Apple CarPlay/Android Auto Retrofit

[GTiceman]

Originally Posted by cannyjock

Saying 'ok Google' doesn't trigger BMW, it's only pressing the voice button that does. Sometimes the command doesn't get picked up that well so pressing and holding the iDrive button works better.

Sorry what I meant is pressing the steering wheel button activates my Google Assistant on the screen.

Originally Posted by bighindu79

When I'm in the CarPlay side, pressing the steering wheel voice button only invokes Siri. When I'm in the CIC interface it only invokes the bmw voice assistant. I have the mic piggyback plugged in.

That is how mine works

[icanturn]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

Glad you got it in. The 12v wire should run to the yellow camera wire on the carsara box (if DCT) if you're 6MT I don't know if anyone confirmed to use yellow or purple.

Ground I just ran a wire down to the chassis bolt that holds the battery in place.

Im having super hard time getting this thing to work. I have the red wire coming out of the RCA going to the yellow wire (DCT) on the Carsara box. The black wire on the other end is grounded to the battery tie down bracket. The red wire I guess isn't needed?

When I go to reverse, nothing happens. When I select the camera in the UI, it says 'No Signal".

So I tried hooking up the red power wire to the battery, and still nothing. I dont know whats going on. Ideas?

Edit: It was the "reverse line detect" in the settings. Switched that off and I have camera. The only thing now is that the camera takes up 2/3 of the screen. The other 1/3rd is for radar, which I dont have. When I select full screen camera it makes the parking lines full but the actual camera picture is still 2/3rds. Hm.

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by icanturn

Im having super hard time getting this thing to work. I have the red wire coming out of the RCA going to the yellow wire (DCT) on the Carsara box. The black wire on the other end is grounded to the battery tie down bracket. The red wire I guess isn't needed?

When I go to reverse, nothing happens. When I select the camera in the UI, it says 'No Signal".

So I tried hooking up the red power wire to the battery, and still nothing. I dont know whats going on. Ideas?

Edit: It was the "reverse line detect" in the settings. Switched that off and I have camera. The only thing now is that the camera takes up 2/3 of the screen. The other 1/3rd is for radar, which I dont have. When I select full screen camera it makes the parking lines full but the actual camera picture is still 2/3rds. Hm.

Glad you got it sorted. Sorry I posted once that the software setting needs to change for it to work. But red is always 12v + and black goes to ground.

Did you turn off and turn the car back on after setting full screen? I tried that too and it didn't display full screen until I had the car off and back on then it worked. I went back to 2/3rd view though because the aspect ratio was a little distorted and I have PDC anyway.

[Marin_Oil_Burner]

Originally Posted by cannyjock

Saying 'ok Google' doesn't trigger BMW, it's only pressing the voice button that does. Sometimes the command doesn't get picked up that well so pressing and holding the iDrive button works better.

Thanks cannyjock...I'm anxious to do the install this weekend. Appreciate all of the guinea pigging you have done on this.

[E60525d]

So wired it all up today and it's working.

But I am finding Android Auto really buggy. It keeps disconnecting and rebooting when doing most tasks such as entering an address or using voice search.

This is both wired and wireless.

Anyone else with similar issues?

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by E60525d

So wired it all up today and it's working.

But I am finding Android Auto really buggy. It keeps disconnecting and rebooting when doing most tasks such as entering an address or using voice search.

This is both wired and wireless.

Anyone else with similar issues?

I'm primarily using carplay, but I played with AA on my work phone just to see if there were any benefits and didn't have any particular issues.

AA is heavily reliant upon your phone software, is your device up to date?

[E60525d]

So left the car and came inside for a bit. I thought I'll try Apple Carplay with my work phone and it worked fine.

I thought I'd try android auto again, and it worked much better. None of the issues as before. Not such what changed.

The only thing I can think of is I deleted my home WiFi channel from my phone settings. Maybe my phone was struggling or confused with two connections trying to happen?

Anyway sorted now.

But not quite perfect, found another issue on both Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

Both the Siri voice and Google Voice is very poor quality when they are talking. Sounds high pitched.

