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2017 BMW 5 Series Sedan Will Feature Wireless CarPlay Support

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BMW today unveiled its 2017 BMW 5 Series Sedan, which will be one of the first cars to include wireless CarPlay support. According to press materials released today, iPhones will be able to wirelessly integrate with the BMW iDrive system, connecting to the car over Bluetooth instead of through a Lightning cable.

bmwcarplay.jpg
CarPlay is available in the BMW 5 Series Sedan too. Integrating the smartphone into the vehicle's system environment allows the phone, together with any apps that are on it, to be operated via the screen in the car by means of the iDrive Controller or touch control. BMW is the first carmaker to integrate Apple CarPlay without any cables at all.
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Wireless CarPlay functionality was first introduced by Apple in 2015 alongside iOS 9, but thus far, no in-car infotainment system has been released that fully supports the feature.

It is not clear why wireless CarPlay support has been slow to roll out, but Apple has prevented at least one company from demoing the feature. Volkswagen attempted to demo wireless CarPlay functionality in January of 2016, but Apple said no. It is not clear when Volkswagen will be releasing a vehicle with wireless CarPlay or when it will see a wider rollout to additional vehicles.

The current CarPlay setup requires users to connect an iPhone to a vehicle using a Lightning cable that plugs into a standard USB port.

The 5 Series Sedan will be available around the world starting in February of 2017.

Article Link: 2017 BMW 5 Series Sedan Will Feature Wireless CarPlay Support
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/10/13/wireless-carplay-2017-bmw-5-series/
Yeah, but it has an ICE and has to be manually driven. Sales are plummeting because of that and I don't think Carplay, wireless or not, is going to save it.

Oh, and you need to buy a new car to have this feature. What a freaking joke.
 
I wonder how wireless CarPlay will work when it comes to the annoying bugs that seem to forever plague it.

Right now, most of the bugs that I encounter, can be fixed by unplugging and re-plugging the lightning cable into the iPhone. This is a temporary fix, because the bugs always come back another day, but it is also an easy and quick fix.

With wireless CarPlay, I guess turning off the radio, or maybe disconnecting the WiFi might fix it.
 
Incorrect information regarding first car to support this option.

BMW cars with iDrive 5.0 already support Wireless Apple Car Play. All 2 series, 3 series, 4 series, M3, M4 cars built since July 2016 have 'Wireless Apple Car Play'.

My M4 (built Aug 2016) has it... and it does not require any cable, all works via Bluetooth.

Here is another article from Mac Rumors stating the same.
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/01/bmw-2-series-carplay/
 
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What is with automakers taking so long to implement CarPlay? And then some automakers are making it an additional purchase or only available on higher trim levels of a vehicle. I feel like the automakers are hindering the platform greatly. So far I like VWs approach the best. Just about every car in every trim level 2016 and up has CarPlay support standard.
 
Munky said:
Tell that to Mazda:rolleyes:
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I heard it has improved, but Mazda's infotainment systems really sucked in the past. I wish I had CarPlay in my 2014 CX-5.

Mazda is becoming a really boring brand.
Besides the mx-5, their line up is pretty boring. Dropping the Mazdaspeed was a mistake in my eyes.
 
StoneyG said:
I don't understand most people's obsession with wireless everything. What is so wrong about a cable? Especially in a vehicle, where you're gonna want to charge your phone anyway.
Click to expand...

Well it's nice to just leave the phone in your pocket and never take it out, especially if you are in and out of the car for long trips. I don't understand what's difficult to understand.

But this is awesome, hopefully it gets to other cars as well. I just hope Waze gets off their duff and updates their app for carplay.
 
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mattster16 said:
What is with automakers taking so long to implement CarPlay? And then some automakers are making it an additional purchase or only available on higher trim levels of a vehicle. I feel like the automakers are hindering the platform greatly. So far I like VWs approach the best. Just about every car in every trim level 2016 and up has CarPlay support standard.
Click to expand...
Check out Chevrolet. They were one of the first to announce support and have it implemented widely.
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MrT8064 said:
Maybe because VW is a toxic brand and Apple didn't want to be associated with them...
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Nah, Volkswagen didn't pay the $$$ to get to say they were the first. #monetizeallthethings
 
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I don't know what takes so long. Maybe it's the same problem as with Homekit. Apple wants to control everything and some companies don't like that. On top of that they impose strict requirements andlicense fees.

It seems Works for Nest has a head start over Homekit. Don't know if Android Car has more support than CarPlay.
 
gspannu said:
Incorrect information regarding first car to support this option.

BMW cars with iDrive 5.0 already support Wireless Apple Car Play. All 2 series, 3 series, 4 series, M3, M4 cars built since July 2016 have 'Wireless Apple Car Play'.

My M4 (built Aug 2016) has it... and it does not require any cable, all works via Bluetooth.

Here is another article from Mac Rumors stating the same.
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/08/01/bmw-2-series-carplay/
Click to expand...


Dang would like to retrofit that to my 2015/2016 m3...
 
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vertical smile said:
I heard it has improved, but Mazda's infotainment systems really sucked in the past. I wish I had CarPlay in my 2014 CX-5.

Mazda is becoming a really boring brand.
Besides the mx-5, their line up is pretty boring. Dropping the Mazdaspeed was a mistake in my eyes.
Click to expand...

I like Mazda's styling. Their engine lineup leaves much to be desired. I really like the CX-5 and could see it as my next vehicle to get more space, except for the engine. I currently drive a 2015 GTI and going to something non-turbo with much less power doesn't sound too appealing. Everyone is going turbo, c'mon Mazda I want some torque! That and lack of CarPlay. I don't have CarPlay now (missed it by a model year), but I'd like it in my next car.
 
hagar said:
I don't know what takes so long. Maybe it's the same problem as with Homekit. Apple wants to control everything and some companies don't like that. On top of that they impose strict requirements andlicense fees.

It seems Works for Nest has a head start over Homekit. Don't know if Android Car has more support than CarPlay.
Click to expand...

Control what though? What Apple wants to do with CarPlay has no direct impact on the manufacturer. CarPlay is just layer on top of the existing infotainment so the only thing Apple can control is what happens within CarPlay so I'm sure the auto manufacturers don't really care what Apple wants to do.

Fees could be a problem but Apple has no leverage here, especially with established manufacturers with mature infotainment systems (UConnect, MMI, iDrive, COMAND) and if its a money thing, then Apple has no one to blame but themselves. The way I look at it, car manufacturers have no incentive to immediately implement CarPlay because they're not going to lose/gain a significant amount of customers if CarPlay is or isn't available.
 
StoneyG said:
I don't understand most people's obsession with wireless everything. What is so wrong about a cable? Especially in a vehicle, where you're gonna want to charge your phone anyway.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Bluetooth will sound bad through the cars upgraded speaker system PLUS it's great to have the phone charging. Seriously why why why bluetooth? Are humans of today so lazy that they can't even plug in a damn cord??? Plus surely, that would be more software bugs??? I can't even get out of my messages on my iPhone SE after the ios10 update!
 
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