I just found out about this new solution for Apple Car Play in a 2014 Mini Countryman from Joyeauto. I took a leap of faith and ordered one of these units after a recommendation on a local Mini Countryman facebook page. $439 dollars for the unit including shipping to Alaska. I will see how the DIY install goes. Appears to be plug and play with factory wiring interface. the hardware is stuffed in just below the current head unit.

My wife and I are sick of the poor bluetooth implementation in our current head unit and Mini Connected. We paid extra for the HK sound system and the bluetooth has never worked very well. Some times it never connects to our phone. I have to use the menu in the connected system and try and connect and it still doesn't work. Also sometimes it randomly disconnects and then refuses to reconnect. This is all especially bad when two of us are in the car with our I-phones. We complained to Mini USA and never got a satisfactory solution. I even spoke to the President of Mini USA in 2015 at our local dealership grand opening in Anchorage, Alaska.

I will report back later next week after the install. Crossing my fingers the install is not a nightmare.

 

Nice, I am interested to follow how this goes for you. I have a base model so not sure if the installation or the new equipment would be the same for this application?

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...av-screen.html

 

Have not received my JoyeAuto car play unit yet. Looking at the diagram looks like all the dip switches should be off except #3. I don't have a backup camera. Also was there room for the JoyeAuto car play unit under the head unit? Did you remove the head unit to connect the cables? In the photo you took it is still mounted in the dash?

Thanks for your help.

 

I'm not sure about the dip switches 1 off 2 on 3 on (4 and 8 I’m not sure on) the others off . Yes loads of room under head unit I used some Velcro to secure it. It plugs into head unit box the pink LVDS cable and then into the I drive joystick by the shifter

 

Received my new JoyeAuto Apple Car Play unit via UPS. Went home and dove into the installation. After getting the dash torn down to do the installation started connecting the Apple Car Play Unit. It was then I realized they had sent me the wrong unit. They sent me BMW-NBT unit instead of the BMW-CIC unit. The wires just won't match up with what I was sent. I was very disappointed.

Got on my computer right away and contacted them. The sales person after looking at the photo's I sent of my head unit confirmed I needed the CIC unit. The same sales person who sold me the the wrong unit. I should have just looked at the web site and ordered the right unit myself. I am shipping back the wrong unit tomorrow. They won't ship the new one until they get my tracking number for the unit I am returning. The sales person apologized profusely.

The worst part of all this is taking the dash apart twice. Put it all back together tonight as we have to drive the car for another week before we get the correct unit this time.

 

Finally got my new JoyeAuto Apple Car Play CIC unit. Spent part of the afternoon and evening installing it. After getting it installed it works great. Love having Apple Car Play in my 2014 Mini Countryman. Much better than the factory mini system which honestly just is terrible. Think I paid over $ 1200 dollars extra for the H&K upgrade system with mini connected. The JoyeAuto Apple Car Play $439. This was money well spent very happy with the result.