[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by silver.f30

Do you have to switch iDrive to AUX before you can use CarPlay? This may be a silly question but what happens if you get a call? Does the Bluetooth from iDrive and CarPlay pick it up?

Carplay outputs audio thru aux. iPhone pairs with carplay via bluetooth and then it streams video and audio via wifi. So on the iphone you can still be connected to idrive bluetooth (as the connection with carplay is via wifi) and choose it as audio destination. So you could use carplay together with idrive bluetooth, listen iphone audio via bluetooth, answer calls from idrive, see the caller in the kombi display etc, while seeing carplay in the idrive screen. But it's too good to be true and actually it's not doable, because it has a serious issue: in this state the iphone doesn't know if to get the microphone from carplay or from the car, so it keeps switching audio destination from carplay to idrive. For example, you're listening iphone music thru idrive bluetooth. You get a call, iphone thinks carplay should handle it so the mic has to be carplay one, audio switches to carplay, so you have to select aux in the idrive. Call ends, audio switches back to bluetooth, so you have to select bluetooth in idrive. It's a mess. So what you have to do is:

Do everything with carplay. Forget idrive completely. Remove the bluetooth connection from iphone to idrive and use only carplay. Listen music on carplay, listen radio on carplay, answer calls on carplay. Never exit it or you will lose calls because if the screen is showing idrive interface, and audio is not on aux, you will never ever notice you're receiving a call. Remember that you aren't paired with the idrive anymore, so kombi won't show anything.

[ooshnoo]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

Carplay outputs audio thru aux. iPhone pairs with carplay via bluetooth and then it streams video and audio via wifi. So on the iphone you can still be connected to idrive bluetooth (as the connection with carplay is via wifi) and choose it as audio destination. So you could use carplay together with idrive bluetooth, listen iphone audio via bluetooth, answer calls from idrive, see the caller in the kombi display etc, while seeing carplay in the idrive screen. But it's too good to be true and actually it's not doable, because it has a serious issue: in this state the iphone doesn't know if to get the microphone from carplay or from the car, so it keeps switching audio destination from carplay to idrive. For example, you're listening iphone music thru idrive bluetooth. You get a call, iphone thinks carplay should handle it so the mic has to be carplay one, audio switches to carplay, so you have to select aux in the idrive. Call ends, audio switches back to bluetooth, so you have to select bluetooth in idrive. It's a mess. So what you have to do is:

Do everything with carplay. Forget idrive completely. Remove the bluetooth connection from iphone to idrive and use only carplay. Listen music on carplay, listen radio on carplay, answer calls on carplay. Never exit it or you will lose calls because if the screen is showing idrive interface, and audio is not on aux, you will never ever notice you're receiving a call. Remember that you aren't paired with the idrive anymore, so kombi won't show anything.

Good info. Thanks.
Unique told me yesterday they are co big out with wireless CarPlay for the 8.8" screens in 2 weeks and it will be full screen. Fingers crossed.

So do you definitely need to use wired microphone and not the car's factory mic?

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

Good info. Thanks.
Unique told me yesterday they are co big out with wireless CarPlay for the 8.8" screens in 2 weeks and it will be full screen. Fingers crossed.

So do you definitely need to use wired microphone and not the car's factory mic?

Yeah, you have to use an external microphone (which they provide in the box)

[ooshnoo]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

Yeah, you have to use an external microphone (which they provide in the box)

Thanks sir. You also mentioned that you can plug in the phone as well, if you didn't want to use wireless CarPlay, yes?

Have you tried that and compared the overall functionality as a whole with iDrive or no?

I guess my biggest concern is not using the factory microphone as my experience with wired mics in the past has not been great. So was curious if plugging in the phone would still allow bluetooth access to the factory microphone.

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

Thanks sir. You also mentioned that you can plug in the phone as well, if you didn't want to use wireless CarPlay, yes?

Have you tried that and compared the overall functionality as a whole with iDrive or no?

