BMW M2 Comp, can I upgrade to Android Carplay?

[tomvcarter]

Hi, I be got a 2020 M2 Comp, and am disappointed to find that it does not support Android Carplay.
I understand that the latest BMWs do, is it possible to upgrade the idrive to get it?

[trebnamo]

Not sure if the idrive itself can be upgraded to support this, but there are Andream boxes which can be bolted on and provide full CarPlay / Android Auto integration. These just provide a passthrough for the quadlock in the back of the head unit, then you can long-press the menu button to switch between BMW and your phone apps.

I've done this in my M235i and it works really well. Waze, Google Maps, Spotify, etc all on the dashboard and controlled from the idrive and steering wheel.

Installation is a bit fiddly but only took me an hour or so. You have to remove three panels from the dash to expose the space - this is mostly clips and torx screws:



Only four or five wires then the Andream box can be stashed away under the existing head unit:



Android Auto boot up:



Maps and Spotify:



And long press menu to switch back to the BMW controls:



All controls are integrated with the idrive and voice commands, so you can press the steering wheel voice button and say "Route to <place>" and Gmaps or Waze will set the destination. The phone can sit in your pocket without even being unlocked. It's great and I wouldn't be without it now.

[tomvcarter]

That's very helpful, thanks.
Installation looks beyond my skills, but I assume a local car stereo place should be able to fit.

[trebnamo]

One thing to bear in mind the different models of head unit - mine was NBT but my car is from 2014, I think a 2020 M2C will have NBT Evo or perhaps even something newer. The documentation and compatibility information on the Andream boxes is pretty good, and if you're going to tke advice from somewhere to fit it for you I guess you can leave all that to them.