having a friend who has the NaviPlus solution I’ll say the install of the UAD is quite easier than the NaviPlus. Less money and the steering wheel controls work for volume up and down. Just not previous and next when using CarPlay or Android Auto otherwise they work fine on other sources.

 

Fair enough. For me the forward and rewind functionality is important as I often skip tracks while driving, finicky taste in music hehe.

As a lot of my driving is on the highway, I'd rather not give up the steering wheel controls to navigate using the touch screen when driving at speed. Similarly, I wanted an up to date nav system to avoid heavy traffic and not have to constantly use my smartphone to do it. This seemed to be the best compromise. Hopefully the experience is smooth

 

you may want to confirm this but pretty sure it’s the same for NaviPlus. Previous and next will not work on aux which is what your android auto and CarPlay will use.

 

I confirmed with them and they said it works 9 times out of 10, which is the same rate I get with the stock unit really. Will only be able to confirm when I receive the unit though, hopefully they're not trying to pull a fast one.. Will let the forum know

 

This might be of interest, for the unit with no hard buttons at the side https://www.xeforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8627

 

I know this is a stupid question but what is so important in Apple Carplay to justify all this work and expense? We have it in our Maser but my wife never uses it.

 

if nothing else, to be able to see the navigation on my head unit and not have to keep looking at my phone in the cup holder. There are TONS of reasons though. Just look up apple car play or android auto and i'm sure there are tons of video explanations. Sounds like it wouldn't matter for you though, if you have it and don't use it

 

We have it in our XE but havent used it because you need to attach the phone to the car by a cord. Really, if I wanted to do something that primitive I'd ride my pterodactyl to work and listen to vinyl music from a turntable strapped to its back.

In any event (and this isnt sour grapes because android auto/apple carplay sound pretty good to me) a recent study suggested that the distraction factor from android auto and apple carplay is more than texting or pot https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/a...cohol-texting/. That concerned me enough to put them back in my list of priorities.

 

Hmm I had all but given up on a decent solution to getting Carplay... your experience sounds really promising, thanks! Now I just need to get over being intimidated by taking apart the console for the install...

 

Oh and Skizot, how is the responsiveness to touch and gestures? Any lag when scrolling maps, etc? I've also heard that the quality/resolution of the stock display is a limiting factor for Carplay. Any thoughts?

 

its really not very hard. Just a little tedious and time consuming

 

That's all BS. If that is the case, it is not with the UAD system. My screen is very responsive and resolution is fine for what the intended use is. I have zero complaints at this point. Watch the YouTube video on this and you will see it in action.

 

Just ordered the unit from UAD, they're currently having a minor sale (-£15).
https://unique-ad.co.uk/

 

Whew, mostly finished the install of my UAD interface. It all works nicely, final thing left is to drill a hole for the cables to enter the armrest storage area.

quick reflections:
1. Getting the screen bezel (with the hardware buttons) detached from the AC control panel was a pain in the ***. It requires no force, just a lot of wriggling to get the right angle.
2. It’s not noted in the directions but removing the gear shift surround is necessary as it allows you to remove the AC controls, which is pretty much necessary to have enough room to fiddle back there and route cables
3. Removing the gear shift bezel was unexpectedly difficult, I think because I was prying beyond the bezel and trying to lift the whole gear shift unit as well.
4. As skizot noted you can fit the UAD unit in between the factory nav and the screen perfectly, but I elected not to do this as I was concerned about blocking the ventilation holes for the screen
5. I didn’t realize how much I use the skip button on the steering wheel... I’m going to miss that a lot.

 

Any other way to get those cables into the armrest without drilling? I just added the UAD unit in over the weekend, but still have the AUX, USB, & Mic cables just sitting there with the passenger trim panel off.

It seems that the gentleman in the video had a RHD, and thus, was able to run the wiring through by lifting the armrest trim up a bit.

I was hoping not to have to drill, but it looks like that might be the only way. At least it will be hidden..

 

I routed the mic as suggested in the directions, near the start button. The wire exits in between the gear-shift surround (which is removed during install) and the pleather knee cushion to its left. Didn't need to use the adhesive backing, it stays put by pressure.

Depending on the thickness of your cabling, you can have the AUX and USB cables just exit the passenger trim panel near the armrest, go under it and into the storage area. (There is a gap between the armrest cushion and the plastic base when the armrest is down, which is meant to leave room for cables coming out of the storage area.) But my cables were thick and resulted to too much of a gap between the trim panel and armrest housing where the cables exited. It just looked messy and unfinished.

My backup plan was to get flat cables and run those out in between the trim panel without drilling.

 

I see - I'm having the same issue with the thicker cables. I think I will drill a small hole and run the USB & AUX through there. I may even add a rubber grommet to get a factory look/feel.
As far as the MIC goes, I'll try the same method as you - I was trying to avoid using the adhesive, so if it holds with pressure alone that would be perfect.

Did you use a ground loop isolater for the AUX as well? I noticed a big difference in the audio quality versus not having it - there was a background static before, but it seems to be gone with it in-line!

Now my only gripe is that I get kicked out of CarPlay every few minutes. I've got to check the troubleshooting tips to see if there is a workaround for that.

 

What I did was drill into top corner of the storage area, and then hand filed it into a rectangle just big enough to get the USB cable head through. I was planning on covering up the hole after I ran the cables with adhesive felt with an incision in them, kind of like what you see in office desks to hide cable ports. But the angle as viewed from the driver's seat and the fact that everything in there is a dark grey anyway made it unnecessary.

I did add a ground loop filter as suggested above, but I didn't test to see what the difference would be (I placed it on the interface end, so I can't easily experiment now). AUX ports have always been buzzy in my experience, and happily I'm not hearing any of that in mine.

I haven't had any problems with CarPlay disconnecting at all, you might want to contact UAD support and see what they say

 

Went for a drive & played with the factory settings, turns out I had the "timeout to homescreen" setting set to 2 minutes.. turned that off and it's all good now!

 

I've got a Jaguar XE 2017 with the old unit with the physical buttons on the side. Here's what I'm looking for: I'm simply looking to install a front bumper camera, and maybe be able to also play Youtube on the head unit. What are the chances either of these are able to be done on the factory head unit?