This weekend, I installed the Bremman "Wireless CarPlay/Android Auto Retrofit Module - NBT" from ECS Tuning. (my 2017 Clubman JCW is NBT)

Mine has the Harmon Kardon so I moved the optical cable out of the original connector and moved it to the new connector, so it remains plugged in where it was - and I assumed that handles my audio out. Yes, no?
There is also a headphone jack on a very short lead in a bundle including a few video inputs - it's marked "Audio Output". When I power this up and connect to Android Auto, I was able to connect to Spotify and play music, so I am getting music audio.

But then I made a test call to my wife's phone, and I saw my phone connect, but she claimed she could neither hear me nor could I hear her.
I then went back to the car's menu (not Android Auto) and tried to make a Bluetooth call to her, and she said that time she could hear me, but I still had no audio from her.

Any idea what that could be? I'm about to see if I have a headphone extension cable to plug into this "audio out" jack and feed it all the way to my "Aux in" Jack to see if that for some reason is needed for calls, but not other audio.

EDIT: I pulled things back apart to connect an audio cable between "Audio out" and into my car's "Aux In". No change in the phone behavior. I did also go through all the Android Auto "settings" menu, and my car's native menu, confirmed the audio is set to '"aux" in the car (which was also true before I tried this aux cable).

 

The unit seems nice, but the instructions were absolutely terrible - three versions in the manual, CIC, NBT, and EVO - and none of them were clear on which corresponded to this particular unit, as even the NBT diagram didn't resemble what I had on my car or the MMI unit. Also none of them corresponded to a MINI at all. On top of that, they used yellow (looks orange for some reason in the pics) text boxes with white font - I had to break out a magnifying glass. I should also put "diagram" in quotes as many of the connections didn't show really where either "to" or "from" was actually supposed to be connected. Fortunately there is only one way or one place for most of these connectors.


Detail on the DIP switches and that audio out cable...
This is literally all you get:


If anyone knows what these are, I'm currently set to option 2 since I have the 6.5" screen and I can't read Chinese.
But at any rate, I did plug in the cable "aux out" to "aux in" on the car and called my wife - still no luck. She can hear me OK so the factory mic must be working - but I can't hear her. Dead silence.

 

One more thought-
Is the Aux Out / Aux In a 4 position cable? The unit didn't come with a cable to connect the Aux Out to Aux In, so I couldn't tell.
All I have on hand are the stereo cables:


Does anyone know?
You'd think that would be an important detail in the manual.

However, since I have audio for the music, I'm obviously getting audio from the MMI box out.
And I can also listen to the radio, so I am also getting audio from the original unit.
Any help is appreciated - even if you can point me to another manufacturer with better instructions (although I've watched a bunch of other-brand YouTube videos, and there are differences in the cables across all these units, they clearly aren't "all from the same factory" or anything), anything is appreciated.

 

retrofit EVO ID5/6 is the best solution haha. But you may need to replace 8.8 touch CID also.

 

That unfortunately isn't the option that I took... Just to clarify, are you saying that this is a known issue for NBT systems - they can't make phone calls through Android Auto?

I had thought about going that path, but that wouldn't avoid the need for a box like this to get Android Auto. It would have been a LOT of money spent on a "nice to have" without avoiding the cost for what I did buy.
Also I had read there's a need to code the car, to get a(ny) replacement head unit to work with the car. I do have full Bimmercode but that's a whole unknown path of its own, and I'm new to this car to begin with - the goal was to start with the simplest option that presented the fewest risks.

@ECS Tuning are there any support options available? Audio works for music, not for phone calls. AA or BT. Haven't had a chance to try Teams calls yet, that's the other need. Does this resemble any defect scenarios your team has seen?
I did notice that I'm simultaneously connected to two Bluetooth devices on my Pixel 8 (Google's most "vanilla" Android):

• MINI66296 - this is my car,
• Limcet Box_849d - this is the NBT box purchased from ECS

I tried disconnecting from one Bluetooth connection, leaving the other connected, but that did not work either way (and wouldn't have been convenient to do on every drive).

EDIT: Also I did drive today, and I noticed that the levels seem quite low, Spotify or Antennapod. I have the volume set to about 90% to reach a point where I'd call it "louder than conversation". Possibly that's also a clue. This car is new to me so I only have the radio to compare to, which seems to be more like 60% for that same level.

