[wenlipai]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

Ok clear to me I hope you made the best choice, we don't start a Android Auto/Apple Carplay war

Does anyone have any issue that sometimes the screen goes black and restart when using carplay?

[ggrcrash]

Originally Posted by wenlipai

Does anyone have any issue that sometimes the screen goes black and restart when using carplay?

Again also not trying to start an auto/carplay war. Apple's Interface is much cleaner, I give you that. But carplay definitely has more issues to deal with...The pros, don't stand up to all of the cons. I too, have witnessed the black screen issue, having to reset the box.

[Firefly1337]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

But now it's changes in the new version. Users who put a wrong version on the USB stick gets a alerting message. With the new menu a user see clearly what's the box needs for a good update.

Can you elaborate on that? Or maybe a picture. What does the message say?

[RAAF12]

But it's not blocking GEMINI_PACK.bin so reverse flashing isn't prohibited, it's just a warning. I check it with an older update and booting.
And at least flashes the latest update again B2 V1.5.0 with no problem.

[MaseinMA]

Any US based outlets sell these?

[RAAF12]

Originally Posted by MaseinMA

Any US based outlets sell these?

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.nl/Carlinkit-orig...01269436&psc=1
For NBT
Orlando FL https://www.bimmer-tech.net/ *expensive*
The cheapest way is buy from China from Aliexpress but has shipping cost to the USA.

[sbrook02]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.nl/Carlinkit-orig...9436&psc=1
For NBT
Orlando FL https://www.bimmer-tech.net/ *expensive*
The cheapest way is buy from China from Aliexpress but has shipping cost to the USA.

In the US you can buy from Amazon (~$300) and eBay (~$250) as well.

[MaseinMA]

Originally Posted by sbrook02

In the US you can buy from Amazon (~$300) and eBay (~$250) as well.

Thank you. Fair to say this guy would work on my F30? Amazon

[RAAF12]

Originally Posted by MaseinMA

Thank you. Fair to say this guy would work on my F30? Amazon

Scroll down and see what info you need, a screendump and the outline of the connector. If your menu is the same you have a NBT aka Next Best Thing. No joke.

[sbrook02]

Originally Posted by MaseinMA

Thank you. Fair to say this guy would work on my F30? Amazon

This will give you some ideas about what head unit you have: https://www.bimmer-tech.net/blog/ite...cic-nbt-nbtevo

[MaseinMA]

Super helpful all. I truly appreciate it!

[Firefly1337]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

But it's not blocking GEMINI_PACK.bin so reverse flashing isn't prohibited, it's just a warning. I check it with an older update and booting.
And at least flashes the latest update again B2 V1.5.0 with no problem.

Interesting... Let's hope they add this for all versions, then cross-flashing will be much easier.
Thanks

[RAAF12]

Originally Posted by jannylund

Pictures are in Swedish but basically -> settings -> control display -> brightness. This is on NBT 8.8" F31 2014.

I can control brightness in night. It's Dutch. 's nachts= In the night ('s is an update for old fashion word des :-)
My car is a F20 2016 and NBT 6.5'

[muniz_ri]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

I only can control brightness in night. It's Dutch. 's nachts= In the night ('s is an update for old fashion word des :-)
My car is a F20 2016

You can code the normal brightness slider setting with Bimmercode in expert mode. I have seen it before but don't remember the exact Bimmercode setting.

[muniz_ri]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

But it's not blocking GEMINI_PACK.bin so reverse flashing isn't prohibited, it's just a warning. I check it with an older update and booting.
And at least flashes the latest update again B2 V1.5.0 with no problem.

Nice. Maybe they will revert back to full flash files at some point instead of the partial GEMINI_PACK files.

[RAAF12]

Originally Posted by muniz_ri

You can code the normal brightness slider setting with Bimmercode in expert mode. I have seen it before but don't remember the exact Bimmercode setting.

Good to know, maybe someday I bought it. For now it's only Bimmerlink on the phone and use it to register the new 12V battery.

[MaseinMA]

Originally Posted by sbrook02

This will give you some ideas about what head unit you have: https://www.bimmer-tech.net/blog/ite...cic-nbt-nbtevo

So now I am not so sure. Mine doesn't match any of those pictures. Leaning toward CIC but NBT is familiar as well...


https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxobv0k8pp...11143.jpg?dl=0

[Eldewy]

Originally Posted by RAAF12

Good to know, maybe someday I bought it. For now it's only Bimmerlink on the phone and use it to register the new 12V battery.

