Hamilton Motor - Apple Carplay Conversion Kit (8 Viewers)

[captainbeefheart]

I finally pulled the trigger on a 2013 200 series, so pumped! Anyway, the second major mod I'm looking to buy is a head unit supplement to allow for carplay. I've got Carpuride 103W, but I'm not crazy about another screen sitting on top of the dash.. I'd like to keep the OEM screen if possible. Sounds like there are a few options out there, one of them being the Hamilton Motor Co Apple Car Play Conversion Kit:

2008-2015 Toyota Land Cruiser Apple Carplay Conversion Kit

There's also this option:

Select Lexus Toyota 2013-2015 VLite VT2 CarPlay

I've searched through the forums here, but I can't find much on the former one, just the latter. Curious if any members have any experience or thoughts on it. Or the second one at that.

Thanks, and looking forward to spooling up this vehicle I've had my eye on for half a decade now!

 

[turnbelt]

I have the GROM VLite2 in my LX and it's been fantastic. The only thing that doesn't function perfectly is adjusting the AC up and down; it kicks you back to the original infotainment, then kicks you back to CarPlay. Besides that, the system feels as close to factory as possible. There's usually a group buy going on as well.

I even rewired the USB in the center console to plug into the USB-IN on the GROM to keep the complete factory look, but wireless CarPlay works so well on it that I never even use wired.

 

[captainbeefheart]

I have the GROM VLite2 in my LX and it's been fantastic. The only thing that doesn't function perfectly is adjusting the AC up and down; it kicks you back to the original infotainment, then kicks you back to CarPlay. Besides that, the system feels as close to factory as possible. There's usually a group buy going on as well.

I even rewired the USB in the center console to plug into the USB-IN on the GROM to keep the complete factory look, but wireless CarPlay works so well on it that I never even use wired.

Thanks for the insight, so you are able to adjust the climate through the original system though?

And good to know about the USB, I wasn't stoked on not using the cigarette lighter version they used. Is there a video you used as a resource for pulling that center console apart?

 

[turnbelt]

Thanks for the insight, so you are able to adjust the climate through the original system though?

And good to know about the USB, I wasn't stoked on not using that. Is there a video you used as a resource for pulling that center console apart?

Yeah original climate all works fine, you can swap between the two no problem. It's only using the temp up and down buttons that creates a weird bounce to the stock system, then back to the GROM (for me at least). The GROM has temp readouts that show up, but for some reason it glitches out and sends you to the stock system for a split second.

There was not, but there are several threads around here that I used. The center part kinda just yanks out for the most part. I already had the entire center console removed to swap out the cool box though.

 

[captainbeefheart]

Yeah original climate all works fine, you can swap between the two no problem. It's only using the temp up and down buttons that creates a weird bounce to the stock system, then back to the GROM (for me at least). The GROM has temp readouts that show up, but for some reason it glitches out and sends you to the stock system for a split second.

There was not, but there are several threads around here that I used. The center part kinda just yanks out for the most part. I already had the entire center console removed to swap out the cool box though.

I'll look around. I'm split on the cooler box. I want to try it out, but I feel like it's wasted space for the most part. What did you do to yours?

 

[turnbelt]

I'll look around. I'm split on the cooler box. I want to try it out, but I feel like it's wasted space for the most part. What did you do to yours?

The previous owners left something treacherous in it and we did everything we could to get the smell out. In the end I had to buy a cool box off of eBay and swap them out. We never even use it, so it probably wasn't worth it in the end, but hey at least we can use it now!

 

[Jayvong]

I ordered a unit from Hamilton motor co last week, waiting for them to restock the wiring harness and then it will ship. I thought the route I was going to take was a Grom unit, but was always iffy on the Grom ones as they seem to be buggy and require hard reboots especially at that price point. I heard wired carplay is stable with the Grom, but wireless is more ideal for me.

The Hamilton one is cheaper and claims to have better heatsink which might just be marketing, also has an edge over Grom on warranty time period. I'll be satisfied so long as its drama free and get to save a few bucks, even if it has occasional bugs I'll justify it with slight $ savings.

We shall see!

Edit: Hamilton motor co unit is cheaper than the VLine V2 (not VLite) which is what I am comparing price to

 

[captainbeefheart]

I ordered a unit from Hamilton motor co last week, waiting for them to restock the wiring harness and then it will ship. I thought the route I was going to take was a Grom unit, but was always iffy on the Grom ones as they seem to be buggy and require hard reboots especially at that price point. I heard wired carplay is stable with the Grom, but wireless is more ideal for me.

The Hamilton one is cheaper and claims to have better heatsink which might just be marketing, also has an edge over Grom on warranty time period. I'll be satisfied so long as its drama free and get to save a few bucks, even if it has occasional bugs I'll justify it with slight $ savings.

We shall see!