I guess my biggest concern is not using the factory microphone as my experience with wired mics in the past has not been great. So was curious if plugging in the phone would still allow bluetooth access to the factory microphone.

Yeah you can use the idrive bluetooth, but my suggestion is to unpair it or it will cause issues with carplay audio... honestly I bought this kit expecting to use factory mic as I had the same concerns as you, but at the end external mic worked fine so no problem... I make calls and use siri without any issue so far

[ooshnoo]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

Yeah you can use the idrive bluetooth, but my suggestion is to unpair it or it will cause issues with carplay audio... honestly I bought this kit expecting to use factory mic as I had the same concerns as you, but at the end external mic worked fine so no problem... I make calls and use siri without any issue so far

Thanks again. Can you use the factory microphone when plugged into CarPlay?

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

Thanks again. Can you use the factory microphone when plugged into CarPlay?

I don't understand what you're asking..

However, I did some testing this evening and found some interesting things! This is the setup:

- idrive with factory mic
- carplay with external mic
- iphone and carplay paired (wifi)
- iphone and idrive paired (bluetooth)
- aux selected in idrive

The requisite is that the iphone connects first to idrive and then to carplay. If it connects to carplay first, you have to change audio destination to carplay on the iphone, as it normally chooses the last connected device.

With this setup, you can see carplay, listen carplay songs/indications and use siri (with carplay external mic). At the same time, when you do or receive a call, the call interface is shown in carplay BUT it's actually handled by the idrive. Infact, you see the caller name in kombi AND you can call from kombi contact list AND the call goes thru idrive bluetooth so it uses car oem mic! And when the call ends, audio goes back to aux for carplay, automatically!

This means that you can use carplay, then hide it and use idrive normally, while having it still connected without losing calls as they're still shown in the idrive, too!

[theblues]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

I don't understand what you're asking..

However, I did some testing this evening and found some interesting things! This is the setup:

- idrive with factory mic
- carplay with external mic
- iphone and carplay paired (wifi)
- iphone and idrive paired (bluetooth)
- aux selected in idrive

The requisite is that the iphone connects first to idrive and then to carplay. If it connects to carplay first, you have to change audio destination to carplay on the iphone, as it normally chooses the last connected device.

With this setup, you can see carplay, listen carplay songs/indications and use siri (with carplay external mic). At the same time, when you do or receive a call, the call interface is shown in carplay BUT it's actually handled by the idrive. Infact, you see the caller name in kombi AND you can call from kombi contact list AND the call goes thru idrive bluetooth so it uses car oem mic! And when the call ends, audio goes back to aux for carplay, automatically!

This means that you can use carplay, then hide it and use idrive normally, while having it still connected without losing calls as they're still shown in the idrive, too!

I think the concern ooshnoo raised is basically to avoid installing the external microphone as the wired solution from Unique and Bimmertech are offering this option.

It is clear you like the placement of the external mic under the visor but it would be neat to avoid anything that obstructs the look of the dashboard and what not.

This is my opinion about solutions with an external mic in general.

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by theblues

I think the concern ooshnoo raised is basically to avoid installing the external microphone as the wired solution from Unique and Bimmertech are offering this option.

It is clear you like the placement of the external mic under the visor but it would be neat to avoid anything that obstructs the look of the dashboard and what not.

This is my opinion about solutions with an external mic in general.

Unfortunately, this wireless version is completely different and doesn't support car mic, it requires an external mic. Under the sun visor is not that visible, but I think you could hide it inside the lights board. There are 3 grills with 3 holes which should contain oem alarm sensors. But if you don't have it, they're empty and you could fit the external mic inside it so that it looks 100% oem

[ooshnoo]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

I don't understand what you're asking..

What I meant was... say I didn't want to use wireless carplay, but prefer to plug my phone in to use CarPlay. If I plugged in, would phone calls and voice command still use the factory microphone.

