After much research of multiple companies that offer CarPlay/Android Auto addons to the 2014-2017.5 Jaguar F-TYPE with the Bosch system, it appears that most of these units are similar, if not come from the same factory. UAD customer service was awful in giving me incorrect information on which system (Bosch or Harman) I have.

I came across www.carlinklife.com and saw they had a unit that came to $296 shipped to Los Angeles from China after using a coupon code (MBWORLD) I found on the Mercedes forums. I AM NOT ASSOCIATED WITH THE VENDOR!!

https://carlinklife.com/products/wir...oring-decorder

Its been about 2 months since I've installed the unit and its now its smack dab in the middle of summer in Southern California (105 degrees) and the unit has been working without issues.

PROS:
- The steering wheel mounted controls (track forward/back and volume work)
- Install took about an hour
- The additional EQ settings on the CarPlay module makes a world of difference in sound quality especially in Meridian mode
- OEM microphone retained
- Call quality improved
- Excellent value compared UAD, GTA units

NEUTRAL/CONS:
- I still haven't figured out the mirroring vs linking CarPlay option
- The directions on what settings the dip switches need to be are not correct and took me several tries to figure out the right combination
- When toggling to CarPlay from the OEM Jaguar Infotainment screen, it occasionally triggers Siri..not a big deal
- I wish the wiring harness was "reversed" so that the unit can put in the dead space between the seats behind the panel vs tucking it between the carpet and transmission tunnel

In detail overview and review after I installed:

 

$186 on Aliexpress. Works great. Had it in my 2017 F Type R for half a year. Flawless.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256805642356957.html

 

How do you know which system you have? Thanks.

 

Post a picture of your car's homescreen and I'll tell you.

 

U have to go through the USB cable to mirror you phone. Carplay work wirelessly.

 

Here is my home screen. Will I have to install it in the dash or in the panel in back between the seats? Thank you!

 

Bosch system. The module is mounted behind the carpet on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel

 

Thank you.

 

Good thread. Liking what you've chosen. I just ordered one from Carlinklife. I have to say that the service of Carlinklife is excellent, and they responded very fast. I ask a lot of questions and the support there was very helpful in answering them all. It's good!
BTW I think service is more important than low price. Three months ago I went to Aliexpress to buy a device, but I can't get the corresponding after-sales help. Honestly a very bad experience! Stay away!

 

I’ve been running this since late April/early May and have been pleased. The big win for me is the retention of steering wheel controls. Credit to Alvin on the FB groups for sharing this with us in April. Credit for the $30 discount code on the MB forums should go to him as well. For $300, it has been a nice choice.

Here’s a write up of the install but I didn’t bother with photos. Mostly wanted to capture it if anyone else in our local group was interested in help later. I did mine (2017) and helped a local friend (2016) and both were approx 45 min installs.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ow9b6...s4genihrw&dl=0

 

I order this one and the main cable is too short to even reach both the screen and the system between the seats.

 

Great find; thanks for sharing! Are there any issues with a backup camera or any other steering wheel buttons?

"The directions on what settings the dip switches need to be are not correct and took me several tries to figure out the right combination" <-- Can you elaborate? What cable are you referring to?

 

@WhiteTardis Thanks to @MellieR I too exchanged out my UAD kit for this one. I have found their tech support top notch (What'sApp conversations have been super easy) and they have multiple times helped me already. For the Mirroring mode. Think of it more like mirroring your phone to a TV. Once you are connected to the Carlink WIFI network, turn off bluetooth to disconnect your CarPlay and go into the settings on the car to the screen where you will mirror. From there on your phone, go to the Control Center and select the screen mirroring section and select the car. Hope that helps.

 

What advantages did you get compared to the UAD kit? Apart from the better pricing the differences seem to be that you can use the forward/back steering wheel buttons and OEM mic with this kit. Anything else that this kit does better or worse than UAD?

 

You nailed it. These are the major advantages. I would say another advantage is the installation for the Carlink was easier as the box itself sits behind the carpet in the tunnel headed to the center console where the UAD sat behind the screen. Only con I have had is the top of the screen is slightly cut off when using Apple Music app in Carplay. There is nothing you can do about it. More of a cosmetic issue than a functional one. I also like the way the AUX adapter works to trick the system to thinking that there is something plugged into the aux port. The UAD one required a cable plugged in there and I had to use a ground loop isolator to remove some engine whine (which the adapter worked great) but no longer need that.