Edit: Hamilton motor co unit is cheaper than the VLine V2 (not VLite) which is what I am comparing price to

Nice! Will you please report back what you think of it after a few weeks/months? I have it bookmarked (along with the GROM). I would have pulled the trigger by now, but I'm waiting to see if Carpuride will allow me to return this unit I got and get some money back before buying ANOTHER thing that I'm not 100% on.

 

[cboyd]

I ordered a unit from Hamilton motor co last week, waiting for them to restock the wiring harness and then it will ship. I thought the route I was going to take was a Grom unit, but was always iffy on the Grom ones as they seem to be buggy and require hard reboots especially at that price point. I heard wired carplay is stable with the Grom, but wireless is more ideal for me.

The Hamilton one is cheaper and claims to have better heatsink which might just be marketing, also has an edge over Grom on warranty time period. I'll be satisfied so long as its drama free and get to save a few bucks, even if it has occasional bugs I'll justify it with slight $ savings.

We shall see!

Edit: Hamilton motor co unit is cheaper than the VLine V2 (not VLite) which is what I am comparing price to

Following! The Hamilton unit looks promising. Too many horror stories on Grom here on mud

 

[Jayvong]

Received my unit yesterday and got it installed last night, fairly straight forward install. Quality of the cables and harnesses were pretty nice, the cables were sleeved and connectors felt solid.

I will report back again as I have more time with the unit, only have encountered one issue so far and that was Carplay being frozen despite closing out of the Carplay app on the unit and restarting it. What I think may have happened is that when I stepped out of the vehicle to go inside my garage I lost the bluetooth connection to the unit causing it to freeze. I suspect that cause when I got back into the car the bluetooth connection to the unit was disconnected. Reconnected and the Carplay was still frozen. Its only the Carplay app itself, all other functions work fine on the unit (such as choosing different apps). Had to turn car off and on and it was fine after that - I guess that counts as a hard reset?

Aside from that one hiccup, it seems to be smooth - not a conclusive report since I have only done two short(er) drives. The unit is smooth and zippy when I can get it to do what I want - to elaborate I have to press hard on the screen when interacting with the GUI of the unit and Carplay. I wonder if this is just cause the LC has older touch screen technology and its not meant to comprehend swipe motions and an entirely new GUI?

Not a deal breaker since I use steering wheel controls mostly to change songs or if I am at a stop I will just change it on my phone and enter map information onto the phone itself.

 

[GrouchyTech]

Would you be able to show us a video of it in use?
I’m really interested in one of these CarPlay/OEM integration solutions but the touch interface is my only real worry.

 

[MrCWineMan]

After tons of debate I ordered one of these yesterday - I will report back.

 

[Joehoo]

Received my unit yesterday and got it installed last night, fairly straight forward install. Quality of the cables and harnesses were pretty nice, the cables were sleeved and connectors felt solid.

I will report back again as I have more time with the unit, only have encountered one issue so far and that was Carplay being frozen despite closing out of the Carplay app on the unit and restarting it. What I think may have happened is that when I stepped out of the vehicle to go inside my garage I lost the bluetooth connection to the unit causing it to freeze. I suspect that cause when I got back into the car the bluetooth connection to the unit was disconnected. Reconnected and the Carplay was still frozen. Its only the Carplay app itself, all other functions work fine on the unit (such as choosing different apps). Had to turn car off and on and it was fine after that - I guess that counts as a hard reset?

Aside from that one hiccup, it seems to be smooth - not a conclusive report since I have only done two short(er) drives. The unit is smooth and zippy when I can get it to do what I want - to elaborate I have to press hard on the screen when interacting with the GUI of the unit and Carplay. I wonder if this is just cause the LC has older touch screen technology and its not meant to comprehend swipe motions and an entirely new GUI?

Not a deal breaker since I use steering wheel controls mostly to change songs or if I am at a stop I will just change it on my phone and enter map information onto the phone itself.

What year is yours? I’m having trouble getting sound to play thru CarPlay.

 

[Jayvong]

What year is yours? I’m having trouble getting sound to play thru CarPlay.

Mine is a 2013, thanks for bringing this up and I should have mentioned this- cause I think with any unit this can be tricky. I have another vehicle with similar set up and here is my "workaround" or method to this.

I connect via wireless and when the Carplay app loads, my streaming app will then change to connect BT to the unit and stream via the unit/Carplay. When that happens I manually go to Spotify app and select my output BT device options and select it back to the Toyota BT connection.

The boot up sequence is something like this:

Car starts - phone connects to OEM BT connection
Once Hamilton unit loads and Carplay app loads Spotify changes BT connection to output to Hamilton unit
I then change it back via Spotify app

I believe the AUX cord in the wiring harness is the way you can get sound to output via Hamilton unit itself, I left that unplugged cause I was unsure of where it was supposed to go. Basically I am using the Carplay for its interface and have all sound route through the OEM BT connection still.