 

Bump-
If anyone has any suggestions, I do need some options, since right now there's no way to make or receive a phone call.
I'm in NY State so handsfree is the law.

 

@ECSTuning I did reach out to ECS Support a few days ago but I haven't received a reply.
I believe ECS owns Bremmen, can you give some guidance on how to get either tech support or more technical documents?

You can see above, what comes in the package really amounts to less than a "quick start guide" - there must be technical documentation available that would allow me to self-support (my usual preferred starting point).
Please advise, thanks.

 

This may help you
https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1778381

 

Huge thanks - I'll check that out. I do have Bimmercode.
I suspect that it's something else, but it's helpful to check those things.

One more thing I can try is to flip that 5th DIP switch, then I'd have the setting for the 6.5" screen plus whatever it says in Chinese. I assumed those are just video-setting related, but maybe it's tied to the audio somehow for phone calls as well.

I also hear that there's some issue potentially with Pixel phones and the most recent Android Auto version - I didn't update my firmware (I don't know how - that's another reason I would hope there's some additional tech docs for this thing) but possibly it's already at that version? Anyway, all help is appreciated.

 

I have more detail- has anyone else bought one of these (or maybe similar)? I'd like to even know what your experience has been with this unit, or if you can relate to these symptoms:

When this is connected, as mentioned before my phone is actually connected to two things - both Bluetooth connections are active once I connect to Android Auto:
1) The car's OEM bluetooth
2) The Android Auto / Carplay box from ECS Tuning.
Is that true for anyone/everyone else?

Assuming that is correct, I have played around with the settings on my phone for whether to let each Bluetooth connection is allowed to do "phone" or "media", but so far no matter whether I initiate the call from the car "phone" or Android Auto, I have been able to place the call, and others can hear me, but I can't hear them.

I noticed something interesting while installing a front and rear dashcam system:
I needed to route a rear camera through the factory Clubman door wire loom (a tricky thing to do, since the car end of that is a pinned plug). I had a Bluetooth speaker playing in my garage I was listening to as I worked.
When I opened a car door, I'd hear the dashboard ding, waking up - then I felt my phone vibrate once... then twice, the second notification being the "Android Auto is now connected" .
Immediately, my Bluetooth speaker stopped producing audio! I don't mean a pause/resume thing, I had to actually go click the notifications and "disconnect" from Android Auto, then audio went to the Bluetooth speaker again. That certainly makes me wonder about the dual Bluetooth connections I mentioned above.
In absence of technical/troubleshooting documentation, I am extremely limited in troubleshooting (or even confirming) unit-specific settings.

Or if not the Bluetooth specifically (which I don't believe is the audio path - but I don't know), it could be that when this AA/Carplay box is connecting, it's monopolizing the audio in some other way.. Most of the time that would be acceptable, provided it also handled the audio for phone calls as well.

Finally, the other symptom - I can't say enough about the volume difference. When listening to radio or Bluetooth through the OEM system, my benchmark was having the volume at about 50% for a "louder than a conversation" experience. Comparatively, when this Android Auto unit is connected, I have to turn the volume up to 90% or more just to reach that same level.

@ECSTuning if you can let me know how to obtain support from ECS Tuning for this unit- I still have not received a response to my Email to support@ecstuning.com.
If I remain ghosted, I may need to return this and go with a competitor if there's no ability to resolve this, unfortunately. It really underscores the need for support, in a case like this.
And really, I"m a former pro installer for units like these - I could at least "get by" if I could just get the additional technical documentation. I'm not a layman customer looking for hand-holding.

 

Hello,

I have been at Sema all week. Some other people were out their so things have been delayed on the technical stuff. Also most vendors were out their also so they might also be slow to respond. Just shoot me a PM with the info and i can dig into it.

 

When I installed my stand alone Carplay unit, I could not get it to play through the factory bluetooth since it was only made for phone calls and not streaming audio. It had something to do with the version of bluetooth that is installed on the factory unit. So I had to install a new bluetooth adapter that does both calls and streaming audio in between the factory harness and radio. I just had to disable the radio bluetooth and select AUX and the new unit automatically turns on. The cars OEM bluetooth is obsolete by today's standards. Not sure if any if this info helps.

