I recently saw there was a lawsuit against Porsche regarding an update pushed to some PCM units which ended up in constant reboots. You may even be entitled to the measly $25 payout. The attorneys took $2 million. Here:

Porsche PCM Lawsuit Settlement Reached Over Infotainment Systems

A Porsche Communication Management (PCM) lawsuit settlement has been reached between the two vehicle owners who sued and Porsche. Plaintiffs Kent Bowen and Kathleen Darnell allege the PCMs (infotainment systems) suffer constant rebooting due to a May 2020 update.

www.carcomplaints.com

 

Santirx, if you don't mind me bothering you again. Do you know if anything has been achieved with the sound popping on Mr12Volt units? I read somewhere it might be a loose connection?

 

Santirx, if you don't mind me bothering you again. Do you know if anything has been achieved with the sound popping on Mr12Volt units? I read somewhere it might be a loose connection?

Have you updated to the latest firmware? That was an issue with the earlier firmware and it's been fixed.

 

No, as I understand, it was mentioned that the update only attenuated the pop, not eliminating it completely, because the issue was rather physical.

 

Here is something I am seeing. I am using Sirius XM app on CarPlay and this is the scenario.

Start drive and start Sirius XM.
Get to destination and turn car off.
Get back in car and start drive back. Sirius XM tries to start but I just get a black window (CarPlay icons still visible). I cannot change stations or rewind on CarPlay, just on my phone.

Anybody else seen that?

 

No, as I understand, it was mentioned that the update only attenuated the pop, not eliminating it completely, because the issue was rather physical.

that goes against what i recall reading earlier in the mr12volt threads here and on another forum.

i am running the latest firmware and i have no popping.

 

OK, thank you.

 

Does this system allow you to listen to the radio (FM or XM) while using Carplay? Can you do so and still have turn-by-turn directions from a Carplay maps app? I'm still debating which system to buy, but currently leaning toward Mr12Volt now that the OEM mic is integrated without modding. Even though those Android systems are really really tempting...

 

Seems obvious now, but the answer is no since you're using a different source (TV here) to view Carplay.

 

I see an updated unit on Mr12Volt's website coming this month...

 

According to one of the vendors on Rennlist, the two changes are the integration of the OEM mic by default and changing the color of the box. @Santirx had reported that Mr12Volt would fix their color gradient issues with a future generation, but it remains to be seen if that fix is included here.

 

This may have been answered, but what would you (or somebody who's installed) rate the level of difficulty for a mid-grade garage wrencher?

 

OEM mic is good news.

 

Hello,

Many thanks to Santirx for your awesome work.

I am ready to upgrade from a Joyeauto system to the new Mr12Volts system. Will I have to replace the video PCM board ?

Regards

 

@Santirx thank you SO much for the recommendation and install video of the Mr12Volt! I just finished the install and saw your video of the startup splash screen update. I downloaded the boot file per your update video but am unable to find the picture file for the Macan S logo. Would you be able to email that to me? Thanks again for your help!

 

Get it here (I'll keep the link open for 2 days) :

 

I made one for the turbo if anyone wants it

 

i actually posted one i made a while back. i used the one that appears in the MFD on startup as my template. the lettering extends almost edge to edge.

https://www.macanforum.com/threads/mr12volt-carplay-aa-installation-and-reviews.185083/post-2752741

 

I just wanted to say that I installed a Mr12volt on a 2015 S. I have done many Stereo installs from various cars in the past. The installation was bumpy but thank God for Santrix's videos, which were VERY helpful. The only things that were difficult was trying to fit all that cables and wires in a small space became challenging. Also, finding a place to put the Mr 12 Volt box was difficult. I just used Santrix's idea but just velcro'd it up under dash. Overall very pleased. Sound is awesome and it seems an almost seamless mod that surprisingly works well with the NO MIC version Macan. You use the Phone button on the wheel and ask siri whatever you need. I am not sure if it is using the iPhone mic or enables a mic. Overall an A+ for sound, an A- for integration/app, a B for design, and a C for directions. Thank God for Santrix's videos.

 

Thanks @Santirx for the valuable review and installation info! 👏

I've always held off on these CarPlay units because I didn't want to compromise on audio quality, but it seems like this is the best of both worlds - seemingly even better than OEM Bluetooth!

I've just ordered the latest version of Mr12Volt which appears to now support the OEM microphone out of the box.

