Nifty City CarPlay unit for LC200

[82SC]

The Grom does not have an external mic.

I believe it uses factory mic as I’ve taken calls via wireless CarPlay. And I never installed a mic. And one of the updates was an auto mic gain adjustment which seems to adjust it well as I haven’t gotten any complaints from the calls I take.

Doesn’t mess with reverse camera. Auto front camera works normal. Reverse and overhead also.

Also has ability to add a camera which is what I will do for my trailer rear view camera.

Climate you have to push a few buttons to get to the OEM controls. But no issues except annoying.

Can’t bypass Grom to just start up in OEM
mode. If that’s super important to you mount it in an accessible place and unplug the cable when taking it to service. Mine it zip tied to the underside of the pass foot well. I have easy access for usb and HDMI. I haven’t tried this method but the piggyback cables should just allow OEM to function but I’m guessing here.

I sound like I work for them but I don’t. It just works and they are adapting as we go which is huge.




Downsides

It runs an older android OS. I think 8.
A lot of apps you have to get the legacy apk

The occasional drop out but seems like this is industry standard. Even for OEM integrated setups.

Can’t get some apps to work like pedal Commander.

Currently I’m having issues with the hdmi to mirror in the rear screens but I have a daily email back and forth with Grom about trouble shooting. Current suggestion is to open unit and check the ribbon cable which I’m comfortable doing. They said I could send it to them and they could test it if needed.

The tech literally made a video on how to check the cable and posted it on youtube for me just now....I mean come on...that's insane

 

[tbisaacs]

The Grom does not have an external mic.

I believe it uses factory mic as I’ve taken calls via wireless CarPlay. And I never installed a mic. And one of the updates was an auto mic gain adjustment which seems to adjust it well as I haven’t gotten any complaints from the calls I take.

Doesn’t mess with reverse camera. Auto front camera works normal. Reverse and overhead also.

Also has ability to add a camera which is what I will do for my trailer rear view camera.

Climate you have to push a few buttons to get to the OEM controls. But no issues except annoying.

Can’t bypass Grom to just start up in OEM
mode. If that’s super important to you mount it in an accessible place and unplug the cable when taking it to service. Mine it zip tied to the underside of the pass foot well. I have easy access for usb and HDMI. I haven’t tried this method but the piggyback cables should just allow OEM to function but I’m guessing here.

I sound like I work for them but I don’t. It just works and they are adapting as we go which is huge.




Downsides

It runs an older android OS. I think 8.
A lot of apps you have to get the legacy apk

The occasional drop out but seems like this is industry standard. Even for OEM integrated setups.

Can’t get some apps to work like pedal Commander.

Currently I’m having issues with the hdmi to mirror in the rear screens but I have a daily email back and forth with Grom about trouble shooting. Current suggestion is to open unit and check the ribbon cable which I’m comfortable doing. They said I could send it to them and they could test it if needed.

The tech literally made a video on how to check the cable and posted it on youtube for me just now....I mean come on...that's insane

The grom absolutely has an external mic. Mine came with it, and there is a jack on the back to plug in. If you are taking calls it's likely because you are still paired via bluetooth to the car's factory handsfree setup.

 

[82SC]

Definitely not paired to car. I disconnected it as I thought it was causing problems with Grom early on. I’ll double check but I know I didn’t run an external mic. Only the GPS.

 

[WhiskeyMike]

Definitely not paired to car. I disconnected it as I thought it was causing problems with Grom early on. I’ll double check but I know I didn’t run an external mic. Only the GPS.

Interesting.

Thought of another requirement I’d need - does Grom have a “dark mode”?

 

[Specialeyes]

Reading

The suggestion that we need to lower the bar and just accept sub par quality saddens me. I'd rather not have CarPlay and live with the rock solid stock system than deal with the glitches offered by these vendors. Life is too short for that.

From a technology standpoint, it is completely doable to produce a well integrated and reliable system. The more likely issue is that isn't economically advantageous to spend the R&D time/investment make the solutions work as well as the stock system on such low volume infotainment systems. especially when consumers gladly pay for marginal solutions.

The Naviplus unit I tried used the factory mic.

Reading this thread along with similar others really bums me out. If I ever purchase a LC one of the first mods would be adding Apple Carplay. It's just frustrating knowing the tech is out there yet no one has been able come up with a solution that as CharlieS said... is reliable and well integrated. Has anyone here experimented with aftermarket head units from some of the more well known manufactures like Alpine, Kenwood, or Pioneer?