 

Well, that IS very interesting - it does make me think back to my comment earlier observing that my phone IS connected to both the car's OEM Bluetooth as well as the new MMI box here.
I can't tell from the documentation if this is correct, or if it is expected that the user should "forget" their prior Bluetooth connection - I have tried it both ways and it didn't seem to make a difference.

What year is yours that it only does phone, with the factory Bluetooth? Mine did at least do Bluetooth audio and phone, for music and podcasts - it's the Android Auto experience that I wanted - have the map up, be able to control my music and podcasts from the head unit.

 

Back in the day, early '00s through about 2010 when I was involved in the Mobile Audio and Electronics industry, I went to about 10 CES events - through those declining years of mobile electronics there was still quite a bit of crossover with who displayed at SEMA. Those were also fun from a "car show" standpoint, especially having quite a few people like Scott Buwalda, Billy Brown, Bryan Schmitt who showed vehicles there to meet up with.
But SEMA definitely has more of the "car guy" stuff, and something for everyone. I did catch two SEMA shows over those years, as well.

Naturally I've had my feed filled all week with cars like the Lamborghini (really Chevy) powered Miata, some crazy rallycross-style but wheelie-donutting MINI in the outdoor space, Sarah-N-Tuned found some 70's Celicas like hers but SEMA-worthy, I saw some WelderUp stuff (the Vegas Rat Rods TV show guys), and just the usual "show cars" at the top level that I love to see. Then SEMA always also has the show cars that have unbelievable fabrication work that is done so well you wouldn't know it unless you know what to look for, that manage to somewhat disappear compared to the radical product-placement-mobiles that are there.

Some year, some of my old contacts, I'll piggyback my way back there, I'm sure. Maybe I'll do CES again to get the mobile imaging solution no one seems to offer launched. Anyway, I'm envious of what I'm sure it was an awesome time.

 

Yep,

Thats very cool you were there at that time.

All here: Sema Past for ECS Tuning

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...iscussion-220/




Sema 2024: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ng-2024-a.html



Let me know what you try, my guess either a bad unit or the phone is trying to content with one bluetooth over the other. I know when you plug it in for carplay the unit becomes the main communication for the apple carplay side, andriod should be the same.

 

Mine is a 15" S Coupe, window sticker says "Harman/Kardon Premium Sound" but nothing about bluetooth. Under the entertainment part of my sticker it says streaming audio, but still no mention of bluetooth. Guess their version of streaming audio at the time was plugging into the AUX and streaming audio off your Ipod or music player.

So just decoded my vin, I have S6ND (Bluetooth hands free kit with USB audio interface). Guess you need 6NF (Extended connectivity of the music player in the mobile phone - only with 6NE) to stream bluetooth audio.

 

Checking those pics out now and love what I'm seeing.
That wheelie-donut crazy MINI - I didn't even realize was yours. I saw just a 30 second clip of it absolutely ripping around, I don't know what drift or rally-cross driver but they must have been having a blast. Crazy what that thing can do.

Is that 4x4 one of Hoonigan is pretty cool too. I grew up with air-cooled VW's and always loved Baja bugs, then kinda following the whole "safari everything" trend - and this 4x4 MINI is pretty damn cool along the same veins. Love it. But if I think I'm picking, for the same reasons I picked a Clubman JCW over a Countryman - I'm picking yours. Really awesome.

I'm still troubleshooting - Don reached out to me and has been Emailing, even followed up a couple times.

I do also want to rule out "the phone", and so I used ChatGPT to scour the web for "Google Pixel Android Auto issues" and it suggested four things:

• Ensure the phone is updated.
  • Well, conveniently enough, LAST NIGHT my phone made Android 15 available. I have updated, but haven't had a chance to try again.
• Clear the Phone app cache and data.
  • I've cleared the cache. Clearing the data is a bigger deal, wipes out all my contacts, not that they wouldn't come back down. Did that after updating the phone also, we'll start with the cache and see.
• Change the Bluetooth connection type for the device(s) from "unknown" to "headphones".
  • i did try this earlier, but after the phone update I saw them reset, and had different options. Will try this again as "headphones".
• In Developer menu, change the Bluetooth profile to the oldest one possible.
  • After updating my phone, I downgraded my Bluetooth profile from 1.5 to 1.3.