But all other sounds like playing music from either carplay and AA is fine..I presume this is setting related?

I tried turning the aux volume down to half but it made no difference. Any ideas?

[bighindu79]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

I'm primarily using carplay, but I played with AA on my work phone just to see if there were any benefits and didn't have any particular issues.

AA is heavily reliant upon your phone software, is your device up to date?

I second that. AA is a lot more sensitive to software version/patch level. I tried AA with my work phone (galaxy s9+) on the latest os available as of today and it was stable. its not as refined as carplay but it works without issues with the Carsara unit

[akkando]

Originally Posted by GTiceman

I'm still curious if anyone without combox was able to code out the 6FL and get head unit aux to work because I didn't see CDMM_USB_AUDIO_DOUBLE_0B in my list.

Mine is without combox but I do have 6FL with usb and aux in armrest. I also have BimmerCode but no NCSexpert. Unfortunately I probably won't be attempting install for a bit but when I do I'll update here.

[GTiceman]

Originally Posted by akkando

Mine is without combox but I do have 6FL with usb and aux in armrest. I also have BimmerCode but no NCSexpert. Unfortunately I probably won't be attempting install for a bit but when I do I'll update here.

Thanks. Code make it worth it for me to buy the app.

[GTiceman]

Originally Posted by bighindu79

I second that. AA is a lot more sensitive to software version/patch level. I tried AA with my work phone (galaxy s9+) on the latest os available as of today and it was stable. its not as refined as carplay but it works without issues with the Carsara unit

Interesting for me it was fine day 1 but today it had difficulty connecting and launching. I think it was the phone side. Pixel 4 here.

I did make a change though to tell it to make calls through AA and not the car, maybe I'll play with that in the AM.

It does seem that now the car is defaulting back to other inputs and not auto starting in AA like it did previously. Not sure if it is a phone issue with the time it takes to swap from my home wifi to the car wifi.

[smithl3]

I recently installed Bimmer-Tech's MMI Prime in my 2011 e93 M3 as well as their backup camera. I took my time, and it was the better part of a day to get everything zip tied nicely out of the way, and routed from the back of the car up, and then installing the box in the center stack. I watched the youtube video's about six times before I committed to this, mainly because it involves taking the dash apart and getting access to the trunk area. Everything came apart and went back together fine though, so the instructions were good.

I have only had a few weeks of operation with it, but so far it has been working great! The backup camera is a very nice addition to this car, all the sensors are already there, and the camera gives me confidence I am not going to bump into anything stupid.

I got the Black Friday pricing so it was a little less than the website shows, but worth it! https://www.bimmer-tech.net/products...i-cic-retrofit

It's nice to bring a 10 year old car up to todays standards if not better since it is wireless! I loved the car before, and now I love it even more.

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by smithl3

I recently installed Bimmer-Tech's MMI Prime in my 2011 e93 M3 as well as their backup camera. I took my time, and it was the better part of a day to get everything zip tied nicely out of the way, and routed from the back of the car up, and then installing the box in the center stack. I watched the youtube video's about six times before I committed to this, mainly because it involves taking the dash apart and getting access to the trunk area. Everything came apart and went back together fine though, so the instructions were good.

I have only had a few weeks of operation with it, but so far it has been working great! The backup camera is a very nice addition to this car, all the sensors are already there, and the camera gives me confidence I am not going to bump into anything stupid.

I got the Black Friday pricing so it was a little less than the website shows, but worth it! https://www.bimmer-tech.net/products...i-cic-retrofit

It's nice to bring a 10 year old car up to todays standards if not better since it is wireless! I loved the car before, and now I love it even more.

How do you feel audio quality is compared to other high quality sources? That's been the biggest question for people. Hard to find any real quantitative proof since everyone can only provide subjective feedback but you're one of the first to post the MMI prime.

[smithl3]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

How do you feel audio quality is compared to other high quality sources? That's been the biggest question for people. Hard to find any real quantitative proof since everyone can only provide subjective feedback but you're one of the first to post the MMI prime.