 

[greynolds]

Reading

Reading this thread along with similar others really bums me out. If I ever purchase a LC one of the first mods would be adding Apple Carplay. It's just frustrating knowing the tech is out there yet no one has been able come up with a solution that as CharlieS said... is reliable and well integrated. Has anyone here experimented with aftermarket head units from some of the more well known manufactures like Alpine, Kenwood, or Pioneer?

I’m pretty sure that none of the well known companies has a head unit that’s compatible, at least not with 2016+. Keep in mind that any replacement unit needs to support the HVAC controls, backup camera, and really needs to integrate with the factory audio system if simple install is one of the goals, it’s not just a radio replacement like it used to be on older cars. I recall seeing a thread on a unit from one of those companies, but I don’t think they had support for US market LCs.

 

[WhiskeyMike]

During my research on here - I recall a thread where they thought there was an alpine drop in replacement but it was in Europe or Australia and not available in the US. A link was provided but was broken by the time I clicked it.

 

[82SC]

the drop in units only work for the GLX basic versions not sold in the US. For those models you can use any double DIN unit. And BAW in Australia have shown a really cool kenwood unit. As @greynolds said the unit has to integrate all the controls because we have the "fancy version" so we don't have that option except the tesla style.

@Specialeyes Again the early units used to feel very beta but now that GROM has had a few LC200 users and ironed out alot of the major issues, it really works well for my needs. It's plug and play. You need very basic handy skills to install. And it's not crazy expensive.

And you have good options, GROM, ECOffroad, Nifty...they are all essentially the same thing. They are all an android tablet wired to display on the car. And each company can tweek their software as they see fit. GROM seems more inhouse then the others and that's why it works for me.

I can flip on Netflix or Disney if my kids are at their siblings soccer game
Wireless CarPlay works great
I can run OBD Fusion screen on my car and monitor all the OBD sensors
I'm working with ARB to integrate LINX control panel on the GROM and it is working really great so far
Sure the HDMI out isn't working now but shouldn't be a major issue
Also want to see how well my trailer backup camera integration is going to work.

 

[WhiskeyMike]

@82SC - you’ve sold me on the Grom. Sounds like they support the units pretty good. Thank you for your input

 

[Specialeyes]

I only mentioned the drop in units because it sounds like they have models now that will allow integration with certain vehicles OEM climate controls and whatever else is buried in a factory display. As for Grom I recently discovered they are local to me along with some of their authorized installers so that is most likey the route I would go if/when I find a 200.

 

[82SC]

The grom absolutely has an external mic. Mine came with it, and there is a jack on the back to plug in. If you are taking calls it's likely because you are still paired via bluetooth to the car's factory handsfree setup.

I think maybe they updated the unit?
I don't have a external mic and everything works for me and the instructions on the website show no mic...see page 8
i have a 2017 so not sure if pre or post facelift changes anything

https://gromaudio.com/docs/vline_manuals/lex9_install_manual_web.pdf

 

[tbisaacs]

I think maybe they updated the unit?
I don't have a external mic and everything works for me and the instructions on the website show no mic...see page 8
i have a 2017 so not sure if pre or post facelift changes anything

https://gromaudio.com/docs/vline_manuals/lex9_install_manual_web.pdf

Yup, you're right. That's the difference. This is not the same on the unit for my 08:

VLine will use factory microphone for its operation. Connect 3.5mm male connector from Power Interface Cable (MFCLEX9) to the microphone port of VLine (see p. 10 for reference). There are no any additional steps needed to connect or operate VLine with the vehicle factory microphone. Simply follow to the guidelines in the User Manual.

 

[40Man]

The grom absolutely has an external mic. Mine came with it, and there is a jack on the back to plug in. If you are taking calls it's likely because you are still paired via bluetooth to the car's factory handsfree setup.

The newer Grom has been updated to use the factory mic. Mine had an annoying line on the acreen they couldn't fix and returned it. It is better than the Nifty system and has better (but not even good) support.

 

[82SC]

The newer Grom has been updated to use the factory mic. Mine had an annoying line on the acreen they couldn't fix and returned it. It is better than the Nifty system and has better (but not even good) support.

Yeah mine had a line too. My threads on Grom mention it.

They finally fixed it with a firmware update.

In case you ever want to give it another try.