Apple play Headhunt in S3

[Shane-Ireland]

Hi guys recently picked up an 8P S3, it has had the RNS replaced with a dynavin N6 (Not feeling it to be honest) It's clunky and i am having trouble updating the firmware to see if that would improve matters.

Rather than go back to an RNS i was looking at apple play Head units,anyone got any experience with them, I know wiring to the bose system may be an issue but the dynavin is wired to the bose system so i am thinking all that hard work may all ready be done leaving me with a plug and play.

Any feedback appreciated.

 

[Karlos_]

I've literally just purchased a Pioneer AVH-X8700BT today after playing with one in halfords. I'm a bit of an apple fanboy so I really wanted a Carplay HU and I only really use spotify for music now so needed something which supported this. Seems to have very good reviews online and I've seen a couple of users on here who have it installed and it looks awesome.

Expecting the wiring kit to arrive Wednesday and hopefully the install goes pretty straight forward. I'll report back here then and give some more feedback

 

[Shane-Ireland]

Cheers Karlos looking forward to the feedback. What wiring kit did you need? Are you fitting it to a car that previously had a bose system ?

 

[Karlos_]

I've ordered this kit from dynamic sounds:
https://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/aud...ia-steering-stalk-fitting-kit-1590089154.html

I've contacted dynamic sounds directly and Ash on this forum and they both believe that kit should contain what I need for wiring the new headunit in. On Wednesday we should find out. It might be differently wired inside your S3 though depending on the year, my A3 is a 09 plate.
But like you say, I'd expect all of the necessary wiring to have been changed in yours when the dynavin was fitted, as long as they both use the same harnesses.
And my car is fitted with a half bose system.

 

[downtothebone]

I have had this unit for a few months now ... First the good - sound quality wise it's head and shoulders above the RNSE, you'll be surprised how much better it is with just the OEM speakers. Lots of options to play around with and the touchscreen works quite well. I wanted the Apple maps function to replace the sat nav and this works fine. I don't use Spotify so that's about it for the CarPlay functionality - most other third party apps are for radio. That's pretty much it - Apple is keeping a tight rein on certifying apps. There are a few annoyances. On startup it always displays a disclaimer which you have to accept to see the display. If you leave the Bluetooth enabled and it doesn't find the paired device it shows an error dialog. The steering wheel controls are a little flaky. On startup sometimes the track advance does not respond until you have made a volume change either up or down. The extra fascia surround feels and looks cheap and gap needs to exist between the unit and inner surround (there are two) to allow the faceplate to tilt allowing access to the sd card and cd slots. Having said all that I'm happy with it - mainly for the sound quality tho rather than CarPlay.

 

[Karlos_]

I have had this unit for a few months now ... First the good - sound quality wise it's head and shoulders above the RNSE, you'll be surprised how much better it is with just the OEM speakers. Lots of options to play around with and the touchscreen works quite well. I wanted the Apple maps function to replace the sat nav and this works fine. I don't use Spotify so that's about it for the CarPlay functionality - most other third party apps are for radio. That's pretty much it - Apple is keeping a tight rein on certifying apps. There are a few annoyances. On startup it always displays a disclaimer which you have to accept to see the display. If you leave the Bluetooth enabled and it doesn't find the paired device it shows an error dialog. The steering wheel controls are a little flaky. On startup sometimes the track advance does not respond until you have made a volume change either up or down. The extra fascia surround feels and looks cheap and gap needs to exist between the unit and inner surround (there are two) to allow the faceplate to tilt allowing access to the sd card and cd slots. Having said all that I'm happy with it - mainly for the sound quality tho rather than CarPlay.

Do you have bose? I'm not sure whether to expect a sound difference or not. Apple maps is one of the main reasons I've picked this up, the RNSE does look nice but the software looks very dated.
Tbh Steering wheel controls was one of the main reasons I wanted to upgrade so I'll be a little miffed if they don't work well.

 

[Shane-Ireland]

Thanks for that post downtothebone, I am looking at the pioneer SPH DA 120 as i like the smooth flat look of it and don't need a CD player.

Let us know how you get on karlos, mine is an 08 plate S3. Particularly interested in hearing how the fitting kit works out in terms of steering wheel controls, rear speakers and displaying info from the headunit in the DIS screen.

 

[downtothebone]

I'm not a fan of the line of controls at the bottom of the 8700 ... It's functional but looks odd. Although I'm sure if it only had the touchscreen I'd be complaining about grubby fingerprints so I can't really be pleased.

I have Bose and it all sounds fine. I have sockets in the glove compartment for usb, aux and hdmi.

 

[downtothebone]

There is no DIS integration on the 8700.

 

[Shane-Ireland]

Not a fan of the control bar along the bottom also.

I guess none of them will have DIS integration so. What wiring kit did you use to marry it up with the bose ? I think i'lll bite the bullet SPH one. DO your steering wheel controls work with it ?