If you do get it, the setting is called DIM_VARIANT under HU (Headunit) in expert mode. The actual value will be new (or neu) change it to old (or alt). Then you will get the 20 steps slider for both display and ambient lighting (if you already coded ambient lighting brightness to be separate from display).

In my opinion, this is a MUST for anyone wanting to use the CarPlay box because setting it to max makes the display look significantly more vibrant and makes display calibration results via CarPlay settings much more controllable and consistent.

[sbrook02]

Originally Posted by MaseinMA

So now I am not so sure. Mine doesn't match any of those pictures. Leaning toward CIC but NBT is familiar as well...


https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxobv0k8pp...11143.jpg?dl=0

If you have ConnectedDrive and also have a 6-pin video connector on the back of your display (need to take it out and check) you have NBT. Some cars have CIC-HIGH that look like CIC but really are NBT (uses the 6-pin video cable).

You should contact the seller to confirm before buying. This eBay listing gives a better explanation.

[MaseinMA]

Originally Posted by sbrook02

If you have ConnectedDrive and also have a 6-pin video connector on the back of your display (need to take it out and check) you have NBT. Some cars have CIC-HIGH that look like CIC but really are NBT (uses the 6-pin video cable).

You should contact the seller to confirm before buying.

Ok thank you. Sounds like I need to remove the display to see for sure what I have.

[mako2388]

Hi all, been a long time lurker and infrequent poster here. I recently switched from Android to iOS after being kind of bored with Android latest offerings and seeing how well CarPlay worked with my wife's phone.

Wanted to share some experience as I am sure many of you might wonder the same. I am on an Andream Version B, updated to the latest software on the 1st page (B_V1.2.5 and MCU 20.10.22.16).

Wireless CarPlay works pretty fantastic, it automatically connects every time I hop in the car and it automatically goes directly into CarPlay. It's been weeks since I've gone to the native iDrive screens for anything. I was never able to get wireless Android Auto working really (OnePlus 7 pro).

The interface is nice, though I feel it's a bit cartoony and actually like the overall look of AA better. CarPlay seems to be a bit more polished. Auto dark mode worked right away.

Using it on the regular isn't without bugs though, and this totally can be the apps fault and not CarPlay but here is what I have seen. The 2 main apps I use are Waze and Spotify. Often Waze will just show a blank map. It will even give directions if I ask for it, but the map is blank. If I go into my recent apps on my phone and clear out Waze, it restarts on CarPlay and then it's fine. Spotify has something similar where the extra options, like shuffle and "heart" just won't appear. All other functionality is fine. Again clearing out the app from recent and it will restart and be good to go.
*EDIT for Waze setting the permissions to always allow location access seems to help (as mentioned by Thewrench86 (THX!!))

Another thing I noticed was with CarPlay there isn't much need to pair the iPhone directly to iDrive. In the beginning I did this, mainly so I could still use the steering wheel option to call people. But this would cause some issues with sound output. Often my iPhone would be sending the music over Bluetooth instead of CarPlay. Which would require me to go and switch the output (now that I type this there may be an option to fix that right within iDrive and I will look later).
*EDIT my idea worked...when you pair the iPhone to iDrive just remove the "Audio" checkbox. Haven't had this issue since.

Really to sum it up...CarPlay connects and starts much better than AA, however once in AA I don't think I really ever had any bugs like I do once in CarPlay (besides the auto day/night which was fixed about 1-2 months ago).

Neither is perfect. I will say that the wireless feature is a significant plus for me. I had the USB for Android running out of the glove box, and now I can just use a cable for charging straight from the cig lighter in the armrest. A bit cleaner I suppose. It's also really nice to not have to bother with plugging it in if I am just going on a short drive.

[RAAF12]

Originally Posted by MaseinMA

Ok thank you. Sounds like I need to remove the display to see for sure what I have.

That's the safest way but you can check the VIN first it tells a lot about the car
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/select year and month of production is a big help too. I was pretty sure about it has NBT and did not remove the display for checking the connector before buying the MMI.