Bimmer Plug Apple Carplay integration disaster

[BostonE39]

Hello friends, I purchased the apple carplay/android auto integration for my 2014 X5. I've always wanted to upgrade the nav to something that works with the phones like the newer cars have. Can't be that hard, right?

I purchased this unit. It came with simple instructions that gave near clear answers as to what to do to install it. When I contacted Bimmer Plug, they are friendly to respond. They sent another set of instructions. These got me closer, but then still didn't help me with setup. So again, i asked if there was anyone who could help me, and then sent yet another set of instructions, and these finally got me over the finish line to get it working.

kinda.

So the biggest challenges have been 1) all tones/sounds went away. I have the B&O system, and it wouldn't turn on anymore. The car also would not present any warning tones like door open or proximity alerts from the bumper sensors. I have tried to work with Bimmer Plug for months to get answers to these problems, but I always get a friendly, "let me ask our tech team" and then I never get a response back. If I do get a response, it's like a half thought and I can't figure out how to even use the content of the response, to which when I ask for clarfication, it goes back into the ether yet again and I get nowhere with them.

So
1) anyone else have this same problem with Bimmer Plug?
2) or, if you've done this same integration, did you get yours to work?

At this point, after months of half-helpful assistance from Bimmer Plug, I have pulled the unit completely so that I can at least get the car stereo and tones back to normal. But now they just don't respond to my request to return the thing since I has yet to work from the very beginning of the installation.

Thanks for the help,
Eric