I am by no means an expert in this so just take this opinion as another user. I cant tell the difference... Mind you, everything is stock on the car as far as speakers, amp, etc. I drive this car primarily as a weekend car and haven't noticed anything different from using the AUX MMI prime audio source when compared to the standard audio.

I prefer the top down and listening to the motor more than the music so my opinion may be a little off!

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by smithl3

I am by no means an expert in this so just take this opinion as another user. I cant tell the difference... Mind you, everything is stock on the car as far as speakers, amp, etc. I drive this car primarily as a weekend car and haven't noticed anything different from using the AUX MMI prime audio source when compared to the standard audio.

I prefer the top down and listening to the motor more than the music so my opinion may be a little off!

That's fair. Is your car equipped with the individual audio package or standard audio?

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

That's fair. Is your car equipped with the individual audio package or standard audio?

Looks like he has standard audio based on the color of the speaker rings.

[CTMike]

Originally Posted by smithl3

I recently installed Bimmer-Tech's MMI Prime in my 2011 e93 M3 as well as their backup camera. I took my time, and it was the better part of a day to get everything zip tied nicely out of the way, and routed from the back of the car up, and then installing the box in the center stack. I watched the youtube video's about six times before I committed to this, mainly because it involves taking the dash apart and getting access to the trunk area. Everything came apart and went back together fine though, so the instructions were good.

I have only had a few weeks of operation with it, but so far it has been working great! The backup camera is a very nice addition to this car, all the sensors are already there, and the camera gives me confidence I am not going to bump into anything stupid.

I got the Black Friday pricing so it was a little less than the website shows, but worth it! https://www.bimmer-tech.net/products...i-cic-retrofit

It's nice to bring a 10 year old car up to todays standards if not better since it is wireless! I loved the car before, and now I love it even more.

You are my M3 twin! 2011 E93 6MT Jerez over Bamboo... and I just got MMI Prime and the backup camera! Planning on installing after Christmas.

[Iyzmi]

Originally Posted by icanturn

Im having super hard time getting this thing to work. I have the red wire coming out of the RCA going to the yellow wire (DCT) on the Carsara box. The black wire on the other end is grounded to the battery tie down bracket. The red wire I guess isn't needed?

When I go to reverse, nothing happens. When I select the camera in the UI, it says 'No Signal".

So I tried hooking up the red power wire to the battery, and still nothing. I dont know whats going on. Ideas?

Edit: It was the "reverse line detect" in the settings. Switched that off and I have camera. The only thing now is that the camera takes up 2/3 of the screen. The other 1/3rd is for radar, which I dont have. When I select full screen camera it makes the parking lines full but the actual camera picture is still 2/3rds. Hm.

What do you think of the video quality? Any flickering issues?

[Cyberdemon]

Originally Posted by CTMike

You are my M3 twin! 2011 E93 6MT Jerez over Bamboo... and I just got MMI Prime and the backup camera! Planning on installing after Christmas.

Want to unscrew your box and take some pictures of the circuit board before you install it? For science of course.

[smithl3]

Originally Posted by Cyberdemon

That's fair. Is your car equipped with the individual audio package or standard audio?

I believe it is just the standard audio setup

[smithl3]

Originally Posted by Iyzmi

What do you think of the video quality? Any flickering issues?

I haven't experienced any flickering. The CarPlay pops right up when you start the car which is nice, so you don't have to request it each time. You can still toggle back to radio, but the Siri function won't work if you go back to analog radio.

The only other thing I am getting used to is you have to switch between Bluetooth to WiFi to use the screen mirroring option, so that takes some time to navigate between the two. That's only really used when I have my kids in the car and they want to watch a video from the back seat.

[Fooksdaddy]

For those having the camera issue (not popping up or signal intermittent).

Initially I wired the camera power to the black/blue reverse light power (not enough juice to keep the camera on)

Then, I was going to use the 4 plug 12v switch but couldn't figure a good power source in the trunk other than directly to battery -- overkill for a reverse camera.

So, I tapped both reverse light wires (black/blue & black/purple) into a single power for the camera and it works......i'm guessing the one light didn't have enough juice.