Adding CarPlay to a 5 series

Bluecube · 23 Jun 2023 at 10:25

All going well, I’ll be picking up a nice 2019 BMW 540 next Thursday. It’s a fantastic drive but the equipment spec isn’t the best and one of the things missing is Apple CarPlay. A quick google indicates that I should be able to add it through the onboard system. Is it a simple process? I also see that there are various prices for this from £60 to £220 with no difference in the service provided - is there anything I should watch out for?

TIA

Bluecube · 23 Jun 2023 at 10:38

BMW charge £220 from what I can see. Other options involve buying a key and inputting it yourself so I wonder if the software is already installed and just needs activating

Bluecube · 26 Jun 2023 at 10:48

I’ll get back to you all. Don’t pick the car up till Thursday. I never got a chance to look at iDrive properly on the test drive and the salesman doesn’t know if Carplay is installed or not. Going the BMW route is probably best but I begrudge paying a couple hundred pounds just so a software setting can be changed!

Bluecube · 12 Jul 2023 at 19:49

The head unit needs the WiFi aerial which unbelievably wasn’t a standard piece of equipment as I found out.

Bluecube · 12 Jul 2023 at 20:04

Which I don‘t have. I absolutely love the car but the fella that originally specced it seems to have gone with the basics and bought it for the number on the boot as the only thing I can find that’s out of the norm is the HUD

Bluecube · 12 Jul 2023 at 21:27

If the info I’m looking at is correct then I definitely don’t have the tech pack as I’ve no WiFi, no display key and no wireless charging. Just the HUD.

I got in touch with BMW support regarding my Carplay issue who said I don’t have the required WiFi antenna but they also said I don’t have the Professional Media System option which I definitely have. On double checking this, I typed my VIN into what appeared to be a reputable VIN checker which said the car was fitted with a WiFi antenna… The TLDR seems to be that nobody really knows just wtf my car is fitted with

Bluecube · 13 Jul 2023 at 10:13

t

[TW]Fox said:
I can't see how this is worth it. If the system is very old and or has no navigation with traffic information then it really brings it up to date, I'm trying to work out how to put it in the Mini for this reason.

But yours isn't. I have both Carplay and Android Auto on mine and I never use either of them, what's the point? On iDrive 6 probably the biggest benefit of Carplay would be to use Spotify properly but even that I don't think is worth the effort and complications if the car is missing the components required for the official update.

You'll lose most of the useful functionally of your head up display as well.

I‘ve spent far too much time reading up on this and I agree with you. CarPlay was always just a nice to have feature that I was disappointed not to get. However the inbuilt Bluetooth setup works very well for playing music and making calls on phones. The inbuilt satnav is great and being able to see it on the HUD is a fantastic feature.