It also looks like there have been a handful of firmware updates released in the past 2 years, so for those running earlier versions it might be worth grabbing these. The camera related updates seem the most interesting to me.

"PCM3.x_20220623" Fixed volume in setting cannot be saved. General DSP bug fix.
"PCM3.x_20220815" General bug fixes
"PCM3.x_20220926" Fixed CarPlay/AA connection issue. Added long press "Return" button to return to P2000 main menu
"PCM3.x_20221013 " Cancelled CAN bus wake up
"PCM3.x_20221019 " improved BT handsfree call quality, low pass frequency can be adjusted in setting now
"PCM3.x_20221207" Rear Camera Condition changed action type for "Parking Key", shift to reverse will bring up rear view, shift to forward will show forward view, press any key will cancel front/rear view.
Added aftermarket front camera support for manual transmission cars, shift to forward will now bring up aftermarket front camera view automatically.
"PCM3.x_20230906" Corrected PCM3.0 / 3.1 with PDK camera display issue (DIP 1 ON for PCM + PDK)
"PCM3.x_20230927” MOST connection improvement
“PCM3.x_20231106” Improved MCU communication efficiency, fixed known bugs
"PCM3.x_20240528" Fixed a bug that may cause controller buttons and touch screen non responsive after start up

 

Did they fix the vided quality banding @Draper ?

 

I don't have my box yet, but it seems like it may have been improved with one of the updates?

Old software?

New software?

The sole US dealer seems to suggest the banding issue does not exist, at least as of Aug 2023.

 

Are you running the latest 2024 firmware? I wonder if there are hardware differences where some units have the issue and others don’t. 🤔

I’m going to install mine in the next day or so and will report back.

 

I haven't installed the firmware from May of this year but I was running the latest through Fall of last year.

Per the comments earlier in this thread / feedback OP got from Mr12volt, no firmware is going to help the banding issue, it's a hardware limitation. If there were some hardware tweak to address it, surely Mr12Volt would have mentioned it like they did with the revised OEM mic.

I would love for that to be wrong but I would not hold your breath.

 

The banding in Mr12Volt is a hardware issue. They said that they are planning to address this in a future hardware release. I no longer have Mr12Volt, but I would encourage you to continue following up with Mr12Volt on this.

 

I knew the banding is a hardware limitation as I already mentioned but I did update to the latest firmware today from 05-24 and of course there was no change there.

I forgot how much of a pain it is to update the firmware on this thing, you have to use the SD card, USB will not work. What a pain.

The bad news for me is my microphone input is cooked. I tried a new microphone connected to the Mr12Volt input, same result. There is a horrible static constantly present, almost like a bad ground. This thing is now completely useless for taking calls.

My unit is only 16 months old and of course now 4 months out of warranty.

 

When Mr12Volt sent my original unit (they sent 2 as the original was defective), I accidentally broke the mic input when trying to shoehorn the box in the place that I ended up placing it.

I opened the box and found that the mic input had detached from the electronic board. I soldered the mic component back in place and it worked fine…. Maybe you have an issue with that ground connection. I would recommend opening the box and checking that… box is easy to open. You could solder the component back if that is the issue.

 

My unit arrived and I had a chance to look at it today. The box itself seems to have a 2024 date and the internal board shows a 2022 date.

I'm waiting to hear back from Mr12volt on a few questions before I try to install.

 

I got a response from them and unfortunately it doesn't look like the new box helps with the banding.

More importantly for me the unit does not go into a standby mode state unless the car is locked (I found some posts relating to this after I had placed my order). This means you have to always lock the car in the garage otherwise you'll eventually have a dead battery. I could probably condition myself to do this, but my wife also drives the car and the chances of her making this a priority are low.

Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be returning this unit. 😕

Note: It looks like I'm going to get hit with a 15% restock fee, so on the off chance anyone else here is looking for one of these I'd be happy to send you this one for an amount equal to what I would receive as a refund ($435).

 

i didn't realize that part about only hibernating when the car is locked. that explains why when i park in my garage (unlocked), go into the house, take a phone call, then my phone keeps continually trying to connect to carplay.

 

On a related note, the service manager at my dealer always told me it was wise to lock the car, even when in a locked garage, as it puts the car in a lower power usage state and is better for the battery long term. You likely already know this, just posting in case.

 

Just installed Mr12Volt in my 2014 Cayenne (I know this is Macan Forum) but still wanted to give him an awesome review. Had a minor installation issue and his immediate customer service was awesome.