I'm going to buy Unique's wireless device anyway, as they confirmed w/me it will be full screen. I just want to know a bit about what I can expect. Thank you for all the info you've provided so far.

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by ooshnoo

What I meant was... say I didn't want to use wireless carplay, but prefer to plug my phone in to use CarPlay. If I plugged in, would phone calls and voice command still use the factory microphone.

I'm going to buy Unique's wireless device anyway, as they confirmed w/me it will be full screen. I just want to know a bit about what I can expect. Thank you for all the info you've provided so far.

Ah ok now I've understood. Using wired carplay will still use external mic. Remember that this wirless carplay is not an update of the old wired carplay interface, it's a totaly new device. So it won't support car's mic in any way (and if you were interested in, it also doesn't support steering wheel control wheel like the wired one. Unique told me that they may add it later on)

Also consider that if you use the setup I wrote about some posts above (carplay + idrive bluetooth), calls are routed thru bluetooth so they use car'a mic. External mic is used only for siri voice commands and if it is worse in terms of quality, no one will notice (not even siri, which understands perfectly every command, without speaking loud)

Tip: if you want a full wireless experience, you can install inbay wireless charging in the armrest (there's a diy guide) so that you don't have to plug anything, just enter the car, put the phone in the armrest and you have carplay + phone in charge, without any wire!

[theblues]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

Tip: if you want a full wireless experience, you can install inbay wireless charging in the armrest (there's a diy guide) so that you don't have to plug anything, just enter the car, put the phone in the armrest and you have carplay + phone in charge, without any wire!

This is my ultimate plan to replace the phone cradle with either the expensive BMW wireless cradle or DIY aftermarket.

Do you think WIFI signal should be strong enough to not experience lags or slowness while the phone in the armrest?

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by theblues

This is my ultimate plan to replace the phone cradle with either the expensive BMW wireless cradle or DIY aftermarket.

Do you think WIFI signal should be strong enough to not experience lags or slowness while the phone in the armrest?

I daily use the phone charging in the armrest + carplay and didn't have any issue. My carplay is not stable at all but the fault is of my phone. Some times it disconnects 5 times in about 3 minutes, then it works flawlessy for hours. When it works, video is smooth, no lag. And I forgot to plug the antenna in the carplay interface (there's an antenna which you can plug to extend the signal). Btw I'm planning to put that antenna directly inside the armrest to get maximum signal power, but you don't really need to, just plug the antenna and place it behind ac controls.

Edit: Inbay wireless charger diy looks completely oem, I mean, it's completely hidden and since it's a 3 coil wireless charger, the position of the phone doesn't matter at all, just throw it there and it just starts to charge. Imho it's better than the bmw (expensive) one

[theblues]

Originally Posted by AlbertoSONIC

I daily use the phone charging in the armrest + carplay and didn't have any issue. My carplay is not stable at all but the fault is of my phone. Some times it disconnects 5 times in about 3 minutes, then it works flawlessy for hours. When it works, video is smooth, no lag. And I forgot to plug the antenna in the carplay interface (there's an antenna which you can plug to extend the signal). Btw I'm planning to put that antenna directly inside the armrest to get maximum signal power, but you don't really need to, just plug the antenna and place it behind ac controls.

Edit: Inbay wireless charger diy looks completely oem, I mean, it's completely hidden and since it's a 3 coil wireless charger, the position of the phone doesn't matter at all, just throw it there and it just starts to charge. Imho it's better than the bmw (expensive) one

Oh, I totally agree with you with regards to the expensive BMW part.

But do you happen to know if the BMW wireless charger provides cellular signal booster? A topic I think might have been addressed but I am still researching it online.

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by theblues

Oh, I totally agree with you with regards to the expensive BMW part.

But do you happen to know if the BMW wireless charger provides cellular signal booster? A topic I think might have been addressed but I am still researching it online.

