Has anyone had any experiences (positive or negative) with BMWs new 2017 support of Apple CarPlay?
I ordered it as a $300 option on my new 440i GC, and have been using it for almost a month now. It seems to work mostly as advertised, however I have the following observations:
- You must select between Apple CarPlay or BMW iDrive connections to your mobile device. Both cannot be used at the same time
- CarPlay connects to your iPhone via WiFi (whereas BMW iDrive uses a bluetooth connection). Initial setup was done for me at the PDC in Spartanburg.
- I find that Apple CarPlay gets confused when I plug in my USB cable while it is Wi-Fi connected. It tends to lock up or become unresponsive when attempting to play Pandora, Spotify, etc.
- Pandora and Spotify (which I use a lot) work better through CarPlay (I've learned not to connect my USB cable for now).
- I use BMW Navigation and haven't tried Apple Maps yet (via CarPlay). I can't see why I would not use the integrated BMW Navigation.
- Siri works great through CarPlay, especially for checking your text messages. You never touch or look at your phone, which is how it should be.
- Switching between different media choices (CarPlay apps, SiriusXM, iPhone music, USB or audio copied to the disk drive in my car) works, but it's not as smooth as it could be.
- Head-up display and steering wheel controls also help somewhat when switching between different sources.
All in all, I'm glad I got the option, mostly for the handling of text messages and interaction with iPhone apps like Pandora. I still feel I'm not taking full advantage of it, but I'll get there. I still need to work out how the USB cable fits into the equation (other than to charge the iPhone). BMW Documentation on how CarPlay works appears to be very thin.
Try the nav app Waze. Crowd sourced nav including hazards and police sighting reports.
2002 M3
2011 M3
2016 X5 40e
Just been in to the BMW dealers and they said no point for me getting the option as it doesn't work in my country something to do
With data of built in SIM card of BMW but works if I travel across to UK.
Sounds odd to me when CarPlay is just a wifi link to mobile device ? Maybe activation of option threw built in SIM card is the issue
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My 2017 540i arrived today. I love it...except for CarPlay. It's a waste of money. It's siloed from the BMW core systems so no HUD or using contacts for BMW apps while connected to CarPlay. It also can't seem to support a second phone connected via Bluetooth while first is connected to CarPlay.
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