profile isn't as high quality as it normally is from just connecting my phone to the existing car BT media connection but there are a number of options to tweak and I haven't had long enough with it yet so don't let this put you off (I also have a an ear for hi-fi). I do want to find out the exact spec of the box and how the codecs are handled to identify if there is an audible loss but this is me being a geek - for most people, probably wouldn't notice,. The fact that the unit is set to a customised profile out of the box and some other settings such as mic and volume levels are not at full gain, were incorrect when integrating - my thoughts anyway.

The display on the MMI screen needed to reduce the overscan to ensure the top few lines of pixels were reduced so that the top of the display icons weren't cut-off. The menu option for this is available and works perfectly but is named incorrectly i.e. not called overscan, again not a major thing and isn't intuitive but works perfectly.

The integration with the existing MMI / car buttons seems to work OK but once again, through trial and error you have to figure out what each button does. The unit seems reliable and stable, I'm sure it will become second nature over time. I just need more time with it to really find any shortcomings, bugs or idiosyncrasies.

All of this could be mitigated with a really verbose and comprehensive manual, I'm following up with them on a couple of initial questions and will revert back.

Either way, it's much much better than the standard MMI system I have in terms of finally having Google Maps, Spotify and Google Assistant etc. And if it annoys me, I can revert to the standard system with a quick button press.