2017 BMW 5 Series Sedan Will Feature Wireless CarPlay Support

[haunebu]

One thing is for certain, it's definitely not all cars with iDrive 5.0. My 2017 BMW i3 has iDrive 5.0 but no CarPlay.

The hardware that supports Wireless CarPlay became available for cars built in July or August, depending on which model you have. The M2, for example, was manufactured with iDrive 5.0 starting in July, 2016. However, it wasn't until August, 2016 that CarPlay was also supported. There's newer hardware in the August+ builds that enables CarPlay (both wired and wireless).

There are rumors that older vehicles that originally shipped with iDrive 5.0 (but not CarPlay) might have a retrofit option, but that is yet to be confirmed.

 

[iapplelove]

Maybe because VW is a toxic brand and Apple didn't want to be associated with them...

It was all about money bro. VW is huge and owns several car companies Audi, Porsche, Bentley, they will bounce back. Besides it was way before the scandal.

For some reason I don't see VW adding wireless as an infotainment software upgrade - that's just my intuition. Just be happy you have CarPlay at all, I missed it by a model year with my GTI! I have the smaller screened, slower 2015 head unit. My sig other's 2017 Jetta has it and I can vouch for the occasional lock-up. It seems to help to not plug the phone in until the infotainment system is already on after you've started the car.

I have a 2015 GTI as well... it's my 5th one. Owned every generation since the mk3.

Sucks the situation they got themselves into.

 

[ghostface147]

****ing Mazda and Toyota. Annoying.

 

[apolloa]

Can't see that working as well as a cable, and considering the way iOS 10 has affected some BMW owners Bluetooth connectivity, well... I presume you'll be able to use a cable still.

Although.... if any bimmer owners want to share how well it works over Bluetooth I would be interested to know. I've never seen it.

 

[profets]

Yeah... for some odd reason CarPlay is not available on either the i3 or the i8 even with iDrive 5.0.

If you look at those videos I posted a couple posts up, it seems to be working over BT.

Yeah, it's too bad. Did watch the videos - thanks for sharing.

The hardware that supports Wireless CarPlay became available for cars built in July or August, depending on which model you have. The M2, for example, was manufactured with iDrive 5.0 starting in July, 2016. However, it wasn't until August, 2016 that CarPlay was also supported. There's newer hardware in the August+ builds that enables CarPlay (both wired and wireless).

There are rumors that older vehicles that originally shipped with iDrive 5.0 (but not CarPlay) might have a retrofit option, but that is yet to be confirmed.

That's interesting, good to know. My 17 i3 was built in July. But even ones being built now with iDrive 5.0 don't have CarPlay. I knew that going in though. A friend has a September build M240i coming and he's pretty stoked for it.

Is it correct though - that all the iDrive 5.0 systems with CarPlay are also touch screen in addition to the standard physical control? That might be part of the reason for the lack of CarPlay in the i3. The iDrive screen sits too far to be able to reach to use it as a touch interface.

 

[QuarterSwede]

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.

Options I suppose. Could be useful if you're driving down to the corner market to pick something up and won't be driving more than 5-10 min.

I have CarPlay and my phone would be dead if it didn't charge it while using it on my commute to work (45min each way). All of the CarPlay UI is being streamed from the device to the headunit. It's not like it just steams whatever music you're listening to.

 

[tongxinshe]

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.

Maybe just because you mostly drive long distances (more than 30 minutes a trip), while some others use their car in a different pattern, for example, less than 10 minutes a trip most of the time.

 

[100LL]

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.

I rented a new 2016 VW Golf during August near Germany and it had connected to my iPhone via Bluetooth (not cable) and it had (apparently wireless) CarPlay. Time travel?

(I rented this from a Volkswagen outlet while my Audi was in for maintenance)

 

[MacFan782040]

last to join carplay, first to have wirless carplay

Lexus/Toyota is still not on the list

 

[morcutt11]

For some reason I don't see VW adding wireless as an infotainment software upgrade - that's just my intuition. Just be happy you have CarPlay at all, I missed it by a model year with my GTI! I have the smaller screened, slower 2015 head unit. My sig other's 2017 Jetta has it and I can vouch for the occasional lock-up. It seems to help to not plug the phone in until the infotainment system is already on after you've started the car.

Yeah I've had better luck if the radio is on when I connect or disconnect the phone and, oddly enough considering all of the reported iPhone 7 problems, it hasn't happened yet with my iPhone 7plus. Of course, now that I said that, it will fail tomorrow.

Yeah I fear that it will require a hardware upgrade, considering that support for CarPlay required upgrading to the new MIB II to begin with.
[doublepost=1476399671][/doublepost]

I rented a new 2016 VW Golf during August near Germany and it had connected to my iPhone via Bluetooth (not cable) and it had (apparently wireless) CarPlay. Time travel?

(I rented this from a Volkswagen outlet while my Audi was in for service)

CarPlay is more than just audio. Wireless audio via BlueTooth is available w/o CarPlay. CarPlay extends (some) apps to the screen of the head unit, such as Apple Maps, to allow you to interact with the apps via the touchscreen.

 

[haunebu]

Is it correct though - that all the iDrive 5.0 systems with CarPlay are also touch screen in addition to the standard physical control? That might be part of the reason for the lack of CarPlay in the i3. The iDrive screen sits too far to be able to reach to use it as a touch interface.

