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Home > In Car Electronics (L322) > CarPlay for under £100

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madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

CarPlay for under £100

Click image to enlarge

Good afternoon,

I don’t know if people are interested in this or not! I wanted a CarPlay solution for my L322 to give me modern satnav on a screen I could see and also to control my music app Spotify. I have seen and read about the Navtool and Unique Ad set up but didn’t want to spend £600. They seem to be quite good but I had read about lack of screen clarity on the Navtool and I didn’t fancy putting circuit boards in the existing radio with the Unique ad.
So I sourced a universal CarPlay unit and pondered how to fit it. I bought an Autotop unit from Ali Express for about £100. It is now on sale for £44 plus postage! These things are easy to connect using double Bluetooth and a Wifi connection. Ali Express were very helpful btw with technical advice. The only connection is the power lead. My first set up in Picture 1 worked very well but; I had to use a sucker and connector to fix it to the dash and I ran the power lead along the front of the dash and down the side to the fuse box. Not bad, but I had to lean forward to use the touchscreen as it was behind the vents. It worked very well if a little cumbersome.
I then saw an entry on the Facebook L322 group which gave me inspiration. Someone had removed the ventilation grille and put the unit in the recess. This is easy to do and is completely reversible. I could then put the power lead under the dash and down the side of the car to the fuse box so the lead is completely hidden. I velcroed a piece of plastic in the recess and glued the CarPlay unit to it. I then trimmed a 3mm thick piece of plastic as a surround and sprayed it with black Matt paint. I am quite chuffed with the result. Picture 2 onwards.
I don’t miss the vents as there are plenty of others. I blocked them off in the recess with 2 sponges.

So there you are; complete functionality.You do need an Inveray/ Bovee Bluetooth connector for it to work.
The original screen is completely functional which I like. The Bluetooth phone works much better with the original screen. The most difficult thing was shaping the plastic surround, I used an old numberplate.
Not to everyone’s taste I’m sure but I’ve dragged my 2012 RR into this century!

NB Sorry there are duplicates but I can’t seem to delete an unwanted photo

Click image to enlarge

22nd Jul 2023 2:27pm

Alistair

Member Since: 11 Feb 2011
Location: Peterborough / Bordeaux / Andorra
Posts: 7922

2013 Range Rover Vogue SE SDV8 Santorini Black

That's a very neat looking solution

22nd Jul 2023 4:01pm

madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

Ta Alistair

22nd Jul 2023 4:07pm

TDV8 Paul

Member Since: 30 Nov 2020
Location: Tadworth
Posts: 223

2010 Range Rover Autobiography 5.0 SC V8 Santorini Black

I like that- it’s probably the best solution I’ve seen so far and actually doesn’t look out of place, does the bovee/thingy boot up fast when you turn the car on? 2009 (2010 MY) 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography
2007 TDV8 Vogue SE
2005 BMW E63 645ci
2024 Porsche Macan

23rd Jul 2023 11:17pm

madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

The whole thing takes about 30 seconds I would say. I’ve used it for a few months and it hasn’t crashed yet!
The sound quality is the same as going straight through the Inveray/Bovee. Like all Bluetooth devices it sometimes doesn’t connect so you have to disconnect and reconnect your phone but that only happens very occasionally
I am well chuffed!

Last edited by madnessgonemad on 24th Jul 2023 7:23am. Edited 1 time in total

24th Jul 2023 7:16am

madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

I forgot to say that if you don’t want to use Bluetooth you can connect your phone directly by usb and you will have CarPlay and charge your phone as well. You can then put a lead into the car aux socket.
It is more cumbersome obviously.
My phone is an IPhone 8 but it should work with Android just as well. The instructions are for Android and Apple.

24th Jul 2023 7:22am

GRANGEROVER

Member Since: 10 Feb 2022
Location: Bremen
Posts: 34

Could you give us a link to that exact unit? I'm looking into something like that for a while but never found something really nice like this one.

24th Jul 2023 10:15am

madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

I will try!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003833...dqoYwHM3VW

I hope that this works

24th Jul 2023 11:05am

JoolsB

Member Since: 16 Aug 2020
Location: The North
Posts: 282

2012 Range Rover Vogue TDV8 Buckingham Blue

Nicely done

24th Jul 2023 8:00pm

JCW

Member Since: 13 Apr 2013
Location: Cotswolds
Posts: 861

2010 Range Rover Autobiography TDV8 Santorini Black

Agree, install looks very good.

Re the Invery / Bovee Bluetooth connector, why is this needed? is the screen itself not Bluetooth enabled already? Jonathan

2007 Defender 90 XS Hardtop

25th Jul 2023 6:41am

madnessgonemad

Member Since: 28 Aug 2020
Location: Kent
Posts: 96

Yes, the screen unit is double Bluetooth enabled.
The phone connects to the unit by Bluetooth and the unit then connects to the car by Bluetooth.
The RR does not have an audio Bluetooth connection so the Inveray/Bovee is required which plugs into the iPod socket in the console.
The car has Bluetooth phone connection only which you can still use with the CarPlay.

25th Jul 2023 7:00am

JCW

Member Since: 13 Apr 2013
Location: Cotswolds
Posts: 861

Ah ok, all clear & understood Jonathan

2007 Defender 90 XS Hardtop

25th Jul 2023 7:16am

stan
Site Moderator

Member Since: 13 Jul 2010
Location: a moderate moderated moderator moderating moderately in moderation
Posts: 35263

these portable carplay/android auto units are so cheap and convenient..

theres no stripping down of the existing headunit involved..all the OE functions like DAB stay 'as is'..

myself and others , namely baltic blue [mike] and others have had these for a while now..

i started with a 7'' screen and now have upgraded to a 9'' version....

and theres loads on ebay as well.. ... - .- -.

Y. O. L. O.
.

25th Jul 2023 8:05am

Snowy90 L322

Member Since: 24 Aug 2015
Location: Surrey
Posts: 220

Is it possible to fit something like this to an older L322 2004?
Mine has a speaker in the middle of the dash or at least i think its a speaker but could adapt a grill.

25th Jul 2023 1:16pm

stan
Site Moderator

Member Since: 13 Jul 2010
Location: a moderate moderated moderator moderating moderately in moderation
Posts: 35263

this is an install from a member here,

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/post663042.html#663042

another install option here from baltic blue [mike],

... - .- -.

Y. O. L. O.
.

25th Jul 2023 1:33pm

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