 

[downtothebone]

It was the same kit mentioned in one of the long 8700 threads previously - can't remember. Controls work mostly just every now and then the track advance does not work the first time the car is started (so first thing in the morning heading off to work) I first have to flick the volume control up and down so as to register a change and then the track advance works. A couple of times this didn't work at all and I had to use the controls on the unit. Not sure if it's my install or if there is a problem.

My only other annoyance is the shuffle play - I have all my music on an sd card and I often get the same tracks coming up regularly in a play session. I end up having to manually advance the music on. This happens quite often.

 

[Shane-Ireland]

Sorry i completely missed where you said about the steering wheel controls already I'll have a dig for that other thread now it's probably the same kit as Karlos linked above.

 

[Karlos_]

No DIS as in track IDs showing at the top? Tbh mine just always reads Aux now so it won't be missed.
I did happen to notice during the latest apple keynote they announced CarPlay will support more DIS functions, like being able to show turn signals on your instrument cluster, just like I believe the RSNE does. I'm not sure if this would be added to existing CarPlay head units and no idea if older cars would be supported. It would be a nice addition but I'm not holding my breath.


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[downtothebone]

No DIS as in track IDs showing at the top? Tbh mine just always reads Aux now so it won't be missed.
I did happen to notice during the latest apple keynote they announced CarPlay will support more DIS functions, like being able to show turn signals on your instrument cluster, just like I believe the RSNE does. I'm not sure if this would be added to existing CarPlay head units and no idea if older cars would be supported. It would be a nice addition but I'm not holding my breath.


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I was old that Pioneer was supposed to release a new connector to allow DIS functionality - not sure what happened.

 

[SaroshM]

The Pioneer SPDH-120 has been good for me and for the price I paid, it's so worth it!


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[Shane-Ireland]

Any pics SaroshM? Be nice to see how it sits in the 8P Dash.

 

[SaroshM]

Will show you once I'm back from work today! It's quite clean in the dash, I got my wires running through the glovebox and I can watch videos in motion! Ash from Audi Retrofits sorted it all out for me.


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[SaroshM]

It has 2 USB ports
And a HDMI port which you can use a AV Apple adaptor to watch videos from your phone!



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[Karlos_]

It has 2 USB ports
And a HDMI port which you can use a AV Apple adaptor to watch videos from your phone!



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Where did you run the USB ports to? Currently in the process of putting mine in, not sure where/how to run them


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[Shane-Ireland]

Looks well SaroshM,looking forward to see how you get on also karlos i am keen on these.

 

[Karlos_]

Okay the wiring kit arrived this morning so I've had a good few hours fun installing my new head unit. When you open the the head unit box and wiring kit it's a bit intimidating the sheer number of wires, adapters and harnesses you have, but it was relatively straight forward what needed to go where.
I did have to crimp and extend a couple of cables due to there being absolutely no slack and it made plugging everything in a giant pain in the ****. Fitting the new cage was also a bit of a pain, seems as though it might be a couple of milli too big and causes it to bow out a bit. Either way once the HU is in it feels nice and secure.
I did get it in and running but Ive still got another few hours work tomorrow... I couldn't find anywhere to run the USB cable out of the back of the head unit, so I've ordered one of these to run into the glove box. ATM I've left the front fascia plate off and got the cable coming out of there. I also need to run the mic, absolutely no idea how I go about doing that now I think about it...
Regarding the actual head unit... I gotta admit I'm absolutely loving CarPlay. Went on a short drive with apple maps and it ran surprisingly well! Got a couple of texts on the drive and it was awesome having Siri read them out. The steering wheel controls worked perfectly, and WOW the sound difference was amazing. I couldn't believe how much better it was! Although I expect it had a bit to do with the fact the data was going across USB rather than bluetooth.
Anyway that went on a lot longer than I expected... sorry! Any questions and let me know. I'll get some pics on hopefully tomorrow. I don't want to put the front fascia plate on and break it trying to get it back off lol.

 

[downtothebone]

8700 with connections in glove box

 

[andykn]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm wondering about one of these Car Play units but am put off by having to use Apple Maps, I much prefer Waze.

Professional installers usually put the Mic in the headlining near the roof lights and run the cable down the A pillar behind the trim AFAIK.

 

[downtothebone]

Thanks for the feedback, I'm wondering about one of these Car Play units but am put off by having to use Apple Maps, I much prefer Waze.

Professional installers usually put the Mic in the headlining near the roof lights and run the cable down the A pillar behind the trim AFAIK.

This is going to be Apple's next big revenue stream - I'd be surprised if they certify competing CarPlay apps in the near future. The alternative is to use a cheap android phone when in the car if you are wedded to Apple.

 

[Karlos_]

Thanks downtothebone and andykn. Got my install finished yesterday. USB is in the same place and the mic was much easier than I expected. Although I did mess up and turn the ignition on while the glove box was out, causing the airbag light to come on the dash. Need to find someone with a VCDS to clear that now!