This weekend, I'll try again.
Still have to get the patio furniture in the shed and winterize the lawnmowers and swap them with the snowblowers currently in the shed, our trees have dumped leaves that need raking, and I need to get leaves out of the gutters among other winter prep as it could start snowing any week here - but I'll definitely be trying to squeeze this in as well.

Fingers crossed.

 

<duplicate>

 

Been some late work days and bad weather, no luck yet - but no failure yet.
Hoping to get to this soon.

Also I have corporate IT QA experience- thinking through a test plan so I'm methodical and can make for a good test.
Might even start with a baseline run using the car bluetooth only, with a forgotten connection to the MMI box.
Then add the MMI box and connect to Android Auto.

A failure to plan is a plan to fail, as they say.

 

Going back to the connecting to Bluetooth, I installed a mmi box in my granddaughters 2018 Audi Q3. The unit from Roadtop specifically stated to connect Bluetooth only to mmi box.

 

I did revisit this and hadn't had a chance to finish up, but Triman's comment above is good to know. I'll add that to the "one more thing to try" already on my list - more on that, below.
I am fairly certain that I have at least used the phone to disconnect from the car's Bluetooth, but I suppose technically in that case I was connected to the car's Bluetooth first.
There definitely should be documentation for these details - I'd think 100% of people who install this would have their phone already paired to their cars, and there's no mention of unpairing from the car.

I will say this:
When I connect to the car's Bluetooth only, I can make a call using the car's Bluetooth and everything is LOUD and clear.
When the MMI box connects, yes, the phone shows it's connected to both (car and MMI. Then, making or receiving a call, they can hear me just fine, I can't hear them.
So I suppose there's a chance that if it connected to the MMI box first (and only), it would behave similarly allowing calls through the MMI box.

Also - it's really something how low the volume is on the MMI box. I should make a video to show you how far the volume has to be up just for listening to a podcast on the work commute with the audio being audible - using the LED ring around the head unit as a guide, I've got it 90% -95% to maximum volume just for it to be audible at a normal listening level.
Not "rock out to AC/DC" level, just "listen to the news on the way to work" level. Fingers crossed that's also related.

The one thing that was originally on my list was to make a phone call then - similar to checking the phone Bluetooth volume - checking the car's phone level. I found a setting in the car's settings menu, but it's greyed out unless you are actively on a call. So I have to coordinate with someone (or I guess call Callin' Oates or something) to expect a crank call so I can check that car setting level. Inconvenient but it is what it is.

I unfortunately had to perform the "secure vehicle against rolling" error fix to the shifter and installation of the remote starter (and you might have heard of the snowstorms and travel bans in our Buffalo NY area over the past week shifting priorities again), but I can get back to this hopefully this weekend.

 

Mixed news. Mostly good but I really feel like I should take a video to capture the level issue.

If I "forget" the car's Bluetooth on my phone so that only the Bremmen MMI box connects, then I can get phone audio through the Android Auto box.

That's good, but that level issue is pretty extreme.
I will take a video to show how far up the volume has to go to have an equivalent to the factory sound.

 

Happy New Year!

Finally out of the holiday season, and having other members advise on removing/forgetting the Bluetooth connection (which is NOT in the product documentation, and seems ECS support also does not have information on) I had a moment to take a video to show how extreme this level difference is.

@ECSTuning You can see the standard volume level of the factory system, just with a radio station...
...and then how I have to crank the volume nearly to maximum just to make Spotify (Twisted Sister, no less) audible:


There must be some setting or level (or DIP switch?) to adjust the level up. I'm guessing it's at a default of "low".

 

Ok, did you try to turn the volume up on the phone on the side, mine does that when i have the volume low on my phone in the normal factory Bluetooth streaming connection?

 

Yes, it's not the phone's volume. The phone volume with this particular Bluetooth connected is at maximum. I've confirmed that so many times over the past few months.
If needed I suppose I could take a screenshot.

I do connect this phone (Pixel 8) to several other Bluetooth devices and have no level issues with any of them, other than this device. Including the car's factory Bluetooth connection - which turned out to be the cause of why I couldn't hear people on the phone. Once I "forgot" the car's factory Bluetooth connection and removed the phone from the car settings, I was able to use the phone on the Android auto device - however the level is equally low.

By comparison, when previously connected to the car's factory Bluetooth, that low-level problem didn't exist.