Added easily removable wireless carplay in my Z4M Coupe

[Amaze482]

Hi all. I recently got a 2007 Sepang Bronze Z4 M Coupe as my daily driver, and decided I wanted to add wireless Apple carplay.

I wanted to mess with the car as little as possible, so I built a little system that sits right in the ashtray and integrates nicely. I made it by 3d printing a phone holder and combining a Samsung S10 5G phone with a Carlinkit wireless carplay unit. There is a wireless charger behind the phone, and I rewired the cigarette lighter to come on with ignition, which starts the carplay app and turns it off. Probably the trickiest part was the high power draw of the Carlinkit - I solved that by using a USB switch from Pishop.us controlled by the 5V signal from the USB cigarette lighter adapter that powers everything. My car has an AUX port so that's how I connected the phone to the stereo. One of the reasons I got that specific Samsung phone was it is the right size for the opening and actually has a headphone jack.

I'm attaching a picture. If anyone is interested I can add the .stl files to 3d print the holder and some links to the parts I used.

[jfo122]

Looks great! I'd love the .stl file if you can share it.

[3002 tii]

Sorry stupid question, genuinely asking though. How’s this different than mounting an iPhone horizontally and connecting via aux (line or Bluetooth adapter)?

[Amaze482]

I've attached the .stl file zipped up. Its designed to work with these components:

wireless charger: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
carlinkit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
cigarette lighter adapter: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
USB power switch: https://www.pishop.us/product/usb-power-switch/

You also need some random cables as well as the Samsung S10 5G.

The difference from just using your iphone plugged into the aux port is that the apple carplay (or android auto) interface is simplified and optimized for use in the car compared to the regular iphone, and you never have to take you phone out of your pocket - just get in the car and you have google maps running and your podcast or music starting up from where you left it. Its very nice.

[mmm-five]

Originally Posted by Amaze482

The difference from just using your iphone plugged into the aux port is that the apple carplay (or android auto) interface is simplified and optimized for use in the car compared to the regular iphone, and you never have to take you phone out of your pocket - just get in the car and you have google maps running and your podcast or music starting up from where you left it. Its very nice.

If you never have to take your phone out of your pocket, why is it shown mounted behind the gear lever with a cable attached?

...or are you saying the 'simple' solution is to buy another phone, just to leave it plugged into the car

[Amaze482]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

...or are you saying the 'simple' solution is to buy another phone, just to leave it plugged into the car

That's the one! In my defense it is a 2019 model (to have the headphone jack) and wasn't that expensive.

[3002 tii]

Still don’t see the real benefit to this. I had apple CarPlay in my i3 and the benefit was that it integrated with the factory infotainment screen, i.e. I could “access” my iPhone using the factory radio controls. I did not have to pull my phone out to turn on waze, etc.

Here you’re essentially using a phone to access your main phone and you need to look down (and take your eyes off the road). I’d rather deal with the hassle of taking my phone out when I first get in the car, and just mounting it somewhere visible using something like this

https://a.co/d/27HxEvo

[pungo]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

Still don’t see the real benefit to this. I had apple CarPlay in my i3 and the benefit was that it integrated with the factory infotainment screen, i.e. I could “access” my iPhone using the factory radio controls. I did not have to pull my phone out to turn on waze, etc.

Here you’re essentially using a phone to access your main phone and you need to look down (and take your eyes off the road). I’d rather deal with the hassle of taking my phone out when I first get in the car, and just mounting it somewhere visible using something like this

https://a.co/d/27HxEvo

Though I applaud the effort the OP put into this, I'm in agreement with 3002 tii, been scratching my head trying to understand the benefit, but seems kinda redundant to me using 2 phones as well as unsafe/distracting to look down that low for navigation or other interaction with the phone