Also, if anyone else is installing this - the hang up button on steering wheel is how you switch between OEM interface and the unit. There were no directions on this so I sat in the car pressing every button until it switched.

Would you be able to show us a video of it in use?
I’m really interested in one of these CarPlay/OEM integration solutions but the touch interface is my only real worry.

I definitely could, just need to find some time to record it!

 

[Joehoo]

Mine is a 2013, thanks for bringing this up and I should have mentioned this- cause I think with any unit this can be tricky. I have another vehicle with similar set up and here is my "workaround" or method to this.

I connect via wireless and when the Carplay app loads, my streaming app will then change to connect BT to the unit and stream via the unit/Carplay. When that happens I manually go to Spotify app and select my output BT device options and select it back to the Toyota BT connection.

The boot up sequence is something like this:

Car starts - phone connects to OEM BT connection
Once Hamilton unit loads and Carplay app loads Spotify changes BT connection to output to Hamilton unit
I then change it back via Spotify app

I believe the AUX cord in the wiring harness is the way you can get sound to output via Hamilton unit itself, I left that unplugged cause I was unsure of where it was supposed to go. Basically I am using the Carplay for its interface and have all sound route through the OEM BT connection still.

Also, if anyone else is installing this - the hang up button on steering wheel is how you switch between OEM interface and the unit. There were no directions on this so I sat in the car pressing every button until it switched.




I definitely could, just need to find some time to record it!

Thanks for the tip. I can get my audio apps to play thru the OEM BT. But still no sound coming from Waze or Apple Maps. Will keep trying with it. I’ve also emailed Hamilton to see what they think.

 

[Jayvong]

Thanks for the tip. I can get my audio apps to play thru the OEM BT. But still no sound coming from Waze or Apple Maps. Will keep trying with it. I’ve also emailed Hamilton to see what they think.

I think the downside to my method would be loss of audio from Waze/Maps cause I don't think there's a way to tell those apps to send audio to OEM BT instead of unit (or maybe there is idk). This never has crossed my mind cause I use maps muted and rarely use Waze, but I know this is a huge deal cause it chimes and alerts you.

Let us know what their response is, Im guessing its the AUX cable that allows output. If they meant for us to plug that into the AUX port near the cig lighter then that wasn't part of the instructions. If that AUX cable is supposed to plug in somewhere behind the dash then maybe it piggybacks off of CD mode to output sound (just a wild guess). Did you plug that AUX cable into anything?

 

[Joehoo]

I think the downside to my method would be loss of audio from Waze/Maps cause I don't think there's a way to tell those apps to send audio to OEM BT instead of unit (or maybe there is idk). This never has crossed my mind cause I use maps muted and rarely use Waze, but I know this is a huge deal cause it chimes and alerts you.

Let us know what their response is, Im guessing its the AUX cable that allows output. If they meant for us to plug that into the AUX port near the cig lighter then that wasn't part of the instructions. If that AUX cable is supposed to plug in somewhere behind the dash then maybe it piggybacks off of CD mode to output sound (just a wild guess). Did you plug that AUX cable into anything?

I didn’t get an aux cable in my wire harness. Only things left are the round speaker. USB/Micro SD port and two yellow video cables. Also an antenna that reminds me of a Sirius one I used years ago.

 

[Jayvong]

I didn’t get an aux cable in my wire harness. Only things left are the round speaker. USB/Micro SD port and two yellow video cables. Also an antenna that reminds me of a Sirius one I used years ago.

My aux cable was part of the main wiring harness, I just looked at the the PDF and see that the harness that contains the yellow vid cables have a female aux jack. So maybe the aux cable is supposed to plug into that, but if it does it might debunk everything I said in earlier post. A bit stumped myself now, hopefully Hamilton co can steer us in the right direction.

 

[Joehoo]

My aux cable was part of the main wiring harness, I just looked at the the PDF and see that the harness that contains the yellow vid cables have a female aux jack. So maybe the aux cable is supposed to plug into that, but if it does it might debunk everything I said in earlier post. A bit stumped myself now, hopefully Hamilton co can steer us in the right direction.

I had one labeled MIC. Only other connection I had. Just glad you got me thru to the work around. BTW Waze does have the same kind of BT selection that Sirius and Spotify have. But still doesn’t push audio thru.

 

[MrCWineMan]

I installed this in a driveway of an Airbnb last week, and so far, it is working wonderfully. My only issue is the volume of notifications; I can’t seem to set different levels there. So as I normally use my stereo I have quiet background music, then a nave or SMS pops through I’d like that to be louder than the music. I have not been able to solve this yet playing with all of the settings, the announcements are the same volume as the music or lower. I have a note into Hamilton on this.

Otherwise on a 2016 this is a great add on, works flawlessly, easy install, I dig it.