 

Great info. I have been planning to do this on my 2017 with Bosch system. Was considering one of the higher price 'branded' ones but this has me rethinking. What are the downsides - anything not work or any features lost?

And while it sounds like you don't have to use an external mic, is there an option to do so? My normal car phone via Bluetooth is pretty much impossible for the person I call to hear. Not sure if it's the mic so wondering if a way to bypass that and test it out?

 

Using the built in mic over the 3rd party one is night and day different for me. OEM is much better IMO.

 

Very tempted between this and the (more expensive) 10.25" screen upgrade.

 

Ok, good to know. I'm really happy with my UAD kit but this seems like a great option which I may have chosen if I knew about it before and if it also works with the IMC based system in the MY18 facelift cars (latest version of ICTP, no more analog AUX in etc).

Just in case someone is looking for options for a MY18+ car, this is the way the UAD kit works (which may not be entirely clear before you buy it). In older cars like the OP's I think it just takes over the navigation function video feed like the carlinklife kit above.
- The system does not replace the built in navigation or any other function so they're all still available
- You don't have to push any button to enter CarPlay. Once you've installed the kit and paired your phone, CarPlay basically becomes the default function in the car's infotainment. As soon as you unlock the car and the infotainment gets a power signal the UAD unit powers up, connects to your previously wirelessly paired phone and takes over the display. That goes faster than booting the standard system so you basically just see the car's system boot splash screen with the leaper for a short while and then CarPlay directly. So if you have your phone around you never even see the standard infotainment - it just goes straight into CarPlay. If the UAD kit doesn't recognise a paired CarPlay device it doesn't take over the video signal and the standard infotainment just comes up.
- If you ever want to switch between CarPlay and the built in system you long press the home button.
- Audio goes from the UAD unit via a standard AUX cable that you plug into a USB interface dongle, which you then plug into one of the USB ports in the centre cubby. What's not included and what you have to add is a ground loop isolator. All of that easily fits behind the carpet along the centre tunnel so you just have to feed the audio USB cable into the cubby. That said you need to keep Aux in as the selected sound source in the car to get the audio from the kit. Any other car audio like incoming calls (provided that you still have your phone paired with the car system for calls), parking sensor beeps, OEM navigation audio etc blends in as usual.
- You have to use an additional small microphone that comes with the kit. Easy to fit in a good place and seems to work well.
- The back/forth buttons on the steering wheel don't work to skip tracks in CarPlay - you have to use the screen soft keys in CarPlay for that.
- The standard "turn off screen" feature doesn't work quite as before. I mean the one that dims the interior lighting and entirely shuts off the screen e.g. for night driving. If you enable this the screen doesn't turn off completely as before, but stays illuminated with a black bakground. So obviously much darker than if you actually display something on it, but the screen is still on.
- The reversing camera works as usual, but if only the front parking sensors go on (mine do automatically when I'm close enough to something) their graphical display doesn't take over the screen like it does if you put the car in reverse. You hear the sensor beeps but the screen stays in CarPlay so if you also want the front parking sensor graphics you have to push the home button to switch over to the standard system display.

That carlink issue with the top of the screen should just be a software thing. I guess there's no such setting in the unit's video settings now but the manufacturer should be able to add a feature to adjust the overscan of the display and basically let you squeeze the vertical size of the displayed image a bit. Don't know what display settings this unit has but I really appreciate the settings the UAD kit has which allow you to fine tune both brightness, contrast and saturation to get it perfect. Some built in CarPlay interfaces I've used in other cars had weird colors without any adjustment possibilities.

 

The inexpensive kit I ordered from Aliexpress (link above) uses both the OEM mics and allow track selection/forward/back with the steering wheel buttons. It works great, I’ve had no issues in 6 months since install. The small issue is the wiring harness is a bit short, but you can easily solve this problem by unwrapping a bit of the wire loam to allow a bit more of the harness to stretch between the console and rear amp. That’s what I did, it’s been discussed previously in a number of threads on Carplay upgrades. Took 5 minutes.