Apple/Car Play - pre ‘17 Cayennes

[S-Cat]

Has anyone successfully upgraded their PCM to add Apple/Car Play?

That’s the biggest complaint of my ‘16.

[signde]

Not a Cayenne but same PCM 3.1 unit in my 15' Macan Turbo.

Mr12Volt is the the system I settled on after reading countless threads and watching numerous youtube videos.

It works very well, better than I expected. So far it has been rock solid and free of quirks. Mr12Volt is the only solution that utilizes the MOST fiber connection so the audio is better than other options which require using analog auxiliary.

Installation is a little tricky but not that bad. I hear it is easier on Cayennes as you don't have to disassemble as much of the dash.

Look up Roman ACS on rennlist. He is a stateside reseller and offers a small discount over the Mr12Volt website. If you are near Philly he is also an installer.

[S-Cat]

Thanks, signde!

After looking at all the options, I'm more confused! It appears the MR12V system offers enhanced sound adjustments over the system I saw on eCarGuides,

https://ecarguides.com/product/porsche- ... -panamera/

but the latter appears to be easier to install. I'm not all that concerned about sound quality, although I don't want it to degrade, as I am about ease of use. I definitely do not want that Bluetooth interface which horribly degrades audio signals. How do you connect your phone to the MR12v system?

Thanks again!

[S-Cat]

Signde:

Do all your factory steering wheel buttons and roll balls etc... work? One reviewer said he lost his back space and roller ball controls. This is may wife's car and if she loses features, she won't be happy.

[signde]

Thanks, signde!

After looking at all the options, I'm more confused! It appears the MR12V system offers enhanced sound adjustments over the system I saw on eCarGuides,

https://ecarguides.com/product/porsche- ... -panamera/

but the latter appears to be easier to install. I'm not all that concerned about sound quality, although I don't want it to degrade, as I am about ease of use. I definitely do not want that Bluetooth interface which horribly degrades audio signals. How do you connect your phone to the MR12v system?

Thanks again!

I skimmed the installation video for the one you linked and it seems the same level of difficulty to install as Mr12Volt.
For PCM 3/3.1, they are all pretty much the same - you remove the PCM, take it apart, install a new board, re-routing some ribbon cables, then put it back in the car. Mr12Volt does have an external box that must be stowed away somewhere as well, some of the other units may not have this, but that part is easy.

Yes Mr12Volt does have advanced adjustments for audio EQ but you don't have to use them. In my Macan I just let them all at the default.

As for connecting, you can do either wired with a USB cable that attaches from your phone to whatever unit you purchase, or you can do wireless CarPlay. Wireless CarPlay uses bluetooth for the initial handshake to establish a link between your phone and the receiver, but then switches the connection to point to point wifi. Wifi does not have as much bandwidth restrictions as bluetooth and as a result the audio is up to 44.1khz CD quality, much better than bluetooth. You'll have to have lossless audio source files or very hi fidelity streaming from something like Tidal to go beyond the limits of wireless CarPlay.

[S-Cat]

Clearly, head and shoulders above the rest on the audio side.

Do all your steering wheel controls still work?

[signde]

Signde:

Do all your factory steering wheel buttons and roll balls etc... work? One reviewer said he lost his back space and roller ball controls. This is may wife's car and if she looses features, she won't be happy.

With Mr12Volt the volume wheel will still control audio volume as it does with OEM.

As far as I know, none of the units will retain the integration that gives you the name of the track on the multi function dash display. It will just display something generic like the name of the unit, so mine just says "P2000 CarPlay".

The roller bar for navigating through screens still works, as does the back button, in all those screens.

If don't know about Cayennes, but Macans have no track forward or back buttons integrated into the steering wheel. You can set up the diamond "joker" button to advance to the next track, but this won't work when playing CarPlay. I've read this is the same as 2017-2019 model Macans that came with Carplay from the factory, the joker track advance button doesn't do anything in CarPlay.

[signde]

also i'd highly recommend you contact Roman ACS from rennlist. he resells Mr12Volt units and installs them. his personal vehicle is a cayenne, so i'm pretty sure he can tell you exactly what is lost (if anything).

https://www.mr12volt.com/pages/usa-installers

[S-Cat]

Sage advice, Signde!

Thanks!

[rowca]

Yes. We purchased the Isudar. Our most recently install was a 2015 Cayenne Diesel. It is a wireless connection with near immediate connection. I am pleased with the results.

Link: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568024 ... 4itemAdapt