Ok...so there's been a lot of back and forth on what the various OEM units are and what these Merryway units can be applied to. Could someone please summarize what OEM units are on what cars and what to specify for each when ordering the Merryway unit.

 

Good point. Perhaps a new Topic would be in order.

And, a demonstration/comparison of the OEM and Merryway systems' operation would be useful too. That way we could see the difference in response time AND the added, more modern features.



I'm not that far from Rick in NYC, if he wants to make a video directly comparing operation of our stock '14 and his Merryway '15. ( @frostysauce PM me if you want to do that in the coming weeks.)

 

 

Does anyone know how it connects with your phone and uses its Internet connection? Do you use Bluetooth tethering or have to make a WiFi hotspot?

Either would be a pretty big drain on your phone's battery

 

Even with factory integration, you have to keep your phone plugged in.

 

This was posted some time ago by CAMPO. May help.

By "Bosch" they mean the IAM2.1

All F-Types up to VIN K22184 (2015MY) had the IAM2.1 infotainment system

Cars with the Base or 380W Meridian system from VIN K22185 onward got the NLI infotainment system, what they are calling "Harman" that's 2016MY onward, but not the 770W Surround.

Cars in the 2016-2017MY with the 770W Meridian kept the IAM2.1 infotainment, VIN's K22185 to K47319. The homescreen was changed but it's still IAM2.1 "Bosch"

Cars after K47319 with the Meridian Surround have the NGI infotainment, which is InControl Touch Pro, which will have Apple Carplay Android Auto anyhow.

 

Hi guys!

Install video is here. I did a usage video as well, but then changed some stuff around and learned a bit more about the unit - so I will do that one tomorrow with my lessons learned. Installing the unit is pretty straight forward so it's not a very long watch! Took a long time to compile on my laptop, however.

 

Two questions:
1. Is the IAM2.1 system capacitive or resistive?
2. Will this only work with an Android phone (Auto) or can this be used with an iPhone (CarPlay)? Maybe another Merryway unit for CarPlay?

 

I don't have an iPhone, but Rick did mention that the Carplay integration through USB works fine - I will let him elaborate

 

 

I'd like to be in for the group order. Is that a separate thread?
And thanks to all of you involved in the testing - great job!

 

Ditto group buy Im 2016 770w 31K range VIN so IAM2.1 system capacitive. My screen only works with ur finger. I have an android phone

 

Looking forward to seeing the actual usage video.

 

 

Thanks for the video! Looking forward to hearing about CarPlay functionality when someone has a chance to test it. I'm curious if the CarPlay audio quality will be poor (and the apps used through it such as Spotify), as the sound will likely come from the tablet, not bluetooth when CarPlay is used.

 

Great review, thanks for all your efforts Frostysauce!

This may be great for many folks, I see some features that are nice. But there are a few things that concerned me, one being I'm not sure it has the high end look/screen resolution that I'd want and two I'm pretty bummed about the no android auto, it would have been nice to have full audio control, texting and replying, etc.

 

I have to agree. The lack of Android Auto is strange. Even more so since it's all running on Android.
What concerns me most is the speed of the system. Not being able to run Google Maps because it's not fast enough is a big concern. My old Nexus 7 tablet runs Google Maps with no issues. There is something weird happening with the software I think.
I also found that it was taking forever to load.

 

Essentially I have the same concerns. Its not that Google maps doesn't work at all, sometimes it's faster than other times. However, multi-tasking is not exactly the tablets strong suit.

We could probably get Android auto by finding an older version of the app, compatible with Android 6.0. However, anything that requires the audio to go through the tablet that happens through the 3.5mm jack simply has very poor audio quality. Not sure if you could buy a small USB powered DAC as the intermediary to the aux in. Anything through Bluetooth sounds just as good as if you were using your phone.

As mentioned in the video, I couldnt get the tablet to pair very reliably with the car, however phones have no issues connecting to the tablet via Bluetooth.

 

 

Again, I want to thank you for your dedication in getting this to work and keeping us posted on the progress.
For me, this unit does not compete with the factory unit, it actually competes with my Pixel 3 on the dash. I have no problem at all using the phone on the dash. That gives me more than even the MY2019 and it's always up to date. So, unless Merryway finds a way to upgrade to a more current version of Android, I think I will keep my current setup.