Apple play / Android auto box

[kdad]

Any recommendation on which box to buy? There's plenty of products in the 200 to 300 usd price range on eBay or AliExpress. Any product links would be appreciated

[Geo41e]

I saw this and looks promising:

https://www.carplaymmb.com/products/...multimedia-box

[ErikV55]

I did extensive research on this. If you care about audio quality, skip the android boxes. sad but true.

[Xolinlevh]

Originally Posted by ErikV55

I did extensive research on this. If you care about audio quality, skip the android boxes. sad but true.

+1, I just did a full ID6 swap for this reason. Much more expensive but....fully OEM and doesnt ruin audio

[X5guyinRI]

Originally Posted by ErikV55

I did extensive research on this. If you care about audio quality, skip the android boxes. sad but true.

I’m no audiophile, but the stories about terrible audio quality from the android boxes are over stated. While I did tweak a few settings on my android box, I would challenge you to guess if the sound was from an aftermarket unit or oem.

I bought a generic one on eBay and it installed easy, always works eventually, sometimes a little quirky to get working on car start. Love it though - use it everyday. I recommend.

[corduroy]

Originally Posted by X5guyinRI

I’m no audiophile, but the stories about terrible audio quality from the android boxes are over stated. While I did tweak a few settings on my android box, I would challenge you to guess if the sound was from an aftermarket unit or oem.

I bought a generic one on eBay and it installed easy, always works eventually, sometimes a little quirky to get working on car start. Love it though - use it everyday. I recommend.

Yeah, I don't understand the audio quality issue. People are trying to get it to stream over BT instead of AUX (Analog >>> BT compression). I played with the EQ on my HK system (just code it to BO, the default EQ is as good as a custom EQ setting for HK) and I can't easily tell the difference between playing a flac on the oem system vs a 320kbps MP3 with Android Auto.

Anyways, mr12volt sells an Android Box that goes through the OEM TV option (just need to code that option to enable it). That goes through the MOST system - doesn't get better than that. I have RoadTop and am 100% happy with it.

[Kurzgesagt]

I installed this on my X5 and it works well.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It was a little tight to install but after a bit of maneuvering around of the cables and box, you can just barely get it in. Sometimes, you have to manually connect to the CarPlay but 97% of the time it connects upon startup - no different than my 2020 330i that has OEM CarPlay...

It actually improved audio as well as it has a built-in decoder or something...don't quote me on that but I noticed the audio was better - I also have HK audio in my F15...not sure if that makes a difference.