That is incorrect. The BMW M2 has iDrive 5.0 and CarPlay, but it does not have a touchscreen. All functions are performed by the iDrive controller knob and the touchpad on top of it.

 

[ActionableMango]

What is so wrong about a cable? Especially in a vehicle, where you're gonna want to charge your phone anyway.

I like to hop in my car, have bluetooth connect, and it starts playing my music. The iPhone never even has to leave my bag or pocket. When I get to work, I just leave the car. iPhone is already where it needs to be.

If a cable is required, I have to get the phone out, I have to have an unsightly cable laying around, I have to plug it in. Then when I arrive I have to repeat all that in the opposite order. If I'm running errands, I have to either do this over and over and over again or choose to leave it in the car.

Wireless gets rid of cables laying around, reduces wear and tear on the charge port, and changes the hookup procedure from a few steps to none. Can you not see why some people might like that?

 

[iLog.Genius]

Is it correct though - that all the iDrive 5.0 systems with CarPlay are also touch screen in addition to the standard physical control? That might be part of the reason for the lack of CarPlay in the i3. The iDrive screen sits too far to be able to reach to use it as a touch interface.

The only cars in BMW's lineup with a touchscreen display is the G11 7-Series and now G30 5-Series. iDrive 5.0 is not indicative of having a touchscreen display as the later production BMW's below the 5er will get iDrive 5.0.

 

[lordofthereef]

****ing Mazda and Toyota. Annoying.

I'll second this. We are largely a Toyota family. Reliability comes first. The toys inside the car come second. For us anyway.

We just bought (well a year now) a RAV4. The stereo in it is not much better than what our 11 year old Prius has with the exception of aux in lol.

 

[Twimfy]

I'm hoping we'll see wireless units available to purchase soon. I nearly took the plunge and had a Pioneer double DIN unit fitted to my MX5 but the cable put me off, I have a really good phone mount as is and plug in via AUX and the 6S Plus screen isn't far off having CarPlay especially seeing as it's so close in such a small cabin.

That said I don't plug my phone in at all unless I need Sat Nav so a wireless CarPlay option without having to buy a new car would be an instant purchase for me. I'd like to see better performance from some of the options too, every demo unit I've tried, the responsiveness of the touch and UI speed has been lacking.

 

[EricMacRumors]

Plugging in the cable isn't that horrible once you get used to it. Our current MB and prior VW always had/has BT issues, plugging in reduces the issue but neither is perfect. I hope they allow wireless on the alpine unit i installed in my subaru, i am pretty sure I read the hardware is there.

I recently rented a Lincoln MK or something and i was excited it had car play, too excited some would say. But it was nice since there was no learning curve to start up the nav and a track before leaving the parking lot. Took longer to figure out how to get the thing in gear...

 

[Freis968]

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.

I am a sales consultant and I might see between 5-8 accounts per day. What this means is that up to 20x per day I am plugging and unplugging my iPhone 7 to the lightning cable.

I find it to be a real pain in the ass!

 

[eoblaed]

Can we get offline maps, please?

 

[Marzzz]

There are many reports that iPhone 7 is not working with BMW Bluetooth. Have you tried it with an iPhone 7?

No problem with iPhone 7+ and 2014 BMW 435i.

My lease is up this March/April; I went from the 5 Series to the 435i because the last version of the 5 drove like a Lexus- too much emphasis on soft, cushy luxury, not enough (or hardly any?) "Ultimate Driving Machine." I am hoping they have put performance back into the new 5.

 

[iosuser]

The e39 is still my favorite 5 series. I might be biased because I owned *five* of them including two M's. The M5 driving experience I did which came included with the car, it was two of the most thrilling days I ever had. The hot laps with the instructors at the end was absolutely amazing.

OMG I can't believe it's been 15 years already. Long live LMBe39s62!

 

[profets]

No problem with iPhone 7+ and 2014 BMW 435i.

My lease is up this March/April; I went from the 5 Series to the 435i because the last version of the 5 drove like a Lexus- too much emphasis on soft, cushy luxury, not enough (or hardly any?) "Ultimate Driving Machine." I am hoping they have put performance back into the new 5.

I've heard from BMW reps many times recently that a lot of the new cars are going in this direction. "Back to the roots of the ultimate driving machine" they say, and "less of the soft quiet drive like MB and Lexus".

 

[macman312]

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.

Agreed. I get into my car and plug my phone in.

 

[FNH15]

Makes it a bit more appealing. What about the M5?

Next year, most likely. BMW always waits a year before introducing the equivalent "///M" variant. See E46, E39, et al. Of course, iDrive 6.0 can easily be retrofitted to any BMW going as far back as a 1995 E38 (7 series).

 

[shansoft]

No problem with iPhone 7+ and 2014 BMW 435i.

My lease is up this March/April; I went from the 5 Series to the 435i because the last version of the 5 drove like a Lexus- too much emphasis on soft, cushy luxury, not enough (or hardly any?) "Ultimate Driving Machine." I am hoping they have put performance back into the new 5.

That is the funny part, almost all BMW now drive like a old Lexus, yet Lexus now drives like old BMW...

 

[kcamfork]

Toyota needs to start having CarPlay too, instead of having a GoPro mount on my windshield.

I pulled out the crappy Prius Entune/GPS system and installed a Pioneer AVIC 7100NEX. It's a great improvement. However, the general bugginess of CarPlay is getting on my nerves.