08-24-2018, 03:25 PM | #1 |
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BimmerTech CarPlay MMI - Unboxing and Installation
I ordered one of the BimmerTech CarPlay MMI boxes a couple of weeks ago and got around to installing it into my 1-series (F20) earlier today. My car is an early 2016 model so it has NBT EVO but isn't running idrive 5 and therefore doesn't come with CarPlay as an option. I took a load of photos and thought I would post them here along with a bit of a review.
Overall I was impressed with the quality of the BimmerTech kit. The device came in a nice box and was well packaged. I ordered the Trim Tool and that came in a nice branded cloth bag. Installation was reasonably straightforward, the hardest bits were: - Removing the vents on my car - getting the main wiring harness plug to plug into the head unit (requires quite a bit of wiggling and it awkward) - getting the head unit to fit back in with the box and wiring harness filling up the space behind it. It took me about 40 minutes to install it and if I did it again it'd probably only take 20. The only issue I had is that it wasn't clear what to do for the mic and it didn't work first time. Depending on the vehicle I think there are two ways this needs to be wired, for mine I just needed to connect two cables together in the harness to pass the mic through. Overall the box works great, the sound quality is better than when I was using bluetooth and the integration with the idrive controller is really good. Couple of minor annoyances I've found so far: - the forward and back buttons on the dash don't skip tracks forward and back in CarPlay - When my reverse sensors activate it pulls the box out of CarPlay to display the reversing view but the reverts back to the idrive system instead of going back to CarPlay - The steering wheel scroll roller thingy doesn't control the CarPlay interface, you have to use the main idrive controller - display is not widescreen. I've got an 8.8" display and it'd be really nice if the whole screen was used for CarPlay I took a load of photos of what comes in the box as well as the installation - not many photos of it actually working but it looks the same as any other CarPlay install (with the exception of the MMI menu which I've taken a couple of photos of). The MMI menu has been skimmed to look similar to the idrive menu but you can tell fairly quickly that it isn't the same, also it's quite sluggish (only the MMI menu - once you're in CarPlay it works great). Enjoy the photos and yell out if you have any questions. PS. I paid full price for this, no paid review or anything like that. Just figured there were a lot of questions and thought it might be helpful for others. Unboxing: http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/gr...20MMI/Unboxing Installing: http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/gr...?sort=3&page=1 Working: http://s1101.photobucket.com/user/gr...%20MMI/working (full galleries above) Last edited by grahamrb; 08-26-2018 at 03:26 PM.. |
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09-05-2018, 02:26 PM | #3 | |
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On a side note, BimmerTech have resolved the issue with the reversing sensor dropping the system out of CarPlay by providing me with a firmware update. I also had an issue with people hearing me but that turned out to be my iPhone cable. |
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09-05-2018, 06:03 PM | #4 | ||
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09-06-2018, 08:19 AM | #5 |
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09-06-2018, 09:47 AM | #6 |
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Well that just sucks
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09-09-2018, 03:58 AM | #7 | |
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I'd say having a 2/3 screen would make this solution a complete non-starter for me. I hope they can fix that with a future firmware update. Attached - Unichip mic, CarPlay home screen and Apple maps |
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09-09-2018, 05:40 AM | #8 | |
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This is why we use the factory mic and 2/3 of the screen. Just like BMW does. |
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09-09-2018, 01:36 PM | #9 |
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I get that, however the requests and wishes from customers should take priority. If you can implement full screen I'd pay double the price tomorrow!
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09-09-2018, 04:03 PM | #10 |
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09-09-2018, 05:02 PM | #12 | |
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And don’t worry, we won’t ask for more money |
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09-09-2018, 05:16 PM | #13 |
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I appreciate that.
I believe that doing business with us is much more than just getting industry leading products. We work hard every day to provide professional support and great customer service to every BMW owner |
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09-10-2018, 12:50 AM | #14 | |
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I have also heard rumours that unichip are working on a wireless version of CarPlay. Is this something you are also looking into? |
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09-10-2018, 10:42 AM | #15 | |
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I'm all for the 2/3 screen if the other 1/3 could be used to display iDrive split-screen info, or even other CarPlay info (think Nav and Music info/cover art like iDrive). But if that's not possible, then a fullscreen implementation at least allows us to use the entire display. UPDATE: Saw your post in the other thread on this product; appreciate your looking into suggestions from the user base! https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...6&postcount=77 |
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09-10-2018, 09:31 PM | #16 | |
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Did you have navigation or headsup to begin with? I have both on 2015x3 and wonder if it's worth it and if the tech is good with bimmertech Thanks for the input
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09-10-2018, 11:14 PM | #17 | |
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The key thing that would make the biggest improvement would be to make use of the whole screen. Because the idrive nav takes the whole screen it feels like you have a better understanding of what you need to do next. If you don't have pro nav or always use split screen then you probably won't notice this. Any specific questions just let me know. |
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09-13-2018, 07:22 AM | #20 |
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09-13-2018, 09:05 AM | #21 | |
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How do firmware updates work for the unit? Does it require disassembly every time? |
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09-13-2018, 10:22 AM | #22 |
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