I did a quick search on the internet and looks like the universal snap in adapter boosts the phone signal, but I'm not sure if it's just the adapter or if it requires other components for the signal boost feature... Do you experience signal loss? I get max signal almost every time, with the phone in the armrest.

[theblues]

I probably don't have signal loss, but I figured since GPS is also needed while in the armrest, boosting cellular can be useful if any.

[steker]

I'm very interested in Unique-AD's solution. I tried using the iDrive's navigation many times, but the traffic is not as up to date as Google Maps or Waze and I've actually ended up at wrong locations and took incorrect exits because of it. Even one of the most important exits on the most important road of my city/country isn't seen as an exist but as going straight. That's with map version 2019-1, so I can't trust it to bring me from A to B.

Basically I am not using the built in navigation anymore and this makes my 8.8" screen just sit there and do nothing. Wireless CarPlay would be a perfect solution! I'm waiting for the moment they confirm they have fullscreen working on the bigger screens.

[x-m4n]

Originally Posted by steker

I'm very interested in Unique-AD's solution. I tried using the iDrive's navigation many times, but the traffic is not as up to date as Google Maps or Waze and I've actually ended up at wrong locations and took incorrect exits because of it. Even one of the most important exits on the most important road of my city/country isn't seen as an exist but as going straight. That's with map version 2019-1, so I can't trust it to bring me from A to B.

Basically I am not using the built in navigation anymore and this makes my 8.8" screen just sit there and do nothing. Wireless CarPlay would be a perfect solution! I'm waiting for the moment they confirm they have fullscreen working on the bigger screens.

I share your feelings, I have the Unique AD box since July last year and has been working great. Waze my preferred app as it offers speed cam alerts. Google maps is next best as it provides lane guidance (no speed limits in the UK just yet).

My Unique AD box is the wired version, it can use the stock mic but carplay is not full screen, yet? ... I just sent them an email to see if there are any updates - back in November they shared a new firmware (5.1.8) and said full screen support would come in March

[steker]

Originally Posted by Justin666

(mine is not the unichip brand, it's the one from JoyeAuto)

I see that JoyeAuto also has a wireless solution too now: https://www.joyeauto.com/bmw-nbt-1-2...play-solution/





You can use it wirelessly and wired, steering wheel controls work, external mic it seems, etc.

It will be out next week the Admin says. So next to Unique-AD's offering we have another option available soon for 6.5", 8.8" and 10.25" screens. I like where this is going! We will actually have different options to choose from.

[strongislemax]

I installed the joyeauto unit on my F10. The carplay functionality is fine, however, I'm having an issue with idrive.

The time will not stay set on the main screen. Avg fuel consumption/speed will not display.

I cannot toggle any settings of the info display in the gauge cluster. (Shift point indicator, range, etc.).

Basically, there is no communication between the info display and the main nbt headunit. Steering wheel volume control does work properly.

Any ideas on how to solve?

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by steker

I see that JoyeAuto also has a wireless solution too now: https://www.joyeauto.com/bmw-nbt-1-2...play-solution/





You can use it wirelessly and wired, steering wheel controls work, external mic it seems, etc.

It will be out next week the Admin says. So next to Unique-AD's offering we have another option available soon for 6.5", 8.8" and 10.25" screens. I like where this is going! We will actually have different options to choose from.

Unique AD system = joyeauto system. Exactly the same hardware and software. The advantage of Unique AD is the uk based warranty and customs fee-less shipping, so it's usefull mostly for european users

[AlbertoSONIC]

Originally Posted by strongislemax

I installed the joyeauto unit on my F10. The carplay functionality is fine, however, I'm having an issue with idrive.

The time will not stay set on the main screen. Avg fuel consumption/speed will not display.

I cannot toggle any settings of the info display in the gauge cluster. (Shift point indicator, range, etc.).

Basically, there is no communication between the info display and the main nbt headunit. Steering wheel volume control does work properly.

Any ideas on how to solve?

Did you move the optic fiber cable (green) from the old plug to the new one, behind the idrive?