Apple CarPlay for F13 640d retrofit

[Origin Unknown]

I have a new to me 2015 640d being delivered tomorrow. I don’t believe these have CarPlay available and so I’m looking at aftermarket retrofit kits. Does anyone have any real world experiences with these?

[Court_S]

I took my old my old M140i to a guy in Sutton Coldfield who fitted the wifi aerial and did the coding with the correct FSC codes for my car. Cost £150.

[Origin Unknown]

CarPlay wasn't introduced on the F13 until 2017 so no option to enable a factory option. Looks like there are a few aftermarket products that effectively use the AUX input

[Origin Unknown]

Although, now I say that:

bimmer-tech.net said:

BMW Apple CarPlay compatibility is limited because it requires the NBT Evo head unit with ID5 or ID6 software. In other words, your BMW needs the latest on-board computer and operating system. Even if you have a vehicle from 2016, 2015 or 2014 with recent technology, your vehicle may only have the ID4 hardware, or the older head unit hardware, regular NBT.

If your BMW is equipped with a compatible head unit, BimmerTech can perform a software activation to enable Apple CarPlay. In some cases, you might need to add a WiFi antenna if your car does not already have one, to allow establishing a wireless connection between your iPhone and BMW head unit. You can check here if your BMW needs one and if so — order it with us. With the appropriate hardware fitted in your vehicle, BimmerTech, unlike BMW, can do the BMW CarPlay activation even if you live in a country which is not on the Apple CarPlay availability list.

So I need to see what HU I have first.

[Pistonheader101]

done mine for £7 carplay antenna and £30 ebay coding.

[Court_S]

I’d have thought your car was on ID5.

The pre LCI 1 series were on ID5 and my later car was ID6.

I don’t know where you are based, but the guy I used does some pretty big retrofits in terms sod updating screens etc.

[curvature]

As these cars don't have a touch screen display I would stay clear of Apple CarPlay.

Had it done by BMW Connected last Thursday, Black Friday deal, and yesterday rang them up for a refund as I thought it was quite poor how it integrated.

I have an iPhone connected via bluetooth and a separate iPod by cable. I can also use Spotify and Amazon Music from the phone.

When I connected the phone via CarPlay it kept cutting out and the interface using the wheel was awful. Also you don't get navigation details on the head up display when using Apple maps.

My car is a 2017 model, for reference.

[BeeBopp]

Got my 66 plate 640d done earlier this year by a bloke in brum. Faultless. Cost 70 quid. As said, depends upon what version your ID drive is, but this guy told me he could do go back to to ID5. I’d recommend it. Took some research but it was worth it. Found the fella on Facebook. They can also email you the software and talk you through installation on phone.

[Court_S]

BeeBopp said:

Got my 66 plate 640d done earlier this year by a bloke in brum. Faultless. Cost 70 quid. As said, depends upon what version your ID drive is, but this guy told me he could do go back to to ID5. I’d recommend it. Took some research but it was worth it. Found the fella on Facebook. They can also email you the software and talk you through installation on phone.

Was it Zed Coding by any chance?

[8-P]

Was about to start a thread on this but a quick search means I would have been duplicating this one.

I have just bought a 2016 430i, pre lci if that matters with ID5.

I had planned to purchase one of the £30 Apple Car play jobs off ebay, but hadnt thought about the fact my car was not touch screen.

Is it that bad not being touch screen? Is there any advantage to getting an upgrade to ID6 before hand or even getting 2022 map updates.

All seem to be available on ebay but there is also a local guy who has amazing reviews to do this.

[Court_S]

8-P said:

Was about to start a thread on this but a quick search means I would have been duplicating this one.

I have just bought a 2016 430i, pre lci if that matters with ID5.

I had planned to purchase one of the £30 Apple Car play jobs off ebay, but hadnt thought about the fact my car was not touch screen.

Is it that bad not being touch screen? Is there any advantage to getting an upgrade to ID6 before hand or even getting 2022 map updates.

All seem to be available on ebay but there is also a local guy who has amazing reviews to do this.

I don’t see how not being touchscreen would be a disadvantage? I had an M140i with id6 and a touchscreen and I never used that function….ever. CarPlay worked just fine with the idrive wheel.

[8-P]

Good to know. I've been offered ID5 to ID6 and the Carplay (needs a wifi antenna fitting apparently) for £200.

[Court_S]

8-P said:

Good to know. I've been offered ID5 to ID6 and the Carplay (needs a wifi antenna fitting apparently) for £200.

Sounds pretty good price wise, I paid £150 for the coding and wifi aerial on my M140i. As soon as the cars internet subscription expired, I regretted not ticking the CarPlay box.

[Origin Unknown]

Went with an Andream MMI box. Seems there are many MMI boxes available from various sellers but all appear to be manufactured in China, most likely from the same design. Shipped from a German hub and so was here inside two days. £218 delivered.

No instructions were supplied, but various YouTube vidoes give good guidance on the installation. The fact that installation videos from other "vendors" all specify the same dip-switch config for my F13, further suggests these are white-labeled out of China and rebadged. Box felt well put together and supplied wiring looms felt quality components.

Loads of space under the factory HU to locate the MMI box on an F13.

Seems very usable using the iDrive Controller, but I need to live with it for a while to give real-world feedback.

One to note - The MMI box effectively uses the AUX input to the factory HU so it cannot match the audio quality of native inputs to the OEM Harmon Kardon HU. Ok for mid-40's-oldskool-ravers-with-broken-hearing like me

Thanks Court_S for the steer on install